If you have not been hanging out in “digital marketing land” for very long, you may not be aware of what “a squeeze page” is. A squeeze page is a landing or lead page used to collect information such as email addresses. They are used primarily for “list building.”
List building? Say what?
List building is the exciting task of growing your audience and following. While social media page likes and followers are cool, there is a lack of ownership. If your account with a particular platform vanishes one day, so does your following.
I know what you are thinking. “Why wouldn’t we just direct traffic to our job postings?”
You can, and should. But a squeeze page is also a great way to get to know and build a unique talent community for a specific niche while simultaneously tapping into the passive market. This technique is intended more for building awareness and community while cultivating a true long-term talent pipeline. Once on the list, you can continue to provide that population value in the form of content in addition to job news. In this process, you are building brand awareness and loyalty. As candidates move through the stages of readiness, they can be directed to a posting or key contacts within the organization.
Consider this exercise one step closer to your talent population vs. simply added them to the job posting update feed on your ATS. Infuse your content with culture snippets, industry views, and jobs for maximum community intimacy. It is also a great way to facilitate more advanced employer branding concepts such as segmentation around different talent personas while keeping the main communication channels true to core talent brand.
Sold? Okay great! Now let’s get started on the top five squeeze page to-dos:
- Choose a topic that has little to do with recruiting but rather an interest or challenge facing your target talent population. Use video to engage the audience on the topic and get them interested in your “up-front value” item (more below).
- Offer value up-front in exchange for an opt-in. This is a voluntary opt-in where talent is raising their hand to be part of the community (we are not spamming). Produce a white paper, supply an on-demand webinar, etc. Remember, we are not using this channel to hire today. While that result may be a natural by-product of a lead page, the intent is community building, awareness, and nurturing.
- Capture only the necessary information such as first name and email. We know the more we ask upon job application, the lower the conversion rate. Don’t fall victim to the “collect everything you can” syndrome.
- Understand your funnel positioning. You are higher up in the funnel at the “awareness stage.” Don’t ask for their hand in marriage …woo them.
- Use a compelling call to action. Consider alternatives to “subscribe” such as “give me access” or “give me the tips.”
Let’s bring this to life with an example. Let’s say you wish to try and solve for the long-term information-security talent war. You would entice the info-sec community to your squeeze page with great content unrelated to jobs. You could have your Chief Information Security Officer write a paper or create a video on where they feel the future of penetration testing is going. Talent opts in via providing their email and first name in order to receive the download. The squeeze page is tied to your email marketing list provider. Now you have a list building that is dedicated to information security talent. You can email the list industry insights and other information monthly and over time you have a community growing. This can feel very different and more intimate than an ATS job alert.
Talk about recruitment optimization! Now you have helped to automate your passive talent attraction process for niche segments. No longer will you need to rely solely on your LinkedIn mining, boolean searches or other talent fishing expedition techniques. Congrats!
Peace, love, and meaningful careers.