Going Beyond Demographics in Your Recruitment Marketing
The King and the Prince.
Demographically speaking, Ozzy Osbourne and King Charles are nearly identical. Both British. Both wealthy. Both live in a castle. Both were born in 1948. If you relied on those facts alone, you might think they belong in the same marketing segment. But anyone who’s familiar with both of them knows the Prince of Darkness’ behaviors, attitudes, and daily routines looked very different from that of the King of England.
This is exactly why recruitment marketing needs to evolve beyond the surface-level demographic categories like age, gender, or geography. At MarCom Group, we’ve been rethinking audience segmentation to focus not on who people are, but on how they act and what they want.
By uncovering patterns in motivations, goals, and decision-making, we can connect with audiences in ways that feel relevant and authentic.
Recruitment marketing today borrows heavily from consumer marketing, and that’s a good thing. Powerful tools have emerged that are reshaping how organizations connect with talent. Labor market analytics and predictive modeling help forecast where talent pools are growing or shrinking. Competitor benchmarking shows how others are positioning themselves so you can find the right way to stand out. Personalization in employer branding makes it possible to craft messages that feel relevant to the audiences you’re trying to reach.
These practices have become the baseline. But simply adopting them isn’t enough. At MarCom Group, we’re finding ways to take recruitment marketing one step further.
Uncovering patterns in behavior is key.
Take our audience segmentation example from earlier. Too often, recruitment campaigns still rely on broad demographic categories, as if those alone explain what motivates someone to apply. Two people might look identical on paper, yet have entirely different values, priorities, and goals. It’s the difference between designing messages for a spreadsheet versus designing them for real people.
At MarCom Group, we’ve shifted our focus toward behavioral segmentation. Instead of asking “who are they?” we ask, “what drives them?” By uncovering patterns in motivations, goals, and decision-making, we can connect with audiences in ways that feel relevant and authentic. This shift allows us to design recruitment campaigns that address real needs, whether it’s reassurance about career growth, clarity on benefits, or inspiration tied to purpose and service.
Stop guessing. Start resonating.
Social listening has become an essential part of MarCom Group’s recruitment marketing approach. We’ve made it a standard practice to utilize advanced AI algorithms to track public social media messaging and public sentiment around employer brands, recruitment messaging, and even onboarding experiences. By listening to what candidates are actually saying, whether it be their frustrations, their excitement, or their skepticism, we move beyond assumptions and get to the core of how people perceive an organization. Those insights then feed directly into our strategy, messaging, and creative execution. When recruitment marketing moves from demographics to behaviors, and when social listening is built into the process, campaigns stop guessing and start resonating.
When recruitment campaigns address motivations directly, the message doesn’t just land — it sticks.
It’s easy to think recruitment marketing begins and ends with ascribing someone to a group based on demographics and adding their name to an email list. But recruitment marketing that truly makes an impact comes from aligning with where candidates are in their job-seeking journey. A person who is ambitious but uncertain about career growth needs a very different message than someone who is focused on pay and benefits, even if they’re in the same age range and live in the same region. When recruitment campaigns address motivations directly, the message doesn’t just land — it sticks.
Recruitment marketing without research is like aiming for a target blindfolded. You might get lucky, but chances are you’ll miss. By combining established best practices with our own innovations, we help organizations not only reach candidates but connect with them in meaningful, lasting ways.
Whether you’re talking to an Ozzy Osbourne or a King Charles, the real difference isn’t on paper, it’s in behavior, and that’s where great recruitment marketing begins.
Interested in learning more about MarCom Group’s recruitment marketing approach? Let’s Break the Ice
About the Author
Rachel Cole holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration and is dedicated to designing and executing qualitative and quantitative studies that drive meaningful change. As Senior Research Analyst at MarCom Group, she turns complexity into clarity for communication and recruitment strategies. With more than a decade of experience blending policy analysis, advanced data mining, and AI-driven research tools, she transforms raw data into insights that shape messaging and accelerate talent acquisition. Her work has informed critical decisions for agencies including the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services.