Reaching a target audience online.

AmberFrommyFairPartner · Apr 19, 2010

Hi everyone!

My name is Amber and as you can see I am new around here. Be kind if I am asking something that has been done a million times.

I work for a small startup in London. we are myFairPartner and we are the first completely online temporary employment business. Check out our website (I can't leave links yet, but its myfairpartner.com)

Anyway I am in charge of Marketing and Business development and this is the first time I have tired to do online marketing. We have managed really well to gain Candidates online, in a range of different ways from networking websites like facebook, to posting job advertisments on gumtree and craigslist and also some google adwords and Facebook ads. We find that for our money gumtree is the best, but google adwords also does work, for candidates anyway.

My major problem has been finding a way to reach the Client market online. We are set up for any business really, but are looking to break into the small business market, because in the past they haven't been able to afford temping. With our solution this will no longer be a problem.

However, I am not sure how to find small business online. We have made some headway with offline street marketing, but I would love to be able to do this online in the same way we have reach our Candidates.

I have tried Google adwords that pertain more towards clients rather then candidates and have no result. Online social networking doesn't seem to work either, facebook isn't really the place to find Clients and the more professional sites like Linked In do not seem to get used in the same way.

My next move is to try and find forums and blogs...but I don't really know how to find the right ones. I have stumbled across this forum and I am hoping you can help or at least point me in the right direction.

Amber

zigojacko · Apr 19, 2010

Welcome.

1. "completely online temporary employment business"?
2. You're in charge of marketing and business development but you've never done online marketing?
3. What is your market? What difference is your recruitment company to any others? I don't really follow what your USP is and why your target market isn't just the regular job seekers/employers out there?

Faevilangel · Apr 19, 2010

Facebook would be perfect for you, as everyone will know someone who is out of a job. Do you have a business / fan page and have a link to it on your website?

AmberFrommyFairPartner · Apr 19, 2010

Hi - Thanks for the reply.

1. We are completely online in the sense that we do not have a high street office where our Candidates come in and register, we do not have agents who match Candidates CV's to the Clients needs.
This is all automated by our online platform. Candidates register, they create an online profile like on a social networking website with all their CV information. This information is completely searchable for the Client who also registers a profile. They then can create a search with the parameters they require based on availability, education and skills of the candidates. The perfect match candidate is returned. The Client can then interview, hire and schedule shifts for the candidate with the click of a button. A text message is sent to the candidate with the information they need.

This streamlines the process and completely removes the agent. It is similar to in the old days when to book a flight you had to see a travel agent. Now you can go online and search directly for the flight you need.

2. Yes, I am a fresh graduate and I was working part time for my employer while I was studying doing admin work for his other business. In the mean time he has come up with the idea of an online employment business. We have a small team in managment and business development of about 8 people. I am one of these and one of my many jobs is working with the online marketing. Something none of us have really done before.

3. Some of this I outlined in answer one. Others are that we are low cost, chargeing a fee of only 50 pence per hour on top of the cost of the candidate, regardless of their wage. We are a transparent company, meaning that our Candidates always know how much we are charging the clients and the clients always know what our expenses are (such as NI costs, Sick leave, holiday pay...etc) We will always answer our Customers questions and do our best to be accessible to them. Lastly we aim to be Fair, we will work to keep our costs down so our charge can be less. This way the Clients can pay the Candidates what they are worth and everyone is happy.

AmberFrommyFairPartner · Apr 19, 2010

Faevilangel said:
Facebook would be perfect for you, as everyone will know someone who is out of a job. Do you have a business / fan page and have a link to it on your website?

Thanks for this. Yes we have a presents on facebook and it has been very helpful to reach our candidates. However, we haven't found it a very good place to find clients and at the moment that is our more important aim.

Faevilangel · Apr 19, 2010

AmberFrommyFairPartner said:
Thanks for this. Yes we have a presents on facebook and it has been very helpful to reach our candidates. However, we haven't found it a very good place to find clients and at the moment that is our more important aim.

To find clients, Google adwords, cold calling and leafleting are your best bet.

zigojacko · Apr 19, 2010

AmberFrommyFairPartner said:
Hi - Thanks for the reply.

1. We are completely online in the sense that we do not have a high street office where our Candidates come in and register, we do not have agents who match Candidates CV's to the Clients needs.
This is all automated by our online platform. Candidates register, they create an online profile like on a social networking website with all their CV information. This information is completely searchable for the Client who also registers a profile. They then can create a search with the parameters they require based on availability, education and skills of the candidates. The perfect match candidate is returned. The Client can then interview, hire and schedule shifts for the candidate with the click of a button. A text message is sent to the candidate with the information they need.

This streamlines the process and completely removes the agent. It is similar to in the old days when to book a flight you had to see a travel agent. Now you can go online and search directly for the flight you need.

2. Yes, I am a fresh graduate and I was working part time for my employer while I was studying doing admin work for his other business. In the mean time he has come up with the idea of an online employment business. We have a small team in managment and business development of about 8 people. I am one of these and one of my many jobs is working with the online marketing. Something none of us have really done before.

3. Some of this I outlined in answer one. Others are that we are low cost, chargeing a fee of only 50 pence per hour on top of the cost of the candidate, regardless of their wage. We are a transparent company, meaning that our Candidates always know how much we are charging the clients and the clients always know what our expenses are (such as NI costs, Sick leave, holiday pay...etc) We will always answer our Customers questions and do our best to be accessible to them. Lastly we aim to be Fair, we will work to keep our costs down so our charge can be less. This way the Clients can pay the Candidates what they are worth and everyone is happy.

Thanks for the excellent, detailed reply.

So ultimately... Your system could contribute to reducing unemployment figures by getting people back into work quickly, hassle free, no appointments/interviews necessary?

I agree that Facebook could be the best bet here, I know tons of people out of work that sit on Facebook all day.

Create a tagline to target those people, develop a facebook app, consider Facebook PPC, with the right tagline (for eg: "Out of work? Running out of money?, Find a job today, start tomorrow, without leaving your home!"), the one you currently use won't entice people to use your system.

Faevilangel · Apr 19, 2010

zigojacko said:
Thanks for the excellent, detailed reply.

So ultimately... Your system could contribute to reducing unemployment figures by getting people back into work quickly, hassle free, no appointments/interviews necessary?

I agree that Facebook could be the best bet here, I know tons of people out of work that sit on Facebook all day.

Create a tagline to target those people, develop a facebook app, consider Facebook PPC, with the right tagline (for eg: "Out of work? Running out of money?, Find a job today, start tomorrow, without leaving your home!"), the one you currently use won't entice people to use your system.

As always excellent advice

AmberFrommyFairPartner · Apr 19, 2010

zigojacko said:
Thanks for the excellent, detailed reply.

So ultimately... Your system could contribute to reducing unemployment figures by getting people back into work quickly, hassle free, no appointments/interviews necessary?

Yes! This is exactly what we hope to do.

I agree that Facebook could be the best bet here, I know tons of people out of work that sit on Facebook all day.

Create a tagline to target those people, develop a facebook app, consider Facebook PPC, with the right tagline (for eg: "Out of work? Running out of money?, Find a job today, start tomorrow, without leaving your home!"), the one you currently use won't entice people to use your system.

I have never thought of making a facebook app...this could be something to look into, Thanks! We did try Facebook PPC for a while and saw some return, but not as much as we get from Gumtree. We are on a very tight budget at the moment, so for now we have stopped this. However we might try it again.

CaterTrade · Apr 19, 2010

Have you tried a small ad in local papers in the Jobs section? Something like "Looking for Temp work? Go to www................"

FBtips · Apr 20, 2010

Quirky ads on Facebook could be be good...focusing on something like the 50p worker. Have you tried building an ad aimed at your clients on Facebook? What keywords did you use?

Have you got a Fanpage? Has it got a desirable title to draw clients in? So many business owners, managers etc are on FB regulary too - a Fanpage giving regular updates to both clients and workers could be really worthwhile. Building up a targeted following - drop me a pm if you want as I could help you with this.

A good idea for Facebook ads would be the option to target ads to page admins as there would be high probability that these users would be business owners/managers.

Annoying Donkey · Apr 20, 2010

Congrats to the OP for a very complete description

Sadly the answers are missing the fact that the OP question is focussed on getting clients, not candidates...

IMHO you need to revert to traditional marketing and networking. Join the CofC and get listed, start cold calling, offer special offers to get clients on board. Small business owners do not sit on FB all day, nor do they surf the web all day.

Even then, in my experience, small business owners are very busy and they're more likely to pay someone to do the search for them - that's why there's so many recruitment agencies - you need an answer for this. Saving money is one, but I think you need to find something more compelling.

AmberFrommyFairPartner · Apr 20, 2010

WeblinkPlus said:
Even then, in my experience, small business owners are very busy and they're more likely to pay someone to do the search for them - that's why there's so many recruitment agencies - you need an answer for this. Saving money is one, but I think you need to find something more compelling.

Thanks for your help! You have some clear answers on how to reach the client base. I would like to clear up our advantages for clients though.

Firstly, I think you are right about there being many recruitment agencies and that small business owners are more likely to pay someone else.
Our key difference is we are a Temporary employment business. What you are talking about is more for permanent staff.

Temporary staff is something at the moment that small business can't afford because of the high service fees by regular employment agencies. However, temp staff can have a clear advantage over permanent.

Our major points for Clients are as follows:

1. Our small fee. 50 pence per hour. Other agencies charge 4 to 12 times more.

2.We check our candidates
We have more candidates then most agencies, all profiles are a biography of each individual's employments. You can see feedback and recommendations from past employers for each candidate.

3. We provide the most qualified match.
myFairPartner compiles, filters and sorts candidates according to the candidates's entire working history. No bias' by agents who hire their friends, the last candidate they saw, or the candidate with the prettiest looking CV.

4. We provide a 24/7 service
Business doesn't stop at 5pm. Your hiring shouldn't either. Our online platform means you can hire when you need to.

5. We are attentive
We are a small business and we want to create fairness. Every client and candidate is important to us. We have one flat fee. We are transparent. Most importantly, we aim to improve our service continuously to make you happy.

I hope that is a little more helpful!

Toonpages_co_uk · Apr 20, 2010

Hi Amber

Have you got a Twitter account??

If so follow all the major agencies who in turn may follow you, thus will retweet work to and from you.

Tweet about Temp work and enquiries should start coming in.

Hope this helps

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Reaching a target audience online.

AmberFrommyFairPartner

zigojacko

Faevilangel

AmberFrommyFairPartner

AmberFrommyFairPartner

Faevilangel

zigojacko

Faevilangel

AmberFrommyFairPartner

CaterTrade

FBtips

Annoying Donkey

AmberFrommyFairPartner

Toonpages_co_uk

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