The Search for Star Storytellers: Scaling Teams, Selling Homes
Content & Photography Staffing Case Study | Real Estate Industry
Overview
Onward Search helped a leading real estate information company scale nation-wide, full-time Content and Photography teams to revamp a robust website before a Super Bowl ad campaign.
The Challenge
Location, limitation, and large-scale localization.
With 10+ brands, 6K+ employees, and data on 7M+ properties, our client is a top provider of real estate information, analytics, and online marketplaces. Determined to scale, the organization acquired a modest residential real estate portal and set out to turn the small player into a market leader.
The company’s ambitious mission called for a website full of captivating content, a library of professional property photographs, and unmatched advertising investments. Unfortunately, the real estate giant’s newly acquired brand initially lacked the local content team, nationwide photographers, and talent acquisition resources to update its site in time for a then upcoming Super Bowl ad campaign.
Hiring obstacles extended beyond location requirements to include tight timelines, incredible scale, and role-specific limitations. While content writers often work remotely and many photographers prefer contract assignments, our client’s goals demanded talent who were open to exclusive, full-time, hybrid opportunities. In addition, the client required senior managers with responsibilities larger than most photography directors and editors have ever handled.
The Solution
Synergy, strategy, and empathy above all.
Our specialized recruitment team began by studying our client’s growth goals, talent priorities, and hiring challenges. Next, we developed talent profiles and a strategic job marketing plan, including paid advertising and targeted email campaigns. Our efforts resulted in a rich funnel of active and passive candidates in key regions.
Acting as an extension of the organization, we met with hiring managers weekly, crafted a tailored retention strategy, and trained our recruiters to ensure each candidate met every unique requirement. Over time, our team became experts in the organization’s many locations, journalistic writing style, and growth-oriented culture. However, it was ultimately our recruiters’ empathy that empowered us to find 100+ professionals for the rapidly expanding company.
We listened diligently to talent concerns about life changes, transitions to full-time work, and relocation fears – answering each question that arose with the transparency and respect that every person deserves. Then, we walked all our candidates through the hiring process, never stopped checking in, and filled roles that our client had been trying to fill for months. The results: 30 hires in 30 days, a retention rate exceeding 96%, footage featured in Super Bowl ads, and an ever-growing content collection that has already helped increase web traffic by 1000%+.
I want to thank you sincerely for guiding me through the process of starting this new career with this company. Your finding my portfolio and reaching out to me has changed the course of my life.
Architectural Photographer
Onward Search Real Estate Client
By The Numbers
Relevant achievements and statistics to date:
100+
Recruited 100+ experts for the client over time
96%+
Maintained a talent retention rate of 96%+
100M+
Helped the client reach 100M+ monthly website visitors
1K%+
Empowered the client to increase web traffic by 1,000%+
By The Experts
Examples of roles we filled for our real estate client:
Architectural Photographer
Associate Content Writer
Director of Photography
Photography Manager
Residential Content Writer
Sales Associate
Sales Director
Sr. Content Writer
Sr. Data Visualization Designer
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