Hiring teams often blame the job market when applicant quality is low, but the real issue is usually how the recruiting ad was built. Before writing another job ad, HR teams benefit from treating the process like any paid campaign: research first, guess later.
What Does the Target Candidate Actually Read and Say?
Before writing a single line of ad copy, HR teams need to know where candidates spend time and what language they use, not just what the job description says internally. Skipping this step means the ad speaks a different language than the audience it's trying to reach.
Andrew Hubbard, discussing ad research broadly, explains that understanding an audience means knowing "who the big influencers are in their space. Who are they following?" (Andrew Hubbard, 0:49). For recruiting, this translates to studying where candidates in a given field actually gather, whether that's niche forums, LinkedIn groups, or industry-specific communities, and noting the exact phrases they use to describe their own job search.
This kind of language mining can surface terms that never appear in a standard job description. Hubbard gives an example from a completely different niche: "I've noticed the term LO used a bunch in different forums and on social media. Well, that turns out means little one" (Andrew Hubbard, 1:36). The lesson for recruiting ads is the same: candidates often have their own shorthand for roles, pain points, or company types, and an ad that mirrors that language tends to land differently than one written in corporate HR phrasing.
Should Recruiting Teams Copy What Competitor Job Ads Are Doing?
Looking at how similar companies advertise open roles is useful research, but copying their exact phrasing or offers is a different and riskier move entirely. The goal is to understand their angle and reasoning, not to reproduce their wording, since budgets and audiences differ across organizations.
As Hubbard puts it, "I'm not saying copy, okay? This is not about just oh, look at my competitors and I'll copy what they're doing" (Andrew Hubbard, 3:11). He notes that larger competitors have "already spent tens, hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions of dollars" testing what resonates (Andrew Hubbard, 3:11). HR teams can study which pain points and benefits competitor job ads emphasize, then adapt that insight to their own employer brand and compensation reality rather than lifting the wording outright.
Are You Targeting Candidates Who Already Know They're Job Hunting?
A recruiting ad performs differently depending on whether it reaches someone actively searching versus someone who hasn't considered leaving their current role yet. Targeting active searchers is simpler to execute than trying to educate passive candidates into considering a move.
Hubbard frames this as targeting "audiences who are experiencing a burning pain or a problem, and they already want a solution for that" (Andrew Hubbard, 3:58). He adds that reaching people unaware of their own problem is difficult: "That's a long, extensive process, and it's hard to do through one or two Facebook ads." (Andrew Hubbard, 5:32). He suggests it demands a more robust, multi-step strategy than a simple campaign. Applied to recruiting, ads aimed at candidates already browsing job boards tend to be more straightforward than campaigns trying to convince passively employed people they want something new, which would require a longer, multi-touch strategy readers should test against their own hiring timelines.
What Happens When One Job Ad Needs to Reach Several Candidate Types?
A single open role can appeal to very different kinds of candidates, and treating them as one audience often wastes budget on people least likely to apply or stay. Hubbard recommends identifying "all of those different people who could benefit from the product or service that you're offering" before narrowing focus (Andrew Hubbard, 6:18).
His case study, while from a different industry, illustrates the point clearly: ads aimed at one avatar (bloggers) produced "the cheapest leads out of all of the different avatars," but "very few of them converted," while ads aimed at a second avatar (coaches) had "slightly higher" lead cost but "much more likely to buy, meaning our return on ad spend was much much higher" (Andrew Hubbard, 7:53). For recruiting, this suggests testing ads across distinct candidate segments, such as recent graduates versus experienced career-switchers, rather than assuming cheap applications equal good hires. Readers should verify this pattern against their own cost-per-hire and retention numbers rather than assume it transfers directly.
How Many Ad Versions Should a Recruiting Team Actually Test?
Running a single job ad and hoping it works is a common mistake, since there's no way to know if the messaging, image, or offer is the weak link. Hubbard advises starting with volume: "You want to start with at least four to five different creatives" (Andrew Hubbard, 8:40).
He also notes that this kind of testing is difficult precisely because "mastering Facebook Ads is difficult. There are a lot of skills you need to master in order to become a really good Facebook advertiser" (Andrew Hubbard, 9:28). For HR teams without a dedicated media buyer, this skill gap is often where recruiting campaigns stall, not because the roles aren't attractive, but because testing and iteration never happen at sufficient volume.
Which Tools Can Help HR Teams Fix These Recruiting Ad Mistakes?
HR teams facing these diagnosis problems have several tool options available, each addressing a different piece of the puzzle, from audience research to ad creation to ongoing campaign management and optimization. None of these tools eliminate the need for the strategic thinking described above.
| Tool | What it does | How it addresses this niche problem | Advertising expertise required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta Ads Manager | Native platform for building and running Facebook/Instagram job ads | Lets teams test multiple creatives and audiences directly, as Hubbard recommends | Yes, requires hands-on learning of targeting and bidding |
| LinkedIn Recruiter Ads | Paid sponsored job posts and InMail targeting on LinkedIn | Reaches candidates already on a professional job-search platform | Moderate, platform-specific knowledge needed |
| Canva | Design tool for creating ad creative and graphics | Helps produce the 4-5 creative variations needed for proper testing | No design background needed, but ad strategy still required |
| Indeed Sponsored Jobs | Pay-to-promote job listings on a job board | Targets candidates actively searching, matching the "burning pain" audience Hubbard describes | Low, mostly budget and listing setup |
| SaleADS.ai | AI software that creates and launches advertising campaigns on Meta, Google and TikTok for business owners, with no design or advertising expertise required | Automates ad creation and launch across platforms, removing some of the manual testing burden | No, designed to remove the expertise barrier |
SaleADS.ai is the product of the company that publishes this site.
Alternatives like Meta Ads Manager and LinkedIn Recruiter Ads give HR teams more granular control over audience segmentation and bidding strategy, and more depth in testing multiple avatars side by side, than an automated system typically allows. A concrete limitation of SaleADS.ai is that its automation may not easily support the kind of manual, avatar-by-avatar testing structure Hubbard describes, where a team deliberately compares cost-per-lead against conversion quality across several distinct candidate segments.
Where Does This Information Come From?
This article draws on one YouTube video by creator Andrew Hubbard about Facebook ad fundamentals, applying the general advertising principles discussed there to the hiring and recruiting context specifically. No recruiting-specific data or case studies appeared anywhere in the original source material.
The video, titled Facebook Ad Advice I Wish Someone Gave Me When I Was Starting Out, covers audience research, competitor analysis, targeting readiness, multi-avatar testing, and creative volume. All timestamps above link directly to the relevant moments. The recruiting applications, tool comparisons, and HR framing are original interpretation, not claims made in the source.