How Marketing can make your hiring process more effective?

Hiring the right people has become an increasingly complex challenge, and it’s not due to a lack of candidates. In many companies, HR receives dozens or even hundreds of résumés, but only a few match the ideal profile. The screening takes too long, drop-off rates rise, and valuable team time is spent on processes that don’t deliver results.

But are we really looking at the right problem?

If marketing helps us attract the ideal customer, can’t it also help us attract the right candidate?

Today, I want to offer you, someone who faces this challenge daily, a different perspective. A starting point to help you see the hiring process more strategically, without making your routine more complicated. Just clearer.

Marketing isn’t just about selling products. It’s about understanding behavior, communicating value, and creating experiences. It’s about targeting the right audience and positioning clearly. And all of that applies to recruitment, too.

The foundations of marketing can be applied throughout the entire candidate journey. Here are a few key elements I’ve seen make a real difference:

1. The Sales Funnel as a Recruitment Framework

When we think of funnels, we think of stages. Marketing uses this logic to guide the customer from first contact to decision. HR can do the same.

At the top of the funnel, the goal is to grab attention. This is where strategic job titles, compelling descriptions, and the right channels come in.

In the middle of the funnel, it’s time to filter and spark interest. Smart application forms, automated screening, and humanized confirmation emails help keep the right candidates engaged.

At the bottom of the funnel, the decision happens. This stage is about experience. Is there clarity? Respect? A genuine connection with the company culture?

2. SEO and Copywriting in Job Descriptions

If candidates don’t find your job posting, they won’t apply. It sounds obvious, but many job ads still repel more than attract. Use copywriting techniques to make your text clearer, more engaging, and value-focused. Also, include SEO keywords that reflect the role, skills, and common search terms used by professionals in your field.

3. Persona and Segmentation

You don’t need to speak to everyone, you need to speak to the right people. Creating a job persona helps align your messaging, choose the right channels, and create smarter filters. It saves time and energy, and increases your chances of finding someone who truly connects with your mission.

4. Candidate Journey and Experience

Candidates also go through a journey. Every touchpoint communicates something. From the job ad to onboarding, a narrative is being built. The more seamless, respectful, and clear this experience is, the higher your chances of retention and genuine connection.

5. Purposeful Employer Branding

It’s not enough to say your company is amazing, you need to show it. That starts with your employer brand positioning. What’s your tone of voice? What values are you communicating? Your institutional content, posts about culture, and employee testimonials all build (or break) perception.

You don’t need to do all of this at once. And it doesn’t have to be complicated. But it does need to be intentional.

Want to Start Now?

If you’ve made it this far and thought, “This makes sense, but where do I even begin?”, I’ve got something for you.

At the end of this article, you can download my Strategic Capsule for HR Professionals. It’s a practical, no-fluff guide with actionable steps to bring marketing into your next job opening.

And if you want to go deeper, I highly recommend Eduardo Felix’s book: “Attract, Recruit and Select.” He inspired this article, and I’m sure he’ll inspire you too. His book goes far beyond marketing, offering a comprehensive analysis of what it really takes to change your recruitment process.

Because hiring well isn’t luck, it’s about process, positioning, and strategy.

Ready to transform your recruitment process with a little marketing magic?Download the Strategic Capsule now and get instant access to a tool designed to help you attract high-quality talent.

It’s a summary of exactly what you need to find your ideal candidate, more strategically and more effectively.