Rethinking Physician Recruitment: A Call to Interaction
The Challenge of Email-Only Recruitment Strategies
Relying solely on email marketing for physician recruitment is a narrow strategy for a vast goal. Email has a well-earned place in every physician recruitment strategy, but reevaluating your goal for email is necessary to achieve your recruitment goals and set your organization apart. Conventional recruitment marketing hinges on a compelling “Call to Action” or CTA. At PracticeMatch, we suggest a shift in mindset when approaching your physician recruitment strategy. Instead, consider a “Call to Interaction". This can be a transformative approach, pushing the boundaries of traditional recruitment strategies and channels.
The Shortcomings of an Email-Only Approach
Emails, while convenient, often fall short due to their impersonal nature. Even with the use of merge fields, segmentation, and persuasive messaging, relying on email responses alone will miss the mark for an average recruitment strategy. Email plays nicely with other marketing tactics, creating a dynamic multichannel strategy.
The average recruitment email campaign sees a 20-30% open rate. This leaves 70-80% of recipients missing your communication or just browsing the subject line and moving on. Keep in mind that even an impression from the subject line can help push brand awareness. By including your organization's name in the subject line, you are still able to reap the benefit of a touchpoint. Make it short, sweet, and compelling.
When considering your wording choices and the goal of your email, remind yourself that you are aiming for a conversation or interaction. Keep your message short and sweet and be mindful of your closing. What are you asking for? Their time? Their consideration? Be intentional and specific. If you are hoping for their time, enclose a calendar link. The high potential for drop-off when manually scheduling a phone call warrants the use of a scheduling link.
The Essence of Personal Interaction
In the realm of recruitment, nothing beats the efficacy of direct communication. There is much merit to be found in phone calls, video chats, and face-to-face meetings. These personal one-to-one interactions significantly enhance candidate engagement. Whether your team is large and divided by a focus on specialties, or you are a one-person show, responsible for physician recruitment across all specialties, maximizes any opportunity to be in front of your candidate audience. When planning your annual budgets, prioritize specialty conferences and in-person career fairs to build valuable rapport in person. Host happy hours and cocktail parties before or after these events to maximize your time with your desired candidate audience.
Whether you are affiliated with a residency program or not, getting in front of early-career residents and fellows is a strategy that pays dividends. Residents and fellows remember who helped them. They will remember your career guidance, advice, and resources when it comes time to search for their first opportunity. Present didactic courses where you can offer education on career pathing, interviewing skills, CV writing, financial management, and any other topic you can gather expertise and create content on. Partner with local resume writers or financial planners if you need assistance developing content. PracticeMatch offers a plug-and-play Residency Program Marketing package if you need help on getting in front of residents.
Crafting a Call to Interaction Blueprint
Adopting a more intimate communication approach doesn't have to be daunting. Here are some straightforward strategies for incorporating personal touches into your recruitment efforts.
Make it personal. Though bulk email can be a large part of your strategy, starting wide and going narrow to become more airtight in messaging typically provides the best results. This process can be enhanced through personal touchpoints. Connecting with prospective candidates on LinkedIn is a great entry point to put a face to a name and build initial rapport. Once connected, your prospects can become your audience. The content you post matters – including your organization's news and highlights are a must. Showcase your brand as a recruiter and career guide for physicians. Don’t be afraid to get a little personal. Start posting to welcome new providers to your organization as they make their way through onboarding. Highlight the new talent joining your organization and tag them. You will gain the added benefit of your new hires network!
Use your ATS (applicant tracking system) to its fullest capabilities to record any touchpoints with your candidates individually. Those touchpoints can layer into a great reason for outreach down the road. “I met you at AAFP last year. You mentioned that you were considering moving to Texas. Did you ever make it down to the Lonestar state?” Small milestones or interactions can provide you with enough detail to turn a cold lead into something warmer, where interaction is natural and welcomed.
The Unmatched Value of Interactive Recruitment
Email has a permanent place in the current landscape of physician recruitment. As communication preferences continue their evolution, the benefit of a strong email campaign can be compounded by layering in text message campaigns, live events, social media outreach, and individualized 1x1 emails. There are undeniable advantages to interacting with your candidates on a personal level to enhance your strategy and build meaningful rapport in your quest to find the perfect candidate.
If you have any questions about enhancing your recruitment strategy or have suggestions for future articles, we would love to hear from you. Feel free to drop us a line at information@practicematch.com .
