How to Leverage Modern Marketing Techniques for Your Staffing Firm: Insights from Lauren Schuman of Pyramid Consulting Group
How can your staffing firm use innovative marketing methods to improve your relationships and increase exposure? I had the opportunity to talk with Lauren Schuman, Senior Director of Marketing and Innovation at Pyramid Consulting Group, on the subject as part of our Staffing Speaks Out conversation series. I spoke with Lauren about her unexpected path to working in the staffing industry as well as her insights on how firms can better use marketing. Read on or watch the interview below.
Katie Tierney [KT]: Tell me a little about your background and how you got into the staffing industry as a marketing professional.
Lauren Schuman [LS]: Actually I went to school for graphic design. And I worked for a couple fashion industry companies. I was a graphic designer for about three or four years. And then I decided I wanted to learn more about the business side of the industry.
I actually went back to school and got my Masters degree in fashion apparel studies. And I moved to New York City and worked for some fashion companies for a couple years within marketing.
When I was ready to move on, I reached out to Pyramid Consulting Group, my current employer, to help me find a new job. And they said, “Well actually, we’re hiring internally.”
So, it’s never an industry I had thought that I would be in. I knew nothing about staffing or recruiting, but I took the meeting, and just fell in love with the company and the leadership here.
[KT]: Wow, that’s so cool. So you were actually looking for a new job, you went to a staffing agency, and you ended up taking a job with them in the industry that you wanted to work in.
[LS]: Exactly.
[KT]: How cool is that? So, it seems like many staffing firms are rethinking the way that they go about winning business and finding and nurturing candidates. Why do you think that’s the case? And how are they going about it?
[LS]: Well for us, what we’re seeing is the rise of Millennials. And the way that they’re going about looking for jobs. Not only in the companies that they’re looking to work for, but in how they physically go and look for jobs.
So, we have to kind of rethink how we’re communicating with them. The way we’re rethinking it internally is investing in technologies for texting purposes. We are creating a lot more video contact, as well. So, that’s kind of how we approach it.
[KT]: Why is it so important for a firm to have a clear marketing strategy?
[LS]: By having a clear brand, a clear marketing strategy, and understanding what the company goals are, it makes it so much easier for your company to stay ahead. And to also understand your audience.
We see the statistics that 75 percent of the people that are applying to our jobs, are doing it on their phone. So imagine if we were losing all those candidates because there wasn’t an easy application process they could do on their phone. And you have to think about what the end-user is experiencing. And how to make it as easy as possible for them.
[KT]: Why do you think some firms have been slow to bring marketing leadership into the business and what are they really missing out on by not doing so?
[LS]: I think that there’s a little hesitation because it can be a budget that you don’t have to invest in marketing, and so I think that’s where people are like we need to hire more recruiters because they bring in the money. Or it’s sometimes marketing, it’s harder to see that money coming into your budget.
So I think that’s a major hesitation. But I think people are missing out because I wouldn’t know how to recruit somebody, but I can tell you all the things that we need to do on social media, or all the things that we need to do with our website. Or the relationships that I create with Linkedin and Indeed, making sure that our company brand is consistent everywhere that people see it.
It shows trust, when someone is looking up your company, either as a client or a candidate. They’re going to research you on Glassdoor and your Linkedin profile, and your website and your social media pages.
And if all of those are inconsistent, or messy, or don’t even look up to standards on current technology, why would you go to that person to put your career in their hands? Or to help you find someone to work at your company? I think it’s important for companies to invest in that technology to stay ahead often, and also just to expand your brand awareness.
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[KT]: What are some of the marketing tactics that you’re seeing firms use right now that in your opinion, just seem to be pretty outdated?
[LS]: Websites that aren’t mobility optimized, job descriptions that are way too long, I think it’s different if you are recruiting for a C-level, or executives—we need to include a lot of information. But if you’re recruiting for a junior accountant or a warehouse temp, I think you should keep it short. Get to the point. Someone’s not going to read 15 bullet-points about a job that maybe’s a one-day assignment.
Just know your audience. I think cold calling is kind of an outdated practice, as well. I think that, again, there are some industries where it still works, but for us, our people aren’t responding to that. They’re not listening to voicemails. They’re not picking up the phone for a number that they don’t know. And so I just think it’s easier to communicate with texting or on social media.
[KT]: I’d love to hear about your experience with Bullhorn. How is it helping you?
[LS]: I’ve been here almost five years, but I think we’ve been a Bullhorn customer over ten years. The saying in our office is we have to live in Bullhorn. So every step of the process has to be in Bullhorn.
Like I mentioned earlier, we’re a very transparent company, so we like to see all the activity of what our recruiters are doing, our client owners can see people that they’re sourcing, and it just makes life so much easier. For me, from the marketing perspective, if Bullhorn doesn’t do it, they have someone in the marketplace that does.
JXT did our website. TextUs is a great one, and for reporting we use cube19—so it’s all of these things that are great because if, in my opinion, if the tool doesn’t work with Bullhorn, or integrate with Bullhorn, I’m not interested in investing in it. Because everything at the end of the day comes back to Bullhorn.
[KT]: My last question for you. What do you love most about your job? And what do you love most about the staffing industry?
[LS]: I like that I can make an impact on somebody’s life. So, you know, searching for a job is not an easy thing, and I think that you wear a career, if you are unhappy in your job, it can affect really your whole life. If I’m able to create content or create a campaign that inspires someone to use our services, and that we can then give someone a job, that they love, I think it’s really rewarding.
Want more great insights from staffing experts, leaders, and innovators? Staffing Speaks Out is a new hub devoted to conversations with the best and brightest in the staffing and recruitment industry.
