Recruitment agencies: what problem is your content solving?

Given my background in recruitment marketing, whenever I stumble across a recruitment agency, I can’t help but have a quick peek at its website to check out their content. Most will just be full of jobs (to be expected!) but some will have a resource section housing advice pieces such as ‘How to write the perfect CV’ and ‘Killer interview tips’ (much better).

Most of the content, however, tends to be aimed at candidates as opposed to clients. So if I were a potential client, looking for a supplier, what would make me pick up the phone and call you? Naturally, I expect to see a whole load of pages explaining about your agency, which companies you recruit for, why you consider yourselves better than your competitors – after all, your website is an important member of your sales team. However, unless I quite quickly come across some content which is less about them and more about me, then I soon get bored.

What so many recruitment agencies (in fact, most companies) seem to forget is that, yes, a prospect comes to your website because they have a need but the reason they have a need is usually because they have a pain.

As Steve Jobs once perfectly stated…

“The customer rarely buys what the company thinks it sells him. One reason for this is, of course, that nobody pays for a ‘product.’ What is paid for is satisfaction.”

And Ted Levitt beautifully quipped…

“People don’t want quarter-inch drills… they want quarter-inch holes.”

Companies think they are selling products and services, but what they are actually selling to customers are solutions to their problems and the ability to get their jobs done. Therefore, if you want to connect more effectively with clients visiting your website, your content needs to address their pain points.

For example

Let’s say that I am the MD of a technology company. Given the nature of the technology industry, I naturally want my company to be perceived as the thought-leaders but in order to achieve this, I need to recruit and retain the best staff the industry has to offer. My pain is competing against all the other tech companies that want the same staff!

So far in my search, I’ve looked at various recruitment agency websites, all of which have told me how great they are, how their service is second to none, how long they’ve been in business bla bla bla.

Then I come across your website where I immediately find an article offering advice on ‘how to spot the early signs of demotivation’. Next I read a piece in your ‘latest news’ section detailing research on which company benefits are most valued by employees. Finally, I notice a blog post entitled ‘Why certain brands attract certain employees’.

At this stage, I know nothing about your company but you have very quickly connected with me in a way that your competitors haven’t. It feels as though this content has been written specifically for me and is directly addressing my pain points. You guys seem to know your onions, I need to talk to you!

That is content marketing

So the next time you load content to your website, ask yourself, what problem is it solving? Are you simply selling the ‘quarter-inch drill’ or are educating how to get the ‘quarter-inch hole’?

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