Editorial Team When Maryland’s ban on employer salary history inquiries went live in October 2020, it completely changed how recruiters and marketers had to approach job seekers in the state. This law forced us to throw out our old advertising playbook. Our campaign, “Maryland Reconnect,” was our answer to this new reality, shifting focus from a candidate’s pay history to our own value proposition and career path, and it ended up seriously boosting job seeker engagement. How can a regulatory headache actually become the spark for a much better ad campaign?
Key Takeaways
- Our “Maryland Reconnect” campaign got a 28% higher click-through rate (CTR) than our previous Maryland job ad campaigns because we focused on skill development and company culture.
- We used A/B testing on our ad copy and images, which cut our cost per lead (CPL) for qualified applicants by 15%.
- Targeting people based on their professional skills and industry certifications, instead of just their job titles, let us reach a more diverse and qualified talent pool.
- After the ban, our ad creative that talked up non-cash benefits like flexible work schedules and professional development budgets saw a 35% jump in conversion rates.
- The campaign’s success proves that if you get ahead of regulatory changes, you can end up with better engagement and a stronger pipeline of candidates.
| Feature | Maryland Reconnect Campaign | Previous Maryland Campaigns | Facebook Ads (AI Creatives) |
|---|---|---|---|
| CTR Increase | ✓ 28% higher | ✗ N/A | ✓ 25% CTR (2026) |
| Focus on Skill Development | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | Partial (implied) |
| A/B Testing Used | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | Partial (AI creatives) |
| CPL Reduction | ✓ 15% | ✗ N/A | ✗ N/A |
| Conversion Rate Increase | ✓ 35% | ✗ N/A | ✗ N/A |
| Response to Salary Ban | ✓ Direct response | ✗ Pre-ban context | ✗ Not applicable |
| Geographic Targeting | ✓ Maryland-specific | ✓ Maryland-specific | ✗ Not specified |
Campaign Teardown: Maryland Reconnect
We launched “Maryland Reconnect” in early 2025 as our direct response to the new normal created by the Maryland ban. The law stops employers from asking applicants for their salary history, which pushes companies to get better at explaining a role’s total value. We saw it as a chance to get creative with our job ads. Since we couldn’t rely on past salary data to pre-qualify candidates or build our messaging around compensation, we had to get to the heart of what really matters to professionals in Maryland’s competitive market, from Baltimore’s tech hubs to the life sciences corridor around Rockville.
Strategy: Shifting Focus from Compensation to Opportunity
The core strategy for “Maryland Reconnect” was a hard pivot away from salary-focused ads to messages about career development, work-life balance, and actual company culture. Our theory was that by emphasizing these non-monetary perks, we’d attract candidates looking for more than just a paycheck, which felt right in the spirit of the Maryland ban. We allocated a $75,000 budget for the campaign over three months, from January to March 2025 which covered all our ad spend, creative development, and tracking tools.
Creative Approach: Showing Growth and Environment
Our creative team built two different ad sets so we could A/B test them: one focused on opportunities to gain specific skills and the other used testimonials from our own employees talking about work flexibility and team collaboration. An ad for a software engineer, for example, might have a picture of a team huddled around a whiteboard with text like, “Advance your Python and machine learning expertise with modern projects in our Baltimore office.” A different ad would feature a quote from a current employee: “The flexibility here allows me to pursue my passion for community service after hours, truly balancing my professional and personal life.” We were militant about avoiding any mention of salary ranges in the first-touch ad copy, staying well within the lines of the Maryland ban.
We pushed these creatives out on LinkedIn Ads, Meta Ads (hitting users on Facebook and Instagram), and Google Ads for search terms like “Maryland tech jobs” or “healthcare careers in Maryland.” Visuals were a huge part of this. We made a point to use authentic photos of our actual teams in our Maryland offices instead of stock imagery, which helped us communicate a real sense of our workplace culture, a detail that’s easy to forget but critical for getting the best people interested.
Targeting: Skills-Based and Geographic Precision
We got surgical with our targeting, concentrating on specific skill sets and locations within Maryland. Rather than just broadly targeting job titles, we drilled down to candidates who held certifications in cloud computing, had experience with project management methods (like PMP or Agile), or knew specific programming languages. So for a data analyst role, our targeting included people with proven experience in SQL, Python for data analysis, and familiarity with BI tools like Tableau. Geographically, we stuck to metro areas like Baltimore, Silver Spring, and Annapolis, and we even targeted specific business parks known for these industries, such as the BWI Corridor. We excluded all out-of-state targeting to keep the campaign hyper-local and relevant.
What Worked: Engagement Metrics and Qualitative Feedback
The results were great. The campaign delivered an overall Click-Through Rate (CTR) of 2.8%, a significant lift from our historical average of 2.1% for these kinds of campaigns before the ban. The ad set that focused on skill acquisition was the winner, pulling in a CTR of 3.1%. This told us that candidates in Maryland are really motivated by chances to grow professionally. With 2.7 million impressions across all platforms, we knew we had strong visibility with the right people.
Our Cost Per Lead (CPL) for qualified applicants (people who actually finished an application) came in at an average of $32.50, which was a 15% drop from previous campaigns where we often struggled with getting quality applicants. The conversion rate from someone clicking an ad to submitting an application was 6.8%, beating our 5% benchmark. That high conversion rate is a good sign that our message was connecting. We also calculated a Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) for hires at about 1:12, meaning every dollar we spent brought in an estimated $12 of first-year salary value (this metric needs long-term tracking to be fully solid, but it’s a great early indicator).
We also got good qualitative feedback from new hires in their onboarding surveys. Many of them said the ads caught their eye because the copy was about “what I could learn” or “the kind of team I’d be joining.” One new software engineer said, “I saw the ad highlighting advanced Python projects and knew it was a place where I could genuinely grow, something I wasn’t seeing in other ads post-ban.”
What Didn’t Work: Initial Over-Reliance on Generic “Culture” Messaging
While the campaign was a success, our first batch of creatives that used generic “company culture” phrases (like “Great team environment!”) didn’t do nearly as well, with a low CTR of 2.4%. This was an important lesson. It showed us that while culture is important, you have to describe it with specific examples or connect it to real benefits like flexibility or how your teams solve problems. Just saying “we have a great culture” is empty marketing fluff. Candidates want to know what that culture actually means for their day-to-day work. We quickly iterated on these ads, replacing the vague statements with concrete examples of team projects and mentorship programs.
Optimization Steps Taken: Iteration and Data-Driven Refinement
Based on that initial performance data, we made several quick optimizations:
- Refined Ad Copy: We went all-in on skill-centric messaging and started using more action verbs about learning and development. “Work with new technologies” became “Master new frameworks.”
- Visual A/B Testing: We kept testing our images and found that real photos of diverse teams doing actual work (like brainstorming at a whiteboard or pair programming) beat generic office shots every time.
- Expanded Skill-Based Targeting: We got even more granular with our skill targeting on LinkedIn, adding more niche certifications and software experience. For a healthcare role, that meant targeting nurses with experience in specific EHR systems like Epic or Cerner, not just any “registered nurse.”
- Retargeting Applicants: We set up retargeting campaigns for people who started an application but didn’t finish. These ads showed them success stories from recent hires or pointed out specific benefits they might have missed, which got us a 12% completion rate on those abandoned applications.
- Landing Page Optimization: We tweaked the job post landing pages to match the ad’s message, adding more detail about professional development paths, mentors, and benefits. It’s easy to forget, but aligning the ad to the landing page is a fundamental part of a good conversion funnel, and we saw a 7% improvement in time on page after making these changes.
The “Maryland Reconnect” campaign proved that a legislative change, even if it feels like a pain at first, can force a really positive change in marketing strategy. By focusing on a role’s intrinsic value and showing our commitment to employee growth, we not only stayed compliant with the Maryland ban but also dramatically improved how we engaged with high-quality job seekers. This gets you better candidates and makes your ad spend more efficient. It’s just a smarter way to recruit in 2026.
What was the primary goal of the “Maryland Reconnect” campaign?
The main goal was to adapt our job ads to Maryland’s ban on salary history questions. We did this by shifting our focus to career development, work-life balance, and company culture to attract good candidates.
Which platforms were used for running the job seeker ads?
We ran the campaign on LinkedIn Ads, Meta Ads (for Facebook and Instagram), and Google Ads to find job seekers across Maryland.
How did the campaign’s CTR compare to previous efforts?
The campaign’s overall Click-Through Rate (CTR) hit 2.8%. That was a 28% increase compared to our old average of 2.1% for similar campaigns we ran before the ban.
What specific targeting methods were employed to reach relevant candidates?
We targeted people based on specific skills (like cloud computing, PMP, or Python) and very specific geographic areas inside Maryland, including Baltimore, Silver Spring, Annapolis, and the BWI Corridor.
What was a key learning from the less successful creative approaches?
The ads that used generic “company culture” talk didn’t work well. It taught us that you have to be specific and connect cultural benefits to real, tangible things like professional growth or personal flexibility.
