How to use Google PPC ads to attract qualified talent
Did you know that a whopping 70% of job searches start on Google? This means that your strategy for ranking on Google is ultra important — particularly in the Google for Jobs era.
When it comes to ranking on page one of Google, there are two approaches to consider. The organic (unpaid) search engine optimization (SEM) approach, and the paid search engine marketing (SEM) ads approach. Both of these strategies should ideally go hand in hand.
Building out an organic SEO strategy, however, takes quite a bit of effort and a really informed strategy. Often, you’ll need to pay for an SEO software like Moz or SEMRush and/or pay for a professional consultant to help you out. Even with these resources, it will take time to start seeing results here. Conversely, If you want to move up the ranks faster, you should consider investing in Google pay-per-click (PPC) ads.
The beauty of Google PPC ads (previously known as Google Adwords) is you can skip the hard work of SEO and go right to the top of your candidates’ search! That’s why today, we’re sharing how you can build a Google PPC ads strategy to attract qualified talent. But first, let’s review what exactly Google PPC ads are
What are Google PPC ads?
Google PPC ads can take many different formats (images, text-only, etc.), but ultimately these are ad units that you’re purchasing that appear above the organic search results when people search on Google. With this ad type, you pay based on the number of clicks the ad unit receives, which is where the name “pay per click” comes from.
Google ads are a great way to elevate your talent attraction strategy.
You’ve probably come across tons of these types of ads in the past week alone. But if you’re having a hard time envisioning what we’re referring to, here’s an example of what this looks like in action:
Why it’s worth investing in PPC
Google PPC ads are fast and efficient. PPC allows you to skip the hard work of developing a long-term organic SEO strategy to build up a brand presence and attract leads faster
Google PPC ads take candidate behaviour into account. Since many candidates are starting their job search on Google, you’re meeting them where they are.
Google PPC ads are budget friendly. Google Ads are cost efficient because you’re only paying for people who click on your ad — which is great for your budget because you know each dollar is going towards attracting leads for your hard-to-fill roles.
Google PPC ads are a competitive advantage. Not a lot of people in the recruitment marketing space are currently investing time, effort, and resources here, so it’s an easy way to differentiate from your hiring competitors.
Now that you know what Google PPC ads ds are and why you should be investing here, let’s take a look at how to set up a Google PPC ads recruitment marketing campaign:
Research keywords
After you set up your Google Ads account (which is free to set up but you will need to enter your credit card information) you can access the free Google Keyword Planner tool. Pro tip: check with your marketing team to see if they already have a Google Ads account you can share or if you’ll need to set up your own separate one for job ads.
Your keywords should have a high search volume and low to medium competition
Once you’re logged in and can use the Google Keyword Planner tool, you’ll be able to see which search strings (sets of keywords) people are using to search for jobs and other career-related information. You’ll want to look for search strings that have a decent amount of monthly search volume — ideally something with 1,000+ searches per month where the competition is low to medium. The competition number refers to the volume of organizations who are putting in ad bids for that same search string.
It’s a good idea to launch your campaign using two to three sets of keywords and you can adjust over time based on which ones are working best for you. For more information on keyword planning, check out this helpful guide that will help you to get the most out of your keyword research and planning.
Determine your pilot period budget
We understand that getting a budget for new initiatives can be tricky, which is why we recommend framing your Google Ads recruitment marketing strategy as a pilot campaign to start so it’s more palatable for stakeholders. A good pilot period range for your Google PPC ads is anywhere from one to three months; that way, if you don’t get immediately amazing results (since you're new and learning the ropes), it gives you more wiggle room to test and optimize without feeling the pressure of getting results on day one. Pro tip: When trying to secure a budget, you should also reiterate that you’ll only pay when people actually click your ads (not when they just view the ad), so it’s certain to increase brand awareness at the very least by driving traffic to your site.
You can use successful bid range data for your different keywords to help set your budget accordingly.
When figuring out the right budget, start by identifying a goal (like the minimum number of clicks you’d like to receive based on how many site visitors it typically takes to convert to one applicant), then you can use Google Keyword Planner to see the successful bid range for your different keywords and set your budget accordingly. Once you’ve been able to demonstrate some results, you can then go back and ask for more budget to develop ongoing campaigns based on what you learned from the pilot.
Write the right ad copy
Your ads may be a prospective candidate’s first introduction to your brand — and we all know how important first impressions are! Additionally, you need your ad to grab attention, communicate your message clearly, and get qualified candidates to click — all while staying within character count limits and other restrictions. Here a few tips to keep in mind:
Try to mirror phrases similar to what prospective candidates are actually searching to make sure your message is clear and attracts the right audience. Use your keywords strategically though — don’t just stuff in as many as you can. An ad that’s saturated with keywords likely doesn’t convey any message clearly and could actually end up being worse than an ad with no keywords!
Be clear about your value proposition. Even though you need to keep your copy concise, your ad should still provide a short “what’s in it for me” for candidates. For example, if you’re looking to hire software developers, then you might say something like “Software Developer Jobs — Remote-Friendly and Flexible Hours.”
Always include a call to action (CTA). At the end of the day, you’re running ads because you want prospective candidates to take a specific action, whether that’s applying for a job, signing up for your talent community, or simply visiting your career page. Using an action verb partnered with a time constraint is a compelling approach. For example: “Apply now! Posting closes February 15th.”
And don’t forget to keep testing out your ad copy. Play around with the placement of your keywords, the framing of your value proposition, and different CTAs so that you can garner the best results.
Create a thoughtful campaign journey
Your efforts shouldn’t stop after creating the perfect piece of ad copy — the rest of the campaign journey is equally (if not more!) important. What will candidates see once they click your ad? Does the next place they’re directed to answer the always important “what’s in it for me?” question to encourage them to take action?
This is where creating a good landing page with exceptional copy comes into play. Here are five tips to keep in mind when it comes to creating good copy for your landing page:
Personalize the message. You should have a specific candidate persona in mind when creating your landing pages. Your copy should take into account their specific motivations, aspirations, and pain points.
Communicate the “what’s in it for me” (WIIFM). People tend to skim content quickly, and they won’t keep reading and take action unless you’ve caught their attention. The WIIFM should be front and centre on your landing page.
Use approachable, simple words. No matter how smart your audience is, nobody wants to read an academic thesis when they’re applying for a job. People don’t have the attention span for this, and they’ll bounce from the page.
Keep your paragraphs short. According to a study by Microsoft, the average human attention span is 8 seconds (potentially shorter!). This is why it’s important to be really direct and keep paragraphs short to help improve readability.
Accompany your copy with visuals. People retain 55% more information from copy paired with visuals. This means that candidates are likely to remember your employer brand if you communicate it visually — and even if they’re not ready for a career transition now, they may recall your organization when the timing is right.
Make it clear and easy for them to take the next step. Put a form on your landing page that only involves providing one or two short pieces of information. This will increase the chance they actually take action. You can then follow up with an email that prompts them to provide more details (submit a full application, perhaps, depending on your campaign goals) from there.
If you want to learn more about good copywriting tips for recruitment marketing, we go into more detail in this blog Copywriting for recruiters: 5 tips to attract candidates.
Socialize the plan and get approval from your team.
Now that you have your PPC strategy in hand, the next step is to make sure your key stakeholders and leadership are aligned with the direction you want to take. To achieve this, you’ll need to confidently present your keyword research, ad copy, recommended campaign journey, and the budget you recommend for the pilot period campaign.
This is also a great opportunity to solicit feedback and identify potential red flags before going live. You may need to iterate a few times before getting the green light.
Launch your ads and measure results.
Once you have approval from the team, you can launch your ads from within the platform. Once you click “create campaign,” the ads manager will prompt you to enter your keywords and your copy. Don’t be afraid of this stage… remember that Google (and other ad vendors/platforms) try to make this process as easy as possible, because they want as many people as possible to purchase their ad units!
From there, you should monitor results and performance carefully, making adjustments to your keyword strategy or copy if you’re not getting the results you need. We recommend checking in at least twice per week when you’re first starting.
Over time, you can optimize your strategy further as you start to get access to more data. Once you see how many people are clicking on your ads each month, what the cost per click looks like, and how many clicks it takes to get a conversion (aka applicants), then you can modify your budget accordingly.
The takeaway
Given the popular search engine’s reach and authority, Google Ads should be a part of your paid recruitment marketing strategy. In addition, because this is an area that few people in the recruiting space are taking advantage of right now, it has a lot of opportunities to attract qualified talent leads.
And remember, there’s no need to be scared exploring this new territory. Google Ads is more straightforward than you might think! However, if you’re short on capacity and resources get in touch with our team and we’d be happy to put together and manage your pilot campaign for you.
About The Employer Brand Shop
The Employer Brand Shop is a boutique recruitment marketing and employer brand agency located in Kitchener, Canada. Our team helps organizations around the world attract and engage talent using creative marketing strategies.