What human resource marketing trends worked last year and what tactics do companies plan to use this year? A new report looks to answer those questions.
HRmarketer has released its Trends in HR Marketing report, “Where HR Suppliers Spent their Marketing and PR Dollars in 2008 and What’s Ahead in 2009.” The report collected data based on responses from a diverse group of HR and employee benefits suppliers during Q4 of 2008.
What Worked During 2008
The report asked respondents what marketing and PR activities they used in 2008 and what they plan to use in 2009. Direct e-mail marketing was the favored tactic and will continue to be in 2009, followed by search engine optimization and distributing regular monthly press releases to media contacts and over a wire service.
The report also found the marketing tactics growing the most include Web 2.0 activities such as Webcasts and Webinars, blogging and podcasting, as well as using social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. The use of self-published original content, such as white papers, eBooks and research reports, also showed considerable growth.
The tactics decreasing the most in popularity include print advertising and print direct marketing, trade show exhibiting and sponsorship.
The top five “must have” marketing and PR tactics were: direct e-mail marketing, search engine optimization, self-publishing original content, speaking at conferences and Webcasts and Webinars. The top five “replaceable” marketing and PR tactics were: print advertising, print direct marketing, podcasting, online display advertising and paid buyer guide listings. Tactics that were seen as “not important” include: sponsoring analyst research, applying for awards, print advertising and trade show sponsorship.
Budgets and Sales
The report found that most companies plan to keep their budgets the same in 2009. Marketing activities to see the biggest budget increases include: direct e-mail marketing, online advertising, Webcasts, search engine optimization and self-publishing original content. Those to see the biggest budget decreases include: trade show exhibiting, print advertising and trade show sponsorship.
In terms of sales, the report found that lead-generating activities include: direct e-mail marketing, search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising and self-published original content. The biggest challenges respondents faced were: generating more qualified leads, increasing online visibility, properly allocating the marketing budget and keeping the marketing budget intact.
Respondents felt that lead generation, Web site traffic and brand recognition were the most important metrics used to determine the effectiveness of their marketing and PR tactics.
Public Relations
When it comes to the use of press releases, only 24 percent of respondents said they contract with an outside PR firm or marketing agency, a decrease from 41 percent last year. Of those who do contract with outside agencies, 54 percent are satisfied with the firm’s effectiveness, 4 percent are not satisfied, down from 15 percent last year, and 32 percent have been working with the firm for more than two years.
Of those who contract with outside PR companies, 33 percent pay a monthly retainer fee of $3,000; 25 percent pay between $3,000 and $5,000 and 13 percent pay more than $7,000. Only 36 percent of vendors do not send out press releases, down from 51 percent last year and 65 percent do not search optimize the releases.
The report found that most vendors keep up-to-date on HR news by reading general business press, HR Web sites and eNewsletters. About 31 percent said they visit these sources each day, while 30 percent read the sources each day. This year, 22 percent of respondents said they read blogs daily, compared to 12 percent last year, while 36 percent rarely read blogs, compared to 45 percent last year.
Social Networking
When it comes to social networking, 60 percent of respondents said they participate and 80 percent of vendors said their social networking use increased during 2008 and will continue to increase during 2009. LinkedIn is used by 93 percent of companies, followed by Facebook at 70 percent.
About 82 percent of respondents said they don’t measure the ROI from participation in social networking. The number one benefit of social networking was listed as thought leadership marketing, followed by brand marketing, low-cost viral marketing and the ability to communicate with customers.
Looking Ahead
As for the year to come, 41 percent of respondents were “somewhat optimistic” about the overall health of the HR marketplace, down from 60 percent last year. Only 9 percent were “very optimistic,” compared to 30 percent last year. About 19 percent felt “pessimistic” about the future, compared to 2 percent last year.
Popularity: 5% [?]
February 25th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Jen,
Thanks for posting this summary. Cheezhead readers may download the report, no registration required, via this special link: http://www.hrmarketer.com/home/download_supplier0809.htm
Enjoy.
Best,
Jonathan
February 25th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
I totally agree with “self publishing original content” is one of the best strategies any company can use to excel in 2009.
And if you learn how to OPTIMIZE your sales process on top of publishing top-quality content for your market… only amazing things can happen – revenue wise.
My two cents.
Joe Lavery
February 26th, 2009 at 10:28 am
I will recommend using http://www.EmailCharger.com for all email marketing needs. Its the best desktop email marketing software I have used so far.
March 2nd, 2009 at 11:41 pm
As our budget became leaner, we are struggling to do more with less. As a Team, we called in recruitment advertising agencies and conducted an RFP. What we realized is that we were spending, on average, an additional $400-$800 in unnecessary fees. (Creative, copy writing, placement, administrative…and the list seemed to go on!) We finally found one agency in Tampa (AXXIS: http://www.ads4hr.com) that did not charge any fees. We first thought it was too good to be true, but we did our due diligence and contacted 5 of their references. In addition, we contacted 3 media references. Not only was it true, we now have an agency that offers outstanding service. We made the transition in December 2008. To date, we now have saved over $15K. While this may not sound huge, this has allowed us to do much more with our recruiting. We figure over an annual budget, we should be able to save approx. $70K annually. Our agency rep often encourages us to audit their pricing against the media cost. The interesting thing was that they now offer creative ideas to finding candidates besides the same, expensive newspaper ad. Each month we email our agency rep a listing of our “critical needs.” They then send us a listing of optional venues with their recommendations. What we have found is that their recommendations seemed to be more targeted, and much less expensive. They also post our positions to craigslist with adding posting fees. So far, we are extremely pleased with the service and results. If you have not already done so, I would highly recommend reviewing your agency. We found that the larger the agency, the larger the fees. Our only concern was the financial stability in the smaller agencies. However, our reference calls to the media eliminated that concern. Surprisingly, most on our HR Team had no idea we were paying these hidden, additional fees. Although the new agency did not require any contractual obligation, our legal team suggested we sign a 2 year contract to ensure we are “feeless” for the term. We have the option of renewing annually thereafter. Hope this helps! Keep the suggestions and discussions coming. Our entire HR Team is constantly sharing tips from the site in our weekly staffing meetings.
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:09 pm
This is a great report! It’s no surprise we’re seeing a fade of traditional advertising as the internet marketing trend continues to grow. I’m glad companies in the HR space are adopting social media into their marketing mix, it’s a must these days!
- Jessica M
Akken staffing software and recruiting software
March 3rd, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Carol, I would like to thank you for your comments. I contacted your agecny to find out more about their services. We are a hospital in Atlanta so I did not know if they could help us. Not only do could they help us, the were extremely well-versed in the ATL market. I also followed your recommendation to contact the AJC for their thoughts. They gave glowing reviews as well. I spoke to one of the Senior VPs and was very impressed. We are conducting an onsite meeting with their team at the end of March. The same ad that we recently purchased in the AJC for $3800 would ahve ran less than $3000 with them. He also touched on creating and maintaining a facebook page. Never really thought that could do much but the way he explained it really peaked my interest. Again, thanks so much for the referral.