EP #41: Personalization lessons from Southeast Asia’s fastest growing talent marketplace, Kalibrr

EP #41: Personalization lessons from Southeast Asia’s fastest growing talent marketplace, Kalibrr

About this Podcast

The COVID-19 pandemic led to many people losing their jobs. Employment portals have had their hands full, ever since, assisting job seekers find jobs to get their careers back on track. Kalibrr, an end-to-end recruitment platform, is Southeast Asia’s fastest growing talent marketplace. They continue to work tirelessly to ensure individuals find the most relevant jobs that match their skill-sets, interests, and preferences. To understand how Kalibrr leverages AI and personalization to drive their job-matching engine and help job seekers, we caught up with AJ Avanez, Marketing Operations Supervisor at Kalibrr.  Avanez highlights the following:

  • Common mistakes marketers make while understanding and implementing personalization
  • The importance of personalization in today’s world
  • How to measure and track the effectiveness of personalization
  • Thoughts on the future of marketing: AI and Personalization

Tune in to learn how an industry leader like Kalibrr is using personalization to help job seekers in Southeast Asia.

Episode Transcripts

Miguel(Host): Welcome to a new Netcore podcast. I am Miguel Lojo and today we are joined by our special guest from Kalibrr, Mr. AJ. Avanez. He is currently the marketing, operations supervisor for the team. So AJ, thank you so much for coming on board today.

Avanez: Thank you, Miguel. It’s great to be here.

Miguel: Yeah. So before we begin, I’d like to just sort of getting a taste or rather get to know you guys. How has Kalibrr been doing this these past couple of months?

Avanez: I’m going to be very honest in saying that Kalibrr has not been spared by the pandemic. Kalibrr’s operating in the Southeast Asian market and sober sort of at the core of where the pandemic started and because of the recession a lot of companies actually chose to stop hiring some even went as far as doing retrenchment and for a while, a lot of companies actually opted to either Foster operations or you know, go out of business and being a support for those businesses, Kalibrr was also significantly affected.

Miguel: For sure and do you think there’s going to be any immediate change in that in the near future or are we pretty much going to be sort of looking at this as the new normal for now?

Avanez: I think it’s going to be a mix, you know, this new normal is going to be something that most companies are short and would be adjusting to and so there’s going to be a lot of adjustments in terms of how companies operate but I’m still very positive that this going to be a bright future if I may say so and that we’re going to come back to a more open economy and so, this is just a preview I’d say of what the new normal is like but there’s gonna be like a better future ahead of this.

Miguel: Thank you and definitely I share your views that you know, this is definitely a trying time right now, but hopefully, you know, we see the life of the end of the tunnel very soon, fingers crossed on that but it’s definitely something you know that a lot of people have been trying to adjust to and it’s you know, not a lot of people and our generation can say that they’ve survived the pandemic or they are trying to survive the pandemic. So for businesses to survive, I think it is quite a crucial thing right now, especially with hiring, marketing, operations, Finance. All those disciplines have been sort of been trying to adjust wouldn’t you agree? 

 

Avanez: Definitely and marketing is where Kalibrr usually plays app were quite fortunate in that rep two-sided marketplace. So we do have a B2B market so we work with employers but you also work with job Seekers. So these are the job Seeker side able to really help more candidates right now look for the right jobs for them. Unfortunately, the demand from the employer side has really declined and so we’re continuously working to make sure that both job seekers and employers are still connected during these uncertain times.

Miguel: Definitely now, I’d like to sort of pick on something that you just said a few seconds ago, which was finding the right job. Now for our listeners, for this podcast just to give a very brief and maybe succinct description of what Kalibrr does, they are a SAS or b2b and b2c company that helps people find the right jobs for them. So AJ, one of the things that you might not know is that I actually did use to use Kalibrr way back then it helped me find a lot of jobs and it helped me find a lot of you know opportunities when it came through job-seeking but I think one of the amazing things that Marketing in general today right now is experiencing is a shift from sort of traditional marketing, you know, like TVs and ads and stuff like that to more personalized marketing. Now before we sort of dive deeper into personalized marketing, I kind of wanted to sort of pick your brain on what you think personalized marketing is and maybe some of your opinions on it?

Avanez: I think from my experience and working with Kalibrr, especially personalized marketing is a new channel and a new strategy that uses information and data from the user, from the end-user and maximizes that in order to provide them with services and products that we actually need at specific moments. Kalibrr being at the forefront of recruitment, personalization is at our core. That’s our different shape because when you’re looking for a job, you don’t want to find jobs that are actually that are not suited to your qualifications. For example, I’m a marketing professional, I wouldn’t want to go into a platform that serves me jobs that are related to finance or accounting because that’s not what I’m qualified for. So being able to bring that out and put that to where are our users are at is important for us.

Miguel: All right, that’s very good in terms of, you know, finding the right fit for the job. But then there are some sort of pitfalls or mistakes that some marketers do like they just hear the term or the catch-all phrase, you know the right content for the right person and then they sort of just like go with that type of phrase and you know interpreted in different ways. So in your experience AJ what are some of the more common mistakes that marketers can do when it comes to personalization? 

Avanez: I’m sure the most common the Booboo of yeah people were trying to get into virtualization is putting it into a silo of just channels and content. Mmm, people come in and thinking oh, I need to implement personalized marketing, what channel should they go into what content should I feed them, But I think those are just instruments that are really critical for you to implement personalization at the end of the day it’s all about understanding where your customers are what they need and how best to serve that need.

Miguel: All right, sounds good. So in terms of personalized marketing then how would you say Kalibrr does it or what’s like the unique way that Kalibrr brings that type of personalization to job Seekers and to businesses.

Avanez: If I could start with maybe a job Seekers so Kalibrr the platform is powered by an artificial intelligence technology, which means if you’re a job seeker and you sign up the Kalibrr at the start, you are given the option to select what industry you’d want to start looking for jobs in so that’s the first touch point wherein we’re able to gather information about our user. Well as you continuously use the platform, the platform reads into what kind of jobs you save. What kind of jobs are in view and what kind of jobs you apply for to tailor better recommendations. That’s why the more you use the platform, the more tailored did the job recommendations will be on the flip side from an employer standpoint it’s similar in that it’s also powered by artificial intelligence and once you sign in you post your job, so you indicate an Everything that you need about the qualifications certain benefits of your offering as an employer and as you continue to use the platform we gather information about what kind of candidates you push forward to an interview the final interview what candidates each shortlist. We also take a look into what kind of candidates you invite and what can the dates you filter in terms of profile and we make because consolidate and information and be home the technology that recommends better-suited candidates. So from both standpoints were able to create personalized recommendations personalized jobs for job Seekers and tailored get candidates for employers looking for the right people for routine.

Miguel: All right, so it seems it sounds like Kalibrr has come a very long way from when it first started. I mean, I remember filling up my profile and then there were just A lot of tests that made me take, there was quite a battery of tests that I remember, but now that it’s you know, it’s been fully, you know, it’s been further how you say fine-tune. And you know, it really brings that right person to the right role situation further wouldn’t you agree?

Avanez: Yep, definitely. The critical thing about personalized marketing once you figure out an initial strategy is to just start testing it and then find you along the way. 

Miguel: Sounds good. So going back to a start if the earlier question. So we were talking about, you know common mistakes that marketers can run when it comes to personalization. But what if a company or a marketer doesn’t actually even use personalization like what risks would they run if they don’t practice this very new but also very effective tool of marketing. 

Avanez: I think a company that doesn’t even try to do personalization, risks the possibility of burnout, especially for the marketing team because if you don’t do personalization, it’s going to be a shotgun approach. We’re going to try to release as much content try to hit as many channels just to make sure that you’re visible to your target audience and even with that amount of work and that amount of resources that are available for you, the number of things that would stick is still going to be very minimal. So that’s the first thing the second thing is that because of everything that’s been happening. Just looking at, for example, your news feed and Facebook or Instagram. There are a million things that are going on. And so if you don’t do personalization your girl Runs the risk of being one of the clutter that I pass by and don’t engage that other.

Miguel: Agreed and you know, one of those sorts of big things about personalization is that let’s say somebody does use it or somebody does say alright, so I’m going to start personalization today or I’m gonna tailor-fit my content to the right people. I think one of the big things that people start to forget is numbers or sort of tracking progress when it comes to handling personalization for your marketing now for Kalibrr AJ, I kind of wanted to know what sort of numbers do you think are important when you’re implementing personalization for marketing? 

Avanez: You can’t creep that you mentioned that I go I think that’s also one of the common pitfalls that marketers and Business Leaders usually encounter when they tried to do personalized marketing or personalization. I think the first thing is that we should avoid facial metrics depending on the channel. You should avoid just measuring views or reach or Impressions because that are those metrics don’t necessarily point to your business objectives. When you are using in measuring some success when you run your personalized marketing program or marketing initiatives this to drill down and identify what your business metric is. In our case, from a job Seeker standpoint, our business metrics ensure that candidates actually get hired and apply to the right jobs for them. And then for the employer side, what we want to do is to serve Kalibrr to offer Kalibrr to companies who are actually hiring. And for certain positions that we are very liquid in and so bass drum that objective takes a look into. Okay. What’s our Channel? What where will we be running it and then identify what metrics are available. So safer job Seekers since we’re asked their applications or signups into the platform. Our ultimate goal is conversion. So we look at how many job Seekers actually sign up and apply based on how many candidates saw an ad or opened an email or open a push notification that is released and in the same light from an employer standpoint since we’re concerned about what kind or since you’re concerned about how employers actually get into the platform and use the platform properly, we look into the number of sales qualified leads that actually come up from campaigns that we run.

Miguel: Perfect, so in a nutshell, you would say maybe I’ll just paraphrase, essentially when it comes to personalization, It’s not the end-all where it’s not the end goal to just use personalization. It’s more of personalization driving you towards your ultimate goal, which is conversions. Am I right?

Avanez: Definitely, people often think that personalization as an end all be all of its lengths, the silver key to everything. We include it’s also just one of the strategies that you can implement to reach your business objectives.

Miguel: Perfect. The perfect way to describe it in my opinion. So with all of this new and you know evolving Concepts within marketing. Do you think there’s you know, these think there’s ever a need to maybe go back to traditional marketing or to the more traditional methods that we sort of grew up with? So things like television Billboards radio. Even you think these are still important marketing tools we’ll need or is you know personalization just like the way to go moving forward?

Avanez: Well, I think that personalization is definitely something that companies should take a look into and evaluate if it’s something that’s appropriate for them. I wouldn’t discount the fact that other traditional strategies and other to the show channels are still important, especially depending on what industry you’re in. So if you’re into say a mass product then maybe TV and a bit of a billboard or newspaper ads might still work for you. I always advocate for relevance and balance members relevant to your business. Try it out. Whatever it is you try it out and then see how it can be integrated to the current repertoire that your business is currently doing.

Miguel: Perfect. Sounds good. So let’s say AJ, maybe I was an entrepreneur or maybe I’m just a new business that’s starting, and let’s say you were about to give me some advice on personalization. How do you how would you say to me how I would start going about personalization? 

Avanez: Treated as a best part small one figure out what part of the business you’d want to implement it in and up, what touchpoint you’d want to see it implemented. And at the same time or a second step would be an admission this before, match your business objectives with the personalization strategy that you’d want to implement and make sure that whatever personalization marketing strategies of you’re going to be implementing despite up to that business objective and then evaluate measure and then improve.

Miguel: Perfect. All right. So everyone listening that today, please do note personalization isn’t an end-all-be-all to it’s something to help you test and train yourself becoming a better marketer in the future and hopefully, you still reach out to a lot of your audience with personalization. AJ any final thoughts that you’d like to share when it comes to basically our entire podcast.

Avanez: I think there’s an opportunity right now for marketers and Business Leaders to be more open to trying out different strategies personalized marketing might be for you it might not be for you but trying it out, but I was you or will allow you to be more attuned to what your clients actually need. And so even if it doesn’t work out, trying personalization you get something from it that’s going to be viable to improving and succeeding in this new normal.

Miguel: Couldn’t have said it better myself. So once again AJ, thank you for coming today, to everyone listening I hope you’ve learned something important about personalization today and as always stay safe. Stay healthy. Thank you. Once again.

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