Advertising Energy Blog

Where is your next job hiding?

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:03:00 GMT

Recruiting software company Bullhorn, recently completed an online survey of 35,000 people to assess how Australian recruiters use social media channels to source candidates.

The results are fascinating to say the least! The recruiters in certain industries seem to favour one channel over the other (Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter) while potential candidates are three times more likely to apply for positions via Twitter than by using a LinkedIn connection.

"It's important for recruiters to know which social media platforms are most effective and focus their attention on networks that will bring success," says Ben Fuller, sales director for Bullhorn Australia-Pacific.

We couldn't agree more! Read the full article here.

Ad Energy awarded Certified Partner with Google

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 04:50:00 GMT

We’re thrilled to announce that we have successfully completed Google’s Certification Program and are now an Adwords Certified Partner!

With an Adwords Qualified Individual on our team and having achieved 90 days of continual spend, billing more than US$10,000 through Adwords, Advertising Energy have been awarded Certified Partner status. This means Google formally recognises our expertise and experience in the SEO space and invites us to tell the world that we are a trusted Adwords reseller.

Beyond a snazzy little logo badge and profile listing in Google’s Partner Search, we also receive invites to exclusive Google events detailing advances and new products as well as increased support from Google.

What this means for our clients is confidence in knowing that we’ll deliver superior advice and results for your search engine marketing campaigns.

As part of the Individual Qualification, our Adwords guru chose to specialise in Reporting and Analysis. While it was the most difficult exam, it means our insights and optimisation techniques will serve you that much better.

So the next time you’re thinking of taking advantage of digital’s broad reach and low cost, give us a call and we’ll work with you to achieve improved returns on your marketing investment.

Now, if only Facebook had an accreditation program…

Wikipedia Blackout

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 05:39:00 GMT

Imagine a world without free knowledge...

The U.S. Congress is currently considering legislation that could damage the free and open internet. This could potentially affect the job creation and recruitment space. For 24 hours, to raise awareness, Wikipedia is undertaking a global blackout... Why not have your say?

Great insights to get the best and brightest employees

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:26:00 GMT

Drive: The Surprising Truth about what Motivates us

Some interesting research conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology presented by Daniel Pink with animation.

Daniel Pink is the author of four provocative books about the changing world of work including several New York Times #1 bestsellers including "A Whole New Mind" and "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us"

Take the time to see this if you haven't already - it provides some great insights...

Drive: The Surprising Truth about what Motivates us

Generation Y is here.

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 01:03:00 GMT

David Storey is Account Director at Advertising Energy, an employer brand and advertising agency based in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.

Far from generalising about the ‘neediness’ of this new breed of employee, smart companies are beginning to think differently about attracting, engaging, and retaining the people that will one day become their company’s leaders.

And you may be surprised by some of the strategies and techniques that are proving successful…

Engaging Gen Ys Using Your Website

A recent survey by Talentsmoothie (UK) asked 2,500 Gen Yer’s about the most effective communication tool for them when they were looking for a job: 75% said it was the company’s website that was the most important medium throughout the recruitment process. So what does your website say about your company and how effectively are you using this medium?

If your potential candidates are looking at your ‘Employment’ page and finding a few paragraphs about the company environment and a link to enquire about positions, you may be missing a major opportunity to engage potential candidates with your employer brand; an important first step in filtering those candidates whose strengths and characteristics are aligned with your company’s values. Are you giving real examples of people within the organization and asking potential candidates to tell you about their strengths and interests to match with a job description?

Using Social Media In Context

Generation Y has been raised on the internet, and are tech savvy. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they want to be solicited ad nauseam on social media sites that they consider to be part of their ‘private’ lives. The Talentsmoothie research findings went on to say that just one in ten respondents considered social media to be the best form of communication with a potential employer. The use of social media, then, must be used in context, and is best harnessed using the power of recommendation from peers.

Retaining Gen Y – What They Expect

Interestingly, Gen Y also reported that they valued face-to-face interviews, mentors, and opportunities for development. This group is used to staying connected with family and friends through the internet and expects the same from employers.

Here are some other findings about what is important for Gen Ys in choosing and staying with an employer:

Work-life balance

Work that is meaningful

Good leadership

Continuous feedback

Ability to contribute and share ideas (this generation has grown accustomed to sharing everything through social media!)

Final Thoughts

It’s important to remember that the digital tools we have at our disposal today must be used effectively and in context, otherwise you risk looking like you’re eavesdropping in people’s personal life to sell them something (even if it is a job).

In the end, it’s about finding the right way to use digital media with an agency that has firm experience getting results for recruiters in this ever-changing online media landscape.

Source:

Generation Y: The new generation of employees – who they are, what they want and how they should be managed. Circulated: e Financial Careers. Accessed June 2011.

Libby Malcolm is a Senior Digital Producer
with Advertising Energy.

Google's +1 button: Humans can rank content better than Google?

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:43:00 GMT

Libby Malcolm is a Senior Digital Producer
with Advertising Energy.

So, let me get this straight: with all those very clever employees at Google, their latest tool “+1″ is designed to rank content better than Google’s algorithms do today. And the intelligence they are using for this tool is… people?

Well, I'll be.

Google's partners have leaked that the Google +1 Button for publisher websites will be launched today.

We understand that the "+1" button allows users to vote for content similarly to Facebook's "Like" feature - only this is "Liking" on steroids because the popularity of your page relates directly to how your page is ranked on Google.

Whether today's announcement is that +1 is part of a suite of Addthis tools or a stand alone button is yet to be understood.

We do know it is planned as a button on the Chrome tool bar thanks to an ad that Google ran accidentally previewing this feature on the Toolbar back on 4 May.

Either way, it begs the question: Will we see '+1 This to Win!' promotions all over the web from tomorrow? Urgh! I shudder at the thought. That would surely skew Google's organic results and reduce user trust in the Google algorithms. That said, the sites that are this unimaginative in their approach are unlikely to be "+1ed" (did I just create a new word?) just as 'Like us on Facebook to win!' is synonymous for Social kitch.

So tell me, will you be swapping your Like button for Google's +1 Button ? I will.

I have to say loving the challenge this provides for content creators. Your content is going to have to be outstanding to compete. And so it should be.

Two Key Employment Branding Tips for Success

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 04:36:00 GMT

Craig McConnell is Managing Director of Advertising Energy, an employer brand and advertising agency based in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.

With 2011 off to a rough start many organisations are finding themselves entering a tight recruitment market. Quality talent is hard to attract and companies are focusing more and more on refining their Employee Brand Proposition (EVP) in order to be more competitive.

But what are the traps to avoid? For many, Employer Branding is a new area, a sort of HR/Marketing hybrid. There are few agencies with this hybrid skill-set so make sure you avoid the usual mistakes with these two nuggets of wisdom:

1. Avoid an Employer Brand Workshop Bubble

I have been quoted as saying to my clients ‘50% of employer branding is to make sure everyone is on board’.

It takes a mature and confident client and agency to recognise the truth in feedback and to re-set accordingly.

Things can come apart when deadlines are looming, months of hard work have been spent and your EVP is finally approved. In a flurry of agency activity, collateral is generated, recruitment advertising gets a makeover and Bang! There you have a sparkly-new Employer Brand.

Only, not everyone has bought in, all of a sudden staff have a new look and sometimes it just doesn’t resonate.

Employer Branding is more internally collaborative than pure brand work and you have to be prepared to be agile in your approach.

Advertising Energy's Creative Director, Simon Druery
listens to staff feedback on an EVP photo and film shoot.

For Bankwest, we are in the process of introducing a new Employer Brand. The team loved the process of taking it organisationally wide from the outset uncovering real experiences and observing the business from a macro and micro perspective. But more importantly, we uncovered additional feedback that had we not done this important buy-in work, we could have missed.

2. Harness your Marketing Colleagues' Expertise

Recruitment branding should be viewed as an extension of marketing and have clear strategies to market the brand to employees.

To succeed the three marketing pillars: Consumer Marketing, Corporate Communications and Employer Branding need to work together in synergy in order to get more powerful results.

In order to achieve this, don’t be afraid to engage your marketing team. They have skills that can bring your work to life. You will be speaking their language when you develop your employer brand and find a champion for your work internally.

Don’t forget you will have your own brand prejudices that you will have brought to the table. Your marketing team can help you see where the brand is positioned now in the market and where they are working on taking it. This is a vital ingredient to your Employer Brand strategy.

Coke's employer advertising echoed consumer brand style to imbue one voice.

The online recruitment advertising we did for Coke was an example of this kind of team work. The result was a campaign that leveraged recent print work, the brand is in tact and the integrity of the EVP kept in place. Moreover, it received high click through rates and achieved its recruitment objectives.

When you harness the skills around you, you will get great results.

Email: Craig@advertisingenergy.com.au