Advertising agencies: the advantages and challenges of working with them (document)
When people think of using an advertising agency, they usually have in mind big, expensive advertising campaigns. But the bread and butter work of recruitment advertising agencies is in placing day to day job adverts which make up the bulk of job advertisements in newspapers and magazines.
Advertising agencies are given discounts by publishers on the cost of placing adverts. Such discounts are not available to employers placing advertisements directly with the newspapers. This used to mean that the cost of using an agency was kept very low. However, changes in the industry have meant that pricing has become more complex.
On of the challenges faced when using an advertising agency is in understanding its pricing structure. Different agencies have different pricing structures, and when choosing an agency, it is important to understand the relative costs.
By redesigning adverts to occupy less space, and by negotiating with publications, agencies can actually help you save on newspaper advertising costs overall and a good agency will specify the cost savings they have achieved on the normal rate. Of course this is less important if you are now using low cost recruitment methods.
Agencies are in the best position to advise on the best local publications to use, whether it's local papers, specialist and trade magazines, or jobsites on the Internet. They advertise hundreds of jobs, and monitor carefully what works and what doesn't. So tapping into their expertise could avoid you making costly mistakes - advertising in publications which don't give you the results you need.
Most agencies offer a copywriting service. This ensures the text of the advert is as effective as possible in terms of quality of response as well as cost. They are mindful of discrimination issues and are able to advise employers if the text of an advert is not fully compliant with equal opportunities legislation. They specialise in design work, to ensure that the advert stands out from the crowd on the newspaper page.
Recruitment advertising is a highly competitive market, with a number of very large multi-national agencies alongside much smaller locally based agencies. Many have now developed a public sector side to their business, and will have some awareness of social care and the recruitment issues for the sector.
When choosing an agency always look at previous work and contact some of their current clients to find out the kind of service provided. You can see examples of award winning advertising on the CIPD / Guardian awards website:
http://www.cipdguardianawards.co.uk/077/
The pitfalls to avoid relate to costs and whether the agency is managing your recruitment in a cost-effective manner.
Make sure you understand what charges will be made and what they are for. Query charges for "setup costs" or "account management" and what this involves. Make sure that the agency sticks to their brief and doesn't try to sell you a full page, full colour advert if that is not what you wanted. Make sure the agency is continuously looking for ways of improving your recruitment effectiveness and from time to time they should be suggesting ways of reducing your advertising costs.
If you are not happy with your agency, then take your business elsewhere. Of course its good to develop a long term relationship with an agency as with any supplier, but you do not have to sign up to any long term contract. If an agency asks for that, then think very carefully before making such a commitment. Make sure that there are ways of monitoring the quality of the work and that you can expect to have a good service regardless of your size and the value of your account.
For further information on selecting an agency and a list of recruitment agencies go to the CIPD's "people management" website
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