As the challenges surrounding physician recruitment continue to evolve, so should every healthcare organization’s physician recruitment strategy. Gone are the days of print advertising and direct mail campaigns — that much seems obvious — but it is not enough to simply post physician jobs online and hope for applications. Online physician job boards are significant in any digital physician recruitment strategy. Still, most physicians aren’t active job seekers, so they are unlikely to be found on physician job boards. That said, many physicians who aren’t actively job hunting are willing to consider relevant opportunities. According to one NEJM Career Center study, 14% of physicians considered themselves active or semi-active job seekers, but another 56% said they were open to hearing about opportunities. Your digital physician recruitment strategy must include this broader market.
A comprehensive digital physician recruitment strategy must reach both active and passive job seekers. This requires connecting and engaging physicians through online networks, text messaging, and email campaigns in addition to advertising on physician job boards. While online networks like Doximity offer exciting new ways to connect, email marketing still stands out as particularly effective. According to a 2021 survey, 97% of physicians prefer to receive job opportunities via email. 86% check their email multiple times daily, providing recruiters ample opportunities to connect. Are you effectively taking advantage of this powerful channel? Keep reading for advice on leveraging email in your digital physician recruitment strategy.
Building and Segmenting Your Email List
A successful email recruitment campaign begins with a well-curated and segmented email list. Healthcare organizations should actively build their databases by encouraging physicians to engage with their content and subscribe to communications. Utilizing forms on your website and social media platforms can facilitate this process. Once you establish a list, segmentation is crucial. Organizing contacts by specialty ensures that physicians receive only relevant job opportunities, increasing engagement and reducing the likelihood of unsubscribes or spam reports
Lean Into a Physician Recruitment Partnership for Broader Access
While building an organic email list is ideal, it can be time-consuming. Purchasing email lists might seem like a quick fix, but it carries risks such as violating privacy laws and damaging your organization’s sender reputation. A more effective approach is partnering with reputable physician recruitment firms with curated, compliant email databases. These partnerships can provide access to a broader pool of candidates without the pitfalls associated with purchased lists.
If your digital strategy is in its infancy or you struggle to gain traction in email candidate sourcing, you have other options. Consider partnering with a physician recruitment firm that has a demonstrated track record of success in sourcing candidates via email. Jackson Physician Search, for example, has built the largest opt-in physician database in the industry and can target physicians by specialty, location, and other criteria.
Another option is to use Doximity. More than 80% of doctors have claimed their Doximity profiles, making it highly effective for candidate sourcing. However, it can be a significant investment to acquire a license. It often makes more sense to partner with a recruitment firm that holds its own Doximity licenses. Before you make that leap, however, be sure to ask how many licenses the firm holds and how it uses the platform. Jackson Physician Search, for example, has chosen to provide every recruiter with a Doximity license. In fact, we’re the only recruitment firm to have done so.
Crafting Effective Recruitment Emails
The content and structure of your emails play a significant role in their effectiveness. Here are some best practices to consider:
1. Avoid the Spam Filter
How you craft your email message impacts whether the intended recipient will see it. Spam filters built into email platforms are getting more robust and stringent daily. You can avoid going straight to spam by paying attention to the following:
- Never use ALL CAPS.
- Avoid trying to trick the recipient into thinking you have emailed back and forth before. Do not use “Re:” in your subject line.
- Don’t send your email marked as “High Importance.”
- Share content via links to your website instead of attachments.
- Test your email using a spam checker to see if any words or images will trigger the spam filters to send your email to the junk folder or block it altogether. Some common spammy words include guaranteed, satisfaction, dollars, the $ sign, and large numbers like 1,000,000.
2. Leverage Compelling Subject Lines
Think of your own email routine. When you have an inbox filled with unread emails, how do you determine which ones to open? Like most people, you probably skim the subject lines to see if anything grabs your attention. In fact, MMS found that 71% of physicians open emails based on the subject line alone.
- Include these three data points in every subject line: specific specialty, compensation information (or the most compelling job detail), and location.
- Keep it short. Nearly 75% of emails are read on a mobile device, so 40-50 characters are ideal.
- Leverage your organization’s name recognition, create a sense of urgency, and inspire a candidate’s curiosity.
- Don’t forget to use the pre-header space as a secondary subject line. Include key selling points about the job opportunity to entice physicians to engage with your email.
- Use A/B testing to increase the total number of emails opened. Your email provider should have a mechanism to allow you to test two different subject lines to a portion of your list and then send the winning one to the rest.
3. Create a Compelling “Why”
Once your targeted candidate(s) open the email, your goal is to get them interested in the position and to apply. The email must contain enough information for the physician to see the available value proposition easily. Whether it is the compensation package, desirable schedule, or leadership opportunities, draw the candidate in so they want to learn more.
4. Simplify the Call to Action
Unclear directions or an overly complicated response process is a sure way to ruin all the good work you have done to this point. Like the proverbial “EASY” button, give your reader a streamlined mechanism to quickly apply, learn more, or set up a time to speak with a physician recruiter.
5. Cadence and Timing
An integral component of effective email outreach is how often you are sending emails and at what times. There are no hard and fast rules for every situation, but you can find the answers in the data. For example, you may discover that the best time to send a physician a job opportunity is in the late evening when many are decompressing at home.
6. Test, Test, and Test Again
The only way to perfect email candidate sourcing is through testing and analysis. Pay attention to the performance of your emails with different subject lines, different calls to action, and link placements. For best results, only test one item at a time.
Other Aspects of an Effective Digital Physician Recruitment Strategy
A comprehensive digital recruitment strategy encompasses several key components:
- Mobile Optimization: Ensure that your organization’s website and application processes are mobile-friendly, accommodating the prevalent use of smartphones among physicians.
- Email and Text Marketing Systems: Invest in reliable email and text marketing platforms that manage campaigns effectively and track engagement metrics.
- Job Board Subscriptions: Utilize top job boards to advertise vacancies, reaching a broader audience of potential candidates.
- Compelling Job Advertisements: Craft engaging and informative job ads that highlight the unique aspects of the opportunity and your organization’s culture.
- Social Media Presence: Actively build and maintain your organization’s presence on relevant social media platforms, showcasing your brand and engaging with the physician community.
Embracing a comprehensive digital physician recruitment strategy is essential to connecting with active and passive candidates in today’s market. By effectively leveraging email marketing, text campaigns, and social media for candidate sourcing, healthcare organizations can expand their reach, engage passive candidates, and ultimately secure the talent necessary to provide quality care.
Jackson Physician Search is an industry leader in sourcing physician candidates, no matter how unique the specialty. Our team of recruitment professionals is equipped with the knowledge, technology, and tools to execute a digital search strategy to help healthcare organizations achieve quicker ROI on every physician vacancy. Contact us today to learn more.
