As CNN reports, the past couple of years haven’t been easy for the US Army to find new recruits. But they’ve developed a way to attract recruits like never before, which has lead to 200 visitors per day at one recruiting station in particular, which is amazing considering the average Army recruiting station attracts 20 visitors per day.

They’ve created what they call the Army Experience Center (AEC) - a 14,500 square foot facility at Franklin Mills Mall in Philadephia Pennsylvania. Strategically positioned between popular retail stores in the mall, the US Army has taken their recruiting efforts right where their ideal recruits are found on any day of the week - the shopping mall.

Further they’ve invested nearly $12 million dollars into the facility with high-tech equipment including a Humvee, Black Hawk helicopter and Apache gunship. They’ve created an immersive environment complete with Army equipment, simulators and video games to attract potential recruits.

How does this apply to mobile recruiting, you may wonder? This is a great example of an organization (US Army) understanding their target audience and developing a recruiting program that speaks their language. Further, they’ve developed a great online recruiting site that puts a spotlight on the AEC, promotes events, leverages referrals and connects interested candidates directly with recruiters. The US Army is making great progress with their recruiting goals and building a great employment brand along the way thanks to these types of recruiting programs.

Most of us won’t have $12M dollar recruiting budgets for this type of experimentation, but mobile recruiting presents a unique opportunity to engage your target candidates - especially in the hourly hiring sectors including retail, foodservice and transportation. With over 250 million mobile subscribers in the US and 30 billion sms/text messages sent globally every month - your candidates are not only likely to have a mobile device,  it’s probably their preferred means of communication.

Filed under: Employment Brand, SMS, recruiting