Guide: Your client needs people now.
The job ad often takes longer.
In temporary staffing, jobs have to be filled fast and filled right, for many clients at once. In our experience, social media ads bring in applications faster, and you can switch them on and off as the job demands. Here's what that means for staffing agencies. With sources.
The short answer
Fill jobs fast,
and fill them right.
Your client needs people now. You're the employer, the job has to be filled, and with someone who fits. In temporary staffing, that's everyday business, for many clients at once. A job ad often takes too long to bring in good applications, and it runs for a fixed term that has to be paid for.
In our experience, social media is the faster channel. The ads also reach people who aren't looking right now, and they bring in applications quickly. And you stay in control: with HiCandidate™ you switch them on and off as the job demands, and you set a budget per client, region or job group.
To make sure the applications fit, you can pre-qualify: screening questions before the application, with the answers landing in the ATS together with the application. And in reporting, you see what works, all the way to the application.
Temporary staffing is a big market: in June 2025, 622,000 temporary agency workers in Germany were in jobs subject to social insurance contributions, 1.8% of employment (Federal Employment Agency, January 2026).
What a social recruiting project costs overall is in the cost guide, and how applications get into your ATS is in the ATS integration guide. The glossary explains the terms.
Ad comparison
Why the job ad
is often too slow.
| Aspect | Job ad | Social media ad |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | Good applications often take too long. | In our experience, applications come in faster. |
| Run time | A fixed term that has to be paid for. | Switch on and off as the job demands. |
| Who you reach | People who are searching for jobs right now. | Also people who aren't looking right now. |
Filling jobs right
Fast isn't enough.
The right people have to show up.
Pre-qualification before the application. HiCandidate™ takes screening questions from your ATS or generates them with AI. The answers land in the ATS together with the application. You decide who to invite. More on the Landing Pages and Pre-qualification page.
The careers page stays yours. By default, campaigns link to the job ad on your website. If something doesn't work there, there are landing pages built from the job data, mobile-optimized and in your corporate design.
Budget by applications, not by clicks. The Optimizer shifts budget to the channels with the most application starts and applications. A cheap click that nobody follows with the form is no use to you.
On and off
The ad runs
as long as the job runs.
The campaign starts from the job. Jobs come from your ATS, and the sync runs at least three times a day. New and changed jobs go into active campaigns without an upload.
Filled means off. When a job goes offline in the ATS, ads and costs stop automatically. You don't have to clean up after your ads.
You control the budget per ad. Set it per client, region or job group. Assign social media packages per client or job group with one click.
The system does the math, you keep your hand on the switch. AutoAllocation and Optimizer distribute the budget by results. You can turn off both.
Many clients
One system
for all your clients.
Your name is on it. Ads run through the staffing agency's Facebook pages, or through the branches' pages if you have several. Your name is the norm, especially in temporary staffing, because there you're the employer. You can name the client in the text, but you don't have to. Anonymized works too.
Every client, every branch separate. Reporting can show branches separately. For a report per client, your feed passes along the client ID, and then you filter reports by client.
One ad account per staffing agency. It's held by socialtelligence. We front the media budget and settle it with you.
One contract for all branches. Prices apply per staffing agency, not per client or location, if you bill centrally. The plans are on the Pricing page.
Reporting
Better decisions
from better data.
Recruiters at staffing agencies make decisions every day: Which job gets more budget, which channel brings applications, where do prospects drop off? They need data that's complete and correct. Then the decision is sound, and campaigns can be steered efficiently.
The dashboard shows impressions, clicks, application starts and applications, plus the costs from click to application, for every channel and every campaign. Application starts and submitted applications are counted separately, so you see where prospects drop off.
Filter and compare: by job, location and channel. The data is usually updated several times a day.
The API brings the performance data into your own systems, if you want to process it there and combine it with other numbers. Reports are also available as Excel or PDF.
You manage access yourself and create users for your team.
This is where our view ends: We can't see what happens after the application is submitted. How to read the numbers correctly is covered in the guide to measuring.
Questions for providers
Seven questions
everyone should answer.
- How fast does the campaign start? What has to happen before a new job from the ATS runs as an ad?
- Fixed term or switch? Do you pay for a set term, or can you switch the ad on and off?
- What happens to filled jobs? Does the ad stop on its own, and how fast?
- How does pre-qualification work? Are there screening questions before the application, and do the answers land in the ATS?
- How do you control the budget? Per ad, and per client, region and job group?
- How do you separate clients and branches? In the account, in the feed, or only in the report?
- What data do you get? Down to which level, and can you reach it via API?
These questions apply to every provider, including us. Ask them in the demo.
Sources
Where we looked it up,
and where we didn't.
As of November 2026. We checked the market figures against the cited source. Statements about HiCandidate™ come from our own pages and from operations.
- Federal Employment Agency (Blickpunkt Arbeitsmarkt: Entwicklungen in der Zeitarbeit, January 2026): number of temporary agency workers and businesses
What we don't know:
No independent study on speed. That social media delivers applications faster than a job ad is our experience from practice, not a proven number. So we don't name days or rates.
No industry figures on costs and application rates in temporary staffing. We haven't found a reliable study on this.
No promised results. How many applications a campaign brings depends on the job, the region and the budget.
Frequently asked questions
Quick questions.
Clear answers.
Why social recruiting in temporary staffing?
Because jobs in temporary staffing have to be filled fast and filled right. A job ad often takes too long to bring in good applications. In our experience, social media ads bring in applications faster, and you can switch them on and off as the job demands.
Is social recruiting faster than a job ad?
In our experience, yes: social media is a fast medium and also reaches people who aren't looking for jobs right now. We haven't found an independent study on this.
Do I have to book ads for a fixed term?
Job ads usually run for a fixed term, and you pay for all of it. With HiCandidate™, you switch social media ads on and off as the job demands. When a job goes offline in the ATS, ads and costs stop automatically.
How do I make sure the applications fit?
With screening questions before the application. HiCandidate™ takes them from your ATS or generates them with AI, and the answers land in the ATS together with the application. You decide who to invite.
Whose name do the ads run under?
Through the staffing agency's Facebook pages, and with several branches, through the branches' pages too. The staffing agency's name is the usual choice, especially in temporary staffing, because the agency is the employer there. The client's name can appear in the ad text, but doesn't have to. Anonymized ads are possible.
How do I separate clients and branches?
Branches can be reported separately. For a breakdown by client, you pass the client ID in the job feed, and the reports can then be filtered by client.
How do I control the budget?
Per ad. You set it per client, region or job group. AutoAllocation and Optimizer shift it by results to the channels with the most applications, and you can switch them off.
What data do recruiters get?
The dashboard shows impressions, clicks, application starts and applications, plus the cost per application, by channel and campaign. You can filter by job, location and channel, get reports as Excel or PDF, and pull the data via API. What happens after the application is submitted, HiCandidate™ can't see.
Who pays the media budget, and who owns the ad account?
There's one Meta ad account per staffing agency, and it is held by socialtelligence. socialtelligence fronts the media budget and settles it with the staffing agency. Prices apply per staffing agency, including all branches under central billing, with one contract.
Demo
Your setup with many clients?
We’ll show you live.
In 30 minutes, we'll show you online how campaigns, budgets and reports come together for all your clients and branches.
Book a demo →