A Practical Guide to Using Psychographics in Recruitment

What is Psychographics?

A term mostly used by marketers, Psychographics study consumers based on their interests, opinions, activities, values, attitudes, and personality traits.

The research includes a qualitative methodology of studying three significant areas- IAO variables (Interests, Activities, Opinions).

Psychometrics, the measurement and analysis of psychographics, helps you understand your target audience or clients’ cognitive factors that drive their behavior.

In short, this helps you segment and target your clients and consumers appropriately.

How to Do Psychographic Segmentation?

The best way to do consumer segmentation based on psychography is to follow these two steps:

Step 1: Conduct Primary Research in the Market

You can consider finding answers about the following determining factors through your surveys:

- Lifestyle

- Attitudes and values

- Personality traits

- Social status

- Activities and interests

- Motivations and goals

Step 2: Create a Pen Portrait of Your Target Audience

Once you have this information, write down a pen portrait of your potential customer. This includes everything – their age, interests, principles, etc.

This step is also known as target profiling.

Usage of Psychographic Recruiting

An important process in recruitment is finding and associating with the right clients or hiring managers.

In order to be associated with your clients, you need to have a better understanding of their businesses. This will help you understand what exactly they are looking for in their hires, and you can find the perfect candidates for them.

This is where psychographic analysis can help you out.

Here’s a question you should reflect on: How do you expect to meet your client’s demands and hiring needs if you don’t understand them?

How is MMI Industries Doing Psychographic Recruiting?

Recruiters at MMI Industries are the pioneers of psychographic recruiting.

At MMI Industries, staffing experts believe this method can help fix the broken system and the disastrous effects of commoditization on the recruitment industry.

Their founder Brennen Jackson says:

“We take the real indicators of talent success to help our clients find the right talent for their business. We spend time with our clients to understand their company’s mission, short and long-term objectives, and culture. And then, we use that information combined with the latest organizational and behavioral psychology techniques and data-driven from our AI tech partners to help our customers find the ideal job applicants.”

His search firm focuses on understanding its clients and businesses and their goals to formulate a plan to help attract high-quality candidates.

The measured results proved that psychographic segmentation had indeed helped their recruitment agency; they could hire high-quality candidates that lasted.

This process has helped create a win-win situation for them and their clients!

3 Tips for Recruiters on Psychographic Recruiting

1. Use Digital Platforms

It’s high time you become tech-savvy. If you don’t surf through networking platforms, you should start doing that.

With the shift to the online world, you can get most of the information you need on digital sites for primary research.

You can use social media sites to understand your potential clients, their likes, dislikes, and IAO variables.

2. Interview Existing Clients

Your existing client base is the best to talk to when it comes to understanding their mindsets.

Constantly communicate with them and keep gathering feedback about your recruitment business. Wherever there is a scope for improvement, you need to work on it.

You can talk to your clients to understand them deeply and evaluate their psychometrics. This research will help you attract more clients as you strengthen your marketing skills.

3. Target the Right People

Once you are done creating the pen portrait or target profiling of your potential clients, make sure you reach out to your target audience and not anyone else.

Based on the results of your psychographic analysis, you will know who will be the right fit for your customer base.

If you are looking to hire more efficiently and fulfill your clients’ hiring needs to ensure customer success, you should definitely try out a psychographic recruiting model suited to your agency’s needs.