Audio Recruitment Day: The top six key takeaways
Nov 2019 RadioWorks Blog
Today’s students, graduates and millennials at large are consuming vast quantities of media in many ways. These candidates are influencers of tech, entertainment and music, so it should go without saying that marketers ought to be exploring other channels to communicate with this tricky-to-reach target market. RadioWorks’ 2019 Audio Recruitment Day sought to underline just that, showcasing the many ways in which audio can work for recruitment. In case you missed it, here are the top six key takeaways from last week’s conference:
1. Free audio subscribers are ambitious and ‘career-driven’
Audio platforms are cherished by career-driven individuals. According to Spotify, 78% of free users agree that it’s important to continue developing new skills and 42% say they’re very career orientated. This is great news for recruiters. On-demand music platforms like Spotify have an astute ability to cater to listeners’ needs. So, through clever targeting and bespoke messaging, we can reach tomorrow’s future candidates whilst they listen to their favourite study and 9-5 playlists.
2. Niche targeting through commercial radio
Ethnic radio offers much more than meets the ear. They broadcast around the country, offering companionship to a diverse crowd and can be cleverly utilised to recruit niche target audiences. When reaching this diverse audience, commercial radio performs strongly, particularly when compared to the BBC. Commercial radio reaches 62% of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) listeners, compared to a 44% reach by BBC services. It’s also worth noting that for the BBC share of hours for BAME listeners is 37% yet for commercial radio it is 57%.
3. Smart Speakers: Context makes advertising work harder
The use of smart speakers and voice assistants continues to soar, with the large majority of listening being live radio. The way we tune in to radio and audio in general is changing, so it is becoming more and more important to observe the activities users are engaged in while listening.
Rajar’s latest Midas survey (autumn, 2019) highlights that 20% of listeners are either working or studying whilst listening to a smart device. Capturing this audience whilst in work or study mode is one of the most valuable moments for any recruiter and talking directly to an audience whilst ‘in the zone’, listening to music without any background noise is not only effective, but limits the wastage you would find with other media.
4. Podcasts provide a safe and trusted environment for listeners
The bond between podcast hosts and their community of listeners is like no other. Listeners are more engaged with content in this high-trust environment than many other mediums and as a result “76% of listeners say they have acted on a brand message within a podcast” (Acast, 2018).
5. Radio and digital audio both satisfy ‘six contemporary need states’
Radio and on-demand audio complement one another. One of the reasons why audio consumption continues to flourish is because of its ability to fulfill many key need-states, for instance: “lift my mood”, “broaden my horizons” and “help me escape”. The different characteristics of live radio and on-demand audio mean that they are suited to different need-states and play complementary roles in the listener’s life.
6. Sally in conversation with Ally
Our final session saw Executive Change Mentor Sally Henderson and Head of Maple Street Creative Ally Lang exploring the versatility of podcasts. Sally said: “When you do recruitment brilliantly, you’re not only influencing and changing businesses, you’re changing lives.” She went on to lay out a clear case for brands with communication at the core of their mission statement to be immersed in digital audio.
A podcast has the incredible ability to convert audiences with its authentic voice, so it seems perfectly placed to become a major player in the recruitment sector.
