In 2009, Bullhorn, the leading US recruitment software company, was planning its launch into the UK market.

Bullhorn needed to:

  • Educate UK recruiters as to the benefit of SaaS over on-premises CRM solutions
  • Build its profile in the recruitment industry
  • Attract its first users

Our strategy

As Bullhorn’s SaaS PR agency, we started with a hard-hitting integrated strategy that included:

  • A regular stream of news announcements and opinion pieces aimed at dominating the UK recruitment media with Bullhorn’s content.
  • A series of events and speaking opportunities to leave UK recruiters in no doubt as to the value of Bullhorn as a bespoke CRM.
  • A thought-leadership campaign aimed at positioning Bullhorn as a leading SaaS solution to help recruiters cut costs and increase efficiency in a tough economic climate.

Initial results

Within 18 months, the strategy had delivered:

  • Over 180 pieces of positive media coverage.
  • Widespread recognition of Bullhorn in the UK recruitment community, with a number of people already referring to Bullhorn as the market leader.
  • Bullhorn’s first 2,000 users.

And then…

…the competition woke up and Bullhorn needed to use its first-mover advantage to drive further growth.

Our ongoing strategy

So, we intensified our market-domination strategy with:

  • More news announcements and opinion pieces focussing on the key benefits of Bullhorn’s CRM.
  • A thought-leadership campaign to position Bullhorn as the only recruitment CRM provider with the ability to help recruiters work smarter and build better relationships with candidates and clients
  • An ongoing campaign to build Bullhorn’s credibility as a leading tech company
  • An awards program to highlight Bullhorn’s credentials as an employer

The results

This change in strategy paid off. Within five years, Bullhorn had:

  • Firmly cemented its position as the market leading recruitment CRM tool
  • Seen its UK user base pass the 15,000 mark
  • Dominated the UK media v its competitors with a 75% share of voice
  • Secured 360 pieces of positive media coverage, with growing interest from the national tech and business media.
  • Received 4 award nominations (including the National Business Awards) and 2 wins
  • Featured in the Sunday Times Best Companies to work for two years running
  • Built 62 followed links back to the website (a key SEO metric)
  • Hosted the biggest recruitment conference in Europe
  • Successfully launched in Australia, Singapore and the Netherlands

 “Four factors contributed to the unqualified success of Bullhorn’s launch into the UK market. They were a great product, a clear and intelligent sales strategy, economic conditions forcing recruiters to become more efficient and the work of our PR agency. Within six months we were broadly recognised in the recruitment sector and there is no question now that the perception in the UK recruitment community is that Bullhorn is a market leader.” Peter Linas, International Managing Director, Bullhorn

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