Staffing Agencies - 7 Ways to Cultivate a Niche for Growth

While it might seem counter-intuitive, staffing agencies that narrow their marketing focus could spur faster growth. Here are seven ways to carve out a staffing agency niche to grow your staffing, recruiting or temporary employment agency.

A Niche for Staffing Agencies – Narrow Your Focus to Expand Your Client Base

With a super-competitive staffing industry and double-digit growth projected in 2021, it’s more important than ever that staffing agencies carve out a niche where they can excel and thrive. With that in mind, here are seven ways that temporary employment services firms or staffing agencies can identify a niche where they can make a name for themselves and grow.

7 Ways to Cultivate a Staffing Agency Niche and Grow

Grow with seasonal staffing opportunities

Look for businesses that have seasonal ebbs and flows. These are the types of businesses that may also benefit from outsourcing to staffing agencies or using temporary workers instead of hiring their own employees.

Seed the market with PR

You can play a part in strengthening your own agency’s reputation by using PR tactics strategically. Publishing press releases helps to position your agency as an expert resource in a given employment niche. Likewise, placing ads and advertorial articles or writing general interest articles for publication in trade magazines can help to reinforce your agency’s reputation in industries where you want to carve out a niche for your staffing services.

Put your ear to the ground

Many of the most successful businesses became so because they were able to identify and act on emerging trends early on. Make sure that you are on the look-out for emerging new industries or industries that are evolving where your staffing agency can gain ground before competitors become aware.

COVID-19 might have put a damper on staffing industry growth in 2020, but there are several industries that are growing now and which are set to grow post COVID-19, such as:

Technology of all kinds – online meeting platforms, online e-education, online and remote work apps, etc.
Medical and healthcare staffing
Cloud computing and storage
Web and app development
E-commerce
Cybersecurity
Logistics, transportation and supply chain

Plant new locations for future growth

Communities and neighborhoods zoned for industrial and commercial development, or which may be expanding with tech companies may also represent locations where having a physical office for your staffing agency would give you a leg-up in booking new business.

Attract and engage with digital content

Just like consumers in general, B2B buyers often start their buying journey online and many even expect to be able to complete the buying process online in a digital self-service environment. Cater to digital B2B shoppers and buyers in the industries you most want to serve with a website that is optimized for search and blog articles that attract search and social media traffic and shares among those niche target audience members.

Dig in deep by increasing numbers of followers and subscribers

While some organizations that need temporary workers or staffing services may engage in short or only occasional buying cycles, others may need to be convinced of the benefits of outsourcing over time or may need a consistent stream of temporary employees. Gain and maintain top of mind brand awareness for your staffing or temporary employment services by constantly increasing the number of social followers and subscribers you have within your desired niche industries.

One way to do this is by consistently providing followers with added value in the form of email newsletters and social status updates that pertain to their industries. You may also be able to build your networks quickly using tactics that require online registration, such as contests and whitepapers.

Pre-seed the marketplace

Universities, colleges, vocational and trade schools, unions and even high schools are all representative of organizations where you can build your reputation within a staffing niche by pre-seeding the marketplace; i.e., introducing yourself to the people who represent the candidates and employers of the future, as well as the present.

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Staffing Industry Analysts say that while 2020 staffing is down from 2019 (due mainly to temporary job losses because of COVID-19) the forecast for 2021 is bright. SIA projects 11% growth in temporary staffing revenue and 19% expansion in place & search in 2021. With increased demand for temporary workers comes an influx of new agencies among temporary employment and staffing services.

In a more competitive landscape, temporary employment service firms and staffing agencies must develop strategies that help them grow, and they must be on top of their game. One way to become more profitable is by finding a staffing agency niche that allows them to successfully attract the best candidates for placement so they can build a strong reputation among employers.