The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Tracking Conversions from Indeed’s Sponsored Jobs

The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Tracking Conversions from Indeed’s Sponsored Jobs

Nov 1, 2023 | Career Site, Job Advertising, Recruitment Marketing

In the past, recruiting was a simple affair. Recruiters would post jobs on traditional job boards, count the applicants, and plan their budgets for the year. But then, Indeed stormed onto the scene, changing the game with its pay-per-click (PPC) model, quickly becoming the dominant force in the job board industry. Yet, Recruitment Marketing experts can’t help but feel frustrated by the enigmatic nature of the PPC model and the uncertainty surrounding the source of their applicants.

 

Indeed’s story has two sides. On one side, they paint a rosy picture with impressions, clicks, and the coveted “apply” button clicks. On the other side, your trusty ATS (Applicant Tracking System) reveals how many applicants you received from Indeed. Often, these two sides don’t align, leaving you wondering how much you should invest to secure an applicant.

 

When things don’t go as planned, Indeed tends to blame the application process or claims that the job is so hot it requires a larger budget to attract applicants. On the flip side, the Recruitment Marketing and Talent Acquisition teams are left perplexed. Despite increasing spending, they’re not getting the desired number of applicants.

 

However, a significant share of the responsibility falls on the recruitment marketing team if they haven’t set up proper conversion tracking. While Indeed used to provide tracking pixels, that’s no longer the case. If your recruitment marketing manager isn’t proficient in setting up conversion attributes and goals, pointing fingers at Indeed won’t solve the problem. They have the data to show you what’s happening, but you need your data to make a compelling case.

 

So, how can you establish conversion tracking for Indeed without their tracking pixels? It’s a challenge, but you can get creative with Google Tag Manager (GTM). Using the “Custom HTML” feature, you can insert a script that triggers when someone submits a form, for example. This script sends data to your GTM account, allowing you to set up triggers and variables for data analysis in Google Analytics.

 A custom version of Indeed’s tracking pixel on your career site provides valuable insights, such as which jobs receive the most page views and applicants from Indeed. For instance, you might opt to use Indeed Apply for jobs with low click-through rates from Indeed to your career site.

 

Without the right conversion tracking on your career site, you’ll have to rely on Indeed’s data and trust that their account managers have your best interests in mind. They usually do, but they also manage other accounts, and they’re not in the best position to help you achieve your objectives on your career site without reliable data.

 

This post isn’t a step-by-step guide on setting up custom conversion tracking code; however, it’s a reminder that Indeed has its data, and you need your data to gauge the performance of your sponsored campaigns. Once you’ve implemented conversion tracking, you’ll be better equipped to make informed decisions about your budget and how much you’re willing to invest in Indeed to attract the applicants you desire.

Spending Too Much on Indeed Ads, Then Do This

Jun 11, 2023 | Job Advertising, Recruitment Marketing

Read this. Focus. Put down the Starbucks for a sec. In case you’ve been living in a cave for the last 10 years, Indeed.com is the top job board today and they can be a serious budget buster if you don’t know what you’re doing, and chances are probably don’t.  If you want to avoid getting taken to the cleaners, then here’s how to get the most bang for your recruitment marketing buck.

 

 

USING INDEED APPLY, HUH?

I get it if candidates are dropping out of your application process because it’s (ahem) a thorough process and you just want to get some quick applicants, then by all means set up your Indeed Apply. But if you’re also running Sponsored Job campaigns, then you need two separate accounts. Why? Because Indeed Apply will skew your talent data and analytics giving you a higher apply-start-rate (ASR). Look don’t be lazy. You need to have two separate accounts with their own budget.

 

 

MANAGE YOUR ACCOUNT MANAGER

You’ve probably gotten to know your Indeed Account Manager by now, but just remember, they’re there for a reason, which is to keep you spending and to keep you as a client. Of course, they want you to achieve success and that’s why you need to know how to run reports. Meet with your Account Manager and go over past campaign performance. Important metrics everyone needs to track are cost-per-click, click-through rates, apply-start-rate and cost-per-apply-start-rate.

 

 

APPLY START RATE LOW?

As of right now, you’re still getting charged on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis when running Sponsored Job ads. Don’t get me wrong here. You must factor in CPC when you’re analyzing campaign reports but what you really need to track is the Apply Start Rate (ASR). This is a big deal. A low ASR could mean you have a crappy job description, or it could also mean you’re not spending enough on your monthly bid. In my experience, anything lower than 10% ASR needs improvement. If it’s a niche role, expect low ASR and you might want to consider running an Indeed Apply instead.

 

 

HIRING INSIGHTS

A lot has changed in twenty years. tech, music, and how people search for a job. Indeed’s Hiring Insights are often overlooked, which is a shame because it has the latest market data to help you get a leg up on the competition.  For example, are Nurses in Cincinnati searching for jobs using RN, Registered Nurse, or Nurse in the title search bar? Hiring Insights ranks the most popular job titles for that skill. More importantly, you’ll uncover trends and competitor activity. Hiring Insights is a feature to help improve future campaign performance.

Recruitment marketing is about measuring the performance of ads, and this includes Indeed.com. After all, they’re shifting their platform to be more candidate-centric these days, which means you’ll need to pay attention to your campaigns otherwise you might be spending more on ads.