One of the biggest challenges for businesses today is attracting and retaining talent. With the competition to attract employees being so fierce, are brands using every tool available to them? With the tight labor market, prospective employees are, in effect, on a buying journey – and serving up relevant content at every stage of that journey can help employers gain an edge.
Map the journey
In other posts on this blog we have discussed how engaging and educational content can build relationships with customers along their entire buying journey. Adopting similar strategies can equally build relationships with potential quality hires. Just as it’s important to define your brand and your unique value proposition for your customers, it’s vital to do this for potential recruits. You have to define your brand for employees as much as you do for your customers. And then you tell your brand story with vitality and authenticity.
But how can brands tell these stories in ways that resonate? First, understand your audiences. Whether they are recent graduates, mid-level managers, or senior executives investigate what they are looking for, what motivates them, what will attract their attention, and what will encourage them to take action in considering your firm over others. You may also want to think about developing candidate personas and creating messaging appropriate not just for the level of seniority but for the personalities you’re seeking to attract.
Find your audience where they are
As you begin to answer these questions, apply methods and lessons already learned from the way you communicate with your customers. You already know that a “Field of Dreams” approach won’t work––you can’t simply build something and have them come to you. You need to have conversations where your potential employees are.
Start using social media platforms appropriately to demonstrate what your brand’s principles mean for the people who work at your company. And, as often as possible, start real and constructive conversations, using these platforms to invite discussion and dialogue. Social listening tools can also help you truly understand people’s perceptions of your brand. That information can be invaluable in either playing to your strengths or proactively addressing misconceptions and concerns among potential recruits.
Match your message to the right platforms
Travel, food and Instagram go together so well; and Marriott Hotels and Resorts have done a great job in leveraging this platform for its recruitment efforts. It’s used it to publish photos of their employees, share employee insights, and emphasize why Marriott appreciates them as a part of a team. And, because Marriott knows that corporate social responsibility is important to potential candidates, many of the posts describe the good works the company is initiating.
Given the high cost of talent, it’s always wise to attract the right people to your company from the get-go. And closely targeted campaigns and marketing programs can deliver a filter. A great example of this is the 2018 campaign by German airline Eurowings. Eurowings used Tinder to recruit new cabin staff targeting young people on the move who were always online. During the two-month campaign period Eurowings reached more than 600,000 users in the catchment areas of Munich, Stuttgart and Austria, securing an engagement rate of 9.8%.
The campaign ran via branded profile cards that worked like a Tinder profile. Users who clicked on a Eurowings branded profile received additional information about the specifications of the job advertised. If applicants swiped right, they got the ‘It’s a match’ message from Eurowings – combined with further information on the job advertised and a link to the Eurowings careers website eurowings.com/career, where anyone interested could find out more and apply.
Another great example of delivering, clear, relevant, inspirational and useful information for potential job candidates is Visa’s “Life at Visa” employer brand. The company has clearly identified the audience it is looking to attract, delivers relevant and appropriate information on the company’s corporate site and backs that up with social media to paint a picture of a brand with a clear corporate culture of inclusion, purpose, opportunity and leadership. Altogether, it presents an attractive proposition for the tight labor market in the Bay Area.
While compensation and benefits are important, potential employees consider a company’s culture, the chance to learn, be challenged, be part of diverse team, and whether the company gives back. And that’s where content can really make an impression and communicate your advantages.
To put it simply––your company has content experience that you can apply to towards attracting and hiring new talent. Bring your marketing skills to your hiring process! Please reach out we would be happy to talk through different strategies.
