Candidate Engagement: Increase The Quality Of Candidates In Pipeline Candidate Acquisition Process

Published on 5/23/2023 by Jimmy Hurff


In a world where talent shortage has become a growing concern for businesses, it is imperative to adopt innovative strategies to attract and retain top-quality candidates. In fact, recent statistics show that 77% of employers worldwide are experiencing difficulties filling job vacancies.(1) This staggering figure highlights the need for organizations to enhance their candidate acquisition process and ensure a steady influx of qualified individuals into their talent pipelines. 

One such approach gaining traction is the implementation of drip campaigns, a strategic and systematic method of engaging candidates throughout the recruitment process. By leveraging targeted and personalized communication, drip campaigns have proven to be highly effective in increasing the overall quality of candidates in the pipeline. 

To help you better understand the benefits and intricacies of implementing drip campaigns in candidate engagement, this article will explore the following topics in detail: 

  • What is a drip campaign? 

  • How does a drip campaign work? 

  • What are the advantages of drip campaigns for recruitment? 

  • Steps in implementing drip campaigns for recruitment 

  • Things to avoid when using drip campaigns 

By delving into these key areas, you will gain valuable insights into how drip campaigns can revolutionize your candidate acquisition process and help you secure top-quality talent for your organization. 

Want to optimize your candidate engagement strategy using drip campaigns? Check out Brightmove today! We offer a comprehensive suite of tools and resources designed to streamline your recruitment efforts and maximize your candidate pool. With our advanced features and user-friendly interface, you can easily create and manage drip campaigns tailored to your specific hiring needs. 

So, don't miss out on the opportunity to attract, engage, and retain top-tier candidates - schedule a demo with us today and let our experts show you how Brightmove can transform your candidate acquisition process.

What Is A Drip Campaign?

As the name suggests, a drip campaign is a marketing strategy that involves sending a series of pre-planned and automated emails to a targeted audience over a specific period. The term “drip” refers to the gradual and consistent nature of the campaign, as the emails are delivered at regular intervals, just like drops of water. 

This approach allows recruiters to engage with potential candidates in a systematic and personalized manner, nurturing the relationship over time. 

Drip campaign

How Does A Drip Campaign Work?

It all starts with identifying the target audience and defining the goals of the campaign. Recruiters then create a series of email templates that are designed to provide valuable information, showcase the company culture, highlight job opportunities, and engage candidates. These emails are carefully scheduled to be sent out at specific intervals, ensuring a steady flow of communication. 

The content of the emails is tailored to the candidate's interests and needs based on their previous interactions with the recruitment process. For example, if a candidate has expressed interest in a particular role or department, the emails can include relevant job postings, insights into the team, and success stories from current employees. 

Additionally, recruiters may incorporate personalized greetings, such as addressing the candidate by name and acknowledging their previous interactions, to create a sense of individualized attention. 

As the drip campaign progresses, recruiters can track the candidates' engagement and response rates to adjust the content and timing of the emails accordingly. 

This iterative approach ensures that candidates receive relevant and timely information, increasing the chances of maintaining their interest and ultimately converting them into qualified applicants.

What Are The Advantages Of Drip Campaigns For Recruitment?

When it comes to recruitment, drip campaigns offer several advantages. Let's explore some:

Multi-Purpose Tool

Drip campaigns serve as a versatile tool for recruiters. They can be used for various recruitment purposes, such as attracting passive candidates, nurturing leads, promoting employer branding, sharing company updates, and announcing job openings. By leveraging a single campaign, recruiters can achieve multiple objectives, saving time and effort.

Personalized Contact List

Thanks to the systematic and personalized nature of drip campaigns, recruiters can build a highly targeted and engaged contact list. By segmenting candidates based on their interests, qualifications, or previous interactions, recruiters can deliver tailored content that resonates with each individual. 

This personalization helps to establish a stronger connection and increases the likelihood of candidates responding positively to the campaign.

Satisfied Clients

Not only do drip campaigns benefit recruiters, but they also contribute to the satisfaction of clients. By implementing drip campaigns, recruiters can keep clients informed about the progress of their hiring process. 

Regular updates and relevant information shared through the campaign demonstrate transparency and professionalism, instilling confidence in clients and ensuring they feel involved and valued throughout the recruitment journey. 

Ongoing Dialogue With Users

By implementing drip campaigns, recruiters can maintain an ongoing dialogue with candidates and keep them engaged even if they are not actively applying for a job at the moment. Regular communication helps to keep the organization on the candidates' radar, making it more likely for them to consider future opportunities. 

It also allows recruiters to gather feedback, address any concerns or questions, and provide additional resources or support to candidates, fostering a positive candidate experience.

Heighten Brand Recognition

As with any marketing strategy, drip campaigns can significantly contribute to brand recognition and awareness in the recruitment process. By consistently delivering relevant and valuable content to candidates, recruiters can showcase the company's values, culture, and expertise. 

This continuous exposure to the brand helps to establish a strong brand presence in the minds of potential candidates, making the organization more memorable and desirable when they are ready to make a career move.

Automated Funnel Movement

With a well-designed drip campaign, recruiters can strategically guide candidates from the initial awareness stage to the application, interview, and, ultimately, the hiring decision. This automation streamlines the candidate journey, saves time for recruiters, and ensures a consistent and efficient recruitment experience for both candidates and the hiring team.

Drag-And-Drop Creator

Most drip campaign platforms offer a drag-and-drop creator, making it easy for recruiters to design and set up their campaigns without the need for extensive technical knowledge or coding skills. 

This powerful feature allows recruiters to focus on crafting compelling content and refining their recruitment strategies rather than getting caught up in the technical aspects of campaign creation.

How Do You Use Drip Campaigns For Recruitment Marketing?

Drip campaigns can effectively be used to help: 

Streamline The Candidate Sourcing Process 

By creating a drip campaign specifically tailored for sourcing candidates, recruiters can reach out to potential candidates who match certain criteria or qualifications. The campaign can include information about the company, its culture, and the benefits of working there, enticing candidates to consider applying for open positions. 

Nurture Passive Candidates 

Drip campaigns are an excellent tool for engaging with passive candidates who may not be actively seeking new job opportunities. By delivering valuable content, such as industry insights, career advice, or success stories, recruiters can keep passive candidates interested and build relationships with them over time. When a suitable position becomes available, these candidates are more likely to consider it and be open to discussing further. 

Build Talent Pipelines 

Recruiters can target individuals who have shown interest in similar positions in the past or have relevant qualifications. By continuously providing them with pertinent information and updates about the company, recruiters can build a pipeline of qualified candidates who can be approached when there is a job opening. 

Want to learn more about talent pipelines? Check out How To Own And Optimize Your Talent Pipeline: Tips From Experts.

Steps In Implementing Drip Campaigns For Recruitment

Several steps are involved in implementing drip campaigns for recruitment marketing. Here's a breakdown of the process:

Define Your Target Audience

Identify the specific group of candidates or contacts you want to engage with through your campaign. This could be based on factors such as job role, industry, experience level, or other relevant criteria. 

Create A Relevant Content Strategy

Develop a content strategy that aligns with the objectives of your drip campaign and resonates with your target audience. 

Consider the different stages of the candidate's journey and create content that addresses their needs, concerns, and interests. This can include informative articles, case studies, success stories, industry insights, career tips, and relevant company updates. The content should be valuable, engaging, and personalized to increase its effectiveness.

Utilize Automated Messaging

Leverage automated messaging tools and/or email marketing platforms. These tools allow you to schedule and send emails automatically at predefined intervals. They also enable you to personalize the content by dynamically inserting candidate-specific information, such as their name, job title, or company. 

For an all-in-one solution, try out Brightmove today! Not only is our powerful ATS (Applicant Tracking System) capable of managing your recruitment process efficiently, but it also offers seamless integration with popular email marketing platforms, making it easy to implement and manage your drip campaigns effectively. 

Want to learn more? Schedule a demo today, and let us show you the power of Brightmove! 

Analyze Your Results

Once your drip campaign is up and running, it's essential to monitor and analyze the results regularly. This allows you to assess the campaign's effectiveness and make necessary adjustments to improve its performance. You can track metrics like email open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. 

Analyzing results

Make Adjustments

Based on the analysis of your drip campaign's results, make adjustments to optimize its performance. This can involve tweaking the content, adjusting the timing or frequency of emails, or refining your target audience segments. 

By continuously monitoring and refining your campaign, you can ensure that you adapt to your candidates' evolving needs and preferences and maximize the impact of your recruitment efforts.

Things To Avoid When Using Drip Campaigns

While drip campaigns can be highly effective in recruitment, there are certain things that recruiters should avoid to ensure the success of their campaigns: 

Sending Too Many Emails At Once

It's important to maintain a balanced and strategic approach when sending emails in a drip campaign. Sending too many emails at once can overwhelm recipients and lead to email fatigue.(2) This can result in a higher unsubscribe rate and a negative perception of your brand or organization. 

Instead, space out your emails over a reasonable timeframe, allowing recipients to digest and engage with the content without feeling overwhelmed.

Not Testing Or Optimizing Campaigns

Neglecting to test and optimize your drip campaigns can significantly hinder their effectiveness. Each campaign should be carefully analyzed and evaluated to identify areas for improvement. Conduct A/B testing to compare different email subject lines, content variations, and call-to-action strategies. 

By testing and optimizing your campaigns, you can refine your messaging, improve open and click-through rates, and ultimately enhance the overall performance of your drip campaigns. Ignoring this step can result in missed opportunities and suboptimal results.

Lack Of Personalized Emails

Generic, one-size-fits-all emails can come across as impersonal and fail to capture the attention of the candidate. It is essential to personalize the emails by addressing the candidate by name and tailoring the content to their specific interests, skills, or experiences. 

Personalization shows that you value the candidate as an individual and increases the likelihood of engagement and response.

Not Segmenting Your Audience

Each candidate is unique and has different preferences, needs, and behaviors. By segmenting your audience based on relevant criteria such as job role, industry, location, or previous interactions, you can create more targeted and relevant drip campaigns. 

This allows you to deliver personalized content that resonates with each segment, increasing the chances of capturing their attention and generating a positive response. 

Not Following Up With Leads

Once a candidate has shown interest or interacted with your initial email, it's important to continue nurturing the relationship and keeping them engaged. Failing to follow up can make candidates feel neglected or unimportant, leading them to lose interest and potentially opt out of your campaign. 

Brightmove Can Help You Build A Successful Recruitment Drip Campaign

As we have seen, drip campaigns play a crucial role in candidate engagement by ensuring consistent and personalized communication throughout the recruitment process. However, implementing and managing an effective drip campaign requires the right tools and resources - and that's where Brightmove comes in

We're a leading recruitment software provider that offers a comprehensive suite of features designed to optimize your candidate engagement strategy. 

With Brightmove, you can leverage our advanced applicant tracking system (ATS) to streamline your recruitment process and seamlessly integrate drip campaigns into your workflow - ensuring you attract, engage, and retain top-tier candidates. Plus, our knowledgeable and responsive customer support team is always ready to assist you with any questions or concerns. 

So, why not take your candidate engagement strategy to the next level with Brightmove's all-in-one solution? Schedule a demo with us today and discover how we can help you transform your candidate acquisition process! 

Want to learn more about talent acquisition? Check out: 

Sources: 

  1. ManpowerGroup. (n.d.). Manpowergroup Talent Shortage Study. ManpowerGroup Talent Shortage Study. https://go.manpowergroup.com/talent-shortage. 
  2. Email overload at work: An analysis of factors associated with email strain. (n.d.). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/220879068_Email_overload_at_work_An_analysis_of_factors_associated_with_email_strain. 
  3. Hodgekiss, R. (2022, July 29). The ideal email frequency. Campaign Monitor. https://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/email-marketing/the-ideal-email-frequency/.

FAQs

How often should you send a drip campaign?

The frequency of your drip campaign depends on your goals and the type of content you are sending. However, research suggests it's best to space out your drip emails by at least two weeks to allow recipients enough time to digest and engage with each message.(3)

What makes a drip campaign successful?

A successful drip campaign will depend on several factors, including the quality of the content, the timing of the emails, the personalization of the messages, and the segmentation of the list.

What is drip vs. trigger campaign?

A drip campaign is a series of pre-written, scheduled emails sent to a specific audience over a period of time. On the other hand, a trigger campaign is initiated by a specific action taken by the recipient, such as clicking a link or opening an email. 

Can you set up a drip campaign in Gmail?

Yes, you can set up a drip campaign in Gmail using various email marketing tools and extensions available. These tools allow you to schedule and automate the sending of sequential emails to your audience at predetermined intervals.

What is open rate in drip campaigns?

The open rate is the percentage of emails that the recipients of your drip campaign open. It is important to track and monitor your open rates to determine how effective your campaigns are.

How long should a drip campaign be?

The length of a drip campaign can vary depending on the goals and content being delivered. Typically, a drip campaign can span anywhere from eight to sixteen weeks, although some may extend beyond this timeframe. 

The duration is influenced by factors such as the complexity of the message, the desired engagement level, and the frequency of communication. 


About the Author, Jimmy Hurff

Jimmy is a seasoned technology executive & entrepreneur noted for leading business transformations. Over his 25+ year career, Jimmy has developed multi-platform expertise in the domains of engineering, data analytics, security, compliance & business transformation. Starting in 1995, Jimmy worked with his best friend, David Webb, to develop one of the world's first Internet job board and resume bank applications. From then to now, Jimmy has been consistently helping his customers to build great teams, using best practices and world-class technology.

Try It Now


Make a BrightMove: Sign up for a free applicant tracking system trial

Start Now