Being visible where your candidates really are, with content, campaigns and funnels that deliver applications rather than just reach. On this page you will read what recruitment marketing is, what an agency does for you, what it costs and when it does and does not work.
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What is recruitment marketing?
Recruitment marketing is marketing applied to hiring: you define who you are looking for, which message resonates with them, which channels reach them and how a short application funnel turns interest into applications. The goal is not reach but applications from the right candidates. SocialFind runs this as part of your complete recruitment.
How we determine the mixCampaigns are the start, not the result
Recruitment marketing gets the right people moving. But reach, clicks and applications are not hires yet. We connect the campaign to proposition, fast follow-up, assessment and selection, and steer on who actually starts.
Part of a bigger approach
Recruitment marketing is one of the tools within our RPO approach. We use it when candidates need to be activated through targeted visibility and content. For other roles, sourcing, Thought Leader Recruitment or a combination can be more effective.
That's why we don't sell standalone campaigns. First we determine what works for each vacancy; recruitment marketing joins the mix once the target audience can be reached and convinced through media and content. Think of practical and operational roles, or employers with name recognition but too few applications.
Recruitment marketing or job marketing?
Job marketing focuses on promoting specific vacancies; recruitment marketing is the broader umbrella that also covers audience strategy, employer content, retargeting and funnel optimization. In practice, they blend into each other. Take a look at job marketing too.
How much that employer story matters shows most now that fewer people change jobs of their own accord. What that means for your hiring is set out in Why are fewer Dutch workers changing jobs, and how do you still find staff?
Do it yourself, a recruitment marketing agency or RPO?
COMPAREThree ways to organise recruitment marketing. Which one fits depends on your vacancies, your team and how structurally you recruit.
| Do it yourself | Recruitment marketing agency | RPO (SocialFind) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | Campaigns your own team builds and manages | Target group research, content, campaigns, funnels and reporting | The same, plus screening, follow-up and steering towards hires |
| Who follows up applicants | Your team | Usually your team; the agency stops at the application | We do, within the same partnership |
| Cost structure | Your own hours plus media budget | Fee per hour, campaign or month, media budget often separate | Fixed monthly fee, media budget included, no placement fees |
| Under whose name | Your name | Usually your name | Always your name, white-label |
| When it makes sense | You have marketing skills and time in-house and recruit occasionally | You have one or a few vacancies and handle follow-up well yourself | You recruit structurally and want one party responsible for hires |
For a single common vacancy, doing it yourself or a standalone agency can be perfectly adequate. If you recruit structurally, the difference in follow-up and cost per hire quickly becomes large.
What does recruitment marketing cost?
The cost of recruitment marketing always consists of two parts: the hours or fee of the agency and the media budget that goes to the channels. Add content production if video or photography is needed. Agencies charge per hour, per campaign or per month, and the range is wide: a one-off campaign for a single vacancy costs something very different from ongoing recruitment for several roles. So always ask what is and is not included, and whether the media budget is charged separately.
At SocialFind, recruitment marketing is part of one fixed monthly fee, which starts at EUR 6,500 per month, all-inclusive within the agreed scope and with no placement fees. For that you get not just campaigns, but the whole funnel up to and including follow-up. All details are on our pricing page, and we answer frequently asked questions about cost at questions about cost.
When does recruitment marketing work, and when not?
Recruitment marketing is strong when your target group can be reached through media and you need volume: practical and operational roles, several vacancies at once, recurring intake or roles with a lot of competition. For employers who are known but receive too few applications, it is often the right first step too.
It works less well for very scarce specialists and board-level roles. Those people rarely respond to an ad, however good it is. Then personal outreach via active sourcing or Thought Leader Recruitment beats campaigns. We say so honestly, even if you come to us for a campaign.
Recruitment marketing in practice
For GGz Breburg we ran a campaign with a broad mix of testimonials and footage of clients and colleagues, which brought in 246 applications through our forms in three months, late December 2024 to late March 2025, with 10 hires recorded in our recruitment system from February to July 2025 inclusive. For Het Badhuys, a specialist in luxury bathrooms in Breda, we made content around craftsmanship; there, 211 applications came in through our forms from August 2023 to December 2025 inclusive. You will find more examples in our cases and how we measure at results.
Recruitment marketing as part of RPO
You can buy recruitment marketing as a standalone service. We prefer to do it as part of Recruitment Process Outsourcing: one team that decides per vacancy whether a campaign is the right approach, runs the campaign, follows up every applicant quickly and steers towards hires. All under your name, so every campaign also builds your own employer brand. Torn between a standalone agency and RPO? Then read RPO or a recruitment marketing agency.
More budget doesn't make an application cheaper. In 80 substantial budget increases across our campaigns started from August 2024, of at least one and a half times, the cost per application stayed the same in half of cases: more volume, the same price. You can read how we measure that on our figures page.
What does make a difference sits upstream of the campaign: the profile you are searching on. An unsorted requirements list attracts people who do not fit, or nobody at all, however good the advert looks. How to make such a profile usable is set out in How do you write a role profile that works?.
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Real people, real work
Content that convinces
Generic vacancy texts and stock photos convince no one. We create video, photography and stories featuring real colleagues: content that shows what the work is really like and why someone would want to work for you. That content runs under your name, so every campaign also builds your employer brand.
Everything under your nameThe building blocks of recruitment marketing
Six components that together form one machine. Never sold separately, always tailored to your vacancies.
- Audience strategy
- Where is your target audience, what motivates them and which message lands? That's where every campaign starts.
- Employer content
- Video, photography and stories featuring real colleagues: content that shows what the work is really like.
- Paid media
- Campaigns on the channels where your target audience is: from Meta and TikTok to LinkedIn and Google.
- Application funnels
- Short, mobile-friendly funnels that remove barriers instead of raising them.
- Retargeting
- Reaching doubters again with the right follow-up story, until they're ready to respond.
- Data & optimization
- Measuring applications and hires per channel, not likes and reach.
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A click isn't a candidate yet
Focused on hires
Recruitment marketing is strong when the target audience can be reached through media and volume is needed: multiple vacancies, recurring inflow or roles with heavy competition. But our responsibility doesn't stop at the click. Applications are followed up and screened quickly, and per channel we track applications, qualified candidates and hires. For very scarce specialists or executive roles, personal outreach beats ads; we'll tell you that honestly too. From 28.7 million impressions in our own Meta account came 24,316 completed applications through our own forms (10 August 2023 to 31 August 2026). We do not divide those two numbers by each other, because they are not about the same group; that is why we measure every step, not just reach.
How the follow-up worksFrequently asked questions about recruitment marketing
Mainly for target groups you won't find on job boards but who are on social media daily: skilled trade and operational staff, and broad target groups in a region. The strength lies in combining them with short funnels and fast follow-up. A click without follow-up is wasted budget.
Yes, and it happens often. Campaigns capture active candidates, while sourcing and Thought Leader Recruitment reach passive talent. The right balance differs per vacancy; we determine that in the analysis.
We can, if they're good. We often create new content, because generic vacancy texts and stock photos don't convince anyone. We build content around your employer brand and your people; usage rights and ownership are set out in the agreement.
By the numbers that matter: applications, qualified candidates, interviews and hires per channel. Reach and clicks are steering information, not a goal. If a channel underperforms, we adjust targeting, content or channel choice.
Labour market communication is all communication from an organisation towards current and future employees: employer branding, careers pages, job ads, social media and recruitment campaigns. The aim is for the right people to know you as an employer and choose you. Recruitment marketing is the campaign-driven part of it, aimed at applications for specific vacancies.
Employer branding determines what you have to say as an employer: your proposition, your story and your brand. Recruitment marketing brings that story to the target group through channels, campaigns and funnels, with applications as the goal. A strong brand makes campaigns cheaper and good campaigns charge the brand. That is why we never do them separately.
That depends on the scope: the number of vacancies, the amount of content needed, the media budget and whether you buy a one-off campaign or ongoing recruitment. Agencies charge per hour, per campaign or per month. At SocialFind, recruitment marketing is part of the monthly fee. That starts at EUR 6,500 per month, all-inclusive within the agreed scope and with no placement fees.
A recruitment campaign is a targeted, temporary or ongoing use of content and media to reach candidates for one or more vacancies and get them to apply. A good campaign consists of a sharply defined target group, a message that lands with those people, the right channels, a short application funnel and fast follow-up of everyone who responds.
A recruitment marketer translates vacancies into campaigns: he or she researches the target group, defines the message, has content produced, sets up campaigns on channels such as Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn and Google, builds application funnels and steers on data. At SocialFind the recruitment marketer works with recruiters and content creators in one team, so the campaign and the follow-up are aligned.
A recruitment marketing agency makes sure the right people see your vacancies and respond to them. It defines the audience and the message, creates the ads and content, runs campaigns on channels such as Meta, LinkedIn and Google, and optimises for applications rather than clicks. The difference with a recruitment agency: a marketing agency usually does not select candidates itself. SocialFind does both, under your name.
Recruitment marketing creates the inflow, recruitment and selection makes the choice. With recruitment marketing you make your vacancy and employer brand visible to the right audience, so that enough suitable applicants come in. Recruitment and selection is what happens next: screening, interviewing and hiring the best candidate. If too few people respond, marketing helps. If enough people respond but they drop out, the problem sits in selection or follow-up.
Campaigns are only the beginning
Within SocialFind RPO, campaigns, screening and follow-up run as one continuous funnel, under your name and measured on hires.
Further reading on recruitment marketing
Employer branding
The story that makes your campaigns credible.
Employer brandingJob marketing
Promoting vacancies to the right target group.
Job marketingSocial recruitment
Campaigns on the channels where your target group is every day.
Social recruitmentApplication funnels
Short funnels that turn a click into an application.
Application funnelsRPO or a recruitment marketing agency
The honest comparison: when is an agency enough and when not?
RPO or a recruitment marketing agencyRecruitment Process Outsourcing
The complete approach that recruitment marketing is part of.
Recruitment Process Outsourcing
Find out whether recruitment marketing belongs in your approach.
Tell us who you need. We determine how to find them, win them over and hire them.