If you’re looking for some easy wins to strengthen your brand, improve your current recruitment process and set yourself apart from your talent competitors, personalising and improving your automated recruitment messages is a great place to start.
Some people believe automation is bland, boring and impersonal. But it doesn’t have to be! Not according to Tracey Parsons reporting for ERE.
“Automation can be silly, ironic, funny, and filled with personality. It just depends on the human who sets up the automation. And while you’ll have to email me next time I am traveling to get the full Tracey out-of-office gold, I’m going to tell you my personal tips and tricks to make automation suck less (now, that’s a low bar!)”
Establish your voice
What words best describe your marketing and employer brand tone of voice? Own it, and inject it into every touch point throughout your recruitment process, including your automated messaging.
“Chances are your brand has a personality. It may be fun, or educational. It may be “trusted advisor.” Whatever the personality of your brand, own it in your automation.”
“Do not write it like a robot. Write it like a person wrote it. Bring warmth and tone to the message. For example, you can say: ‘We got your resume. Thanks.’ Or you can say, ‘Wow! Thanks for sharing your unique skills with our team.’ They are saying the same thing, but one feels cold and bland, the other feels like someone may have actually written it.”
Personalise where you can
Is your automated system smart enough to pull data to add to your messaging? This simple thing can have a huge impact on candidate’s overall perspective of your brand.
“Saying ‘Hi Tracey’ is waaaaayyyy better than saying, ‘Hi candidate.’ If you can, add a token for what day it is (that feels very personal). For example, if you tell someone Happy Tuesday in a mail, they are pretty sure a person wrote that and it feels less lame and more real.”
Share more information about your organisation
This touch point is an excellent opportunity to not only provide candidates with extra value, but brand yourself too by sharing some information about your organisation.
What makes your organisation unique? Why should candidates join and stay with you?
“Share some news. Share some insights. Whatever the case may be, this is your chance to not be lame!”
Personalise your “From” too
Do-not-reply email addresses are lazy and unimpressive! It’s important to use a real email address that is monitored and people can respond to. It’s a great chance to receive feedback too.
“If you want people to know for a fact that you don’t care about them, send a message from a do-not-reply email address. If you want someone to think it was sent from a person, use an actual email address. This is a pet peeve of mine in email marketing across all disciplines. My theory is that mail open rates are low compared to text because we train people not to respond via this tactic.”
Or … admit it is automation
This might run contrary to the above advice but hear us out! Parsons recommends admitting to candidates your responses are automated…with a twist.
“This may sound bizarre, but I’ve written very successful automation emails from the voice of the robot. It depends on your brand personality, but if your brand is fun, try something like:
Recruiting robot here, and I wanted you to know that I have pulled your information successfully into the mothership. You know it’s all machines back here anyway. We’ve alerted the humans to your information. Stay alert.
“That is at least memorable, right?”
Improving your automated messages is such a simple strategy in setting you apart from your talent competitors. Automation is great, but it relies on personalisation and a human touch.
“Humans are creative and funny and interesting. Robots make it all flow. You got this.”
Source
Make your automated recruiting messages better
Tracey Parsons
ERE