Learn more about how to execute a successful recruitment events strategy via our guide, "100 Events & How to Do Them."
As the school year rapidly approaches, recruiters are faced with a new challenge: creating and promoting a series of exclusively virtual events. While many companies would normally be planning their coffee chats, info sessions, and career fair booths around this time of year, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced most fall recruitment activities online. The good news is that the majority of students are still very likely to attend virtual events. The bad news is that it may be harder to reach these students, since on-campus marketing is no longer an option.
To find out more about how students typically learn about recruitment events, RippleMatch conducted a survey of current college students, especially rising seniors who would be seeking full-time employment during this academic year. Based on this research and other best practices for marketing virtual events, here are RippleMatch’s top tips to drive attendance at virtual events.
Make virtual events visible where prospective candidates are likely to seek information about your company – on the careers page of your website. RippleMatch data shows that 85% of candidates visit a company’s website when conducting research for their job search. By listing your virtual events alongside information about internships and entry-level opportunities, you’ll get in front of the prospective candidates who are already showing interest in your company.
Even though many universities will not be meeting on campus this fall, students will still be in communication with career services. According to the RippleMatch survey, 58% of students hear about events from their college’s career center. Maintain those connections with career services so that you can promote your events in their email newsletters or on their website.
Equally as influential as college career centers are student organizations. Our survey found that 57% of students hear about events from campus organizations. Get in contact with your campus partners and find out how you can get the word out about your event to their members. You might also consider hosting co-branded events, such as an employee panel moderated by the club’s president.
It pays for recruiters to be proactive in their sourcing, and LinkedIn is a great channel to do that. In fact, half of students in the survey indicated that they learn about events from LinkedIn. You can search for students at your target universities or with the relevant educational background, and send them a personalized invitation to your upcoming events. If your event isn’t school-specific, it can also be a good idea to post your event on your company page and run an ad targeting your specific audience. Since a virtual event is not limited by location, this is the perfect opportunity to expand your marketing and reach to a broader audience.
In addition, 38% of survey respondents say they learn about events from other forms of social media like Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat. A quick win is to post a registration link for your events on these social media channels, especially if you have any specific platforms tailored to early-career candidates. Not sure how best to tailor your messaging per channel? Review our post on online platforms to promote your company to Gen Z.
In addition to traditional channels like LinkedIn and career services, consider evaluating university recruitment platforms that can help with events marketing and management. RippleMatch, for example, offers an events solution that helps you market your event to college students at over 1200 universities, manage attendees, analyze ROI, and direct the right attendees to job openings. Request a demo to learn more about the solution here.
It’s likely that your company already has an email list for prospective candidates who have opted in to receive information about events or open positions. Now is the time to use it! Send an email blast to these subscribers at the beginning of the school year with your virtual recruitment events planned for fall, and then send reminder emails and RSVP links prior to each event. To encourage more students to join your mailing list, create a sign-up link on your website and social media profiles.
While your company is probably planning recruitment events of its own, there’s also strength in numbers. Contact the career centers at your target universities to see if they are hosting large-scale (or small-scale) virtual events that you can participate in, like a virtual career fair or a panel discussion. If your company is part of a larger industry network, participating in any of the events that the network hosts is another great option to build awareness among prospective candidates. From there, you’ll be able to generate more interest and collect contact information from interested students, which you can then use to promote your own events.
The RippleMatch survey shows that the main reason why some students hesitate to attend virtual recruitment events is because they fear that online events will not be effective for making personalized connections. But this isn’t necessarily true! It’s important for recruiters to emphasize in their marketing that virtual events can offer similar levels of personalization, even if it’s behind a computer screen. Targeted LinkedIn outreach and personalized email messages (“Dear John” rather than “Dear Student”) are a few tactics that show students that you care about them specifically.
While your company may not be posting event flyers in academic buildings or setting up a table in the student union this year, there are still plenty of marketing strategies to implement for your virtual events. Interested in learning more about how to plan virtual recruitment this fall (and beyond)? Download our white paper Fall 2020 Recruitment Playbook: Crafting an Effective University Recruitment Strategy Amid Uncertainty.