OUTREACH TOOLS

I am talking a lot in this newsletter about how a great recruiter message should look like. But I rarely (yet!) talk about the technical background. What tools do you need to send out gobsmacking campaigns?

Is it just a LinkedIn recruiter account with which you can send Inmails? Or do you need additional professional equipment to reach your audience?

Here is my personal opinion: USE A F* CAMPAIGN TOOL !!!!!

It not only saves you time BUT a campaign tool also

• helps you track data across various channels and do A/B testing
• acts as a CRM with which you can build talent pools
• automates drip-campaigning (building sequences)
• let's you add more creative and visual content
• helps you automate and scale (hyper)personalization

By using an email campaign software, sourcers can more efficiently reach large numbers of potential candidates and personalize their messaging to better appeal to each individual. This can help recruiters build relationships with potential hires and increase the chances of successfully filling job openings with top talent.

But which campaigning tool should I use?

There are quite a few options out there, that are specifically designed for recruiting purposes. Here are a just few options you can choose from:

• Jobin.cloud (my current favorite!!!!)
• SourceWhale
• Gem
• SendinBlue
• Omnisend
• Beamery
• HireEZ

Depending on what's most important to you, these tools differ in their features. Whereas some are more built to meet the needs of creative writers, others are more data-focused tools. Deciding on the right campaigning tool can be a daunting task. Before you start comparing all the different options out there, it's important to do some research and figure out exactly what your campaign needs are. And let's face it, with so many different criteria to consider, it can be tough to keep track of everything.

That's why we recommend putting together a specifications sheet to help you go more structured into product demos. This way, you can be sure that you're finding a tool that meets all your unique campaign needs. In the following, we will describe the decision criteria of these six categories:

• Personalization & Outreach
• Data Scraping
• Data Tracking & Workflow efficiency
• Scheduling
• Performance
• Support & Compliance

NOW, let's deep-dive into the criteria

Let's ahve a look into the features. Go ahead and ask the sales person that showcases the tool to you all these questions:

Personalization & Outreach

• # of in-text personalization variables. Does it apply to regional differences like a variable for formal salutations used in the DACH region or like Japanese characters?
• Can you add individually customized variables?
• Can you integrate images/GIFs/videos (not just in-text personalization)?
• Can you integrate polls and surveys?
• Can you embed animated thumbnails for videos?
• Can you personalize pictures, videos, and GIFs with this tool?
• Do you have smart personalization for variables (like filtering out capital Letters & emojis, day of the week, next day, Github Repo)?
• Is it able to add design elements (emojis, fonts)? Can you include CI elements of your EVP?
• Can you use newsletter formats like HTML email templates with branded content?
• Can you change individual messages before sending them out and have a preview of your messages?
• Does it double-check variables in your messages and flag messages that can’t find the right variable in the chosen profile (final customization)?
• Can you send emails / or individual messages within sequences on behalf? Can you add your hiring manager as an external user?
• Can you do outreach via text message / Whatsapp??
• Can you send an automated connection request via LinkedIn?
• Does it have message optimization features? Does it flag too long sentences, spelling mistakes, etc. - and add suggestions on how to rephrase sentences?
• Does it support your multi-touch & multi-channel campaigns? Does it allow you to search and filter for candidates within the tool (supports talent pooling)- include your ATS candidates in your search as well?
• Does it have a candidate opt-out management system? What’s the data retention policy?

DO THEY USE AI / CHATGPT?

-> And now also- does your campaign tool also integrate ChatGPT and how advanced is it in doing so? Do these tools use AI as a simple template builder (forming messages from JDs) - like Sourcehwale- OR do they use it to scrape data from profiles and generate a personalized outreach out of it- like Jobin.cloud? As you can see: HUGE DIFFERENCE!!!

-> If you want to know more about Jobin, you can use this link: https://www.jobin.cloud?a=sandra (Btw. there's a Xmas special that gives you 10% off if you use the code MERRYSOURCING). Disclaimer: this is a tool I use and love. If you take action (i.e. make a purchase) after clicking the affiliate link I'll earn some coffee money ? which I promise to drink while continouing to support your journey ?? You do not pay a higher price.

WOW - that are a lot of different features, right? Well, ask the person who demos the campaigning tool to you and see if they can answer all of them ;-)

But, not to scare the sales people away, you will have even MORE questions for them. Here we go:

Data Scraping

• Does the tool have a Boolean builder included?
• Are there limits on profile downloads/saved as pdf or other file options??
• How does the tool treat duplicates? Does it flag double candidates automatically? How can you merge two existing profiles?
• Where does the Chrome extension work on: Crunchbase, Kaggle, Dribble, Twitter, Job Boards, etc, as well as Github, LinkedIn, Xing?
• How does it integrate with LinkedIn? Can it augment LinkedIn messaging (it can’t be fully automated due to LinkedIn policy, right? Or is there a workaround...)?
• Is a data scraper and enrichment piece included? How many search engines run in the background to find emails, phone numbers etc?.
• How accurate are the findings from data scraping? Do they use an email verification tool?

Data Tracking & Workflow efficiency

• What does the funnel dashboard look like? Does it include campaign performance/diversity metrics? Can you see individual sourcer / recruiter performance?
• Does it show you candidate insights into online behavior: clicking, opening, forwarding, etc.?
• Is it your “single source of truth”: can it handle communication across tools (your ATS or CRM, LinkedIn, Gmail, Calendly etc) and add all communication to one place?
• Does it do a live data update: Tracks LinkedIn replies as (not) interested and feeds into campaign tool as well as ATS and updates automatically?
• Does it have a built-in CRM including a search function and filters as well as notification for new matching candidates, saving your search criteria?
• Does it do an email heat mapping (when are candidates most active and ready to reply)?
• Does it offer A/B testing of messages?
• Is a LinkedIn workflow integrated into your overall communication process??
• Does it have reverse ATS communication: shows information of your ATS in your campaigning tool (like candidate stages, scorecards, etc.)?
• Does it show you when and how candidates have been contacted (by whom for which project)?
• Can you bulk import candidates from LinkedIn?
• Are other bulk actions available?
• Can you do multi-step campaigns? (several sequences next to each other) - response sequences depending on the decision?
• Does it give you data reports - metrics in one place (regardless of Inmail/email) - candidate action tracking (opened, clicked, when, how often, forwarded...)?

Scheduling

• Does it avoid public holiday sent-outs for different regions?
• Does it have reminder features?
• Can you book meetings via Zoom? Are scheduling features integrated? Is there an API for scheduling tools like Calendly? Does it report back, and your scheduling tool (like Calendly) will automatically stop any pending outreach?
• Are you able to select your time zone??

Performance

• Does it “warm up emails” for spam avoidance? (e.g., sending emails from your account that get delivered and accepted in the background)
• How is the scraping performance (Email and Phone) - Every person to test themselves - Is it accurate?
• Is csv file upload possible?
• Is there an API Integration with other systems (Hyperise, Lemlist, Expand.io, PhantomBuster, etc.)?
• How does it manage bounced messages (directing them to another email they found or converting them to another messaging channel)?

Support & Compliance

• How intuitive is the usage? Can it easily be adopted by your team?
• How is the overall UX?
• Is training, onboarding, and customer support provided (same time zone?) - is there a dedicated Customer Success Manager and ongoing training and CS calls or just generic videos?
• What’s their GDPR compliance?
• Where are the servers located, and what information of candidates are stored?
• Is it license-fee-based on seats, or is it based on # of outreaches?

You see, tons of features. Tons of decisions to make.

Good news, you are not alone in this. If you are thinking about implementing a campaigning tool, you can always count on me. Just send me a message and ask me anything!

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Hi, I am Sandra, founder of?itsatalent.business???.?I'm always here to chat about all things talent sourcing & attraction, employer branding, and the future of recruitment. If you have questions, insights to share, or just want to connect, drop me a line. Let's continue this conversation!

?? If you like my tips & hacks, have a look at my book <TALENT TITANS>

on Amazon:?https://amzn.to/46EmJHX

?? or on my website:?https://lnkd.in/d5-tbnvc

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