Marketing Your Career Service
In 2020, I made the career transition from corporate recruitment to independent career service provider. I had been a recruiter for 15 years and decided it was time to make a move. At the time, all my social media and online presence was entirely centred around being a recruiter. Having a master’s degree in business, and a specialization in marketing, it didn’t take me long to realize that, without a solid plan, I was heading toward failure. Re-inventing myself and deciding how I would present myself to the world needed to be carefully and thoroughly thought-out. I got to work on a plan for marketing my new career service.
The Marketing Mix
The marketing mix is a known foundational model for business centred around the 4Ps: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. However, when offering services, things get a bit more complex and another 4Ps are added to form a marketing mix with 8Ps: People, Positioning, Processes, and Performance are added. The goal is to differentiate the business from its competition.
Product
For career services, product is the service you sell and anything tangible you offer. This is where you think about the services, the bundles, the e-books, the courses, the affirmation cards—anything and everything you want to offer your clients. These offerings are usually solutions to certain problems you have noticed—solutions that people are ready to pay for. Whether you work online, from home or in an office, deciding what you want to offer is where a marketing plan starts.
Price
Price is one of the most important elements to get right as it will directly affect your profitability. Pricing is more than just determining a number; it is representative of a perceived value. Price too low and it negatively affects your brand image; price too high and you may position yourself above what your targeted customer base can afford. There are different strategies for setting your prices so that they’re aligned with the value of the services you provide.
Place
Place is where customers can buy from you; is it from a website or do they have to “shop” in person? What does the “place” look like? Does it inspire trust and reflect professionalism? What are the colours used and what do they mean? These are all essential elements to consider as they directly impact the customer experience. They are also what the client is most likely to remember while consuming the service experience.
Promotion
Promotion is a big one; it’s where many get stuck. What are you doing to get people to buy from you? In such a competitive market, it’s very easy to spend a lot on promotion and not see results. Finding the right balance is of major importance. Promotion includes all elements of advertising such as direct marketing, online advertisements, referrals, social media, email marketing, content marketing, networking, yellow pages, etc. Some methods may be suitable for a limited period of time while others need consistency to produce results. It’s also about what you are saying and how you are saying it.
People
People refers to the persons who will be in contact with your clients, both directly and indirectly. Assuming you are the one delivering career services, think about it this way: you are the brand, so what is the brand communicating? What can customers expect while dealing with you or anyone else on your team? It’s important to have your brand attributes clearly defined and to have people aligned with those attributes so they actively contribute to creating a positive brand reputation. Here are some examples of desirable people attributes: knowledgeable, respectful, helpful, friendly, empathetic, etc.
Positioning
How you position yourself and your offerings will help you be—and remain—relevant to your target audience. It also guides how you communicate with your prospects. This starts with knowing your audience; a message directed to new graduates will not be relevant to executives, and vice versa. Positioning can also help the public quickly identify what you stand for. All the elements of the marketing mix must speak to your positioning as well.
Processes
Processes are the “how you deliver” part of the service business. Outline and detail your process at every touch point with the client. Luckily, technology has our back and there are many tools that can help you automate parts—or all of—your processes; from handling the sales funnel, payment gateways, email (determining which email goes to whom and when), reminders, and appointment bookings. Documenting your processes is a key part to keeping everything streamlined and helping to figure out gaps, should there be any.
Performance
Keeping an eye on performance is crucial to understanding what is working and what is not. It’s not just about the money but also about the reputation you’re building. It’s sort of the result of all above elements combined. Investigating when, where, why, and for whom something is not working will give you the opportunity to implement the necessary corrective action; sometimes this might mean not delivering an underperforming service anymore, or changing the format. It may mean a change in the sales copy or the price.
Put Your Winning Marketing Mix into Action!
You are in the career service business for a reason. You are also in a helping profession for a reason. Drafting and implementing a winning marketing mix will ensure that every effort and penny you invest will yield the desired results. You want to help people and be profitable so you can help further, don’t you? No matter which marketing mix you decide on, keep true to yourself and to your values!
If you want learn more about marketing your career service practice, sign up now for the new Career Professionals of Canada course, Marketing Your Career Service.
Rita Kamel, CDP, MCCS, MCES, CRS, CIS, CWS is the 2023 recipient of Career Professionals of Canada’s top Award of Excellence, Outstanding Career Leader. She is a Master Certified Career and Employment Strategist, an award-winning résumé and interview strategist, and the founder of DossierPro. Her mission is to empower professionals to lead their international career moves. Rita holds a master’s degree in marketing and has extensive experience in recruitment. You can connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Photo by Myriam Jessier on Unsplash
Thank you for sharing this Rita!
Thank you for reading! I hope it was helpful.