The COVID-19 pandemic significantly changed how companies recruit candidates. One of the biggest takeaways was the realization that much of the hiring process can be performed virtually — reducing time to hire while placing greater pressure on hiring managers to move quickly and decisively. As a result, many recruiters continue to prioritize virtual interviews as the first, and sometimes only, step in the interview process.
The pandemic didn’t just change where hiring happens — it changed how quickly and strategically organizations must connect with candidates.
As we’ve shared in a past blog, digital marketing is now a critical part of the recruitment process — yet it’s often overlooked, misunderstood, or underserved. Job marketing and promotion require a thoughtful mix of strategies, channels, and formats. It’s complex, but necessary.
We like to call it a marketing mix.
According to the Pew Research Center, 85% of Americans are online daily, making digital channels like job boards and social media more important than ever. To successfully attract today’s candidates, organizations must invest in a strong, intentional digital recruitment strategy.
Here are a few ways to build a solid digital recruitment marketing process:
So, what is a candidate persona?
In talent acquisition, a candidate persona is a fictional profile that represents your ideal hire — the type of person you’re trying to attract, not just the role you’re trying to fill.
Most organizations don’t need a unique persona for every single job. In fact, one well-built persona can often apply across multiple roles with similar skill sets, motivations, or career goals.
Building a candidate persona requires a mix of:
Research and data analysis
Interviews and surveys
Insights from hiring managers and recruiters
The outcome is a shared, digital snapshot of your ideal candidate — one that keeps everyone aligned throughout the hiring process.
Great hires aren’t just about checking boxes on a job description. Candidate personas help you look beyond surface-level requirements and focus on fit, motivation, and culture alignment.
To attract the right people, you need to understand:
Who they are
What they care about
Where they spend their time
Once you know that, you can meet them where they already are.
Candidate personas don’t just guide sourcing — they improve the entire hiring journey, including:
Interviewing: Enables more tailored, conversational interviews instead of generic questionnaires
Marketing: Supports targeted job ads and messaging based on real candidate attributes
Career pathing: Helps align roles with motivators and expectations, improving long-term retention
To make this easier, we created a Candidate Persona Canvas that captures the most critical details you should understand before moving forward with recruitment.
Taking the time to define this upfront can save you time, reduce misalignment, and help you avoid a costly bad hire.
When a job opens up in your company, the first thing to do is to share that with the world! There are many steps to creating a friendly and robust SEO job post so that we will share a brief overview with you:
When determining the best ways to invest your budget, job sites are just the beginning— diversify your marketing and add more tools to your marketing mix! One of the most essential lessons in recruitment is learning that marketing is all about experimentation. Try different mediums to attract applicants, and utilize photography and graphics to promote your openings online. There are so many ways to find the best marketing mix for your company!
Some of the mediums that can help attract applicants are:
The joy of a marketing mix is that there are so many combinations you can mess around with to find what works best for your company. Don't be afraid to try new things across each medium to find what works best for the company and applicants alike!
These are only a few of the significant steps you can take to create a solid digital recruitment strategy. As digital recruitment strategies become more and more prominent across the workforce post-pandemic, ensuring that your company has a robust system in place is crucial to your hiring process.
Looking for tips on how to improve your digital recruitment process? Download our latest eBook, The World-Class Recruitment Guide, for everything you need to know.