Everyone seems to be glued to their phones these days, and the talent you’re searching for is no different. And what people love to do most with their phones isn’t scanning their Facebook feed, checking their emails, or making phone calls. It’s texting. Here’s how your recruiting team should be using business text messaging to attract top talent.
Reach candidates where they are
Whether you are looking for younger talent or someone more experienced, there’s no shortage of prospects when you’re talking texting. Over 90% of Americans aged 18-29 and 88% of Americans aged 30-49 own a smartphone. There’s not going to be a downtick anytime soon.
Wherever prospects are in your pipeline, texting is a sure-fire way to keep in touch. Integrate text messaging into your existing recruitment outreach.
Best text messaging practices
Personalization: Learning more about leads gives recruiters the opportunity to personalize messages. Crafting genuine, targeted texts helps ensure leads don’t end up feeling like “just a number.”
Length: Keep text messages around 160 characters in length. When messages are too long, they’re liable to be skimmed, ignored, or in the worst case scenario, undeliverable.
Timing: Early on in a relationship with a candidate, it’s important to establish ideal contact times. Reflect on your candidates’ likely availability and keep texts in that window. This won’t just make your team look conscientious to candidates, it will help raise response rate, too.
Messaging: Keep text messages focused on one point or question.
Here are a few examples:
“Hey Linda. I came across your profile on LinkedIn and thought you might like this eBook about finding travel nursing assignments: tinyurl.com/travelnurse.”
“Hi John, this is Barb from Agency XYZ. Is Tuesday at 2 a good time to talk about your upcoming interview?”
How top recruiters use text messaging
When you’re starting your team out on a texting strategy, it may be unclear what situations are best for text. Here are some great uses for text messaging — from first touch to next assignment.
Nurture leads
No matter where talent is in the pipeline, texting is a great way to stay at top of mind. If a database contact has been inactive for a while, a quick text to see if they’re interested in work can be mean the difference between a hot and cold lead.
Texting can be used to encourage leads to stop by, too – you’d be surprised at how enticing a face-to-face offer can be to someone who’s searching for work.
Share valuable information
When using texting for lead nurturing, it’s critical to add value to messages. Send a link to a free webinar, invitation to a networking event, or interesting articles relevant to their industry.
Schedule appointments
Even with so many things going online, it’s still important to have calls with current and prospective clients. Setting up an appointment via text can eliminate the oh-so-frustrating game of phone tag that plagues many recruiters.
Answer quick questions
Text messaging can be a great way to ask and answer quick questions with clients or schedule meetings.
A smartphone screen isn’t a great place to have lengthy conversations about career aspirations or the meaning of life, but it’s a great place to ask, “Hey Brett, haven’t heard from you in a while. How’s are you liking your new assignment?”
Send reminders about contract expirations
Upcoming contract expirations are golden opportunities for recruiters to keep in touch with clients. For example, sending a personalized messages a month or so before the end of a contract lets your employees know you value their work. This can be the difference between a repeat contract and a lost candidate.
Ask for referrals
Great recruiters know the value of a referral is unmatched. Texting is a casual way of making a request. It’s not uncommon to get one or two referrals from one simple text.
Ready to learn more about texting for staffing and recruiting? Check out TextUs’ Text Messaging Templates for Staffing and Recruiting.
