From Clicks to Placements: Tracking What Actually Works in Recruitment Advertising

Want to know if your recruitment advertising spend is actually working?

The majority of recruitment teams blindly pour money into job ads without tracking what works. They see clicks. They see applications. But have no idea which channels actually deliver hires.

The problem…

Recruitment teams that don’t track PPC ROI waste money on channels that generate clicks but never placements. In an environment where the average cost per hire is $4,700, every wasted dollar hurts.

The good news? Tracking what actually works isn’t hard. It’s just a matter of knowing what to do.

In This Guide:

• Why Recruitment PPC Tracking Matters
• The Metrics That Actually Count
• How To Calculate Recruitment Advertising ROI
• Building A Data-Driven Recruitment Strategy

Why Recruitment PPC Tracking Matters

Recruitment advertising has changed.

Job ads are no longer placed and prayed over. Recruitment teams use paid search, social advertising and programmatic job advertising to find candidates. The problem is…

Recruitment teams focus on the wrong numbers.

Clicks and impressions look good in reports. But they aren’t the full story. A campaign might generate thousands of clicks but zero good quality candidates. Another campaign might have lower clicks but drive real candidates that get hired.

This is why measuring PPC ROI is so important for recruitment advertising. If we don’t track it, we have no idea what campaigns are working or what should get more budget.

Imagine two campaigns. One job board posting costs $500 and generates 100 applications and 2 interviews. Compare this with a PPC campaign that costs $300 and generates 30 applications and 10 interviews.

Which one wins?

The second one. No question.

This is because we don’t care about clicks or applications. We care about results. The only thing that matters is how much money we are spending and how many quality hires we are getting from that spend.

The Metrics That Actually Count

Not all metrics matter in recruitment advertising. Here are the key ones to help you track PPC ROI:

• Cost Per Application (CPA)
• Cost per quality applicant
• Cost per interview
• Cost per hire
• Application to hire ratio

Let’s take a deeper look at each one of them.

Cost Per Application (CPA)

CPA is the first level of measurement. It tells us how much we are spending to get each application.

But CPA isn’t everything. A low CPA sounds good until we see the quality of those applications. If they are all unqualified or spam entries, we don’t care.

Cost per quality applicant

This is the big one. A quality applicant is one that meets the basic criteria and progresses in the recruitment process. This is where the separation happens between clicks and quality leads.

Quality applicants per channel are the key number to consider.

If we have Channel A which generates 10 clicks for $100. Of those 10 clicks, 4 start an application. 3 applications get submitted. Of those 3, 2 make it to the interview stage.

Then we have Channel B. It generates 30 clicks for $150. Of those 30 clicks, 15 start an application. 6 applications get submitted. Of those 6, 4 make it to the interview stage.

Cost per application of both channels is similar at $25 and $30. But based on the second example, we can start to see that Channel B is better. It costs the same but gives us more quality clicks and results.

Cost Per Interview

This metric shows us exactly how much it costs to get a candidate in the door for an interview. A good channel should generate candidates that we actually want to talk to.

This is a clear indication of the targeting and quality of each channel.

Cost per hire

The ultimate metric. This one measures the total advertising spend divided by the number of successful hires. This is the number that senior leadership cares about.

Application-to-hire ratio

This ratio shows how many applications it takes to make a hire. A ratio of 50:1 means we need 50 applications to make one hire.

This is a measurement of the efficiency of the whole funnel. The lower the ratio, the better the targeting.

How To Calculate Recruitment Advertising ROI

Calculating recruitment PPC ROI is simple in theory. But it takes good tracking to get actual numbers. Here’s the general approach to work from:

Step 1: Track All Advertising Costs

All job advertising spend should be tracked and accounted for. This includes:

• Job board fees
• PPC ad spend
• Social advertising
• Programmatic job ad costs
• Agency fees (if used)
• And so on…

Step 2: Track Conversions at Every Stage

Tracking should start at the first click and finish once the candidate signs the offer letter. Here are the key stages to track:

• Clicks to job posting
• Application starts
• Completed applications
• Interviews scheduled
• Offers made
• Hires completed

Step 3: Calculate ROI By Channel

The final step is to divide the total spend by the number of hires per channel. We can then compare channels based on actual cost per hire.

Simple, right?

The biggest challenge is attribution. Candidates will often see multiple channels before applying. A candidate might see a LinkedIn ad, then search on Google, then apply direct to the company site.

Multi-touch attribution models are the solution to this problem. But even basic first-touch or last-touch attribution is better than nothing.

Building A Data-Driven Recruitment Strategy

The beauty of data is it only works when we take action on it. Here are some ways to use recruitment advertising data to drive improvements:

A/B test everything. Try different ad copy, images and targeting options. Small differences can make a big impact in application rates. Always test for at least 2 weeks before making changes.

Optimise landing pages. The job posting page is just as important as the ad. Confusing, slow-loading pages or long application forms kill conversions. Always keep application forms short and mobile-friendly.

Double down on winners. Once the data shows us which channels are driving quality hires, push more budget towards them. Sounds obvious but many teams use a flat budget split across all channels regardless of performance.

Cut underperformers quickly. Campaigns that do not perform after ample testing should be paused or killed. Don’t waste money on channels that show no results.

Review data weekly. Recruitment advertising performance is constantly shifting. Weekly reviews mean issues are spotted and opportunities can be identified more quickly.

Common Tracking Mistakes To Avoid

There are some common errors even the most diligent of teams make:

• Only focusing on volume: High application numbers are meaningless without quality checks.
• Ignoring time-to-fill: A channel that delivers high-quality hires fast could be worth higher spend.
• Not segmenting by role: Entry-level and executive level roles behave very differently.
• Not tracking candidate experience: Confusing, long or mobile-unfriendly application forms kill conversions.
• Setting and forgetting campaigns: PPC campaigns need constant monitoring and optimisation for results.

Something else to consider…

Many recruitment teams stop tracking at application. But the real value comes in when we follow that candidate all the way through to their start date. Full-funnel tracking can reveal which advertising channels deliver candidates that actually succeed in the role.

The Bottom Line

Tracking PPC advertising ROI in recruitment isn’t just something we should be doing. It’s something we must do if we want to be efficient.

Recruitment teams that aren’t tracking will always struggle to optimise spend or budgets. In a market where the average cost per hire is $4,700, that’s money that is just going to waste.

The recruitment teams that win are the ones that:

• Track every dollar that is spent
• Measure results at every stage of the funnel
• Make decisions based on data, not opinions or gut instinct.

Start simple by setting up basic tracking across all channels. Then work to improve from there. It’s far better to have imperfect data than no data at all.

Recruitment PPC ROI is trackable. Once we start measuring what matters, we’ll never look back.