5 Pillars of Effective Employer Branding Content

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What exactly is an employer brand and why is it important? Your employer brand is the identity your company wants to be known for with candidates and employees. Simply put, building a strong, positive brand will attract quality candidates that want to work for your company as well as retain your existing employees.

 

Building your employer brand is more than just determining your core values, it is building a workplace that employees and candidates remember and want to be a part of. And it’s something candidates care about when looking for a new employer: 75 percent say a company’s reputation is important in their job search.

 

When your employer brand is strong, you’re not just building a good working experience for employees, but also for potential candidates. Branding is the first thing they will see to create initial interest in applying for a role in your organization.

 

So how exactly do you build this employer brand? There are many ways you can do it but most importantly, you’ll need to tell great stories. The best way to do this is through content. It’s the storytelling machine that will help your company build connections through its employer brand. 

 

It takes a lot of hard work to build effective employer branding content, but here are five pointers to help you along the way.

 

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1. Know your audience

 

Using the same content across all job postings and recruiting efforts may be time efficient, but it does not allow you to consider your specific audience. Sticking to just one audience per piece allows you to speak directly to them and what they are looking for in an employer. This individualized approach also gives you the chance to describe team dynamics and cultures that are unique to the specific role being filled.

2. Do your research

 
Once you have a good grasp on who your audience is, the next step is to understand exactly what people in that audience are seeking. Find the data that lets you in on the topics they want to know about and what areas are important to them. For example, a candidate looking into a remote role may want to know more about how companies encourage relationship building with co-workers. Having this knowledge will help candidates quickly know if what they are looking for in a company aligns with their expectations.
 

3. Find the right storyteller

 

It’s important that you work with the right person to tell the right story. Remember, you are telling a story about your company’s identity, and finding the right storyteller is essential. For example, if you are talking about how an engineering team operates, interviewing an engineer on the team or an engineering leader for the piece would ensure that the message comes across authentically. Don’t just have your people team sharing these perspectives. In fact, statistics show that hearing from employees resonates with candidates: 66 percent of candidates believe the best way to gain insight into a company’s culture and inner workings is through interactions with employees. Find a way to include employee quotes into content or involve current employees throughout the hiring process.

4. Be authentic

 
Building trust with potential candidates is vital. If a potential employee gets the sense that you are just selling them a story to join your team, but have no intention of following through on it, your branding will not be one of authenticity. A 2018 job seeker study showed that 43 percent of employees who quit within the first three months did so because their expectations of the job did not match up with the reality of their day-to-day work. This isn’t about selling a false image to get someone in the door, but rather to highlight the true, valuable things your organization offers as a selling point to potential employees.

5. Have a point of view

 
What do you have to offer as an employer that helps you to stand out from the crowd? Highlight what makes your company unique rather than just including the things that all other companies are offering. When a candidate has been scrolling through a sea of job posts all day, something about yours should reach through the screen to grab their attention.

Knowing how to build effective employer branding content is key to ensuring a successful connection with candidates. While it may feel like a daunting task, following these five pillars will give you the guidance and confidence needed to begin this worthwhile endeavor. Yes, it will take time and resources, but it will lead to a thriving company with top-quality employees.