What value can a targeted email broadcast campaign bring to your job search and why would you want to consider investing the time and money in such a job search strategy? How do you identify the companies you want to target? How do you find the data you need and how do you actually produce the campaign? Let's explore these questions.

The Value of Email Campaigns

Email campaigns have largely replaced the traditional print mail campaigns that many job seekers have used in the past to contact prospective employers. With the emergence of email, job seekers can now produce campaigns faster, easier and more cost effectively. Email campaigns are an efficient technique to contact a large group of employers, but they must effectively target the right audience to produce solid results. The old-school strategy of mass mailing does not work and is a significant expense to avoid in your campaign.

By producing these types of campaigns, you are tapping into opportunities that may exist but are not advertised or widely known. If you don't contact the company directly, you may never know a position exists.

Identifying Your Targets

There are three basic groups of prospects you'll want to consider targeting. With each group there are certain criteria to consider.

1. Recruiters

Use your industry and profession specializations as your top search criteria. You can also contact retained or contingency firms, although considering the minimum salary requirements of candidates they place (e.g., $75,000, $100,000) is often a good idea. Geography is not a particularly good search variable since a recruiter in New York can be conducting a search for a client in Detroit.

2. Companies

Use your industry as your top search criterion. You can also use geography if your search is confined to a specific region, or use annual sales volume if your search is focused on a particular size of company.

3. Venture Capital Firms

Use industry specialization primarily, adding a minimum or maximum for capital assets if you are targeting a specific size firm. Generally, VC campaigns are only appropriate for senior-level executives or individuals with a wealth of experience in investment finance, VC funding, Wall Street road shows and the like.

Producing your Campaign

You have two basic options for producing your campaign. You can buy the data and produce the campaign yourself, which is the most cost effective method, yet the most time consuming. Or, you can pay a company to produce it for you, which is more expensive, but if you're not a techie whiz kid it might be much faster and easier.

If you choose the do-it-yourself approach, you can specify your criteria and buy data from a variety of sources, such as Your Missing Link, Kennedy Information or ProFile Research. Each of these firms is well known and well respected. However, be sure to closely compare costs and services. Also, ask how often their databases are updated. No database is going to be 100 percent accurate. However, you should work with a company that updates its data on a monthly or quarterly basis.