Most Placeable Candidates: Our Best Emails from 2020
It is hard to beat a good MPC email to promote your best talent, but the usual, ‘Check out our top talent of the week’ heading often goes unread. At XPG Recruit, we pride ourselves on MPC’s that are clever and fun to read – with impressive results. Not to toot our own horn, but our open rates are well above average and we were able to generate 35% of our new business from our MPC’s. Toot Toot!
We thought we would share the approaches we find most successful:
- Be Funny
People like to laugh. And they especially like to be in on the joke. So even if you are not all that funny on your own (sorry), reference something you know is amusing. Movies or pop culture offer opportunities to tie in something a large group recognizes as humorous.
- Keep it short and sweet
People have short attention spans. Regardless of how interesting or amusing your point is, make it quickly. We could go on and on about this, but…
- Current events work, but tread lightly
Some of our most opened and replied to emails hint at a current event, but our actual message stays far, far away from anything political or polarizing.
- Take a less formal approach
While a level of professionalism should always be maintained, people enjoy casual emails. Lowercase subject lines seem to get the most attention because the email looks more informal.
Take a look at our top emails for 2020
And feel free to use any of them for your own candidate marketing! Our clients tell us they share our emails with their teams and we are big believers that imitation is the finest form of flattery.
SUBJECT: Re: Your PTO Request
Approved!… once you have all the right players on your team. If you’ve felt stressed about taking days off recently, it may be time to add to your bench. Let’s schedule some time to discuss where these candidates could fit in.
Our greatest responses came from this one email – and we placed both candidates! And while it is not our favorite in terms of creativity or fun, it just goes to show that everyone is interested in their vacation request.
SUBJECT: Ma!… The meatloaf!!!
Looking for good additions to your team but don’t want to only consider the ones at home sitting on the couch? We have proactively vetted the following candidates and feel confident they can live up to rule #76: no excuses – play like a champion. See for yourself and arrange a call.
We love finding a movie with a quote with multiple references to our top candidates. Our criteria is it must tie in creatively while offering some entertainment.
SUBJECT: Masks in the Workplace
If you are showing symptoms of declining performance and depleted morale, please wear a mask! The good news is that we have a vaccine available: a refreshing dose of talented staffing leaders.
This play on words made the topic well received and caught a lot of attention, especially because masks were the symbol of 2020.
SUBJECT: Interview Request
Your competitors are interviewing the following sales-focused candidates. If you’d like to snag this talent before they do, let’s talk.
We liked this play on the subject line. And as staffing professionals, we all focus on interview requests and beating the competition.
SUBJECT: Sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays
This talented group of staffing industry leaders can cure your case of “the Mondays”. They are punctual with TPS reports, go above and beyond with flair, and will happily participate in Hawaiian shirt day. Let’s schedule some time for you to get to know them (stapler not included).
Even if not everyone knows the movie, we reached a group that enjoyed the reference and took notice. We may not connect every time, but that’s okay. We like a variety of references to appeal to different groups and experiences.
SUBJECT: Re: A change to your upcoming flight
As you prepare for your business to take off in 2021, consider adding these sales-minded staffing professionals to propel your revenue to new heights. They will be coming in for a landing at a competitor near you if you delay.
Vacation references always make people take notice, even in a year when flights were few and far between.
SUBJECT: Georgia results are in
Important Georgia candidate announcement…We are representing an Atlanta Dream Team in the F&A Temp Staffing space. They are currently working together – one heaviest on sales and the other recruiting – collectively averaging $20-25k/week. If you have considered starting up an F&A practice or expanding your current business, it would be a great catch to scoop them both up!
This was our second most opened email of the year. It was sent out during the election and while not political itself, it was on a topic that was obviously top of mind.