Independence Inspired 3rd Quarter Priorities for Your Staffing Agency

By Jeff Pelliccio

While the staffing industry has its share of ups and downs, the seasonal and cyclical nature creates a lot of predictability for quarterly prioritization. That said, July 4^th has traditionally served as a reminder for me to do some housekeeping regarding the business elements impacted by marketing. And while this list can quickly go wide, I’ll be keeping it narrow to focus on the areas with the most significant amount of impact.

Below you find the 5 areas I focus on this time of year to validate the in-department and inter-department performance of marketing at a staffing agency.

 

Review SEO and Lead Generation Performance

Ordinarily, SEO and Lead Generation would be measured over time and reviewed quarterly. This time of year is an excellent opportunity to dig a bit deeper and evaluate the performance of each area as it relates to the output. If something hasn’t performed as intended, you still have time to change the outcome by the end of the year.

From an SEO perspective, understanding the basics can help level your game to get Googleable and SEO like a PRO at your staffing agency. Using what you know about technical SEO, On-page SEO, Off-page SEO, and White Hat SEO best practices will provide clarity around:

• Domain Authority
• Website Performance
• Keyword Rank and Trends
• Page Errors
• Toxic Backlinks

And while this list can get even more granular, monitoring and managing these 5 areas can drastically improve the visibility and performance of the static and regularly published content on your website. And when content is further optimized correctly, this will also impact your conversions and subsequently influenced revenue.

If you’re not currently using a tool to evaluate your SEO, here’s a quick and free audit tool that will give you a high-level overview of the first 25-pages of your site.

Regarding Lead Generation, you’ll want to ensure that your staffing agency’s journey mapping and prescribed process provide the intended experience. This means you’ll want to start your evaluation at the top of the funnel and work toward the end.

• Complete Client and Candidate Funnel Review
• Conversion evaluation from MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead) to SQL (Sales Qualified Lead)
• SQL Conversion Performance Review
• Influenced Revenue Trends

PRO-Tip: for the areas of the evaluation that require web forms to be tested, entering anonymous information will also allow you to provide real-time feedback to the leadership team regarding adherence to the proprietary process at your staffing agency.

 

Check-in on Enablement Resource Needs

Sales and Recruiting teams have had 6-months to work their pipeline, find new prospects, adapt to shifting market conditions, and respond to changing initiatives at your staffing agency. With all those conversations happening, the available resources may likely run a bit light on delivery in their active discussions.

Set up a time to meet with department managers and senior representatives of the sales and recruiting teams to ensure those assets in circulation are still accurate and working. This is also a great time to inquire about tools they’ve encountered during their interactions that could be of value to the team. Once you’ve collected all this data,

• Meet with the leadership team to discuss your findings
• Verify any changes to process, tone, and brand that may be relevant
• Prioritize project scope (in the event of an extensive list of requests)

 

Database Maintenance and Hygiene Activities

Now the argument can be made that database hygiene is something that should be consistently maintained throughout the year. Still, the reality is that sometimes things fall out of priority in the normal course of business. For this reason, mid-year maintenance is essential to ensure that the organization as a whole is using the tools in your tech-stack similarly and automation stays accurate.

All that said, database management is a team sport, but to create tasking from a marketing perspective, we want to inspect what we expect.

• Review smart lists to ensure segmentation parameters still apply
• Sample automation data from your database to ensure messaging and journey touch-points accuracy
• Build short campaigns to re-engage with the database and update profile data

 

Automation Assessment

Similar to our lead generation evaluation, this will focus more heavily on automation technology. Review the touchpoints, messaging, performance, and engagement to ensure candidates and clients are experiencing a high-touch, motivational and transparent environment. Educated prospects (clients and candidates) will convert faster, be happy longer, reduce churn, and provide referrals. Be sure to make this a hands-on test to verify trigger points, response times, and contextual alignment. Here you’ll want to test:

• Tech Stack Connectivity
• Candidate Applications
• Candidate Portal and Profile Options
• Client Form Fills
• Calendar Scheduling Connectivity

 

Support Changing Corporate Initiatives

If preparedness is the key to success, then this is likely the most important of the 5 areas. Business needs and market conditions are ever-evolving. And sitting in the role of staffing agency marketer (even CMO) doesn’t ensure complete transparency to changes on the front-line. Empowered with all the incredible knowledge curated in the other 4 areas, you’re now equipped to discuss current performance, known gaps, and special requests from the front-line. The only area left is the shifting needs of the organization.

Rally your leadership team for your last objective.

• Share the insights you’ve learned
• Discuss your prescription for the next 6-months
• Review adjustments in priorities from the leadership level
• Prioritize efforts (especially in the cases of limited bandwidth)

 

I know this might seem like a lot, but it becomes pretty manageable when put into a regular quarterly cadence. In this instance, perhaps a fresh perspective is all you need, and while I can’t give away free marketing delivery, I can offer you my time to discuss initiatives at your staffing firm.

I welcome you to block out time on my calendar here that’s convenient for you, and we’ll have a chat! Together I’m sure we’ll find a few gems to overcome the obstacles you’re facing and help you drive the second part of 2022.

Keep your finger on the pulse and join one of our weekly LinkedIn Live sessions! Announcements are provided on our LinkedIn Profile page and All Things Staffing group page.

Jeff Pelliccio

Founder | CEO – Allied Insight

 

Allied Insight is a full-stack marketing agency that integrates your entire digital strategy into your business ecosystem and tech stack. Founded on the principles of Accessibility, Impact, and Development, we support the entire marketing infrastructure to help staffing firms elevate their brands, Scale their businesses, and learn the benefits of leveraging marketing best practices.

Aligning with your corporate initiatives, we develop a marketing strategy that’s inspired by brand and managed by data. Tracking performance from the top of the funnel to the bottom, our team provides transparency to the marketing we deliver and the conversions it creates. As a partner in scaling your staffing business, we act as an extension of your executive team and invest in your success beyond the marketing we deliver.