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In preparation for our recent Lunch with Haley webinar on Lead Generation for Staffing Firms, I came across an interesting blog post from Staffing Industry Analysts: Selling in the Age of VMS (you may need to register to view this link).  The blog post was about the rapid growth of Vendor Management Systems and the impact on staffing sales, but buried in the article was this amazing, and somewhat frightening statistic:

“Our benchmarking data indicates staffing firms typically spend just 0.6% of revenue on marketing and advertising, only a third of what they spend even on rent.” 

The blog post continued to provide the following advice:

“And it shows–at least if worker brand recognition means anything.  Our survey data indicates that among a sample of mostly contingent workers, more thought Robert Half to be a fictional brand than a real one, and 56% thought Aerotek to be either a machine tool manufacturer or a software developer; even well-known Manpower was perceived by 17% to be either a construction company or a machine-tool manufacturer.  Occasional staffing buyers are not likely to know much more about staffing firms than occasional contingent workers would.  For anyone selling to the smaller buyer, a little more advertising might be justified.”

Pretty scary stuff, isn’t it? Candidates and smaller employers can’t even identify some of the biggest names in the industry, yet few staffing firms are doing anything to make a name for themselves. Well, it’s not scary at all…it’s actually an amazing opportunity for those firms willing to shift a little of their capital from traditional direct selling to marketing.

So how much should you spend on marketing?

While there is no right answer, and with margins as tight as they currently are, I would not recommend throwing out your current budget in favor of a massive investment in marketing, but a budget of as low as 1% of sales can deliver a significant impact in the following areas:

• Improving sales call to appointment ratios
• Improving conversion percentages
• Reaching higher level staffing decision makers to sell more strategic solutions
• Increasing (dramatically) the number of inbound sales leads
• Providing sales people with “ammunition” for more effective calls
• Reducing recruiting costs
• Reducing sales costs as a percent of total sales

Your challenge is to have the courage to allocate more than the average staffing firm to marketing, and then determine how to best use the investment to reach the decision makers you want to target. The first part is up to you. And for the second part, here are a few resources to help you plan your marketing:

1. Marketing Best Practices Guide
2. Articles on marketing strategy and tactics for your staffing firm 
3. More articles about how to market your staffing firm

Good luck, and if you need more hekp, please call us at 1.888.696.2900.

PSG Global Executive Forum Ad
As an exhibitor at the 2010 Staffing Industry Executive Forum, PSG needed an ad created for use in the event’s program book. Incorporating imagery and the look and feel from their brochure and tradeshow display, Haley Marketing was able to produce an eye-catching ad, on a tight-deadline.

Haley Marketing is proud to be a sponsor at the 2010 Staffing Industry Executive Forum being held March 17-19, 2010, in Las Vegas, NV.  The Staffing Industry Executive Forum is the most prominent annual meeting for CEOs, owners, and senior level executives from all sectors and segments of the staffing industry. Typically comprised of over 55% CEOs/owners and 90% VPs and above, the Executive Forum provides access to the top industry thinkers, leaders, and innovators, a focus on the staffing industry’s strategic issues, developing trends, future opportunities, and current challenges, and an unparalleled opportunity for informal, peer networking as well as more formal deal-making.  For more information visit: 2010 Staffing Industry Executive Forum.

Haley Marketing’s Brad Smith to Moderate Round Table Discussion

Haley Marketing’s Director of SEO and Social Media Marketing, Brad Smith, has been invited to moderate a Round Table Discussion focused on innovative ways to recruit top-tier talent.  The discussion will cover both the pros and cons of traditional recruiting techniques as well as dig deeper into ways recruiters are using social networks, PPC and web 2.0 technology to reach passive candidates.  The round table discussions will be held on Tuesday, March 16th from 3:30-5:30 PM.

Join Us At the Forum or After!

If attending the Executive Forum, please stop by our exhibit and join us for the Round Table discussion.  And, if you’re unable to attend by sure to sign up for our next Lunch with Haley webinar where will share all the lessons and insights learned at this year’s Forum.

I’m a big fan of Seth Godin as both an author and a marketer. As a subscriber to his blog feed, each day I receive a great tip, article, piece of advice–and occasionally an offer or direct promotion. Today, I received a direct promotion for his newest book titled Linchpin. In this email promotion he’s not necessarily trying sell you his book.  Instead, he’s trying to recruit you to sell his book for him!

He is leveraging the power of social networks and influencers.  Over time–and through a lot of hard work–he has built a loyal following.  So now, instead of being one man trying to sell a book, he’s asking his readers to become evangelists and “Spread the Word” for him.  Click on the link below to see the email I’m referring to and a great example of how to leverage your network to “Spread the Word”.  It sure worked on me!

Read the rest of this entry »

As a start-up, Cooper May was looking for a cost-effective way to produce a new website. With our Value Website Package, Haley Marketing is able to offer a great solution that also allows Cooper May the ability to update their website content and post jobs through a Content Management System.   

http://www.coopermay.com/

Q: Where is the best place to buy an email list?

A: Great question!

As the Director of Marketing Education here at Haley Marketing, I speak with hundreds of staffing company owners and executives on an annual basis. One of the questions I frequently get asked is “Do you know of a good place to buy email lists?”

If you’ve ever done any direct marketing in your career, you’ve probably purchased a prospect list at one time or another. And what kind of results did you get? More often than not, purchased lists provide low quality prospects. The people don’t know you, aren’t qualified, and are not actively interested in purchasing your services. And that’s assuming the contact information is even accurate!

Read the rest of this entry »

Just doing a little last minute research for our March 11 Lunch with Haley webinar: Leads! Leads! Leads! How to Get Prospects to Want to Talk to You, and I went back to read on of my favorite blogs and authors: Brian Carroll’s B2B Lead Generation Blog.

Brian blog’s is a weath of information on both lead generation and lead nurturing. And like Haley Marketing, he advocates a process of nurturing prospects, building relationships, demonstrating expertise, and positioning your firm as a trusted advisor. If you’ve never read Brian’s blog, here are a few EXCELLENT posts:

• Lead Generation Checklist Part 1: The Mindset: Conversations not Campaigns
  (I’d recommend you read all 8 parts in this series)
• What is and isn’t lead nurturing
• 8 Lead Nurturing Thoughts to Share

And if you’d like some of our thoughts on Lead Generation and Lead Nurturing specifically for staffing, check out these articles:

• Persistence over Pressure
• How to Make Your Staffing Firm Stand Out, Stay top-of-mind and Sell more.
• How to Sell Staffing with Nurturing

Last but not least, if you really want the full story on marketing for staffing, be sure to download our Marketing Best Practices Guide.

Here’s an amazing 4 minute video about the growth of social media. Watch this and then give us a call. Haley Marketing can help you with your staffing company’s social media strategy. Now’s the time!

Video credits go to Socialnomics! Social Media | Square One Indianapolis

With a focus on call center staffing, CallMe! Staffing turned to Haley Marketing to design a site that represented their niche market. Haley Marketing built a site that incorporates great features for employers and job seekers. Employers can easily submit job orders online and with the Haley Marketing Job Board, job seekers can search for available jobs and apply online.

The new site also features a blog which helps position CallMe! Staffing as a resource in the call center industry.

Additionally, Haley Marketing developed a complete Search Engine Optimization strategy focused on drawing more traffic from Employers and Job Seekers in the call center, collections and telemarketing industries.

http://www.callmestaffing.com/

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