Improving your job ads can radically increase the quality and quantity of applicants you receive. Job ad spending accounts for, on average, 30% of a corporate recruiter's discretionary budget and you cannot afford to 'post and pray' that your job ads will be effective. In this whitepaper, we give four strategies you can use to boost the quality and quantity of applicants from your job ads, increasing the ROI you get from your recruiting operation. We do hope you find this useful!

1. FOUR STRATEGIES
THAT DRIVE
COMPLETED
APPLICATIONS

2. The first jobs ads were hand-written sheets of paper stuck in an
employer’s window. While delightfully simple, this recruitment model was
incredibly inefficient as it attracted only those candidates who happened
to be walking by.
We've come a long way since then. Today's online ads have massive reach
across the job board network and social media sites; programmatic ads
can even reach passive candidates who are not actively looking for a job.
Buying advertising is no longer a choice-less system. Organizations are
faced with a multitude of options about where to post their ads and how
to pay for them. For the hiring manager who has to deliver a good return
on his advertising spend, the choice can be bewildering.
Many companies still don't know what a click or an application is worth.
These companies may stick to fixed-price slots on recognized job boards
because this model has worked for them in the past, when the real data
supports a pay-per-performance media model. The opposite also might
be true.
Smart buyers understand that different media models serve different
roles. Our data, gained from a longitudinal study of every major applicant
tracking system in 15 different industries, suggests that
pay-per-performance recruiting is efficient for certain types of jobs, while
time-based advertising delivers a better ROI for others.
The purpose of this white paper is to cut through the misinformation and
give four clear strategies that, if implemented, will deliver more, quality
applications in return for your advertising spend. In our "takeaways" we
provide clear guidance for you to analyze your own data and use the
results to shift your budget to the media sources that deliver the greatest
return on investment.
I do hope you find it useful.
Four Strategies That Drive Completed Applications
2
Chris Forman,
Founder and CEO
of Appcast

3. 3
Properly grouped and
analyzed, applicant tracking
system data can tell recruiters
which ad model makes the
greatest economic sense.
Introduction
Analyze "paid" applicants per job and find job families where
duration based ads and slots make economic sense.
Measure your mobile applies and use the data to negotiate better
rates.
Shorten your apply process to increase conversions and cut the
cost-per-applicant for advertising units bought on a cost-per-click
basis.
Shift your budget to sites and sources that deliver the best ROI.
Where and how a job advertisement is placed online plays a vital role in
attracting candidates to jobs. It's also big business: recruiters spend
billions of dollars annually recruiting online. Different commercial models
for online recruiting exist, from simple duration-based job
advertisements through to pay-per-performance advertising. Which
model or combination of models an organization adopts largely depends
on how many times an organization recruits in any one year.
Whatever system is used, online recruiting contains an inherent
challenge – knowing exactly where your candidates are coming from.
Without reliable data on the source of applicants, recruiters cannot know
what job boards, social networking sites and advertising media are
providing the best return on investment (“ROI”). This can lead to
ill-informed decisions about where to place advertising spend.
The good news is that, with a little smart analysis, recruiters can easily
conquer this challenge. Applicant tracking systems (“ATS”) ensure that
online recruitment advertising is measurable. Properly grouped and
analyzed, ATS data can tell recruiters which ad model delivers the lowest
recruitment cost-per-applicant, and thus makes the greatest economic
sense.
Using data gained from studies of over 250,000 job applications, we have
extracted four key strategies that will help you make the most of your
recruitment advertising budget:
Four Strategies That Drive Completed Applications

4. Group E is a fine place for duration based ads. Group A... not so much.
4
Strategy #1:
Analyze the Data
Figure 1: Average applications per job, by family
Group Apps/Jobs App Count Job Count
A 0 - 5,754
B 5 < 31,410 13,517
C 5 -- 8 52,235 8,239
D
E
8 -- 39 292,053 15,506
40+ 211,198 2,925
Avg Apps
0
2.32
6.34
18.83
72.20
Med. Apps
0
1
6
15
58
Cost-per-applicant is a typical metric for determining the ROI of
recruitment spend. It's a simple calculation: total media cost / number of
applicants. For example, a $1,000 ad spend that brings in 90 applicants
returns a cost-per-applicant of $11.11. Cost-per-applicant data allows
recruiters to compare how different sites or media sources are
performing.
We analyzed more than 250,000 online job applications made to 30
different employers across a wide variety of industries. Figure 1
aggregates the data into five “families” based on the number of
applications each job received.
Category E comprises the jobs that are relatively easy to fill. As you can
see from Figure 1, this category contains the smallest number of jobs
(2,925 or 6.4% of the total), but those jobs received the highest number
of applicants per job (72 applicants per job on average; a total of 211,198
applications).
For these jobs, buying duration-based advertisements makes a lot of
sense. A posting that costs, say, $100, and attracts 72 applications, costs
just $0.72 per applicant.
%
12.5%
29.4%
17.9%
33.8%
6.4%
The business case for
duration-based advertising
becomes compelling when the
advertisement returns
somewhere in the region of
8 - 25 candidates.
Four Strategies That Drive Completed Applications

5. Measuring advertising performance can reveal budget-saving
opportunities.
By grouping the data according to the number of applications a job
receives, you should find the candidate-return point at which the
business case for duration-based advertising becomes compelling.
Hard to fill positions benefit from CPC or CPA-based advertising.
Organizations should adopt a mix of ad models depending on how
hard the job is to fill.
5
Takeaways:
Strategy #2:
Measure Mobile Applications
More than 40% of the traffic arriving at an employer’s recruitment portal
from a job board comes from a mobile device. Yet the percentage of
clicks that convert to a completed job application is a fraction of the
clicks that convert from a desktop, as Figure 2 shows.
Figure 2: Mobile apply rates versus desktop apply
rate, by industry
Industry Blended
Aircraft Manufacturing
Auto Sales
Banking
Consulting
Consumer Telecom
5%
15%
13%
4%
9%
Desktop
8%
18%
20%
7%
14%
Mobile
0%
10%
3%
0%
2%
CTA Delta
-
76%
650%
-
489%
By contrast, the jobs in Group A did not receive a single apply. A $100 job
board posting for each of the 5,754 jobs grouped in this category
equates to a massive $575,400 recruitment spend. The return on that
investment is zero. These jobs would achieve significantly greater ROI if
the ad cost was linked to performance, such as a candidate clicking
through to the employer's recruitment portal (cost-per-click, or “CPC”) or
submitting a job application (cost-per-application, or “CPA”).
Hard-to-fill jobs achieve
significantly greater ROI when
the ad cost is linked to
performance, such as a click or
an application.
1
2
3
4
In 2014, 40% of the traffic
arriving at an employer’s
recruitment portal comes from
a mobile device.
Four Strategies That Drive Completed Applications

6. 6
Ignoring mobile drop-off rates pollutes your bigger-picture analysis of
what job sites and media models are returning the best ROI.
Mobile applications that convert poorly benefit from a CPA advertising
model.
Use your conversion data to negotiate better rates with your media
provider.
Takeaways:
In the technology industry, a candidate is 2,209% more likely to apply
from a desktop than they are from a mobile device. The reason is simple:
it is far harder to apply from a mobile device than it is from a desktop.
This may be due to:
If 40% of traffic can’t apply for jobs on your website, then that traffic is
not valuable to you. Armed with your data, it is important to speak with
your vendor and find opportunities to optimize your campaigns. If you
have a goal cost-per-applicant, communicate this. The site may be able
to send you higher-converting desktop traffic to help you reach your
goals.
Platform issues, such as the inability to store a resume on a mobile
device.
The apply portal not rendering correctly on a small screen.
The length of the apply process, which becomes exaggerated when
performed on a mobile phone.
Food Service
Healthcare
Insurance
Retail
Sales
Staffing
Technology
Transportation
7%
5%
10%
5%
5%
2%
16%
5%
13%
9%
12%
8%
7%
3%
19%
7%
2%
2%
7%
1%
1%
0%
1%
4%
430%
417%
78%
547%
807%
-
2209%
72%
1
2
3
The business case for
duration-based advertising
becomes compelling when the
advertisement returns
somewhere in the region of
8 - 25 candidates.
In the retail, sales and
technology sectors, less than
1% of mobile candidates
complete a job application.
Four Strategies That Drive Completed Applications

7. 7
12.00%
# of Questions 1-25 26-50 50+
10.00%
8.00%
6.00%
4.00%
2.00%
0.00%
10.60%
5.68%
7.51%
12.00%
# of Pages 1-6 6-15 15+
10.00%
8.00%
6.00%
4.00%
2.00%
0.00%
9.8%
5.8%
7.3%
Strategy #3:
Shorten Your Application Process
The ability to apply efficiently to job postings is incredibly important, as
candidates are likely to abandon an application that is lengthy, laborious
or time-consuming. The number of clicks that convert to a completed job
application drops by almost 50% when the application asks 50 or more
questions compared to an application that asks 25 or fewer questions,
as Figure 3 shows.
Significant drop-off rates are also apparent when the candidate is faced
with six or more application pages (Figure 4), or an application takes
longer than five minutes to complete (Figure 5).
Figure 4: Click-to-apply ratio by number of pages
in an application
Figure 3: Click-to-apply ratio by number
of questions asked in an application
Four Strategies That Drive Completed Applications

8. 8
12.00%
14.00%
# of Minutes 1-5 6-15 15+
10.00%
8.00%
6.00%
4.00%
2.00%
0.00%
12.47%
3.61%
6.97%
Figure 5: Click-to-apply ratios by time in minutes
On a CPC media model, recruiters literally pay each time a potential
applicant clicks through to the employer’s recruitment portal. Thus, how
many people actually complete an application is a huge driver of ROI.
Figure 6 shows how sharply the all-industry cost-per-applicant rises, the
more time the application takes to complete. For recruiters using a CPC
model, shortening the apply process can cut recruitment costs by more
than 300%.
Figure 6: CPC cost-per-applicant based on length
of time it takes to complete an application
$12.00
$14.00
$16.00
# of Minutes 1-5 6-15 15+
$10.00
$8.00
$6.00
$4.00
$2.00
$0.00
$4.01
$7.17
$13.85
On a CPC media model,
recruiters literally pay each
time a potential applicant
clicks through to the
employer’s recruitment portal.
Advertising media costs rise by
a staggering 300% when the
application takes longer than
five minutes to complete.
Four Strategies That Drive Completed Applications

9. If applicants can't apply, then your recruitment model is not effective.
CPC media costs up to 3x more per applicant when the application
takes longer than five minutes to complete; the cost hike is entirely
due to drop-off rates.
Drop-off does not affect ROI in duration-based advertisement models;
however, in supply-constrained industries it makes commercial sense
to shorten the application process and encourage more, quality
applicants.
Strategy #4:
Shift to a Model That Delivers
Maximum ROI
Cost-per-application buying is the new kid on the recruitment media
block. Under this model, the organization does not pay unless a
candidate actually applies for a job sponsored on the system. CPA has
material advantages over other types of recruitment media:
Takeaways:
You only pay when the advertising converts.
Low mobile apply rates do not affect advertising spend, though they
remain undesirable for other reasons.
Application drop-off rates, aggravated by lengthy and time consuming
apply processes, do not affect the bottom line.
Pay-per-applicant job advertising gives a 100% return on recruitment
spend when measuring the cost-per-applicant.
Pay-per-applicant advertising has the potential to radically increase the
efficiency of your recruiting spend. This is particularly true for hard-to-fill
vacancies that receive few applications and industries that experience
significant mobile traffic and thus, significant mobile drop-off. By
analyzing your tracking data, you will quickly identify those jobs where the
pay-per-applicant model could even reduce recruitment spend and
deliver strong performance compared to other pricing models.
Advertising models that charge
only when a job seeker
completes an application give
a 100% return on recruitment
spend when measuring the
cost-per-applicant.
9
1
2
3
Companies must stay
open-minded and be willing to
test new media to truly
maximize recruitment
advertising ROI.
Four Strategies That Drive Completed Applications

10. 10
Recognize that different types of jobs will benefit from different
recruitment media.
Don't be afraid to test new options in your recruitment strategy.
Options like pay-per-applicant advertising have the potential to
radically increase the efficiency of your recruiting spend, particularly
for hard-to-fill vacancies.
Make the budgetary shift to take advantage of the sites and media
models that provide greatest ROI across different types of jobs.
Takeaways:
Conclusion
Every organization posting open jobs should know what it is getting in
return for its media spend. How many clicks, how many completed
applications? Automated applicant tracking systems can give you the raw
data, but it takes ongoing analysis to monitor how media sources are
performing across different categories of jobs. Hiring managers must be
willing to shift their budgets if one of their media options is not
performing well, and demand better conversion rates from their media
provider.
New recruitment models come to the market all the time. Companies
must stay open-minded and be willing to test new media to truly
maximize recruitment advertising ROI.
1
2
3
Four Strategies That Drive Completed Applications

11. 11
Recruiting with Appcast
On January 1, 2014, StartDate Labs launched Appcast™, the industry’s
first pay-per-applicant job ad exchange. Appcast allows talent acquisition
leaders to focus their recruitment advertising budgets more efficiently by
charging only when a job application is completed on an employer’s
corporate career site.
Appcast brings advanced programmatic online ad buying to the human
recruitment capital market. Above and beyond the pay-per-applicant
pricing model, Appcast’s ‘rules-based buying’ engine delivers great
applicants to the recruitment portal and ensures budget dollars are
focused exclusively on hard-to-fill or critical vacancies that need
applications.
Already utilized by many leading companies, Appcast is focused on
maximizing the efficiency of recruiting ad spend in a streamlined, user-
friendly way. Hiring managers set the rules on how they wish to sponsor
jobs and how much they are willing to pay. There are no minimum
budgets or long-term contracts.
To learn more about Appcast and sign up for a demo, visit:
www.appcast.io
Four Strategies That Drive Completed Applications