Let’s Cut Through Complexity: Find the Right Recruitment Marketing Tech for You

Author: Sara (Elkins) Hartmann

The world of recruitment marketing technology (Martech) is constantly evolving, with new tools and innovations emerging at a dizzying pace. Every day, talent leaders are bombarded with platforms promising to streamline hiring, enhance candidate engagement, and transform the recruiting process.

The reality? Not every tool is the right fit for every organization.

At Shaker, we take a different approach to Martech, one that’s personalized, strategic, and built around your unique hiring challenges.

Instead of pushing a one-size-fits-all strategy, we’re dedicated to knowing all the latest tech available on the market, investing in understanding your situation and goals, and helping you find the right technology that will integrate seamlessly with your existing systems and deliver measurable results.

More Tech ≠ Better Hiring

The recruitment tech landscape has expanded dramatically, offering solutions for every stage of the hiring process. From AI-powered sourcing tools to automated candidate engagement and programmatic job advertising, the options are endless – and, frankly, overwhelming. While innovation is exciting, many organizations fall into the trap of investing in new or trending technology without a clear strategy.

Common mistakes we see:

❌ Tech overload – Too many disconnected tools creating inefficiencies instead of cohesive strategies.
❌ Shiny object syndrome – Jumping on the latest trend without assessing its real impact.
❌ Lack of strategy – Using tech reactively instead of aligning it with long-term hiring goals.

Rather than asking, “What’s the newest tool,” the real question should be:
What problem are we trying to solve?

Too often, the focus is on technology instead of the purpose behind the technology. If all we want is to become more innovative, we’re missing a key piece of the puzzle.

Let’s look at it this way: If the biggest challenge you’re facing were solved tomorrow, how would it impact attracting, nurturing, and retaining the right talent? The answer to that question gets us closer to determining the best tech for you – or maybe tech isn’t the answer at all. It’s like golf – different clubs achieve a different result depending on the shot you’re making. Different goals require different strategies.

Taking the time to understand your actual needs can better consult our clients on the right strategy and achieve real results that ripple throughout the organization.

Our Approach: Strategy Over Shortcuts

At Shaker, we believe in tailored technology strategies instead of solely making product recommendations. As we like to say, “Tech is not a strategy – it’s a tool, a tool to assist.” Whatever you choose to use should serve its purpose by directly solving a problem.

To accomplish this, our approach starts with understanding your hiring challenges, current systems, and future goals.

Here’s how we cut through the Martech complexity:

1. A Deep Dive into Your Needs

What do you want to accomplish using Martech? Is it to get in front of the competition? Or is it to ensure candidates are aware of who you are and the kind of impact they can make on your organization? These kinds of questions fuel our research and evaluation process.

Before suggesting any technology, we take the time to understand:

✅ Your current recruitment process (Where are the pain points?)
✅ Your existing tech (What’s working? What’s not?)
✅ Your brand awareness and/or your hiring goals (Do you need to increase awareness or improve volume, quality, or reach?)

Why it matters: Many organizations invest in tools that duplicate functionality or fail to integrate with existing systems. We ensure every piece of tech serves a clear purpose.

2. A Thorough Vetting Process

Not all tech is created equal. Before recommending a partner, we put the technology through a rigorous evaluation process to determine:

🔍 Effectiveness: Does it truly solve the problem it claims to address?
🔍 Scalability: Will it grow with your recruitment needs?
🔍 Integration: Will it work with your ATS, CRM, and other systems?
🔍 User Experience: Is it intuitive for talent leaders and candidates?
🔍 Budget & Timeline: Does it meet your budget and timeline requirements?
🔍 Tracking & Reporting Capabilities: Are we able to collect data on your KPIs and report on them in a way that serves your business?

If the technology doesn’t meet these criteria, it shouldn’t be part of the strategy.

3. Seamless Partnership & Optimization

We work in partnership with your selected vendor to ensure you are getting the best out of your solution and using all the elements of the contract while constantly evaluating the relationship with the client partner we are true consultants, and advisors who leverage our experience and knowledge of the tools to recommend a best-in-class strategy.

4. Personalized Solutions

Every organization is different—and your recruitment tech strategy should reflect that. If there isn’t a current tool on the market that meets your needs, our team of expert developers can build a tool personalized to your goals, infrastructure, and hiring challenges. From bespoke dashboards to career sites, we ensure the technology not only fits—but fuels—your strategy.

Make Your Tech Work for YOU

In recruitment marketing, there’s no single “best” tool – only the best one for your organization.

At Shaker, we’re tech advisors and partners in your hiring success. Our goal is to help you build a recruitment marketing tech strategy that drives better hiring outcomes, not just for tech’s sake.

Ready to find the right tech for your team? Let’s talk.

📩 Get in touch with us today to cut through the complexity and build a smarter strategy.