Qualified candidates are busier than ever. Not only are they working harder in tight staffing conditions, they have more media options vying for their attention. Getting your message across can be easier if you reach out to them where they spend their time. Niche publications and Web sites offer exactly that opportunity.

Value
Niche publications and Web sites are in prime position to help facilities target qualified professionals in the hot job area of healthcare, said Chicago-based Perry Perez, Account Executive with Sky Advertising. And unlike traditional print, niche publications are poised to survive both the current economic downturn and their own shrinking circulations.

Professionals reading these types publications are presumably more interested in them than a general offering because of the greater reader involvement and higher level of trust associated with niche media, explained Steve McKee, president of McKee Wallwork Cleveland Advertising. "A specialist publication can only survive if it's the real deal; otherwise, readers will call its bluff and leave. So by virtue of a specialty pub's continued presence and success, it reinforces to readers that it knows what it's talking about and therefore should be given a higher degree of trust.

"If you're recruiting for a well-defined position and there's a niche Web site or publication which serves that audience, you'd be crazy not to advertise there. That's a targeted audience--you don't need a great deal of reach but you get a lot of impact."

One caveat that Perez expressed is to ensure the niche publications is professionally audited. "There are many publications out there that are unaudited and can't verify their distribution or circulation. They can't give specific information about who is getting their publication."

Perez said that for hiring managers, the marketing side of recruitment--sifting through all the options available and figuring out which has the best ROI--is at times unknown. This can lead to a knee-jerk reaction to going with a large local newspaper because that's a medium they trusted 10 years ago and they expect to have that same response, not realizing that readership is declining. When they don't get a response, that's when doubt sets in and they wonder why they're not getting qualified respondents.

Speaking of her experience as nurse recruiter for Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, CA, Ramona Alpizar, RN, BSN, said that, with the help of their ad agency, they've been learning more about niche Web sites. "We're finding, for us, that we've increased our use of Web site and niche advertising. The payoff is great for the online advertising."

Be There
"When I have a difficult position to fill, I think of where my audience will be going and where they will be getting their information. These are the places I need to be with my advertising," Alpizar stated.

For hiring facilities, there are several great benefits to advertising in niche media, said Jim Lanzalotto, Principal with Scanlon.Louis, a Newtown Square, PA, company that advises organizations on digital recruiting.  

• First, a job seeker will appreciate that you are where they are and that you've taken the time to understand who he or she is.
• Second, since this is where your audience is spending time, your marketing message has a greater chance of being seen.
• Finally, since healthcare is different than any other industry, it's really important to market to these professionals in a unique way. Using niche media, as opposed to general publications and Web sites, illustrates that you understand this audience.

Go Deep
A major benefit to niche media is that it helps dig deep into a candidate pool. Lanzalotto explained that when it comes to market niches, the more vertical you go the better. "You want to go into those well-defined niches and segments and understand those markets very well.

What niche media offers is an ecosystem where hiring managers know candidates congregate and candidates know where to look for jobs. "Jobs are certainly elsewhere, but niche sites are focused only on their particular audience's area of interest."

Be Active
While there is a trend towards seeking passive candidates, it's important to be active in reaching out to this group. Passive candidates have more appeal to facilities because they offer more stability over a currently unemployed candidate who might be taking the job simply for immediacy, explained Perez. 

Lanzalotto likened traditional candidate searches to the scene in Casablanca where Captain Renault instructs his men to round up the usual suspects. In healthcare, these are the active job seekers. Marketing in niche media gives hiring managers a chance to find those qualified candidates they wouldn't find otherwise--passive job candidates.

Niche advertising can be a cost-effective way to reach the most qualified candidates to fill your positions. As budgets come under more scrutiny, as each dollar needs to be stretched further, healthcare recruiters rely on these targeted resources to get the results they want.