💎 Underrated Strategy: Building Industry Job Boards

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Howdy marketer!

Most brands focus on performance marketing, content, community building – you know, the regular stuff. 

But there’s one strategy that is rarely talked about.

It’s barely seen as a marketing move – yet it has long-term compounding benefits.

Hosting a job board.

No, not just for your company, but for your whole industry.

It’s actually one of the most underrated ways to position your brand as a central hub.

It helps to gain attention, links, and goodwill from an audience you care about. 

Let’s unpack this fully, and I’ll walk you through why it works, how to pull it off, and what to avoid.

Today's Treasure Trove

• Why a Job Board Works as a Marketing Channel

• Step 1: Choose Your Niche (Narrow is Better)

• Step 2: Set Up a Standalone Website

• Step 3: Source Jobs Automatically

• Step 4: Put Your Brand on It - Subtly

• Step 5: Create the Viral Loop

• Wrap Up

Why a Job Board Works as a Marketing Channel

We’ve all gone through multiple job boards and LinkedIn to find our next role.

So, imagine the traffic that these job boards are able to generate!

A job board goes beyond offering just utility in terms of finding jobs.

You’re creating a resource people will return to and share.

This way, people start associating your brand’s products with the industry itself. 

Hacker News Jobs, powered by Y Combinator, is a great example. It started as a side utility. Now it’s a go-to destination for startup jobs. 

It reinforces YC’s position as the default startup ecosystem. 

Even smaller media companies and creators are doing it. The folks at RemoteOK turned a niche job board into a seven-figure business. 

Step 1: Choose Your Niche (Narrow is Better)

If you’re going to host a job board, don’t make the mistake of going broad. You’re not Indeed. You’re not LinkedIn. 

You want to become the place for a very specific kind of job.

That might be “climate tech jobs in India” or “remote product roles at early-stage startups.” Or “marketing jobs in B2B SaaS.” 

Go deep, not wide.

The more specific the niche, the more useful the board becomes. And it also makes curation easier – you’ll know what belongs and what doesn’t.

The goal is to make your job board feel like it was made just for that one type of professional. 

While a niche job board might not get the same amount of traffic as Indeed, it can attract an audience of a higher quality. 

Step 2: Set Up a Standalone Website

Make it look and feel like its own brand. Give it a name. Something clean, short, and clear.

It could be something like SaaSJobs, WFHGigs, BuiltFor(X) etc. 

(Just placeholders – the idea is to own a clear, useful phrase that communicates who this is for.)

Use Webflow, WordPress, or any modern no-code tool, like Airtable to build the site. Or if you're technical (or have dev help), use a job board template or open-source solution. 

There are tools like Niceboard, JobBoardHQ, or even JBoard.io that make it plug-and-play.

The goal is to let the board breathe as its own ecosystem – not feel like an ad for your product.

Step 3: Source Jobs Automatically

Use smart scraping or aggregation instead of manual scraping.

Set up keyword and title filters using LinkedIn, Greenhouse, Lever, or other public ATS systems. 

You’re not copying their content – you’re linking to it, with attribution. You’re acting like a directory.

Here’s what that looks like:

• Create a script or use a no-code tool like Zapier or Bardeen to pull jobs that match your criteria.
  

• Apply filters like title (e.g., “Marketing Manager”), location (e.g., “Remote”), company type (e.g., “Seed to Series B”), and industry (e.g., “Fintech”).
  

• Update listings every 24 - 48 hours.
  

• Always include a “posted by” tag and link out to the original job post.
  

Here, you’re curating value, keeping things clean and ethical.

Over time, once people start discovering the board, they’ll start submitting their own roles. 

That’s when things get interesting - and less work for you.

Step 4: Put Your Brand on It - Subtly

To do that:

• Add your brand’s logo in the footer or top corner.
  

• Mention: “Curated and maintained by [Your Brand]” on the About page.
  

• Include a link to your main site and social profiles.
  

• If you run a blog or newsletter, promote your content in the sidebar or at the bottom of job listings.
  

With this, you’re building an association - so that whenever someone thinks of jobs in your niche, they think of your board, and eventually, your brand.

Step 5: Create the Viral Loop

The best part about a job board is the natural flywheel it creates:

• A company posts a job.
  

• They share the job board link with their network.
  

• People apply or browse other jobs.
  

• They return, subscribe, and tell others.
  

• More companies post jobs to get visibility.
  

• Repeat.
  

You can also add a few tactics here:

1. Let people subscribe to job alerts. 
   Weekly or daily digests. This keeps them in the loop - and keeps your board in their inbox.
   

2. Add a “share this job” button with a pre-filled LinkedIn or X post.
   

3. Create a job submission form - make it easy for hiring managers to post roles in under 2 minutes.
   

4. Mention companies who post in your own content - “This week’s top roles from Stripe, Notion, and Linear” - brands love the shoutout and are more likely to return.
   

When you do this, you’re building behavior, which tends to stick.

Step 6: Promote the Board Through Strategic Channels

This is where you shift from builder to marketer.

Don’t just launch it and wait for SEO. 

Distribute it. Push it through your owned, earned, and paid channels.

Here are a few that work well:

• Newsletters:
  Sponsor niche industry newsletters. People trust those curators. A single shoutout can drive hundreds of clicks.
  

• Podcasts:
  Sponsor or guest on podcasts in your niche. Plug the job board as a useful resource.
  

• Communities:
  Share it in relevant Slack, Discord, or WhatsApp groups. Most of them have “#jobs” channels. Respect the rules and don’t spam.
  

• Reddit and Forums:
  If there’s a subreddit or forum for your industry, post a roundup - “Top 10 New Openings in B2B Marketing this Week.” Give before you ask.
  

• Your own content:
  Add a “Jobs of the Week” section in your blog or newsletter. This reinforces the board without sounding salesy.
  

Do this consistently for 6 - 8 weeks, and you just might see inbound posts, mentions, and subscriptions.

Step 7: Monetization (Optional)

This isn’t about making a quick buck. But once your board has traffic and attention, monetization becomes a side benefit.

Some paths:

• Featured listings: Charge $50–$200 for companies who want their role pinned at the top.
  

• Sponsored posts: Let brands sponsor a slot in your newsletter or homepage.
  

• Job bundles: Offer package deals for multiple listings over time.
  

• Career coaching or resume services: Partner with other companies and take a cut.
  

Again – not mandatory. But if you hit scale, this can be a healthy side revenue stream that funds itself.

Wrap Up

Hosting a job board isn’t glamorous. It’s not viral or flashy. But that’s also its strength. It’s useful, practical, and sustainable.

Don’t turn it into a billboard for your company. Respect the user’s intent – they’re there for jobs, not ads.

Jobs also expire fast. You can use automation or reminders to prune old listings regularly.

And in a marketing world chasing hacks, the brands that build utilities - actual resources that solve real problems - are the ones that stick around. 

✌️,

Tom from Marketer Gems