If you’re still sending InMails and e-mail, stop for a second and consider mobile. The stats make sense – mobile has the highest response rate of any communication medium. Here are a few more just in case you aren’t convinced yet:

• There’s a 5 – 10x increase in response rate from a text vs a URL.

• DoSomething.org recently found their response rate is between 10x and 100x as high for mobile as email.

• 80% response rate

If you’re in recruiting, you can’t wait any longer to figure out your mobile strategy. E-mail is slowly but surely becoming people’s least favorite way of connecting and your reliance will be the achilles heel of your future.

Of course, if everyone is jumping on the bandwagon – I have a few mobile mandates I’d like to put out there. Consider these the minimum, not the entirety, of building a solid mobile recruiting strategy.

1. Be Human. No one wants to talk to some boring or generic employer brand. I talk a lot about authenticity and transparency, but if you want to recruit, especially on mobile, it’s important to put the human back into human resources. For these initiatives to succeed, you’ve got to expand beyond simply your recruiting organization and get real employees (“brand ambassadors” or otherwise) involved. Some of the best ways to encourage this participation (and increase engagement) are to make it feel fun, instead of a chore or a requirement – something candidates will see right away. Start an intraoffice selfie contest. Celebrate National Grilled Cheese Day, National Donut Day or the million other “holidays” out there that might be kind of fake, but can increase real engagement from employees and candidates alike. People love it, even if you think it’s a little cheesy. Get it? Sorry, had to make my dad joke. Moving along…
2. Don’t Automate Feedback: You don’t have to be some snarky, tech-savvy Millennial to figure out whether or not something is a form letter or automated template, but the next generation of candidates are particularly likely to be turned off by these high tech, low touch and impersonal communications. Take the time to add a little personalization to your outreach efforts; even a little effort goes a long way in building employer brand equity and goodwill, particularly among the emerging workforce and recent grads many employers are looking for.
3. Provide Instant Gratification: There’s no time like now. Today, consumers expect instant gratification or real time information. Don’t tell candidates you’ll be in touch if there’s a fit, or that you’ve received their application and will be in touch – build some sort of immediate reward or outcome into the application process to incentivize completions and speak to the consumer expectation of instant rewards. Even if your jobs are worth the wait, there’s a good chance candidates won’t stick around without some sort of immediate payoff, even for something as small as a personalized thank you or providing a special offer or discount to candidates as an acknowledgement of their interest.
4. Think Visually. A picture might still be worth a thousand words, but video is priceless. From using short videos on your career site to convey your Employer Value Proposition to embedding “Day in the Life” short features into job postings, video is a great way to make people feel something. When they feel that connection instantly, you find better people from the start. If you’re getting really crazy, considering extending the use of video to interviewing. The young folks are more comfortable – and eager to adopt – video solutions than any other demographic cohort in the workforce. Plus, it saves you time and money.

This isn’t perfect, nor is it all inclusive, but it’s a start.

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