Healthcare employment was once considered immune to economic downturns, but the pandemic blew a hole in that theory.

Between April 2019 and April 2020, health employment dropped by a whopping 8.2%. And while health employment numbers have rebounded, they remain 3.9% below pre-pandemic projections.

All of which means healthcare recruiting campaigns are more important than ever, and those built on smart marketing strategies get results.

But wait, you might say, our marketing plan is for patients, not job seekers. If you’re looking to fill positions, recognize that your marketing reaches both audiences and needs to appeal to both.

Employer Brand: Do You Appeal to Candidates?

The first thing you can do to help your employment recruiting efforts is auditing your brand’s digital presence and refine it as needed. What you say and show online about your values, mission and work culture need to be in alignment and clearly communicated.

Start by auditing your website, digital media (paid and organic), LinkedIn and online job listings for what you’re communicating about your employer brand. Do these things clearly illustrate the benefits of not just your patient care, but also your work experience?

Keep in mind: Words AND images are your communication methods. It’s not enough to say you’re a great place to work. Let images and video show how.

Quality candidates want to provide quality patient care. Showing how your healthcare organization provides a top-notch care experience could be the factor that persuades a candidate to apply.

Online Discoverability Matters for Healthcare Recruiting

In today’s labor market, a strong digital presence is a must for attracting and hiring quality talent. Job seekers must be able to find you online.

A study by LinkedIn found that:

• The No. 1 obstacle in a candidate’s job search is not knowing what it’s like to work at an organization.
• So, before applying, 52% of candidates first search for a company’s website and social media to learn about the company.

Another study by Glassdoor goes a step further. It found that:

• 68% of millennials, 54% of Gen Xers and 48% of baby boomers look up an employer’s social media to evaluate the employer brand.
• And 86% of job seekers research company reviews and ratings to help decide where to apply.

Consider SEO efforts, too. Up-to-date digital business directories, career webpages and healthcare recruiting digital ads — all optimized for search — will help candidates find you.

Get Your Employees Involved

Also interesting in the Glassdoor study is that employee voices were found to be 3X more credible than a CEO’s when talking about working conditions in the organization.

So including employees’ faces and voices in your digital marketing tactics can make a significant difference for healthcare recruiting.

Your employees can be the best advocates for your organization, so make recruiting a regular part of your internal communications strategy. For example, provide packaged social posts about job openings that employees can share across their personal social media or create an incentive program for referrals.

Regular internal communications support employee retention, too.

For more insights on the intersection of marketing and employment recruiting, listen to the AMPERAGE podcast “The Whole World is Short-Staffed.”

AMPERAGE’s healthcare marketing strategists in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin can help you chart this course. And for more tips and insights, sign up for our newsletter.