Thriving in 2025: My Top 5 Recruitment Marketing Tips For Change

At Force24, I speak to more marketers in the Recruitment space than probably any other sector. Looking back over the past few years, the progression in that space has changed more than probably any other sector. Over 150 marketing teams in industry now use our technology and teams; only a few years ago, that number was less than 10 – which says all we need to know about the evolution of brand in recruitment. We’ve seen and heard more recruitment leaders realising that the strategies that worked in the past are no longer enough for growth, with their marketing teams now forming, expanding or adapting. To thrive in 2025, recruitment marketers need to adapt to the evolving needs of their clients, candidates and, importantly, technology.

In this article, I’ve rounded up my top 5 tips for how recruitment marketing teams can better engage with their audiences. More of a visual learner? If so, skip to the video further down!

Tip 1: Recognise Your Real Competition

Your marketing messages aren’t just competing with other recruiters – they’re competing with the biggest global brands for attention. Social media giants, entertainment platforms, and other industries are capturing the same fragments of time and focus you’re vying for. We call this the attention economy, which I’ve written about recently – link to attention economy article

How to Adapt

Ensure your content quality is exceptional. It should be really be taking up 70% of your team’s time. Yet in reality, that number is probably closer to 20% due to outdated processes when it comes to execution and reporting. Repurposing outdated content, such as rebranding last year’s salary guide, won’t cut it anymore. Instead, clients and candidates expect fresh, valuable insights that reflect your expertise. Gather information from across your business to create unique content that addresses current trends, challenges, and opportunities. Sharing this knowledge in a timely and relevant manner will help you stand out in today’s crowded digital landscape.

Tip 2: Use Multiple Channels to Reach Your Audience

Your clients and candidates don’t live in just one communication channel. They divide their attention across platforms such as Instagram, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, email, SMS, and even physical mail. Brands that depend solely on one channel risk being ignored altogether, leaving their hard-fought content deserving more air time.

How to Adapt

Aim to develop a multi-channel marketing strategy. That isn’t a new idea, but we still see marketing teams fail to stretch that variety far enough. By being present across various touchpoints and channels, you increase your chances of capturing attention when and where your audience is active. However, consistency and relevance across these platforms are key. Your messaging must remain cohesive and tailored to each channel’s strengths and user expectations. For example, on your socials, make this more entertaining with the highest quality content your team is capable of – that’s what they’re there for in the first place.

Tip 3: Budgets aren’t what they used to be.

The days of needing big budgets to deliver big results are over. For most of us, that’s a great thing! Spending more on things like paid ads, SEO and marketing doesn’t guarantee better results. Platforms like LinkedIn and Google have algorithmic ceilings that limit how much reach you can buy, yet their cost-to-play is creeping up year on year (2025 will be no different). Instead, high-quality content that engages your audience is rewarded by these algorithms. Combine this with a focus on employee advocacy to get your consultants to share said content to their wider combined audience (link to anchor) and you could be onto a winner. 

How to Adapt

Focus your budget on creating compelling, valuable content. More isn’t usually merrier. When your content generates meaningful engagement, algorithms will prioritise it, whether it’s an organic LinkedIn post or an email campaign. Authenticity, relevance, and interactivity are what you should be aiming for. The better your audience responds to your content, the more visibility you’ll achieve, without needing to inflate your spending.

Tip 4: Empower Consultants by Centralising Marketing Tasks

In many recruitment businesses, consultants are still burdened with fairly simple but time-consuming marketing tasks like sending emails and interview confirmations. This inefficiency takes them away from their core responsibilities and reduces the effectiveness of both marketing and recruitment efforts. Recruitment CRMs have come a long way to help with the heavy lifting, but there is a lot more to be done with introducing an automation strategy.

How to Adapt

Shift transactional processes, such as sending candidate CVs or updates, to your marketing team. This centralised approach ensures marketing best practices are followed and allows consultants to focus on recruitment. By streamlining marketing operations, you also improve the accuracy and quality of your data – and probably your conversions due to swifter timing and no human error. A well-maintained CRM becomes a critical asset that supports automation and personalisation, giving your team a competitive edge.

Tip 5: Start Seeing Your Data Quality as a Core Business Asset

The quality of your data directly affects your business success. Inaccurate or poorly managed data limits the effectiveness of your campaigns and recruitment processes.

How to Adapt

By centralising marketing tasks and automating communications, you naturally increase the focus on maintaining high-quality data. Consultants who rely on CRM data for automated processes are more likely to ensure that it’s accurate and up to date. A robust CRM system filled with reliable data allows you to deliver targeted, personalised messages that resonate with both clients and candidates.

My Final Thoughts

We should all be aiming to make this the year we go beyond traditional tactics. That’s not exclusive to recruitment marketers. Competing for attention, leveraging multiple channels, investing in content quality, centralising marketing efforts, and improving data accuracy are what will contribute to wider success. By adopting these strategies, you’ll create stronger relationships with clients and candidates, build a more agile marketing operation, and drive better marketing results. I’d encourage readers of this to start testing some of these changes and outlooks, being afraid to fail along the way and backing yourself to put down some of the traditional performance metrics that could be holding you back. 

My own key theme for this year is ‘attention’. By that, I mean attention marketing and how important it is for us to see the bigger picture of the battlefield we’re all in. You can read more about that in one of my other latest articles.