In today’s competitive talent landscape, you need innovative ways to attract and retain skilled construction workers. But if you’re already using social media and online job boards to fill your talent pipeline with qualified candidates, what’s the next step?
It’s simple: You need geofencing. By placing geofencing ads on construction sites, you’ll be able to target potential candidates with relevant ads based on their location. So, why should you incorporate geofencing ads into your recruitment strategy, and how can they help you reach the right people?
How Does Geofencing Work?
Before we dive into your newest advertising strategy, let’s define geofencing. Simply put, it’s a location-based marketing tool that uses GPS, RFID, WiFi, or cellular data to create a virtual boundary around a specific geographic area. Geofencing uses advanced technology to detect when a user enters or exits a predefined geographical area. Then, it sends targeted ads to their mobile devices.
If you’re not already using location-based ads to fuel your recruitment strategy, here’s your sign to start. After all, 97 percent of Americans now own a mobile phone—so it only makes sense to use phones as a channel for reaching job candidates. Geofencing ads offer wide-ranging benefits for recruiters, including:
- Precise targeting: With geofencing, you’ll be able to define specific areas (think: college campuses, job fairs, competitor locations, construction sites…). This precision targeting ensures your messages are delivered directly to potential job candidates in the right place at the right time.
- Increased engagement: When you potential candidates on their mobile devices within a designated geographic area, geofencing creates a personalized and timely interaction. This helps boost the likelihood of candidates engaging with the job opportunities being presented to them.
- Cost-effectiveness: Traditional advertising methods, like billboards and print media, can be expensive. They also lack the ability to target specific demographics. Meanwhile, geofencing optimizes your ad budget by focusing on a well-defined audience. This translates to reduced costs per impression and, ultimately, a higher return on investment.
- Real-time analytics: Geofencing platforms provide real-time data and analytics, so you can track the performance of your campaigns in real time. These platforms provide key metrics like click-through rates, conversion rates, and user interactions, helping you make data-driven decisions to make the most of your recruitment efforts.
- Higher application rates: Geofencing ads create personalized ad experiences for job candidates, which increases the likelihood of receiving applications from interested and qualified candidates. By targeting construction sites—which are likely full of passive, experienced job candidates—you’ll create a sense of immediacy and relevance, encouraging them to apply ASAP.
Targeting Construction Sites With Geofencing
Now that you’re familiar with geofencing, it’s time to start building your ad campaign. With the right strategy, geofencing ads not only enhance hiring efficiency; they also improve the overall candidate experience.
By leveraging the power of location-based targeting and real-time analytics, recruiters can attract, engage, and hire the right talent—all while gaining a key advantage over the competition. Here’s how to get started.
1. Define Your Marketing Goals
Just like any other recruitment campaign, you’ll need to determine the specific objectives of your geofencing campaign. Are you looking to attract skilled construction workers to fill a certain position? Are you trying to fill your talent pool with qualified job candidates? No matter what your recruitment goals look like, you’ll need to define them to guide your campaign in the right direction.
2. Know Your Target Audience
Here’s where your marketing goals come into play. Now that you know what you’re trying to accomplish, you’ll need to define your ideal job candidates. Think about their demographics, interests, job roles, and behaviors. Not sure where to start? Take a look at your top-performing construction workers. What positions did they hold in the past? What are their interests? Do they share common demographics?
If you have candidate data at your disposal, create candidate personas to segment your audience. The more granular you are, the more personalized you’ll be able to get with your ad messaging.
3. Choose Target Locations
Choose the construction sites and surrounding areas where you want to target potential job candidates. In addition to construction sites, think about other spots where construction workers might gather, such as industry events, trade schools, or competitor sites. This way, you’ll be able to create a powerful campaign that highlights your value proposition and piques their interest.
4. Research Geofencing Platforms
Next, it’s time to find a reliable geofencing service provider. Here, you should consider factors like ease of use, targeting capabilities, analytics, and cost to make the smartest choice for your marketing needs. Some platforms for location-based ads include Bluedot, Geofencing.com, and Simpli.fi. Google Ads also offers advanced geofencing features.
5. Set Geographic Parameters
Once you’ve chosen which locations to target, it’s time to create a geofencing radius around each site. The size of your geofence can vary based on the site’s size and your recruitment needs. For instance, you might choose a radius of 1–2 miles for a small residential project, or a larger radius of 3–4 miles for a commercial construction site.
6. Create Compelling Ad Content
No advertising campaign is complete without irresistible content. Consider your audience segments to create laser-targeted, ultra-relevant content for your ad campaign. Here, you’ll want to use high-quality images or videos to highlight your employer brand and set your company apart from the competition.
When crafting your ad copy, be sure to include a clear call to action (e.g., Apply Now, Visit Our Careers Page). Make sure the content is concise, informative, and directly relevant to the job opportunities you’re offering.
7. Design Targeted Career Landing Pages
Before you start serving ads, make sure you’re using relevant landing pages to captivate your audience. Here, it’s best to design different landing pages for different audience segments to maximize conversions.
Start by creating mobile-optimized landing pages where candidates directed from your ads can find detailed information about recent job openings, your company culture, unique benefits, and the application process. Make sure the landing pages have clear calls to action and are easy to navigate.
8. Monitor Results
Congratulations! It’s time to launch your ad campaign. Since most geofencing platforms provide real-time analytics, you’ll need to keep a close eye on your metrics. Set aside a few minutes each day to review metrics like click-through rates, conversion rates, and the number of applications submitted. In addition, analyze user behavior data to understand which locations and messages are driving the best results.
9. Optimize and Refine
Based on the analytics, make data-driven decisions to optimize your campaign and maximize your ROI. If you’re not sure where to start, try A/B testing different ad copies, images, or geofencing parameters to figure out what works best. From there, continuously refine your approach to attract and recruit qualified job candidates.
Attract Top Construction Workers With Geofencing Ads
Geofencing might seem complicated, but it’s easier than you might think. When you build a data-driven ad strategy and monitor your results, you’ll be able to effectively use geofencing tech to target potential job candidates on construction sites. This not only enhances your recruitment marketing strategy but also helps attract the right talent to build your dream team.
Ready to take your recruitment strategy to the next level? Our recruitment experts at Main Street Recruitment are here to help. Download our recruitment audit checklist and schedule a discovery call to make geofencing work for your organization.
