Trends in HR Marketing^sm: Where HR Suppliers Spent their Marketing and PR Dollars in 2007 and What's Ahead in 2008

23 pages

This research report was produced by HRmarketer, a marketing services firm focusing exclusively on the human resource (HR) marketplace. Since 2001, hundreds of HR suppliers have used HRmarketer.com and the HRmarketer Services Group to generate publicity, website traffic, sales leads and improved SEO.

This report covers the latest trends and best practices for marketing to the human resource (HR) and employee benefits marketplace going into 2008. The data presented in this report is based on responses from a diverse group of HR and employee benefits suppliers collected during July, August and September of 2007. Topics covered in this report include:

• Patterns of adoption and use of various marketing and PR tactics by HR and employee benefits suppliers – including social networking, social media, blogging, podcasting and RSS – also known as “Web 2.0” activities.
• Marketing and PR activities most important to HR suppliers in 2007 and their budgeting plans for 2008.
• The marketing and PR activities that generate the most sales leads for HR suppliers, and those presenting the greatest challenges.
• How HR suppliers measure the success of their marketing and PR.
• Who and what suppliers rely on to stay knowledgeable about the human resources marketplace –and how optimistic suppliers are about the overall health of the human capital marketplace heading into 2008.

The key trends outlined in this report include:

• Growth of direct e-mail marketing and devaluation of print advertising.
• Growing importance of search engine optimization (SEO). A majority of suppliers will increase their SEO budgets in 2008.
• Growth of “Web 2.0” tactics like blogging, podcasting and social networking as a means of lead generation. Larger vendors, however, remain laggards.

Finally, our team of experts provides analysis on what these findings mean for HR suppliers and recommendations for 2008.