Start with the commercial outcome
Recruitment advertising can target two very different audiences: candidates and employers. The agency should separate those objectives so candidate acquisition does not get confused with business-development lead generation.
A campaign can look successful while producing the wrong type of volume. Hundreds of candidate clicks do not prove the agency is generating employer opportunities, and client-lead campaigns should not be judged by application metrics.
Compare proposals on the same questions
| Compare | Ask before signing |
|---|---|
| Audience | Are candidate and client campaigns separated clearly? |
| Jobs | How are live vacancies or job feeds used in campaigns? |
| Intent | Which employer searches indicate real hiring demand? |
| Tracking | Are applications, registrations and client enquiries tracked separately? |
| CRM/ATS | Can source data pass into the recruitment system? |
| Budget | How is spend divided between candidate and client growth? |
Make implementation responsibility explicit
Ask the provider to map each campaign to one audience, one action and one destination. If an ATS or CRM is involved, confirm what source and outcome data can be passed back.
Put any dependency on your website, booking engine, ATS, CRM, branch team or another supplier into the proposal before launch.
Agree the measurement model
Report applications, registrations, qualified employer enquiries and placement or pipeline outcomes separately where systems allow. Blended totals hide whether the right side of the marketplace is growing.
Separate platform diagnostics from the business outcomes that determine whether the campaign is useful.
Protect account ownership and data
Keep appropriate business access to advertising, analytics and CRM accounts. Confirm what happens to campaigns, audiences, data and creative if the supplier changes.
Ask for proof that matches the service
Ask for separate campaign and conversion maps for candidate acquisition and employer lead generation.
A provider can demonstrate process quality through redacted structures or implementation evidence without inventing client outcomes.
Watch for this red flag
How Kydos fits
Kydos' paid advertising is custom quoted and can be coordinated with landing pages, analytics and CRM or automation when those are part of the brief.
Comparing providers now?
Use Kydos' published services as another benchmark.
View paid advertising optionsFrequently asked questions
How should I compare recruitment paid media providers?
Compare scope, targeting, implementation, tracking, ownership, reporting and the commercial outcome each proposal is expected to improve.
Should I choose the lowest management fee?
Not automatically. Compare media spend, landing-page work, tracking, creative and support that may sit outside the headline fee.
What should be agreed before launch?
Agree objectives, geography or audience, conversion actions, responsibilities, account access, budget boundaries and how lead or booking quality will be reviewed.
What is a warning sign?
The agency groups candidate and employer activity into one campaign report and cannot show which objective the budget actually served.
What proof should I request?
Ask for separate campaign and conversion maps for candidate acquisition and employer lead generation.
How does Kydos fit?
Kydos' paid advertising is custom quoted and can be coordinated with landing pages, analytics and CRM or automation when those are part of the brief.