AAN Papers Have Opportunity to Capture More Recruitment Ads, Says Expert.
There are many people looking for jobs who also read alternative newspapers. And many of those readers have the kind of skills that make them highly attractive as potential employees.
So why are there so few help wanted ads in alternative papers?
The simple answer is that daily newspapers have always had a near-monopoly when it comes to career classifieds. However, the daily papers’ stranglehold on the recruitment market is crumbling, and alternative newspapers have an opportunity to pick up some of the slack, says Gerry Crispin of Shaker Advertising, a Chicago-based company which annually places $135 million in recruitment advertising.
“Emerging technology is dramatically shifting the world of employment advertising,” says Crispin, the author of Career X Roads “For instance, why should recruitment advertisers wait until Sunday when they can get their information out on the web today?”
According to Crispin, the dailies rake in over $7 billion in annual recruitment revenue. However, he estimates that in the last year, 5 to 10 percent of recruitment ad lineage has left the dailies for greener pastures, such as the Internet.
“This shift represents a significant opportunity for alternative papers,” he says.
Crispin will bring his message to the AAN convention in Memphis, where he is scheduled to talk about “Virtual Staffing: Implications For the Future of Recruitment Advertising,” on Friday, May 28 at 2 p.m. In demonstrating how talent and opportunity will connect in the future, Crispin will provide AAN publishers and classified managers with real-world advice on how to tackle this growing opportunity.
“Recruitment advertising is the most profitable sector of publishing,” says Art Howe, president of Montgomery Newspapers, who was instrumental in bringing Crispin to the AAN convention. “AAN papers, in my opinion, need to begin tapping into this revenue stream seriously in order to continue their growth and insure that they are the hottest [print medium].”
Crispin’s presentation is only one of the sessions that make up the classified advertising stream at this year’s convention. Here are the others:
—It Only Takes Everything You’ve Got! – In a session that will bring together the display and classified streams, publisher and motivational speaker Julio Melara will offer personal strategies for living a life of success.
—Classified Product Development and Marketing – Former educator and Village Voice sales and marketing VP Kathryn Thornton will demonstrate how to develop a comprehensive product development and marketing plan.
—Recruiting, Motivating, Incenting and Developing Your Staff – Thornton will discuss being a good manager and how to get the most out of classified advertising’s most important resource: people.
—Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Classified Software But Were Afraid to Ask! – Jim Abeles of Willamette Week will moderate a panel that will focus on the best way to evaluate and purchase software for both ad entry and accounting.
—Exceptional Customer Service– Former LA Weekly classified manager Roxanne Cooper will demonstrate how to build a quality, customer-driven call center.
—Promoting Personals: The “Unsingles” Singles Event – A panel of classified managers will present innovative approaches to attracting potential advertisers to a “singles” event.
—Adult Advertising: From Print to Web – Roxanne Cooper, architect of LA Weekly’s “LA-A-GO-GO,” will moderate a panel discussion on the best ways to incorporate or spin-off adult ads from the web and other ways of generating revenue from adult advertisers.
