2017 is quickly passing. You’re reflecting on how your staffing business performed the first half and what you can do to finish the last quarter at the top of your game. What areas need a final push to growth and improvement? Wouldn’t it be great if you could get a sneak peek at what your competition is doing? Then you’d know how to stay a step ahead of them. Thanks to a study done by LinkedIn, which surveyed more than 2000 staffing experts, you can know. Read a summary here, then access the full report at Business.LinkedIn.com.
First, some numbers. In 2017:
- 68% of staffing companies made plans to grow.
- 56% of staffing companies chose to hire more people.
- 79% of staffing companies increased their numbers of placed candidates.
Branding Yourself
Guess the best way to attract business. You got it—a strong brand. However, in spite of 82% believing that time and money spent on branding brings in new clients, only 34% of staffing companies want to invest more money in building their brand.
Time to stop and reconsider. You’re competing with other staffing companies for every client and candidate you find and retain. Creating a strong, recognizable, and trusted brand takes time and patience. But it’s necessary. Don’t skimp on this way to stand out. One of the top reasons clients come to you is because of your reputation, which is all part of your brand. So, what did the LinkedIn survey’s respondents say are the best ways to build your brand? Spend a lot of time on social media and professional networking sites:
- LinkedIn topped the list at 74%.
- “Third-party websites or online job boards” came in second at 55%.
- Facebook ranked 36%.
- Twitter was 18%.
- And last, offline marketing reached 14%.
Measuring Success
Your competition has benchmarks for success. How’s your business compared to theirs? You need to focus on a niche and place more candidates—you can’t service every industry out there. You’d better have amazing customer service that satisfies clients every time—this keeps them coming back to you again and again. And you have to be fast—83% of staffing companies make placements within two months. Don’t forget the success of your brand, either. 45% of the LinkedIn survey’s respondents measure brand success by how many hits their websites receive. Others (35%) track their “social media engagement.” And another 21% conduct questionnaires to find out how happy their customers are.
Looking Ahead
The LinkedIn report lists three big trends for the future: “social recruiting, candidate diversity, and screening automation” and adds that clients will be looking for sales, IT, and engineering candidates. Get active online, automate anything you can, and place faster. But remember this: Even with all the numbers and percentages and statistics, the staffing business is about relationships. You’ll meet clients and candidates both online and in person. Keep in touch with them and update them on the process. Expand your interview questions; candidates not only need the right skills and experience, but they also need to fit into the company culture.
And if you’re feeling a little overwhelmed right now, that’s okay. ASJ can help you build a strong brand, get going on social media, measure your success, and create a marketing plan as you move forward. Contact us today to stay ahead of the competition as your finish the third quarter and head into a resounding year-end.
