Following on from my previous post, here are some specific questions I was asked on the role of ad agencies:

How has the role of ad agencies in online recruitment changed over the last few years?

What has happened is that the internet has become one of the most innovative, exciting and individual-centric communication medium. For example, we have have seen an explosion in social networking – to such an extent people actually share with other people the thoughts that pop into their heads (e.g. twitter). So, in order for ad agencies to progress in this market, they now must have the best knowledge and expertise at their disposal to advise their clients properly.

What are the ad agencies most /least effective & successful at?

They’re great at giving clients what they want. But is this what a candidate wants?  

How do you see the role of ad agencies developing in the future? (What influences do you think will have the most impact?)

More use of multimedia (e.g. video, social media)

A performance and ROI pricing model

The elements of the digital recruitment landscape will become increasingly complex as the market continues to innovate. Therefore, the need for advertising specialists who totally understand this market will become even bigger.

Interesting article in May's Onrec magazine discussing the role of ad agencies in today's market. Here are a few thoughts that I've contributed to the article: I'll post the whole article when it's live on their website.

All ad agencies are chasing less money.
 
Everybody is looking for a deal at the moment. Whether you're buying a house or placing an ad: Everyone is in the mood to barter. It's a buyers' market.
 
Clients are looking for better value-for-money. They want to be able to measure their ROI as precisely as possible.
 
Traditionally advertising, especially recruitment advertising is the first thing that gets pulled by companies in a recession. However they still need to spend money retaining their most valuable staff. So agencies should concentrate more on helping companies manage their employer brand and talk to their people.
 
There are a lot of unemployed people during a recession. Many people will apply for anything and everything. Making sure you find quality rather than quantity of candidate for a client is key. Ad agencies must learn to target their campaigns. Again, this means basing work upon research. Results-based advertising is the future.
 
During a recession there are candidates without the right specific experience a client needs, but they could have great transferable skills. In fact they could be some of the best people out there. They just don't know that they could do this job. Attracting people from outside of a particular sector will be key. This means connecting better with passive jobseekers. And that involves loads of different techniques that ad agencies need to know inside-out.
 
Clever ad agencies ready themselves for the inevitable upturn. However, I think long-gone are the days when HR managers are given huge budgets to play with. In the future, they'll be regulated much tighter. So, the more measurable you can be the better.

The full article is available to download by clicking on the attachment below: