7 Proven Ways to Successfully Market a Staffing Agency

Learn how to market your franchise with seven proven strategies, from local ads to social media. Discover smart ways to market your temp agency and grow your business.

Running a staffing agency means constantly balancing candidate recruitment, client relationships, and operations. But if you want to grow your business, you can’t afford to overlook one more thing: marketing. Whether you’re looking to attract job seekers, land new clients, or simply boost your agency’s visibility, marketing is what powers your growth engine.

That said, figuring out how to market a staffing agency isn’t always straightforward, which is why many agency owners choose to work within a franchise system. Not only do you benefit from an established brand and business model, but you also gain access to experienced marketers who understand how to market your employment agency in ways that work. 

The right franchisor brings you a powerful, proven franchise digital marketing plan that takes the guesswork out of growing your brand, and they also provide you with advice and proven strategies on how to market your franchise.

Understanding what your marketing fees cover as a franchise owner

Before we dive into some of those proven strategies, let’s take a minute to talk about the marketing fees that franchisees pay, because they can go a long way toward promoting your brand. When you operate a staffing franchise, you typically pay a marketing fee to your franchisor, usually between 2% and 4% of annual revenue. That might seem steep at first glance, but let’s put it into perspective. These fees:

• Fund local and national campaigns
• Drive franchise lead generation
• Ensure consistency in franchise brand differentiation. 

They also give you access to marketing strategies, tools, and campaigns that would be expensive and time-consuming to replicate on your own.

Franchisors like Spherion use those fees wisely. With economies of scale, they create multi-location franchise marketing programs that lift their entire network. For example, a national digital advertising push could lead to brand recognition in your market—without you having to lift a finger. Meanwhile, the franchisor’s marketing team can help guide your local business marketing efforts, freeing you up to focus on running your staffing agency.

Now, with this understanding, let’s take a closer look at how you can successfully market a staffing agency, paired with some real-world examples from our Spherion franchisees and our marketing team.

1. Invest in local ads that work

A classic yet effective way to market your staffing agency is through paid advertising. That includes everything from radio and TV spots to online ads, billboards, and even bus stop signage. These channels are ideal for building local awareness, especially if you're opening a new location or looking to expand into a new market.

For example, many Spherion offices regularly invest in local radio spots. It’s a smart local marketing strategy that puts your name in front of job seekers and businesses alike right where they are—in their cars, on their commutes. And to do so, they reach out to our marketing team, who collaborates with the local team on a script that’s on-brand and tailored to the local market. 

2. Make an impact through event marketing

If you want your temp agency to become a household name in your community, event marketing is the way to go. Job fairs, career expos, networking nights, and charity events help you build real-world connections with candidates, clients, and referral sources.

Take Spherion Raleigh, for instance. This office regularly volunteers with local nonprofits like A Place at the Table, making a strong impression with both the community and potential clients. In Illinois, Spherion offices in Savoy, Decatur, and Bloomington have built a reputation for being active contributors to the United Way. Their community engagement is feel-good PR, as well as a savvy franchise community engagement strategy that builds trust and keeps their brand top of mind.

3. Get involved with local schools and students

Marketing your employment agency isn’t just about reaching people who are job hunting today. It’s also about connecting with future candidates and clients. That’s why academic outreach is such a powerful tool in your franchise marketing toolbox.

Many Spherion franchisees work with local schools and colleges to offer résumé workshops, interview prep, and mentoring sessions. Not only does this establish your agency as a trusted local resource, but it also helps foster long-term relationships with emerging talent. These students could become future hires, internal staff members, or employer clients down the road.

It’s also a great way to align your agency with workforce development initiatives in your region, which is a smart play when thinking about franchise customer acquisition cost over time.

For a real-world example of this tactic, let’s turn to Spherion Mid Ohio. Since 2016, they’ve sponsored the Kalahari Classic, a VEX Robotics event where high school students are judged based on how their robots are designed, how they solve problems, overall usability, and the team’s design process—all to hopefully gain entry to a global robotics competition. Spherion Mid Ohio’s staff established an interview station for middle and high school students to practice group interviews before presenting to the judges, a move that encourages science-minded students while raising awareness of the Spherion brand.

4. Leverage the power of digital advertising

All of us are increasingly online, which makes digital advertising a must to reach today’s job seekers and employers. When you market your temp agency online, you’re meeting your audience where they already are: on their phones or laptop, browsing online job boards, or searching for staffing solutions. 

A strong franchise digital marketing plan will include everything from paid search ads (like Google Ads) to display advertising, sponsored content, email campaigns and job board sponsorships. Campaigns that are professionally managed by a franchisor can deliver better ROI, too, thanks to centralized content creation, A/B testing, and optimized spending.

If you’re part of a franchise system like Spherion, the marketing team likely runs national and regional campaigns that drive traffic to your location-specific web pages. That kind of coordinated, splashy multi-location franchise marketing can boost your visibility without requiring you to become a digital advertising expert overnight. Plus, you likely get access to a suite of templates that make every ad, landing page, and email look as polished and professional as possible.

5. Prioritize online reviews and reputation management

Before someone applies for a job through your agency or partners with you to fill roles, they’re likely to check your reviews. According to Chatmeter, 95% of consumers say online reviews influence their purchase decisions. That means your online reputation can make or break your business.

Encouraging satisfied clients and candidates to leave a review about your franchise is a small but powerful step in local business marketing. Responding thoughtfully to reviews—especially negative ones—shows that you care about your business and the people it serves.

At Spherion, many franchisees actively request reviews after successful placements and take time to thank reviewers or address concerns. It’s a low-cost tactic that improves franchise marketing ROI measurement by influencing conversions and improving local SEO for franchises. Your local office also benefits from our strong national reputation: We’re America’s most awarded staffing and recruiting brand, and we boast the industry’s highest Google rating of 4.8/5. 

6. Build a strong social media presence

With today’s job seekers and hiring managers spending so much of their time on social media, it’s essential to focus your marketing efforts there, too, as part of a robust, multi-channel marketing strategy. Social media marketing is more informal and allows you to show off your franchise culture, promote job openings, share client success stories, and highlight your community involvement. (Check back at tips 2 and 3!)

A good franchise social media presence includes both organic content and paid promotions. You can post photos from job fairs, reshare testimonials, and celebrate new hires, all while running targeted ads to attract leads. The marketing team at Spherion helps franchisees plan their content and amplify it through branded templates and national initiatives, giving you a professional look without the stress of building everything from scratch. This pays off big time: Last year, Spherion franchisees’ saw their collective reach from posts grow to 2.4 million from 437,000, and post impressions grew to 3 million (up for 980,000)! 

Consistency is key here. With franchisor support, you can maintain a content calendar, stay on brand, and keep your audience engaged week after week.

7. Optimize for local SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) helps people find your staffing agency online, and when optimized correctly, your agency will show up in search results when someone types in phrases like “staffing agency near me” or “hiring help in [the city you’re based in].”

Franchise systems like Spherion invest heavily in local SEO for franchises, providing support so franchisees can keep their web page optimized with relevant keywords, service offerings, and contact info. They also support franchisees looking for guidance on managing listings on Google Business Profiles and other directories, increasing visibility and trust.

This kind of franchise marketing compliance ensures that all locations follow best practices while maintaining unique, local relevance. It’s a foundational tactic for franchise customer acquisition that keeps paying off over time.

Ready to grow? Let Spherion be your marketing ally

To market a staffing agency takes strategy, time, and resources—all things a seasoned franchisor like Spherion can provide. From executing a smart local marketing strategy to helping you manage your franchise lead generation, the right partner gives you a leg up in a competitive space. Before you sign on with any franchise, make sure you take a close look at their marketing program. Ask about the marketing fee, review past campaigns, and talk to current franchisees. If they offer the tools and support to market your temp agency effectively, you’ll be set up for long-term success.

At Spherion, we believe that great marketing makes great businesses. We’re proud to support our franchisees with local franchise marketing strategies that work, and we’d love to show you how we do it. For more information, reach out to Dan Brunell, our franchise development expert, who can answer any questions you may have about marketing a franchise.

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