How Job Boards Can Grow in 2025 by Expanding Beyond Job Listings

‍‍The job board industry is in transition. Economic uncertainty, lower job posting volumes, and growing pressure from both clients and candidates are forcing platforms to rethink their strategies. While job boards have traditionally been strong in providing visibility for open roles, there is now a growing need to offer more value and better performance.

One of the biggest shifts is happening outside the job board itself. Social platforms are becoming a powerful channel for reaching talent. Not just for brand awareness, but also for driving results. Some job boards are already seeing success by adding social advertising to their offering.

This article explores why this shift matters, how job boards can benefit from it, and what it takes to move from being a listings platform to a more complete recruitment partner.

The Challenge Job Boards Are Facing

Many job boards are seeing a drop in revenue. This is not just due to fewer jobs being posted. It is also because advertisers are becoming more selective. They want to know where their budget is going. They want proof of performance. And they want solutions that can reach the right talent more efficiently.

At the same time, candidates are spending less time actively searching on job boards. Instead, they are scrolling through social media, watching short videos, or browsing content that is not focused on work. The traditional job board experience does not reach these people.

This creates a problem. If all job boards are focused on the same group of active seekers, they are competing for a limited pool. And that pool is shrinking.

Looking Beyond the Job Board

A growing number of platforms are asking the same question: how can we go beyond the job board?

This is where social advertising comes in. Social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok offer a way to reach people who are not actively looking, but might be open to change. With the right targeting, job ads can appear in the daily lives of people who match the profile, even if they are not browsing job listings.

This is not just about boosting reach. It is about changing the way job boards create value. Instead of only offering a listing, you can offer a campaign. One that delivers reach, relevance, and measurable results.

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Why Social Advertising Fits Job Boards

Adding social advertising as part of a job board’s proposition has several advantages.

First, it gives employers access to more diverse talent. Active seekers only represent a portion of the market. Social ads help reach the rest.

Second, it makes the commercial offer more flexible. You can introduce social campaigns as part of a bundle, as an upsell, or even as a reactivation offer for clients who have not advertised in a while.

Third, it improves the overall outcome. When a job is promoted across both your board and social media, it has a higher chance of being seen by the right person at the right time.

This approach is already proving effective. In a recent industry session on revenue models and monetisation, recruitment expert Ben Groves highlighted social advertising as one of the most promising new income streams for job boards.

Real Examples From the Field

Some of the most established platforms are already experimenting with this approach.

Nationale Vacaturebank, the largest job board in the Netherlands, has introduced “always on campaigns” that run continuously on social media. These campaigns drive consistent traffic and allow their clients to stay visible even when job volumes fluctuate.

In the United Kingdom, the largest job board there is also exploring social campaigns as part of their commercial model. They are seeing positive results in areas like client retention and deal size. Adding this kind of performance layer has helped them bring more value to the table, especially for clients hiring in competitive segments.

These examples show that this is not a theory. It is already working in practice. And it is creating a competitive edge.

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A Shift From Platform to Partner

When job boards offer more than just listings, they begin to play a more strategic role. This shift from platform to partner allows job boards to build longer term relationships with clients. It opens the door to conversations about performance, audience reach, and employer branding.

It also helps job boards stand out. In a crowded market, being able to offer a clear difference is key. Social advertising, especially when it is tied into a job board’s workflow and sales process, creates that difference.

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What to Think About Moving Forward

Many job boards are asking how to expand their offering without adding complexity. The good news is that moving into social advertising does not need to be difficult.

In most cases, the job boards we work with simply send their existing job feed through XML. From there, the rest is handled. Campaigns are created, targeted, optimized, and reported = without extra work from your team.

This setup means you can be up to speed in a matter of days. Sales teams often have something new to take to market within the first week. New revenue starts coming in within weeks. And that momentum helps boost energy and confidence across your commercial team.

If you are exploring this opportunity, a few practical questions can help guide your approach:

• Which clients would benefit most from added reach beyond your platform?
  
  
• How can social campaigns be positioned in your pricing or sales packages?
  
  
• What kind of monetisation model fits your audience and value proposition?
  
  
• How can you equip your sales team to explain this to clients clearly and confidently?
  
  
• How will you track performance and make it visible to clients?
  
  

This is not about replacing your job board. It is about adding new value - quickly, simply, and in a way that creates measurable business impact.

Conclusion

Job boards have always played an important role in connecting people with opportunity. That role is not going away. But it is evolving.

As candidates change how they consume content and employers change what they expect from recruitment advertising, the most successful job boards will be the ones that adapt early.

Social advertising is one of the clearest ways to do that. It adds visibility, flexibility, and performance to your offering. And it creates value that goes beyond the click.

The opportunity is real. The technology is here. And the results are already visible.

If your job board is looking for new ways to grow in 2025, social advertising is worth exploring.