Long gone are the days of opening up the classifieds section of a newspaper and circling job ads. Instead, recruiters now have a wealth of ad options at their fingertips: online job boards, social media sponsored content, website banner ads … and the list goes on. How can a savvy recruiter keep track of it all? Enter: Automated programmatic media. It’s an approach that can make finding the right talent easy and oh so cost-effective. We’re talking “push of a button” easy.  So, how does it work—and why is it considered the next big thing in recruitment marketing? Read on to find out:

What Is Automated Programmatic Media?

With automated programmatic media buying, you use an algorithm to buy media placements via bidding in real time, maximizing spend to the most effective channels—making your job a whole lot easier. What’s more, the algorithm automatically recalibrates based on response to your advertising. For example, if candidates are responding to a particular ad on Facebook more than on Twitter, the algorithm channels your spend to the Facebook ad. Plus, automated rogrammatic media draws on robust data to target certain audiences, which allows you to personalize the experience for your candidates.

Compared to traditional media buying, automated programmatic media makes optimizing your ad spend not only easier, but automatic, freeing you up to focus on the relationship-building aspects of finding the right talent. As Chris Forman writes in ERE Media: “Traditional job ad placement asks for steep investments of time and labor. You’ve got to inquire about pricing and availability, purchase placements, then manually upload the job ads. Programmatic consolidates the process of managing multiple vendors into a single portal and soothes administrative headaches. Recruiters can set caps on a maximum number of applies needed for all jobs, and let the programmatic engine run in the background.”

What it means for candidates:

It sounds counterintuitive: By making the ad process automatic, instead of heavily controlled by us mere mortals, programmatic media actually creates a more meaningful, relevant experience for candidates. It’s true! You can thank programmatic media’s data-driven approach for that. By drawing on demographic data (everything from age to current income), programmatic media can target your ads at very specific, well-defined niche markets. That gives you the opportunity to create highly relevant ads that speak to a specific demographic. After all, the employer brand messaging that resonates with millennials may be different from what really resonates with Gen Xers. Automated programmatic media allows you to create and disseminate ads that speak directly to both.

Plus, since automated programmatic media automatically optimizes your ad campaigns, you can be sure that your candidates are being served ads that are proven to be the most resonant. The result? By delivering meaningful, relevant content to a targeted audience, you’re able to start building a relationship with a candidate long before they’ve even spoken with a recruiter. Programmatic media not only aids in finding the right talent, but nurtures them as well. When candidates are ready to apply, they’ll feel that much more confident about their decision, thanks to the name recognition and relevant messages your media has supplied.

What it means for recruiters:

Yes, utilizing automated programmatic media—automated through data-driven artificial intelligence—saves you time and money. But it does so much more. Through targeted ads and personalized videos, you’re able to get in front of the right candidates, showing up where they hang out online. As Forman again writes, this time in Recruiter: “Complex algorithms figure out where in the digital ecosystem your audience hangs out and ensure your job ads are placed in front of the right demographic at the right time and just the right place—even if that ‘right place’ is a niche real estate blog run out of Providence. Wherever your proverbial needle is, programmatic advertising can find it in the online haystack.”

Not only does automated programmatic media put you in front of the right candidates—it does so again and again, thanks to retargeting. By retargeting those who’ve expressed interest in your ads or content, you can keep your employer brand front and center. After all, it’s not likely that a candidate will click on a job ad and apply for the job if they’ve never heard of the company before. But automated programmatic media allows you to stay top of mind, so when the right candidate is ready to apply, your well-placed job ad points them in the right direction at the right time.

What it means for your bottom line:

Today, time = money. Which makes automated programmatic media an incredibly cost-effective solution for finding the right talent. Automated programmatic media’s AI-powered automation allows you to funnel your spend to the most relevant, cost-effective channels ... without you having to lift a finger—except to click “start.” That frees you up as a recruiter to focus on other critical areas of recruitment marketing that require you to be more hands-on.

So, how can you make finding the right talent easier for you? As you consider adopting a programmatic media approach, keep this in mind:

• Look for software solutions that allow you to make adjustments on the fly, letting you be nimble with your recruitment marketing.
• Another element to look for? Robust reporting, which will keep you in the know about how greatly programmatic media has impacted your recruiting ROI.
• A solution that supports video ads is a must (according to Hubspot, ⅓ of all online activity is spent watching video).