Most recruitment websites exist to tick a box. They look the part, list the jobs and get updated when someone remembers. Meanwhile, recruitment marketing gets judged on posts and followers, and seen as a cost rather than a source of revenue.
Barrington James changed that. Its marketing went from celebrating internal wins to generating more than £1m from marketing-driven campaigns, and the turning point was treating the website as a revenue channel, not a brochure. Here's how they did it, and what other recruitment agencies can borrow.
At a glance
| Who are Barrington James? | A one-person marketing team and a website built for candidates, not client A global life sciences recruitment agency, founded in 2002 (barringtonjames.com) |
| Where did they start? | A one-person marketing team and a website built for candidates, not clients |
| How did it start? | SEO on their old website brought in client leads, and the board backed investment for a new one |
| What changed with Venn? | Brand positioning, a new website and ongoing SEO, content and recruitment marketing strategy |
| Did it work? |
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"Who bought what Rolex": why recruitment agency marketing gets stuck
Recruitment agency marketing gets stuck when it's judged on activity rather than revenue. Agencies are brilliant at marketing other people. They can sell a role, a team and a career move to someone who wasn't even looking. Ask them to market themselves to clients, and things get vaguer.
When Amy Tilbury joined Barrington James six years ago, the business had never really focused on marketing. Marketing meant social media, talent attraction and celebrating internal wins. As Amy puts it, "you fall into that trap of marketing the business and talent acquisition and what incentives were going on and who bought what Rolex."
The website followed suit. It told candidates about the offices and the charity work, but said almost nothing to the life sciences companies the business had built its relationships with.
None of that is unusual. What happened next is.
How do you get the board to invest in marketing? Show them revenue first
Show the board revenue before you ask for budget. For Barrington James, that meant proving the old website could bring in client leads.
Amy hadn't worked in marketing before Barrington James. In her second year, she started to suspect the business was "missing a bit of a trick".
The website platform wasn't going to help. Amy describes it as more basic than a Wix site, where even small changes meant messaging the supplier. But rather than starting with a new website, Barrington James brought in a recruitment SEO specialist to work on the one they had.
It worked. Organic search started bringing in client leads, and Amy could see in the data exactly where they came from. That got the board's attention.
[Video: "What finally got the board's attention"]
This is the step most recruitment marketing strategy skips. Teams ask for a new website so they can start proving value. Barrington James proved the value first, then asked for investment in the website.
Why marketing for recruitment agencies should be judged on revenue, not reach
Boards fund what they can measure in revenue, so that's the number marketing for recruitment agencies has to report. Followers and impressions don't get you budget. Leads and placements do.
Around the time the SEO started working, Amy went to a recruitment marketing workshop run by Brian at Venn. One idea stuck: marketing, even in recruitment and B2B, should be run more like e-commerce. Apple's marketing team doesn't judge itself on impressions and followers. It judges itself on customers and revenue.
For Amy, that changed how she talked to the business:
"How do you get a seat at the table? How do you secure a budget? It is literally that you need to make revenue."
[Video: "Seat at the table"]
What should a recruitment agency look for in a website partner?
Look for a partner that handles strategy, design, SEO and content together, not just the platform. For a small marketing team, that's the difference between managing one relationship and managing four or five suppliers.
With sign-off for a new site, Amy compared several recruitment website platforms. Most were strong on technology and speed to launch, but design, SEO and content were outsourced to external partners rather than handled by internal teams.
For a team of one, that meant project-managing four or five suppliers. "You've got to go through someone to get someone else to do something," Amy says.
What she needed was capacity and support, not just a platform:
"What sold it for me was that extension of my team. At the time it was just me. I needed that all in one thing, because we're a big company and I couldn't do it all on my own."
[Video: "Extension of my team"]
Venn started with brand positioning: who Barrington James is for, and why life sciences businesses should trust it. The recruitment website design and build came from that, with SEO and content support continuing after launch.
See the website Venn built for Barrington James →
What makes a website a revenue driver, not a box to tick?
A revenue-driving website is built around the people who pay you, and judged on the leads it brings in. For Barrington James, that meant three changes:
- Built for clients, not just candidates: Clear routes into each life sciences subsector they recruit for, so companies find their specialism quickly.
- Content that proves expertise: Insight and events that show life sciences companies Barrington James understands their world.
- Judged on leads, not looks: The marketing team reports on enquiries and revenue, not just page views.
From a cost centre to a revenue-generating team
Since partnering with Venn, marketing-driven campaigns have generated more than £1m for Barrington James. Keywords ranking in the top 10 have increased by 374%, and this year is set to be a record for both leads and marketing-generated revenue.
The team has grown from one to three, and Amy has been promoted to Global Head of Marketing. With a wider range of skills in the team, the business can now develop its storytelling.
Life sciences is a fascinating industry, and Amy wants to show more of the work Barrington James's clients do, not just the roles it fills. The ambition hasn't changed:
"We're commercially driven. We want to be seen as a revenue generator, not a cost centre."
It's a different view of recruitment marketing: judged on revenue, not reach.
What other recruitment agencies can take from this
Five recruitment marketing lessons from Barrington James:
- Treat your website as a revenue channel, not a box to tick: Build it for the clients who pay you, and judge it on the leads it brings in.
- Report revenue, not just reach: Leads and revenue get you a seat at the table. Followers and impressions don't.
- Prove the value before you ask for budget: Show what your current website can do, then make the case for more.
- Make it about your clients, not your agency: Your clients' work is more interesting than your Christmas party.
- Don't stop at launch: Keep developing your website and strategy as you learn more about your business, your industry and what works.
Is this you?
Amy's starting point is common. Many recruitment marketers are junior to mid-level, often working alone and expected to market an entire business. Securing budget, reporting upwards and getting a seat at the table can seem impossible when you're just treading water.
If you're a marketing team of one being asked to prove revenue, let's talk about how your website could start pulling its weight.
Want to see the finished website and the full results? Read the Barrington James case study →
Recruitment marketing FAQs
How can a recruitment agency prove marketing drives revenue?
Start by tracking where client leads come from on the website you already have. Use your analytics and CRM to connect organic search and content to enquiries, then to placements and fees. Barrington James did this with SEO on its existing site, and the leads it produced gave the board the evidence to invest in a new website and a wider recruitment marketing strategy.
What should a recruitment agency look for in a recruitment website platform?
Look beyond the technology. Check who handles design, SEO and content, and whether that work is done in-house or outsourced to other partners. For agencies with small marketing teams, one partner covering strategy, recruitment website design, SEO and content saves managing several suppliers. Also check how easily you can update the site yourself after launch.
What should recruitment agency marketing report to the board?
Report the numbers the board already cares about: client leads, pipeline, placements and revenue influenced by marketing. Reach metrics like followers, impressions and page views can support the story, but they won't win budget on their own. Marketing for recruitment agencies earns its seat at the table when it's measured like sales.