Was sind die wichtigsten Unterschiede und Gemeinsamkeiten zwischen Recruitment-Marketing-Funnel und Sales-Funnel?

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Let me add something: If a company creates a recruitment video to show off the benefits of working in their industry or sends out targeted emails with their job listing, potential applicants might be interested. To reach a wider audience of candidates, companies can use job marketplaces like LinkedIn or Indeed, and social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook can show off the company's culture.

The recruitment marketing funnel is also a great framework around which to improve your candidate user journey. By analysing metrics and processes at each stage of the funnel, you can identify key ‘moments that matter’, bottlenecks and pain points that need to be addressed to reduce drop out rates and improve conversion.

Recruitment marketing usually supports the top-of-the-funnel stages: awareness, interest and consideration. Campaigns are designed to generate traffic and increase the number of applications and interest for specific positions. By looking at conversion rates between the different funnel stages, you can identify “pain points” in the candidate’s journey and evaluate the ROI from your recruitment marketing efforts.

The recruitment marketing funnel and sales funnel follow similar stages—awareness, interest, consideration, and action—but in different contexts. Recruitment focuses on attracting candidates, guiding them from awareness of job opportunities to applying, while sales guides customers from awareness of a product/service to making a purchase. Both emphasize tailored communication and understanding audience needs. They differ in the end goal—recruitment aims for candidate applications, while sales aims for customer purchases—but share common stages and engagement strategies.

A sales funnel is the process businesses use to guide potential customers through stages, from awareness to purchase. It starts with capturing attention and moves through steps like nurturing interest, building desire, and ultimately driving action. Each stage narrows down the audience, filtering out those who aren’t interested in buying. Sales funnels are goal-driven, designed to convert leads into customers by addressing needs and providing solutions. Success is measured by how effectively the funnel turns prospects into buyers.

Recruiting funnels are far more different from sales funnels than they are similar. Recruiting is all about a finite amount of “product” where sales funnels will produce enough supply to meet the demand. A recruiter can’t create 50 positions because 50 qualified candidates applied, for example. In a sales funnel, it’s one funnel per potential customer. In a recruiting funnel, a candidate is in the mix with all the other candidates as they compete for the job. In short, lots of people “think” they know what recruiting is and how to do it until they actually work a desk and realize the endeavor it is.

The journey in the recruitment marketing funnel is inherently more personal and multifaceted compared to the sales funnel. In recruitment, candidates are not just considering a transactional purchase; they are contemplating a significant life decision that involves their career path, work-life balance, and personal growth. This complexity means that touchpoints in the recruitment funnel need to be highly personalized. In recruitment marketing, every employee becomes a brand ambassador. The way current employees perceive and promote the company significantly impacts the recruitment funnel. This aspect is less prevalent in the sales funnel, where the primary focus is on the product or service rather than the internal employee experience.

A sales or marketing funnel in recruiting mirrors the process used in sales to guide potential customers toward a purchase, but here it's applied to attract and hire top talent. This funnel starts by raising awareness about your company and its culture, then moves potential candidates through stages of interest and consideration. Targeted content and personalized outreach play key roles in engaging candidates, much like nurturing leads in a sales funnel. At each stage, the goal is to move candidates closer to applying, through to selection, and finally, to onboarding. Implementing this approach can streamline your hiring process, ensuring a steady flow of quality candidates ready to join your team.

Another similarity between the two is that these days, people shop for goods and services the same way they shop for a job. McDonalds was the first company to actually use the Amazon Alexa app to help candidates find a job, "Alexa, help me get a job at McDonalds." When you've identified your candidate, you need to engage with them the way a company tries to sell their products, by better use of video and social media to promote the benefits of your company culture. Think of your employees as "influencers" in today's world.

In both funnels, once awareness is established, you need to spark interest. For sales, this involves sharing product details. For recruitment, it means presenting compelling job descriptions and showcasing your company culture. At the consideration stage, potential customers evaluate the product against their needs, while candidates assess whether the role and company align with their career goals. In both cases, it’s crucial to provide clear information to help them make their decision. Finally, in the sales funnel, action is where a customer makes a purchase. In the recruitment funnel, it’s where a candidate submits their application or accepts a job offer. Both require a smooth, easy process to ensure the desired action is completed.

Both funnels focus on nurturing and guiding individuals toward a final decision, whether it's a purchase or a job application. In recruitment marketing, the funnel starts with awareness of the employer brand and moves toward application, much like a sales funnel moves from product awareness to purchase. You can use both together by aligning messaging, creating touchpoints, and personalizing experiences to build relationships. Recruitment marketing attracts talent while sales focuses on customers, but both require strategic nurturing to convert interest into action. This synergy strengthens your overall brand presence.