Recruiting during a pandemic: campaign strategies that work

SITUATION
Recruitment marketing can be challenging. Even before COVID-19 struck, healthcare organizations across the country were competing for talent due to a shortage of healthcare workers; this was especially true for nurses. Then with early exposure to coronavirus, many healthcare workers had to be quarantined—a dire situation had turned desperate. There was a sudden increase in the need for critical care nurses; respiratory therapists shot to the top of the list of roles needed to operate ventilators; echo, MRI, and CT technologists were needed to diagnose cases; and the hospitals that were potential hot beds for infection needed environmental services to ensure every room was sterilized. As the nation faced infection spikes, healthcare organizations had to further staff up to ensure patients are getting the care and treatment they need.

The Swedish Medical Center Talent Acquisition team worked with us to launch a campaign to help with its recruitment efforts around critical talent deficits.

APPROACH
To reach the greatest possible audience during this critical time, GA Creative devised a strategy to employ streaming video and radio, digital display, social, and search advertising to drive candidates to a landing page optimized to capture maximum value—job seekers ready to apply today and those who could be nurtured over time.

CREATIVE
Leveraging the organization’s “Health for good” branding, we pivoted the message for recruitment efforts, focusing on how frontline caregivers can join Swedish to deliver high quality care to the community. Messages reassured candidates that a safe hiring experience and work environment is a top priority.

Working together with the Recruit Rooster development team, we updated the Swedish jobs website and introduced campaign landing pages geared toward three campaign audience segments.

“They went from being a nice partner to an integral part of our team this year. We wouldn’t be able to do what we do today without the team. They are excellent at implementing specialized targeting for candidates, which has been especially important during COVID-19. Our partnership with GA Creative makes our lives easier by helping us move from ‘fill a job’ metrics to a ‘build a career’ metrics with our candidates.”
Carl Queton, Recruiting Marketing Strategist, Providence St. Joseph Health Talent Acquisition

RESULTS
Together with our digital media partner, Goodway Group, we launched the campaign with strong early results including:

  • A higher number of job applications
  • Many people joining the Talent Network for nurture efforts
  • A low cost per action

We will continue to optimize the campaign creative and digital channels to achieve the greatest results.