Does Your Staffing Firm Brand Speak to your Target Audience?

Have you stopped to ask yourself this critical question: What does my staffing firm brand stand for and is my message really speaking to my audience? It goes without saying that your brand-building efforts must begin with a thorough review of your staffing firm services. Where do you excel and what separates you from the competition? If your goal is to stand out from the crowd, you must carefully craft your message to promote those points of differentiation. Don’t try to compete with every other staffing firm out there by restating the same tired promises. In order to make your staffing firm brand speak to your target audience, you must define who you are and clearly state it to your current and potential clients and customers.

Respect Your Audience
In today’s competitive market, you must remember that clients and candidates have many different choices when it comes to staffing firms. How are your services better than your competitor’s? Seriously, how are they better? What problems do you solve for prospective clients and candidates? How do you advocate for your candidates and ensure that your clients receive the best possible talent? Take the time to understand who comprises your target audience and pay attention to what they say on their staffing firm social media. Respect your audience by making sure that your branding message clearly communicates these points of differentiation, and don’t try to mislead them with smoke and mirrors. Be different.

Be Secure in Who You Are
Your brand is your promise of who you are and what you stand for, so it’s important that you establish your business as a leader within your niche of the industry. Staffing firms that try to be a jack of all trades fail to establish themselves as a leader and do not command respect from potential clients and candidates. Be selective when choosing your points of differentiation and do not waiver. Integrate your marketing initiatives in order to establish brand recognition and communicate a feeling of trust.

Don’t Hold Back
If your goal is to make your staffing firm brand speak to your target audience, you must integrate all aspects of your marketing plan and ensure that your branding message is consistent in all areas. Develop a marketing plan to tie in your social media profiles, marketing campaigns and website calls-to-action. Assess your branding message in each of these areas in order to guarantee that you are portraying a unified front. Meet regularly with your team to make sure that they are able to clearly communicate your points of differentiation to clients and candidates.

Stay Relevant
Times change, and so must your staffing firm brand if you want to stay relevant and competitive within the industry. While it is important to remain true to your brand and not waiver, you must remember that as the industry changes you need to adapt your services to accommodate the needs of your target audience.  Even with the strongest customer service skills and a stellar track record for placements, staffing firms that do not have a responsive website or an integrated ATS are bound to lose business to the competition.

Listen Up
In order to make your staffing firm brand speak to your target audience, you need to start by listening to your target audience and gauge where to focus your brand building efforts. Be active in online forums aimed at your niche of the staffing industry, and monitor what is being said about your brand as well as the brand messages of your competitors. Where are you excelling and where are you falling short? Are there areas where you need to bolster your message? Do your recruiters and sales managers effectively communicate your brand ideals in their everyday interactions with clients and candidates? Don’t be afraid to look closely at your organization and be honest with yourself when it comes to areas in need of improvement.

Key Takeaways to Does Your Staffing Firm Brand Speak to your Target Audience:

1. Respect your audience and don’t try to mislead them with smoke and mirrors
2. Be selective when choosing your points of differentiation
3. Integrate all aspects of your marketing plan and ensure that your branding message is consistent
4. Adapt your services to accommodate the needs of your target audience
5. Listen to your target audience and gauge where to focus your brand building efforts

About S.J.Hemley Marketing
S.J.Hemley Marketing is a marketing and sales consulting firm focused on driving tangible results for professional services firms. Brand matters, but not without ROI. With over 20 years of sales and marketing experience within staffing and recruiting, we have helped to drive successful branding, sales training, lead generation activities as well as defining marketing strategy for top organizations.