Blog Content
Recruiters / Leaders / Marketers... Are you nervous of contacting candidates and clients without having their express consent?
The advent of GDPR created some myths including “no more email marketing”. This blog will tell what total rubbish that is AND why you should be email marketing more than ever before!
So, if you are a recruiter, recruitment marketer or recruitment leader, and:
Want to generate more candidates
Need more viable leads
Should be attracting more recruiters to your recruitment business
Want to be smart and use automation / email / WhatsApp / or dare I suggest, the phone…
...you need to read this blog!
🤔The Myth of GDPR
GDPR has caused stupid amounts of disruption and confusion. Myths were created. Data was deleted. Business stopped… but at least we are all compliant, eh?
Meanwhile, a little regulation called PECR – (Guide to the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations) has almost been ignored.
I’m going to quote the regs throughout so to avoid further myths and nail down facts. This guide covers the latest version of PECR which covers marketing by phone, fax, email, text or any other type of ‘electronic mail’.
*I am not a lawyer – I am a mere mortal. I have read the regs and interpreted them to suit myself and my recruitment clients.
🔮Recruiters Need to Run Talent and Sector Surveys
First – if you are conducting genuine market research (and a good recruiter should!) then:
Genuine market research does not count as direct marketing. However, if a survey includes any promotional material or collects details to use in future marketing campaigns, the survey is for direct marketing purposes and the rules apply.
And
Routine customer service messages do not count as direct marketing – in other words, correspondence with customers to provide information they need about a current contract or past purchase (eg information about service interruptions, delivery arrangements, product safety, changes to terms and conditions, or tariffs). General branding, logos or straplines in these messages do not count as marketing. However, if the message includes any significant promotional material aimed at getting customers to buy extra products or services or to renew contracts that are coming to an end, that message includes marketing material and the rules apply.
🚫But Recruiters Don’t Have Consent to Mail Clients and Candidates (Or Do They?)
How about if you want to send a mail / text / automated campaign, without consent? It’s not against the law!
An unsolicited message is any message that has not been specifically requested. So even if the customer has ‘opted in’ to receiving marketing from you, it still counts as unsolicited marketing. This does not make all unsolicited marketing unlawful. You can still send unsolicited marketing messages – as long as you comply with PECR.
This is interesting – note the word “often”:
You will often need a person’s consent before you can send them a marketing message.
But,
You must not send marketing emails or texts to individuals without specific consent. There is a limited exception for your own previous customers, often called the ‘soft opt-in’.
🥰Recruiters Now Need to Rely on Being Soft!
Is this a proper “get out of jail free card”?
The rules on electronic mail marketing are in regulation 22. In short, you must not send electronic mail marketing to individuals, unless:
they have specifically consented to electronic mail from you; or
they are an existing customer who bought (or negotiated to buy) a similar product or service from you in the past, and you gave them a simple way to opt out both when you first collected their details and in every message you have sent
Hold on – you mean that if you have been dealing with someone already, they are a “soft” op-in? And you can mail them? Yes – as long as you make it easy to unsubscribe.
The term ‘soft opt-in’ is sometimes used to describe the rule about existing customers.
Existing customers, recruiters! What does this mean to you?
The idea is that if an individual bought something from you recently, gave you their details, and did not opt out of marketing messages, they are probably happy to receive marketing from you about similar products or services even if they haven’t specifically consented.
Probably happy! (Yes please!)
The soft opt-in rule means you may be able to email or text your own customers.
Read this:
You can also email or text an existing customer who has bought (or discussed buying) a similar product or service from you in the past – but only if you gave them a clear chance to opt out of getting marketing emails or texts when you collected their details, and in every message.
💡So Recruiters! What’s the Best Way to Create a Marketing List and Use Automation to Drive Comms?
This paragraph had me clapping my hands… According to the ICO:
You may want to compile your own in-house marketing list using details of people who have bought goods or services in the past, or who have registered on your website or made an enquiry. However, you should not assume that everyone is happy to receive marketing just because they have provided their contact details.
So, basically, you can create email marketing lists from people who have not specifically consented!
But have a little think! Your goal is longer term to create consent, and to create really good email marketing campaigns to get them to say “don’t delete me – I think you’re great!” Then you can take that engaged mailing list to your sassy clients and ask them to pop that in their pipes and smoke it –whilst you place lots of candidates with them at your rack rate fees!
🏃➡️Now to Start Building an Email Marketing and Automation Strategy to Attract Your 3Cs
Recruiters!
Candidates, clients, and colleagues (your 3Cs) need to hear from you!
You need to maintain your legitimate interest in holding their data. You need to give them compelling reasons to stay on your mailing list - and your recruitment marketers have the keys to this!
Automation Buddy / Bullhorn RoI
We are Automation Buddies set on helping ambitious recruitment businesses who want to increase speed and sales.
We coach to inspire, and build your automations so you can recruit and sell!
Plus, through our Bullhorn Vision service we help generate serious ROI from your Bullhorn, data, and people.
READ MORE ABOUT OUR BULLHORN VISION SERVICE
READ ABOUT OUR AUTOMATION BUDDY SERVICE
BOOK YOUR FREE CONSULTATION
Extra Content
Blog Image
Extra Content 2
Recruitment Blogs / Tips / Webinars
Read more-
Lisa Jones
Blog
Vodcast: Recruitment AI ~ How to Use Tech Without Losing the Human Touch
Is Your Recruitment Tech Stack Keeping You Human, or Just Keeping You Busy? And Where Does AI Fit and Not Fit?I recently sat down with Raymond Pennie, the founder and CEO of Kyloe Partners, for as part of my recruitment leaders' vodcast series that went deep into the messy, exciting, and often confusing world of recruitment technology, and AI.If you’ve ever felt like your Bullhorn CRM/ATS is more of a "data graveyard" than a goldmine, or if the mere mention of AI makes you want to hide under your desk, this conversation was for you.Raymond and I didn't just talk about "plugging things in"; we talked about why so many recruitment leaders are currently suffocating under a mountain of manual admin, and tech and data, while trying to "stay human."Here’s a teaser of the big questions we tackled (and why you’ll want to catch the full recording):🤔The Recruitment AI Paradox: Why Leaders Overestimate Short-Term AI and Underestimate Long-Term ImpactAI is the smallest word having the biggest impact right now.Raymond dropped a truth bomb: most people are overestimating AI in the short term but massively underestimating it in the long run.Is AI going to be your best manager - keeping you on track and stripping away the boring bits - or your worst nightmare by micromanaging your every missed task?🤖We also discussed a terrifying new reality: AI vs. AI.When every candidate uses AI to craft a "perfect" resume/CV that matches your job description exactly, how do you actually screen for talent?Raymond shares a simple strategy to use recruitment technology to prioritise the right candidates and clients so you can get back to the human-to-human influence that AI simply can't touch.⛔Why Buying AI Recruitment Tools Isn't Enough (The 'Bandwagon' Problem)One of my favourite parts of our chat was about the "AI Bandwagon."Raymond’s advice?Buy the AI, but for heaven's sake, use it.Too many leaders buy recruitment tech as a defense mechanism or a "quota" to feel better about themselves or feel that they can at least say that they have what they need, only to end up trapped in long contracts with tools they don't understand.Ultimately the goal needs to be Bullhorn ROI, not simply lots of tech.We talked about the "Bruce Lee method" of recruitment leadership: why you might need to slow down in order to speed up.💸Data Enrichment in Recruitment: Working the Funnel from the Money EndWe moved on to the "V" word: Value. Not the fluffy kind, but the actual monetization of your data. Raymond explained why you should stop trying to "clean" a million records just for the sake of it. Instead, he shared a targeted approach—working from the "money end" of the funnel backwards.If you want to know how to stop "throwing crap at the wall" and start using data enrichment to find replacements before a candidate even leaves their role, you need to hear Raymond’s take on "Data Enrichment 101."The Bottom Line?Efficiency is one thing, but effectiveness is the next level. Don't let your recruitment technology prevent you or your recruiters from being human. Use it to ring-fence your candidate and client time so you can actually deliver a sustainable recruitment pipeline.Stay curious, stop panicking, and start picking the one or two things that actually resonate with your recruitment business goals.Ready to spend a speedy 19 minutes thinking about how to make your recruitment process more human with tech?Watch my 19 Minute Vodcast with RaymondBullhorn ATS / Analytics / Automation / AI RoIWe are Bullhorn experts set on helping ambitious recruitment businesses to increase speed and sales.We help you weaponise your people, data, time, and tech, so you can recruit and sell!Our Bullhorn Vision and Buddy service helps generate best-in-class processes, adoption, head space, and ROI.BOOK A FREE BULLHORN ROI CONSULTATION
-
Wayne Barclay
Blog
Bullhorn Power Series ~ Stop Missing Out on Sales: 5 Tips to Use Your ATS, Automation, and Analytics to Drive BD
For many of my clients, Recruitment is now officially in a BD-first market.For recruitment leaders, the challenge isn’t just finding new business; it’s finding the right business and winning it before the competition even wakes up. If your recruiters are still manually scouring the database or "spraying and praying" cold emails, and paying external systems like LinkedIn, Indeed, and job boards for leads, you are losing revenue to firms that have turned their Bullhorn stack into a high-precision sales machine.Scroll down to watch the webinar.👇🔢The Maths of Modern Business DevelopmentRecent data from Bullhorn Grid shows a staggering divide between "traditional" recruitment firms and "automated" ones:The Speed Gap: High-growth firms are 3.5x more likely to use automation to beat competitors to the first CV send.The Admin Tax: The average recruiter loses 12+ hours a week to manual data entry. That’s two full days of lost selling time.The Gold Mine: 76% of placements come from people already in your database, yet most BD teams ignore their own "warm" data in favour of cold outreach.⁉️Are You Paying for a Recruitment Database or a Graveyard?Most ATS/CRM platforms are graveyard-like: full of data, but nothing is moving - candidates, clients, sales - are stuck!But the true ROI from Bullhorn comes when you combine Bullhorn’s core power with Automation, AI, and Analytics. You empower your humans to turn that graveyard into a "Predictive Sales Engine."Instead of asking your team to "hit the phones harder," imagine a world where:Analytics tells you exactly which clients are worth your time (and which ones to fire).Automation nurtures prospects in the background while your recruiters are closing deals.The ATS surfaces the perfect candidate for a "spec call" before the client even posts the job.🚨Watch Our Bullhorn 4 BD WebinarI see too many recruitment leaders struggling with "activity for the sake of activity." It’s time to move from "busy" to "profitable."I audit too many recruitment workflows where BD has been made hard to manage and measure - mainly due to lack of structure and too many systems and too much dirty data.This webinar recording is specifically for recruitment leaders who want to power up their Bullhorn tech stack for new business sales. I’ll be diving into the stats above and sharing at least 5 actionable tips across your Bullhorn ATS/CRM, Analytics, and Automation systems which you can implement immediately to:Identify high-probability prospects.Automate your processes to land more deals.Reduce your team's "admin tax" to free up hours of crucial sales time per week.Plus, we'll share at least 12 brilliant Bullhorn tactics you can give to your recruiters to help them use Bullhorn for sales.Bullhorn ATS / Analytics / Automation / AI ROIWe are Bullhorn experts obsessed with how recruiters can increase sales, reduce costs, speed up sourcing, and improve productivity.We help you weaponise your people, data, time, and tech, so you can recruit and sell!Our Bullhorn Vision and Buddy service helps generate best-in-class processes, adoption, head space, and ROI.BOOK A FREE BULLHORN ROI CONSULTATION
-
Wayne Barclay
Webinar
Bullhorn Power Series ~ Stop Missing Out on Sales: 5 Tips to Use Your ATS, Automation, and Analytics to Drive BD
-
Wayne Barclay
Webinar
Automation RoI Webinar Series: Unlock Bullhorn Part 6 ~ Data Wealth
-
Lisa Jones
Webinar
Recruiter Productivity Series: Optimise Bullhorn Part 6 ~ Easy Candidate Management
