Using social media increased applications from both job seekers and companies

―How they achieved lower cost and more response at the same time

JAIC Inc. runs people and education businesses for both candidates and companies. Feeling a problem with cost and with how it approached candidates, the company began work with us in March 2020.
Having looked at various consultancies, JAIC chose NowVillage. Meeting a partner you can trust is one of the things that matter in getting results. What decided it? We asked Mr Kondo, senior managing director, about NowVillage’s appeal and what he had hoped for.

The problem at the outset: cost and response

―First, could you tell us your role, your team and your goals there?

I am responsible for marketing across the company. In the recruitment business I am involved in acquisition on both the company side and the candidate side. We also run staff training and education businesses, so I am involved in acquisition there as well. My remit is to get response from both B2B and B2C in a way that fits properly within our own budget.

―You first used NowVillage for marketing support in recruitment. What had you hoped for from us?

We asked you because we hoped to cut cost and increase response at the same time.
When we asked, consumer acquisition for the recruitment business was difficult. Cost was mounting, and we also simply wanted a larger pool.

Specifically, at the time I felt we were winning response by over-spending on advertising. We had long run search advertising as our main channel, and the cost had risen too far. We then moved to affiliate advertising, but even so the cost would not come down. Cost per acquisition then was roughly 15,000 to 20,000 yen.

I felt this consumption-type cost structure was bad, and wanted to cut cost by building investment-type acquisition channels with lasting value, such as social media. NowVillage had strengths in social media, so that is what we hoped for.

Support for running social media begins

―Were you already thinking at that point that you should be on other social platforms?

Yes. Around then I vaguely felt we should be on Twitter, and we were doing a little. But it led to no acquisition at all.
YouTube was the same; in my head I knew we should, but we could not take the first step.

While we were trying things without any picture of how they would work, NowVillage said you could support us. On top of that, acquisition through SEO had just begun to grow and cost had come down, so I wanted to grow SEO acquisition further and cut cost more. You taught us that SEO content spreads through Twitter and YouTube and back again, that each channel strengthens acquisition in the others, and that made me think we had to do more on social media.

In fact at that time, partly because the effect of Twitter was not visible, voices inside the company asked whether we needed it at all, but I wanted one or two more pillars. There was no guarantee of an effect, so I did feel some unease, but because NowVillage explained properly the purpose of using Twitter and how it would go, we were able to start smoothly.
For Twitter and YouTube you gave us a working sheet and we proceeded by filling it in. You also gave us a list of accounts worth studying, and we ran ours with reference to how those accounts work.

We reached 5,000 followers on Twitter in six months and 1,000 subscribers on YouTube in six months, and that is thanks to NowVillage teaching us the know-how properly.

Webinar attendance began to follow, and we felt the effect of social media

―Where did the effect of Twitter and YouTube show?

We are invited to webinars far more often, and asked to speak more often. My personal Twitter account increased attendance at webinars. When we announce one of our own webinars on Twitter, around five people join through Twitter every time. We have also won several corporate training projects through Twitter. On YouTube, the first six months brought in around 100 candidates.
Mr Kondo’s Twitter account
JAIC’s YouTube account

We also get a great many comments, which lets us understand customer needs and use that in SEO, and embedding YouTube videos in SEO articles increases response. Because the articles and videos are linked, we have built an environment where people move easily between them.

―Were there effects beyond direct acquisition?

I feel Twitter has built my own profile. In meetings people say they have seen my Twitter, which makes the meeting easier to get into.

Company owners also began joining our webinars directly through Twitter. Their attendance used to be close to zero, and now around ten join each time. How to interest owners had been a problem for us, so I think that is a very good result.

On the atmosphere inside the company, social media has become very familiar. The culture has changed to using it as a matter of course. Social media is now built into our options and our plans as standard.
For example, whenever we want to drive attendance we now always call out on Twitter, and it has become normal for people to say Mr Kondo, we are running this seminar, please tweet about it. On video, we had done some before, but the barrier to making one has dropped sharply. Video has become familiar, and staff have started using it to pass on what they have learned to other staff.

Expecting work in marketing and education together

―Is there anything from working with NowVillage that stayed with you?

The strong impression that you propose things with a proper understanding of our company. You understand our preferences, our culture, our internal structure and the character of the people involved, and I often feel you judge what sort of measure we will like before proposing. And it is very welcome that you will also say plainly that a given measure will not work.

―Finally, what do you think characterises NowVillage?

The main thing is that you set out plans while developing our marketing people. For example, you trained two of our own staff from scratch to make YouTube videos. With most companies, I do not think they would teach that carefully.
So the strong impression is that NowVillage, while being a marketing company, also educates.
And you move very fast. Replies are quick, of course, and meetings always end with a conclusion, so it is good to be able to move with a clear view of what to do before the next one.
Companies that have a marketing department but no intention of specially developing it, and yet have to grow it, I think fit you very well.

Thank you for your time. We look forward to continuing.