No matter what sector your business operates in, it is almost impossible to overlook the rapidly growing importance of video in digital communication - and all the evidence suggests that this trend will only continue to accelerate in the coming years.

Research from Cisco shows that video is set to account for 82% of all IP traffic worldwide by 2022, up from 75% in 2017. This transition has revolutionised most companies approach to digital content creation and outreach, to the extent that the concept of "pivoting to video" has become a cliche across multiple fields, from publishing to marketing.

Inevitably, this is also affecting the world of recruitment, with employers and recruiters finding a variety of ways to make use of video to:

• Maximise the effectiveness of their hiring processes
• Reach a broader audience
• Achieve a better ROI
• Gain access to the top tier of desirable talent

Given that this trend is unlikely to be reversed any time soon, it is therefore essential that businesses learn as much as they can about the applications of video in recruitment - or risk being left behind by their more forward-thinking competitors.

How can video be used to aid recruitment?

There are a few different video formats that can be harnessed by recruiters to communicate key messages to potential applicants. Each of these approaches has the potential to target jobseekers at different stages of their candidate journey, and can be used for a variety of purposes.

Employee interviews and testimonials

By recording a short conversation with a current employee about their experience of joining or working for your company, you can provide clients with direct first-hand insights into your working culture, while showcasing the satisfaction and loyalty you are fostering among your staff.

Virtual tour of the office

These videos give viewers a look at your working premises during a typical day, giving them a flavour of the overall atmosphere and helping them imagine where they may fit. It also provides an opportunity to present your workplace in an aspirational light.

"Day in the life" video

This kind of content follows staff members as they go about their day-to-day tasks, providing a concise summary of what applicants can expect of their specific roles, and an insight into the rapport between team members.

Explanatory/instructional video

Using video footage, on-screen graphics and voiceover, this content can be used to talk applicants through key aspects of how your business functions, what their role will be, and what will be expected of them during the application process.

The key benefits of video for recruiters

There are numerous potential benefits to incorporating video content into your recruitment campaign, giving you a golden opportunity to improve the clarity and precision of your messaging, while expanding your potential audience of candidates.

Communicating the details of the job role

Embedding video content into a job advertisement can be a highly effective way of giving applicants the clearest possible picture of what they can expect from a role. Instead of reading blocks of text, viewers can watch a short video that demonstrates what their daily responsibilities will be, what processes are in place and how the environment operates.

Not only does video present this information in a more visually engaging way, but it also provides a unique opportunity to demonstrate your team ethos and workplace culture in action - something that is difficult to authoritatively communicate using words alone.

Showcasing your brand

Recruitment videos present a unique opportunity to showcase your brand values and USPs to a broader audience, at the same time as providing valuable information to candidates. Creating a video allows your business to tell a story, presenting your company culture and work environments in an aspirational light, in a way that aligns with your brand values.

There are few tools more powerful than video for helping you highlight the more human side of your business, whether through direct testimonials or a warm and welcoming presentation style.

Delivering better SEO

One of the consequences of the recent emergence of video-led content strategies is that search engines are now prioritising video like never before. Research from Brightcove in 2015 indicated that video can drive organic traffic from search engine results pages by as much as 157%, and the importance of the format has only grown since then.

By including video content on your recruitment pages and job listing, youre able to drive traffic to the advertisements from multiple different sources, maximising the likelihood of the best candidates being able to get in touch with you.

Attracting more applicants and improving ROI

Video usually costs more to produce than plain text or graphics, but there is considerable evidence that it delivers a solid return on investment (ROI) in terms of improving the effectiveness of your recruitment efforts.

Data from Aberdeen Group has shown that the top-performing companies in their categories are 75% more likely to use video tools for branding, making it easier to attract the attention of top talent much faster and easier. Additionally, a study from Lighthouse Research & Advisory indicates that a welcome video from a hiring manager would make a candidate 46% more likely to consider the job, and 30% more likely to respond to a recruiter or apply for a role.

By making optimal use of video content, businesses can attract more interest, encourage more potential candidates to apply, and reduce the amount of time to a successful hire.

Maximising your reach across all platforms

One of the greatest benefits of video is how well-optimised it is for important growth platforms that drive significant amounts of traffic for recruiters. Hubspot research shows that 50% of all mobile traffic is now accounted for by video, while the format is also much easier to share through social channels than text-based equivalent content.

By optimising your recruitment material for these channels, you can also maximise your chances of successfully reaching out to younger Millennial and Generation Z candidates, who now represent a crucially important percentage of the top talent pool.

Top tips for creating recruitment video content

The best recruitment video content should be tailored to reflect the specifics of the role you are advertising and the personality of your business, which means there is no one-size-fits-all approach to creating this material.

However, there are still a few key principles that recruiters and employers would do well to follow:

Do it well, or not at all

Companies in certain sectors would benefit from producing a slickly produced corporate-style video, while others would do better with a more homemade approach.

However, in either case, it is vital to create content to a high standard of competence - even if it means spending extra on hiring an external producer - as an amateurish production is likely to have a negative impact.

Consider the needs of your audience

As with any piece of marketing content, recruitment videos need to be properly tailored for the needs of the intended audience. What stage of the candidate journey are they at? What information do they need to know, and what questions might they ask?

By thinking these questions through before creating the content, you will have a better chance of producing something that delivers on your intended goals.

Choose participants that reflect your company culture

If your video features contributions from existing members of your staff, it is best to incorporate the input of a diverse range of employees from across the business, as this will help you to fully reflect the breadth of your business culture and humanise the organisation in the viewers eyes.

At the same time, it is best to avoid including anyone in the video who is not comfortable or enthusiastic about taking part. This will inevitably come across in the resulting content.

Dont make the video too long

Video content is most successful when it concisely communicates an idea that could not have been conveyed by prose. This benefit is negated when the video is overlong, and recruitment candidates are unlikely to take the time to watch content that demands too much of their time.

As such, it is best to limit the length of any given video to two or three minutes at the most, especially for content that is designed to catch the attention of a candidate who is not yet committed to joining your business.

Monitor the performance of your content and act accordingly

The completion and publication of your recruitment video does not necessarily mark the end of the process. For best results, your business should monitor views, engagement, click-through rates and other metrics, in order to get a sense of which content strategies are delivering the best results.

Based on these findings, you will be able to refine your video strategy further over time, ensuring your company is able to gain maximum ROI, improve the efficiency of your recruitment efforts, and unlock all of the benefits that the video format has to offer.

If you need help with developing your digital recruitment activities further, get in touch with the full-service team here at I-COM. We offer specialist recruitment website and digital marketing solutions to make the most of your talent acquisition activities.

Learn more about our video and animation service, or give us a call on 0161 402 3170.

Or find out more about our digital marketing solutions for recruitment agencies.