Employer branding. Recruitment marketing. How are they different? What do they have in common? Is there a way to optimize both?
Branding and recruitment marketing should both be a part of your company’s communication strategy. Though distinct, they work to achieve the same goal: share your company with others. They’re complementary—when done well, a strong employer brand will advance your recruitment marketing efforts. And, with strong recruitment, great new hires continue to build up your employer brand.
Spoiler alert, here’s a peek at how:
Keep reading to learn more about the connection between employer brand and recruitment marketing and how emphasizing your brand can help you attract more top candidates today!
Okay, something you might already know: brand comes first. Employer brand is how your organization shares its values, benefits, and culture. It’s a cohesive expression of who your company is. In other words, brand is how your company is viewed by others—internally by employees or externally by customers, job candidates, and the public. Branding builds your company’s reputation.
A strong employer brand is communicated across company websites, content offerings, products, programs, and messaging. Regularly using messaging and specific writing techniques, colors, logos, fonts, or other visuals can evoke feelings that support your brand.
The importance of a well-established brand cannot be overstated. It impacts marketing, consumer sentiment, thought leadership, candidate relationships, talent acquisition, and content distribution. It’s the thread that ties company communications together. A strong brand shows what makes your company great, why someone would love working there, and what its overall mission and values are. And if you think customers aren’t paying attention, think again. Many consumer decisions are made when they see how your company treats its employees.
Much the same way your product marketing team attracts prospective consumers to your products, recruitment marketing is about attracting prospective candidates to your company. Your strategy might include ads (online, TV, radio, print, or billboards), blog posts, emails, and social media profiles. Any approach you choose should showcase your organization at its best and draw applicants to open roles.
Your recruitment marketing strategy should evolve and elevate based on company needs, candidate preferences, and market trends. Don’t think you can just “set it and forget it.” Your competitors aren’t—and they’re winning top talent over you. Keep your plans flexible, and meet your prospective applicants where they’re at instead of expecting them to stay in the same places you’ve met them in the past. Staying fresh and fluid says a lot about your brand and will attract more candidates to you.
Think of branding and recruitment marketing as two sides of the same coin. They’re connected, but unique. Yes, both strive to share why your company is great. But while your employer brand shares that message with everyone—customers, potential users, and current employees—recruitment marketing is more targeted. The same message, but tailored to your talent pool.
A strong brand is invaluable for recruiters. Why? Companies with well-known brands require less candidate outreach. When you have a trusted reputation, the best talent comes to you. You’ll attract the most qualified candidates and save recruiting time and budget.
The reverse is also true. A strong recruiting strategy brings talented employees into the company, which increases organizational success and further enhances the brand. Engaged employees will also act as brand ambassadors. Even when not on the job, they’ll spread the word that they love working where they do. This builds up your company’s reputation amongst both potential customers and job seekers.
Branding supports recruitment marketing, so let that brand work for you! Learn to leverage your brand and find your way to more top talent.
Carry your employer brand through your entire recruitment process. At every touchpoint, make sure your brand is easily understood by potential candidates. Every interaction is a chance to share more, so don’t waste a moment.
Deliver outreach emails, blogs, and job board notifications in a brand-consistent voice with on-brand visuals. Use social media platforms, job sites, or message boards to communicate company values. Hosting events or participating in conferences can help promote your brand too.
Look for creative opportunities to insert your brand into the hiring process. Emphasize your brand as much as possible so job seekers can get to know your organization better. They’ll form stronger connections with your company and enjoy more positive candidate experiences.
Add branded, high-quality videos to your job boards, websites, or welcome emails. If you haven’t already, add friendly messaging or company logos to candidate outreach. Consider engaging in the comment sections of social channels to establish yourself as a trustworthy voice and resource.
Your recruitment strategy and hiring process should reflect your company values. Focus on those values and demonstrate them consistently. Does your organization focus on equity and inclusion? Candidate experience? Efficiency? Deliver an interview process in line with those distinguishing features.
If DEI is important to you, make it clear that you review redacted resumes or optimize job descriptions with inclusive language. If engaging with exceptional technology is important to your company, your hiring software should prove it. Whatever you do, ensure your hiring process reinforces brand values.
A great employer brand doesn’t just live on paper, in a file, or on a computer. It’s an active strategy that connects companies with real people. And your hiring team is a big part of making those connections.
Talent acquisition professionals have the chance to share your employer brand daily. To do that well, they need to believe in the brand and be ready to communicate it effectively. As they get to know candidates, they should be positive, engaging, and confident in your company’s good reputation. Welcoming, helpful, and knowledgeable recruiters are living proof that your company is worth joining.
As a window into your company culture, an EVP helps attract great applicants. It outlines what your company has to offer potential candidates and shows how your workplace takes care of its employees.
Your EVP might include basic benefits like pay, medical insurance, and mentorship opportunities. It might demonstrate your company’s values, like work-life balance and inclusion. It might mention perks like available vacation, education opportunities, or remote work schedules. Whatever you decide to include, know that the EVP could be a meaningful part of a candidate’s decision-making process.
Even something as seemingly straightforward as a job description is a chance to boost your recruitment marketing strategy. Don’t lose out on great talent with job descriptions that are unengaging or unclear, and don’t be afraid to infuse brand voice into your job description text.
Another way to attract talent is to ensure inclusive language in your job descriptions and outreach communications. Avoid inadvertently discouraging job seekers with offensive or exclusionary word choices. Instead, optimize your content with language that welcomes all potential employees. Let applicants of all backgrounds know that they are welcome and respected at your workplace.
Company culture videos are a great way to showcase the mission and values of your organization. They’re an opportunity to share the heart of your company’s brand, set expectations, and leave viewers with positive feelings toward your company.
Your video might include testimonials from employees, an overview of your products and services, or a brief overview of company benefits. A strong company culture video gives potential employees insight as they make career decisions. Zendesk’s brand video is an example of an effective company culture video that demonstrates who they are and what they do in a short amount of time.
Sometimes your website is the first impression a job seeker has of your company. If the “Join Our Team” page is difficult to find, poorly designed, or not user-friendly, you risk leaving a bad first impression! Optimize your site to create a seamless brand experience for job applicants.
Ensure your careers page is brand-consistent, with cohesive colors, logos, and fonts. Keep it simple and easy to navigate. Mobile-friendly sites are great for modern job seekers who are on the go and comfortable doing work on their phones. Include your mission, EVP, culture video, and links to social media pages. Consider adding a FAQ section to save both applicants and hiring team members time.
Social media is one of the best ways to connect with customers, potential talent, and today’s job seekers. Identify where your target audience is and focus on those social channels. Make sure your online persona aligns with your brand, and avoid a disjointed experience by using a consistent voice and style.
Having a presence on social media will allow others to experience your brand in the same place they go for entertainment and connection. Providing helpful, engaging content gives value to users, increases brand awareness, and allows them to form a relationship with your company. You can share available job openings and answer questions right on those platforms too.
Leverage the people most invested in your brand: your employees and co-workers. As built-in brand ambassadors, encourage employees to highlight the great things they’re doing at work on social media, repost company content, and engage with the organization’s social pages. Feature employees on your website or newsletters, and allow them to share their experience with your company in their own voice.
Including current employees in your recruitment strategy takes both your brand and recruiting efforts to the next level. Hearing directly from employees humanizes your brand and gives job seekers someone to connect with. Potential candidates can more easily picture themselves in the community, and they’ll get a better idea of the work environment.
A strong brand serves customers, clients, and users. Top brand strategies go beyond that, though, to enhance your recruiting strategy. Take advantage of your workplace brand and company culture to draw in the best candidates who will continue to positively build up your organization.
To recap: using your employer brand to boost recruitment marketing goes a long way. Incorporate branding into your recruiting strategy, and you’ll find your way to more great hires. In turn, those great hires will continue to boost your brand!
When it comes to our brand at Clovers, we’re always positioned to help. Our hiring tools guide talent acquisition professionals to better, more effective, and more inclusive hiring decisions—and we love nothing more than to help companies build dream teams. Connect with us to learn how we can support you today.
Jackie brings over a decade of HR technology experience to Clovers. She’s passionate about helping companies build talented and diverse (dream) teams and delivering an incredible hiring experience to everyone involved.