Candidate engagement is king right now in the staffing industry. And the chief among candidate engagement tools leading the conversation is texting.
In case you missed it, we’ve been publishing our fair share of content around texting lately. It’s important to us here on the Sense team that staffing firms are armed with powerful data and information about how texting can grow their businesses. And that they know what to do to get the best results.
That’s where this post comes in.
We’ve outlined why texting is important, and how you should be texting both candidates and clients. We’ve shared texting best practices, and have outlined why candidates don’t just tolerate you texting them, they want you to text them.
Once you’ve invested in the right text recruiting technology and have mastered the how-tos, it’s time to ramp up engagement so that you can maximize your texting ROI.
Try these tips:
Although spam legislation primarily refers to email spam, texting is also regulated by the FCC. Specifically, FCC rules prohibit sending unwanted text messages to cell phones using SMS technology.
What does that mean for your staffing firm? Get consent to text candidates and clients. Make it easy for them to opt out if desired. And when they do opt out, be sure not to text them again. Following these rules not only protects your staffing firm, it helps protect your candidate, contractor and client relationships.
With Sense Messaging, you’ll have access to copious amounts of data. Among the decisions and conclusions you can reach with this data is what times you’re most likely to get a response.
Consistently review your data, then use it to inform how and when you schedule messages in the future.
This is a simple tip that has a significant impact on your texting engagement rate. Sometimes depending on the message, your recipients may not realize that you are waiting for a response. The solution is to ask for one!
Sometimes, you may be sending texts that are information based. This can make it difficult to identify how to solicit a response. In these instances, it’s best to keep it simple. Here’s an example:
Hi [NAME], here are the directions to your interview tomorrow. Good luck! Can you text me and let me know that you received these OK?
Have you ever gotten a ridiculously long text from a friend or family member? Often times, those types of texts elicit a 🙄. Texting is meant to be a short and sweet communication method. If your text is much longer than a sentence or two, it may be better handled by an email, call, or whatever other communication method is preferred by the recipient.
In that case, it may make sense to send a short text to the effect of:
Hi [NAME], I received some feedback from [EMPLOYER]. It’s a bit long, so I sent it via email. Let me know once you’ve reviewed and we can connect to discuss.
This one could probably go unsaid, but it’s important to mention. If you want engagement...be engaging! Another way to put this is to remember the platform you’re using for communication. Texts are informative, yes, but they’re also short and often fun.
Don’t be afraid to show some personality. You’re a real person, and your texts should feel like they come from a real person, not an “entity.” That could mean using the occasional emoji.
Use links when they are absolutely necessary, but avoid going overboard. Texts with links are more likely to be tagged as spam by carriers.
Generic, templated messages are generic, templated messages regardless of platform. Be sure to choose a texting platform that allows you to personalize texts using custom merge tags. If you’re talking to people rather than at them, you’re much more likely to get a response.
I touched upon this earlier, but reviewing texting data will help you understand what’s working and what could be better. It can empower you to make better decisions and really maximize your ROI.
Choosing a platform that integrates seamlessly with your ATS and is built by staffing industry experts can profoundly impact the success of your texting strategy. At Sense, we’ve designed and built our platform specifically for the staffing industry. To see how Sense can help your staffing firm, schedule a demo today.
