Recruitment budgets are under pressure. Marketing spend is being scrutinised. And yet the demand to hire and hire well hasn’t eased.
If your ad budget feels stretched but results aren’t improving, you’re not alone.
Across every sector, we’re hearing the same thing: rising costs, unclear ROI, and growing expectations. This post breaks down how to reduce recruitment marketing costs without cutting results, and why performance-led platforms like Gaia are now the smarter, leaner way to hire.
Hiring teams are spending more to get less. Here’s why:
The result? Inflated costs, lower ROI, and strained teams trying to justify spend.
One of the most common and costly issues in recruitment marketing is ad spend inefficiency. The average cost-per-hire continues to climb, but the actual quality of applications often doesn’t keep pace. Teams end up paying for traffic, not talent.
Poor targeting leads to ads being shown to the wrong audiences. Flat-fee models with no performance insight leave teams blind to what’s working. Job boards flood inboxes with irrelevant CVs, forcing hours of manual filtering.
And when a strong candidate drops off mid-journey, most platforms offer no way to bring them back unless you start the spend cycle all over again.
These leaks add up fast. Whether you’re paying per post or per click, if those clicks don’t convert, they’re wasted. And when cost-per-application goes up while conversion-to-hire stays flat, it’s your budget and your team that takes the hit.
Budget leaks usually happen in three places:
Cutting spend across the board won’t fix this. But redirecting it to what performs will.
Reducing spend doesn’t mean reducing reach or quality. It means:
This is what performance-led recruitment looks like. And it’s how smart teams are hiring better while spending less.
Gaia helps employers cut spend waste, improve campaign ROI, and reach better candidates. And all from a single platform.
Here’s how you benefit from our one-stop-shop – it’s like having a recruitment marketing team in your pocket:
🎯 AI-powered bidding
Gaia’s machine learning engine automatically allocates spend to the ads, audiences, and platforms driving the best results. This reduces waste, and maximises value.
🔁 Multichannel optimisation
No more guesswork. Gaia continuously tests and refines your campaigns across TikTok, Meta, Google, Reddit, LinkedIn and more. This means your budget flows to what works.
💡 Real-time insight
See which roles, ads and messages are delivering the best performance. Pause what’s not working. Scale what is.
🎨 Built-in creative tools
No need to outsource. Use Gaia’s AI-driven creative tools to generate on-brand, high-performing visuals for every campaign.
📱 High-converting apply UX
GaiaPages remove drop-off. Fast, mobile-first journeys mean more qualified applicants without needing more spend. And the candidate experience is super-slick with applications being made in well under 60 seconds.
“Gaia’s AI-driven strategy helped us reach the right talent faster, overcoming location and skills shortages while strengthening our employer brand. Their precision targeting and data-driven approach made a real difference in how we attract and engage candidates.” Babcock
Indeed, Babcock’s campaign performance speaks volumes:
All of this while reducing spend and increasing quality.
Hiring isn’t slowing down, but budgets are. That’s forcing TA and HR teams to rethink how they invest.
The old model of flat fees, job board reliance and no visibility just doesn’t work anymore. It’s too slow, too expensive, and too opaque.
Shifting to a performance-led model means:
This means you're attracting talent that fits, all without needing a bigger team or agency retainer.
Wondering if you're overspending to underperform? Let's talk.