Calling All Advertising Agencies: Have You Developed Your Exit Strategy From Print Yet?

A good friend of mine has sold magazine and newspaper ads for the past 10 years. I remember asking him about 5 years ago how his business was faring. Without hesitating he said “My phone rings so much I have to take it off the hook by Wednesday.” Add to that the bloated rates they were charging (and had no problem getting by the way), and the life of an ad salesman was good. Flash forward to last week, I am sitting down with the same friend over beers after work, and I asked him the same question. His answer: “They just fired 35% of my department with more cuts coming, and at this point my clients are making up their own prices.” Yikes. I guess this round is on me.

Print is dying. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the recruitment advertising industry. Clients are spending less and less on print to attract talent because it’s not adding the same value it used to. Candidates are not reading newspaper or trade journal ads anymore because it’s not convenient for them.

So why should adverting agencies be on red alert? Because the dollars that were previously allocated to print will disappear from your clients’ budgets if you don’t act now and develop an exit strategy. And the best way to replace print is with a much more cutting-edge approach (e.g. relationship marketing, social media etc…). There is no doubt that these will soon be the dominant ways that employers find, hire, and retain talent. The recruitment advertising agencies that saw this coming last year are doing well despite the sluggish economy, and they will be the only ones left standing when the dust settles.

The problem isn't the MARKET, it's the TACTICS

I speak to hospital/healthcare recruiters every day who say the same thing: "I am not getting any response to my recruiting efforts (e.g. advertisements, resume mining) so I guess there just aren't any local candidates in my market..." This is very flawed thinking. Let's take registered nurses as an example. Most people don't realize that there are almost 3 million registered nurses in the United States, and major metro areas have anywhere from 15,000 - 50,000 registered nurses all residing within a commutable distance. So how is it possible that a healthcare recruiter could think that there are not any local candidates to source from? And with such an enormous pool to source from, why does it take so long to fill open positions? As the title of this discussion states: The problem isn't the MARKET, it's the TACTICS. If you're sourcing from a pool of potential nurses that literally has thousands of candidates in it, then you need to find a way to communicate with EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. Most recruiters rely on placing advertisements or scouring resume databases, which, in healthcare, may only reach 2% of the total population of nurses in your market. It's no wonder you're not getting any response, considering that you are fighting over the same 2% of job-seekers that every other healthcare employer/recruiter is going after! You need to change your tactics. Be proactive in reaching the other 98% of the candidate pool that is not looking for a career opportunity. Even though they are not looking, they are still very receptive to learning about career opportunities.