What to market on job portal?
Every job seeker and job doer is aware of IIM Jobs today. And possibly major traffic it draws is from post graduates. The job portal differentiates itself from other job portals because of the kind of jobs it shares. Its not just another pool of jobs from companies and consultants but rather a site where top headhunters post the job profiles and mostly for post graduates or experienced people. The layout of site is also very user friendly as it creates no chaos, is hassles free and gives you just what you want with jobs conveniently categorized. There is no need to define your own parameters for job search or to define which location is preferable. Its just the category and everything is in front of you to chose with complete details. The popularity of job is seen from the no. of hits it shows. What you need is simply present and you don't have to get irritated with useless things given.
With such great understanding of your audience why you need to put advertisement on the side columns which are most irrelevant to the audience. The audience is well learnt, well experienced and well informed. It needs to be understood that they are not teenagers who have just graduated and are not sure of their career path of about their choices in life. These people are really not seeking an MBA degree that they should be told about any institute which can make them "MBA". These people are on the website because they are seeking job and not because they should be told that they must take their career to "next level" by enrolling in some course. To some extent, it makes sense to share about the courses on such sites but then the job portal should maintain its USP by making sure what and which course is being highlighted. Probably sharing about short term or part time courses would be more insightful for the audience than to make them realize that you are in need of some change and not in need of addition. Adding to your profile is more convincing than changing your profile.
Besides the logical aspect, there is an emotional aspect which should be kept into consideration while you are dealing with consumers who are either unemployed or wrongly employed. How exciting it would be for them to see that they have a site from where they can gift their loved ones. Gifting "Valentine Gift Hamper" in month of March showing a teddy that says "I Love You". Is it to add humor that your current job scene might take your loved one away so better gift them something and secure future? Definitely not. When audience is browsing for finding a job they are definitely in no mood of showing their love for anyone. Instead of buying that gift from that website they would pool that money with some consultant at that time.
Definitely dont market emotions !
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true in saying the later note about that valentine gifts and teddyyys... of course its the most unwanted thing that one can have on that portal.
ReplyDeleteBut in the former section, i disagree with u.. I suppose, a person searching for a job might not be an MBA and could have a good amount of experience to be on that site. But in that frame of frustration and in a need of a swing, one can actually think of opting for a higher education or field change studies.
also another point to support my verdict :) is that, in significant no of cases, these sites are visited by a trigger of the key word "JOB"... so there it is immaterial to notice the experience level of the site visitor.
Classic Marketing theory states that if you are marketing a product to a potential consumer, you might attempt to cross-sell/up-sell related products to the same consumer in that sales cycle itself. For Ex: Someone buying a laptop online on some website, putting up contextual ads of accessories makes sense.
ReplyDeleteApplying the same logic here, the main "product" that the website is aiming to provide is jobs. Ofcorse the cashflows are different here since the company puttin that job post is paying the website & not the job seeker. So, what other related "product" would make sense to propose the job seeker? Maybe a resume building service? Or an experts advice column ?
The question here is - are these "ads" covert enough in their presence so as NOT to distract the visitor from the core purpose of being there. Thats the idea. In my opinion, most marketers, in their zest to reach out to consumers, get this simple theory wrong.
I am the founder of iimjobs.com. At the outset, let me thank you for writing about us. I appreciate your feedback.
ReplyDeleteWe do not charge recruiters or job seekers for using the platform. The only way for us to cover our costs (partially) is through those non-intrusive ads on the site. I believe its a small price to keep a valuable service alive.
Even though the site is gaining popularity amongst its target segment, we are still far away from achieving the scale at which we could pick & choose advertisers on the site. Most of these ads are served by ad-networks which automatically pick & serve ads in real time.
PS: Request you to change "IIM Jobs" and/or IIMJobs in the article/title to iimjobs.com for the benefit of readers who might not have heard about us.
@ Manan: I understand your apprehensions about 1st part. But thats precisely my point. The site is not for anyone who reaches ther accidently or intentionally and thus can get benefited by these ads. The USP is type of jobs for particular set of people. Every single thing constitutes your brand and hence d ad shd also project same image.
ReplyDelete@ Naju: Thanks for your view
@ Tarun Matta: Thanks for giving the insight which definitely clears many of our doubts. However, being on receiving end myself who religiously follow IIMJobs for finding a suitable job, its definitely a distraction to see those ads. But you rightly said popularity would meet the viability of business and then "appropriate" ads can keep the brand image intact.
The ads any portal irrespective of the type of portal it maybe are a mode of revenue generation for the site hosting the ads..this is the only way to make money for the portal..it is just another mode of advertising in the digital space :)
ReplyDeleteWell, FYI, the site has got new look, much professional at iimjobs.com
ReplyDeletealso i took inspiration from it..and open my similar site
mbanaukri.com
If you see the reason behind that portal..you can probably know y thr r such silly adds thr
hey r u from MDI....
ReplyDeleteReally like this website, this really helps and very useful.
ReplyDeleteDon't know what is wrong what is rite but i know that every one has there own point of view and same goes to this one
ReplyDelete@Tarun - Can iimjobs.com look for segregation between CxO job and <10 yr segment jobs and earn revenues from a CxO level job posted on the website. Also its a better idea to have a tie-up with google adstream instead.
ReplyDeletemarketing job have to know the art of tackling people of all sorts effectively and generate more sales for the company.
ReplyDeleteApart from being relevant to the context, other biggest thing is target audience. The website will attract advertisers who want to connect with young professionals (25-35 year bracket)
ReplyDeleteNow these people are the ones who have a love life and money to spend on it. Today there is an ad for Domino's pizza and again the segment targeted might be attractive for Domino's