If you’re looking to bring high-quality job candidates in the door, it’s no longer enough to simply have a careers section on your website. Chances are, the first place a candidate will interact with your company and employer brand is on a job site such as Indeed or a social channel like LinkedIn. So if you’re not completely leveraging these sites, you’re missing out on potentially great hires.
Building an effective employer brand may sound daunting, but below are some tools and strategies you can employ to beef up your digital presence and, ultimately, attract quality employees that will help improve your business.
1. Develop a strong employer brand
Before you can do anything, you need to solidify your brand. Zero in on what makes you unique — why you stand out from the pack as an employer — and build a brand around that. There are few key things to consider when developing your brand:
- Take the time to really develop your messaging. It should reflect who you are as a company and an employer, as well as what makes you the best choice in your industry. Come up with headlines, subheads, a company description, body copy, and digital ad copy (and of course, the design that goes along with it). Also develop messaging around various important topics, such as benefits, culture, and the kinds of attributes that make someone successful at your company. Reading your company reviews on Glassdoor can be helpful to learn what people’s favorite things are about working with you.
- Develop a value proposition. Really grab onto the one or two things that make you different than your competitors. Are you more innovative? Do you offer better opportunities for career growth? Do you have outstanding benefits? Maybe you have unique company perks? Whatever it is, job candidates will want to immediately understand what gives you that “it” factor.
2. Be where they already are
As I mentioned, it’s critical to meet candidates where they’re actually looking for jobs. Chances are, they won’t be coming directly to your website — they will likely be referred from a job site like Glassdoor, LinkedIn, or Indeed. But it’s not just limited to those websites. Don’t count out Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and even Pinterest. For example, you could create a Pinterest board that features images that embody your employer brand and link them to your careers website or even a specific job posting.
3. Build a robust careers site
After someone has engaged with your brand on a social channel, they will likely stop by your careers website. This should be a seamless experience where they encounter similar messaging and a cohesive brand. Your careers website should expand upon what they’ve already seen on a site like LinkedIn and provide new information about why they should want to work for you.
4. Make a splash
Once you’ve developed your employer brand and expanded your digital presence, it’s time to think about developing unique campaigns to really make your company stand out. Consider using video as a tool in recruitment. This can be as simple as employee testimonials, or you could go big and shoot some out-of-the-box, entertaining (and maybe even funny) spots. 
Dropbox’s video incorporates puppets which definitely get your attention, whereas ZenDesk’s video who tells it like it is. Once you’ve developed your campaign, spread it far and wide across all social channels and recruitment ads.
5. Leverage all features of job sites
Many job sites offer additional functionality that allows you to customize your presence and expand your messaging, such as what LinkedIn rolled out in 2016. Make sure to take advantage of these advanced features to make a great first impression, like HP has done.
6. Use the tools all the cool kids are using
In addition to getting crazy and using channels like Pinterest or Instagram as a recruitment platform, you can also consider things such as virtual office walk-throughs, a chat-bot, or even virtual reality.
If this all sounds overwhelming or you want help to create an outstanding employer brand, we’re happy to discuss with you. It might be worth your while to give yourself the opportunity to hire exceptional people who are the perfect fit for your company.
