Hiring for a small business can be time-consuming, especially when starting from scratch each time. Inbound recruiting flips the hiring process, helping you build a pipeline of candidates always ready to hit “Apply”.
In this guide, you’ll learn what inbound recruiting is, when to use it and how to manage the entire process using Pipedrive as a recruitment CRM.
What is inbound recruiting (and why is it so effective)?
Inbound recruiting attracts talent to your organization through engaging content and experiences. Instead of chasing candidates through outbound recruiting, you pull them in by positioning your brand as a desirable workplace.
Here’s the difference between inbound and outbound recruiting:
Inbound recruiting | Outbound recruiting |
Involves candidates finding you, but they must take the first step. | Involves reaching out to candidates, even if they don’t know you. |
Builds your brand through useful, authentic content. | Lets you control the message and highlight role details. |
Attracts talent who usually fit your company culture since they choose to apply. | Reaches a broader talent pool, though not everyone will be a culture fit. |
Lowers costs over time but takes longer to see results. | Fills roles faster but usually costs more per hire. |
One benefit of inbound recruiting is that you can hire people genuinely interested in your business.
How does inbound recruiting work?
Inbound recruiting guides candidates through a hiring journey that mirrors inbound marketing. You attract potential hires, convert interest into applications, close them as employees and retain talent through good experiences.
Here’s how the process works:
Attract. In this first stage, you’re getting the right people interested in your company. You share creative content showing what it’s like to work with you. The goal is to build awareness and help candidates see themselves at your company.
Convert. Once someone’s interested, you make it easy to apply. That means having clear job descriptions and simple application forms. You can also offer job alerts or newsletter sign-ups to keep them engaged if they’re not ready to apply.
Close. In this phase, you help candidates move through the hiring process and accept your offer. You provide a smooth interview experience, explain the role and expectations and communicate why they’d want to work at your company.
Delight. In the final phase, you keep new employees engaged and happy by delivering a strong onboarding process followed by ongoing support and growth opportunities. Employees who feel valued are more likely to stay and refer others.
This framework sets the foundation for a practical inbound recruitment strategy.
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7 steps for an effective inbound recruiting strategy
To make inbound recruiting work, you need a solid plan and a clear understanding of the candidates you’re trying to reach. Here’s what to do.
1. Define your ideal candidate personas
Before writing job ads, understand who you’re attracting. Go beyond job titles and create a candidate persona – a profile representing your ideal hire for a specific role. This persona is similar to a buyer persona in marketing but focused on recruiting.
What to include in a candidate persona:
Basic information – job title, level of experience and industry
Skills and qualifications – hard and soft skills, key certifications and tool knowledge
Career goals – what motivates them and what they want in a role
Cultural fit – core values or personality traits that fit well with your team
Pain points – what they dislike in their current role or company that you can alleviate
Decision triggers – what helps them say yes to a new role, like flexible work
Here’s what a candidate persona might look like for a mid-level marketing hire at a SaaS startup:
Category | Ideal candidate information |
Name | Growth-minded marketer |
Current role | Marketing specialist at a mid-sized B2B company |
Experience | 3–5 years in content marketing or demand generation |
Skills | SEO, email marketing, can use CRM tools |
Motivations | Wants more ownership, is looking to make a bigger impact and prefers small teams |
Personality | Curious, adaptable and proactive communicator |
Values | Flexibility, transparency and collaboration |
Online habits | Follows LinkedIn influencers, reads industry blogs and is active in Slack groups |
What attracts them | Clear career path, smart team and flexible working |
What turns them off | Rigid processes and unclear goals |
Defining a clear persona sets the tone for the rest of your recruitment marketing strategy. It enables you to create personalized material for your target audience, helping you attract the right people for the role.
2. Build a strong employer brand
Your employer brand is how people see your company as a workplace. They get this impression from your website, content and job descriptions.
Here’s what makes a strong employer brand:
Element | What it is and why it matters |
Company mission and values | A clear explanation of what your company does and why it exists. It helps candidates understand your purpose and whether it aligns with their goals. |
Employee voices | What day-to-day work feels like at your company. It shapes how employees talk about you and whether they love their job. |
Online presence | How your company shows up on job review sites, your website and social media. Candidates almost always check these before applying, so make sure they reflect who you are. |
Candidate experiences | How you treat people during the hiring process. A good experience improves your reputation and future pipeline even if you don’t hire someone. |
Before building on your brand, you need to know what already exists. Look at:
Your website’s career page – is it clear and up to date?
Glassdoor and Indeed reviews – what do former and current employees say?
Social media presence – are you showing your team and company values?
Ask a few people outside your company to review your career content and describe the impression they get.
Look at this example from Slack’s LinkedIn page:
Slack’s branded LinkedIn page shows what the product does, features company highlights and links to jobs it’s hiring for.
Next, define 2–3 core pillars that reflect what it’s like to work at your company. These might be things like, “We trust our team to know how they work best” or “We’re a tight-knit group that celebrates wins and learns fast”.
Above all, be realistic. Candidates value honesty and can tell when a company is overselling itself.
3. Create valuable content for candidates
After defining your brand, show it in the content to reflect life at your company.
Great recruiting content answers questions candidates already ask, like:
What’s it like to work here day to day?
Will I fit in with this team?
What kind of impact can I make in this role?
What does business growth look like here?
Do these people share my values?
If your content helps a candidate confidently answer those questions, it’s doing its job. Here are some inbound recruiting methods to consider:
Content type | What it does (with examples) |
Team introductions | Highlight the people behind your company with “Meet the team” posts featuring photos, short bios or fun facts. |
Employee spotlights or “why I joined” posts | Share real employee experiences through short blog posts, videos or interviews with new hires. |
Behind-the-scenes posts | Give a glimpse into daily life with photos from team lunches or company events. |
Values in action | Show your values in real work (e.g., what is your management style, and do you provide learning opportunities?). |
Career growth paths | Help candidates see long-term potential with posts about promotions, internal mobility or personal development stories. |
Plan and space out your posts so you’re consistently sharing value, not just reacting when there’s an open role. Here’s an example of a “meet the team”-style post from Starbucks:
It highlights how Starbucks welcomes new employees, showing commitment to inclusivity and diversity.
It’s also a good idea to mix evergreen content (e.g., team stories) with time-sensitive content (e.g., job vacancies or events).
4. Optimize your career page
Your career site is a candidate’s first impression of working at your company. It’s an opportunity to convert interest into applications.
Here’s what to include on a career page:
Section | What it looks like in practice |
Headline and intro | A friendly opening line like, “Come build with us” or “We’re hiring people who love to learn”. |
About the company | A short overview of your brand story and what makes your work meaningful. |
Team culture | Organizational behavior, team collaboration habits and leadership philosophy. |
Employee testimonials | Real quotes, case studies or short video clips from team members. |
Benefits and perks | Health coverage, paid time off, professional development budgets and work flexibility. |
Open positions | Filterable job listings with clear titles, locations and descriptions. |
Hiring process overview | What candidates can expect (steps, timeline, interview tips). |
Visuals | Real photos or videos of your team, office (if relevant) or virtual workspace. |
Call to action | Invite candidates to apply or join your talent network. |
Rover’s career page has a brand-aligned design and messaging. It features engaging videos, company values and clear pathways to explore roles by team or location.
Highlight the things you offer that big companies can’t – like faster growth, broader responsibility and direct access to leadership. These are major selling points for candidates who want more than just a job title.
5. Leverage social media and SEO
You can build a great careers page, but it won’t matter if no one sees it. To attract candidates, stay visible on social media and search engines to attract candidates.
Starbucks Jobs is an example of powerful inbound recruiting on Instagram:
Branded behind-the-scenes content shows Starbucks’ benefits and why job seekers should apply.
Search engine optimization (SEO) helps candidates discover your job posts and content in searches. To improve your career page’s SEO:
Tactic | What to do |
Use relevant keywords | Include job titles and phrases candidates search for (e.g., “remote design jobs” or “marketing careers in Chicago”). |
Add keywords to your content | Blog posts, team bios and career pages should mention your industry, work and locations. |
Create location-friendly pages | Even if you have a remote team setup, include keywords like “remote-first” or your city name to appear in local results. |
At the same time, social media posts share your employer brand with new audiences and keep it top of mind with passive candidates.
The best social platforms for talent acquisition include:
Platform | Best for |
Business development updates, open roles, thought leadership | |
Visual storytelling, behind-the-scenes posts | |
Twitter / X | Quick updates, culture moments, company milestones |
TikTok | Gen Z talent, informal behind-the-scenes content |
YouTube | Longer video marketing content (team stories, career path deep dives) |
Social media and SEO are marketing tools that drive your inbound recruiting strategy. With the right approach, your small team can attract top talent without stretching your budget.
6. Engage passive candidates with nurturing campaigns
Nurturing campaigns are a series of touchpoints (usually by email or social media) that keep passive candidates engaged. It leverages candidates who aren’t ready to apply today but might be soon.
Often, top candidates aren’t searching for new opportunities. They’re passive: employed, not browsing job boards, but potentially open to the right opportunity.
You should nurture anyone who’s shown interest but won’t apply yet or isn’t a fit right now, including:
Source | Nurturing campaign examples |
Talent network sign-ups: Candidates who joined your mailing list. |
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Unsuccessful applicants: Strong candidates who you didn’t hire but showed potential. |
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Employee referrals: Referred candidates who weren’t the right fit then. |
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Social media followers: Engaged followers who like, comment or share your content. |
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Networking event contacts: people you’ve met through webinars, job fairs or online events. |
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Not every great candidate is ready to apply right now. With the right nurturing strategy, you’ll have a warm, engaged audience when the opportunity opens up.
7. Track and analyze your recruitment efforts
To make smarter hiring decisions, you need to know what’s working (and what isn’t). Here are the main hiring metrics you should track:
Hiring metric (and what it tells you) | How to track it |
Source of hire: Helps you see where your best job seekers come from. | Add a “How did you hear about us?” field in your application form or tag sources in your CRM. |
Application completion rate: Shows if your job application is too long or confusing. | Use online form analytics tools like Typeform or an applicant tracking system (ATS). |
Time to fill: Measures how long it takes to hire after you post a job. | Log job posts and hire dates in your CRM (e.g., Pipedrive). Track average time to fill by role. |
Career page traffic: Shows if people are visiting but not applying. | Set up Google Analytics to track web visitor traffic and bounce rates for your careers page. |
Content engagement: Highlights blog posts, videos or social posts that drive interest. | Use Google Analytics for blog traffic and social media reporting tools to track likes, comments and clicks. |
Email open and click rates: Shows whether your nurturing campaigns are reaching and resonating with your audience. | Track these email marketing metrics from your CRM or dedicated email tools. |
You don’t need complex enterprise dashboards to start. A simple system using your CRM, email tools or even a spreadsheet is enough to gather valuable data.
After collecting some data, look for trends. Are referrals producing high-quality hires? Are people dropping off halfway through your job form? Are certain types of content leading to more applications?
Use those insights to double down on what’s working and improve what’s not. Over time, tracking will help you hire faster and make your inbound recruiting efforts more effective.
How to use Pipedrive as a recruitment CRM
Pipedrive focuses on sales processes, but it works just as well for hiring – especially for small teams that want to track candidates like leads. With a solid inbound recruiting methodology, you can turn it into a CRM that handles everything, including your hiring efforts.
Here’s how to use Pipedrive for recruiting.
1. Set up a visual recruitment pipeline
Start by creating a custom pipeline that mirrors your hiring stages. These might include “New Applicant”, “Phone Screen”, “Interview”, “Offer Sent” and “Hired”.
Each candidate appears as a deal card. You can manage deals and move them from stage to stage using Pipedrive’s drag-and-drop interface.
You can store resumes, interview notes, feedback and activity history within each deal. Doing so keeps your entire team aligned without digging through inboxes or folders. Here’s what the deal detail view looks like in Pipedrive:
Select any of the headers – like “Notes” – to see what you’ve attached to that deal.
Add custom fields for the role, professional references, availability or anything else your team needs to track.
2. Capture candidate applications
Use Pipedrive’s Web Forms to automate candidate entry into your pipeline. Create a simple application form with fields for name, email, role and a resume link, then embed it on your careers page.
Every submission instantly creates a new deal in your hiring pipeline.
You can connect other form tools using Pipedrive’s Marketplace integrations (Google Forms and Typeform) or link to third-party apps via Zapier.
Note: The Pipedrive mobile app makes it easy to check candidate progress, send messages or review interview notes on the go. This feature is great for founders or hiring managers who need to track the recruitment process from anywhere.
3. Communicate with candidates
Pipedrive manages all candidate communication in one place. Sync your inbox, write emails directly on the platform and track every message without switching software.
If you include the Campaigns add-on to your plan, you’ll also see when a candidate opens your email or clicks a link, making it easier to time your follow-ups.
Use Pipedrive’s AI email writer to generate email invites, follow-ups or acceptance messages for faster outreach. Tell it what you want, and it’ll draft a personalized message.
To stay on track, you can also use templates for emails you send often and set activity reminders like “Send assessment” or “Follow up in 3 days”.
Note: Use Pipedrive’s Scheduler to share your availability with candidates and make it easy for them to book interview times. Create a scheduling link tied to your calendar (Gmail or Outlook), then drop it into an email template.
This setup gives you a lightweight but powerful recruiting workflow. It’s especially useful for growing teams that want a more organized, collaborative way to hire without investing in a full applicant tracking system.
When to use inbound recruiting vs. outbound recruiting
Depending on your hiring timeline and the available role, inbound and outbound recruiting have their place. Here’s when to use each method:
When to use inbound recruiting | When to use outbound recruiting |
You’re hiring regularly and want to build a steady pipeline. | You need to fill a role quickly. |
You’re in a competitive industry and need to stand out as an employer. | You’re hiring for a niche, short-term or hard-to-fill position. |
You want to attract quality candidates who already know your brand. | You don’t have a strong employer brand or inbound presence yet. |
You want to nurture passive talent who may apply later. | You’re already headhunting in the best talent pools and know where to find the right candidates. |
Combining both approaches gives you the flexibility to hire quickly while building a stronger talent pipeline for the future.
Final thoughts
Inbound recruiting isn’t about chasing potential candidates. It’s about attracting the right ones by showing who your company is. When you build a strong brand, share quality content and connect with talent, you create a hiring engine that grows with your company.
Pipedrive helps you put that hiring engine in motion. Start a 14-day free trial today to see how Pipedrive combines CRM functionality with everything you need to manage hiring – without adding extra overhead.
