Recruitment marketing is often treated as a bolt-on to talent acquisition — something you deploy when hiring gets tough or applications dry up. But in this episode of VMJPod’s Employer Brand Series, hosts David Macciocca and Brie Mason are joined by recruitment marketing leader Elizabeth Clerke, (Candidate Experience, Strategy and Engagement Lead at Westpac), to explain why that mindset limits impact, and why recruitment marketing works best when it’s deeply embedded inside TA.
Elizabeth’s approach is grounded in partnership and proximity to the business. For her, recruitment marketing isn’t about surface-level campaigns — it’s about acting as a strategic advisor to hiring leaders and recruiters alike.
“When I’m taking a brief or working with the business, in my head they’re my client. So I go into full business director mode,” Elizabeth explains.
That mindset shapes everything from how campaigns are briefed to how success is defined.
A key theme throughout the conversation is ownership. Elizabeth is clear that recruitment marketing loses effectiveness when it sits outside of talent acquisition, disconnected from real hiring challenges.
Instead, she advocates for a tight partnership with recruiters from day one.
“I’ll partner with the recruitment lead — we’re joined at the hip. Whatever proposal goes back to the business is both our voices. Different roles, but one consistent response.”
That collaboration ensures recruitment marketing is aligned with hiring realities, not just brand aspirations. It also helps recruiters feel invested in the strategy, rather than seeing campaigns as something being “done to them”.
Elizabeth also emphasises the importance of understanding leadership context early. “We go straight to the leader… because they’re the one with the vision.”
By grounding recruitment marketing in leadership goals and business challenges, campaigns become more focused, credible, and effective.
Measurement is often where recruitment marketing conversations stall. Teams feel pressure to prove ROI with the same precision as performance marketing, even when the data ecosystem doesn’t support it.
Elizabeth offers a pragmatic alternative. Rather than chasing perfect attribution, she focuses on education, context, and directional indicators.
“You can’t just assume everybody knows it, because it’s not magic. This is hard graft and strategy.”
She stresses that part of the role is helping HR and recruiters understand what recruitment marketing can — and can’t — be measured on. Progress shows up in trends over time: improved role fill rates, reduced agency reliance, stronger talent pools, and better recruiter engagement with campaigns.
One of the strongest takeaways from the episode is that recruitment marketing only works when recruiters are genuinely involved. Elizabeth talks about the importance of bringing recruiters into the process early, explaining the “why” behind decisions, and building trust over time.
That trust is especially important when protecting employer brand consistency in-market. Elizabeth doesn’t shy away from the fact that recruitment marketing requires courage — pushing back on last-minute changes or misaligned messaging when needed.
Without that consistency, campaigns lose credibility with candidates and momentum with the business.
Ultimately, this episode reframes recruitment marketing as a long-term capability, not a short-term fix. When embedded inside TA, supported by collaboration, and measured realistically, recruitment marketing becomes a powerful driver of sustainable hiring success.
For TA teams willing to invest in that work, recruitment marketing stops being a “nice to have” — and starts becoming a core part of how great hiring gets done.