Employer branding vs. recruitment marketing

Do you understand the distinction between employer branding and recruitment marketing? Know the difference and utilise them together to attract the best people! Abigail Horne, Senior Acquisition Manager at BetterCloud, shares her best recruitment marketing strategies to “shout their employer brand from the rooftops”. Embroidered pillows with EVPs, anyone?

Some people use the terms “employer branding” and “recruitment marketing” interchangeably; however, there is a distinct difference. Only by understanding how to use them together will you be able to effectively attract the best candidates. Abigail Horne, Senior Acquisition Manager at BetterCloud, recently explained how.

“A common misconception is that recruiting is sorting through resumes and scheduling interviews. Today’s climate is a candidate’s market. You have to go out and get them, because they’re not clicking the ‘apply’ button.”

To do this, you need to take your employer brand to market to showcase why your organisation is different.

Employer branding

Your employer brand is who you are as an organisation and your reputation as an employer. This starts from within.

Create your employer brand and employee value proposition (EVP) by started with internal research. Conduct surveys with your current employees to gauge their values and work satisfaction. Use this feedback to implement change and establish who you are as an organisation. Assess data from surveys, exit interviews, and onboarding. Involve people from across the company to create several paragraphs that are broad and overarching about what your organisation can offer candidates. 

For example, BetterCloud’s single message EVP statement reads, “At BetterCloud, we have a smart, ambitious team dedicated to delighting our customers. Our culture of ownership and transparency empowers our team to achieve goals they didn’t think possible. For all those on board, it’s going to be a challenging and rewarding journey – and we’re just getting started.”

Once you have established your EVP, communicate it internally. For example, frame your messaging around the office.  This ensures everyone is in line with your guiding principles. BetterCloud has cleverly decorated their work spaces with pillows which feature their EVP!

Use your EVP as a focus in interviews. In addition to providing a great candidate experience, it helps you to be transparent. Interviews are a great opportunity to establish your brand. Even if people are not offered a position, you can create enthusiasts outside your organisation and maintain a positive reputation in the market.

Many factors will influence your employer brand, but once it has been established, it will remain relatively constant. It can change depending on factors such as the age, success, or size of your organisation. Continue to conduct surveys with employees to determine what is important to them.

Recruitment marketing

“After establishing your employer brand, recruitment marketing is how to ‘scream it from the rooftops’. Promote your employer brand externally through your careers website, engaging job ads, interesting recruiting content, improving your candidates’ experience, and nurturing the right relationships in market.”

Use a blog focused on candidate attraction

BetterCloud utilises a technology blog. Their target audience are their target candidates, so this works to promote their brand. It also gives current employees a sense of validation, as it shows their work is valued internally and is exciting for people outside the company.

BetterCloud is unique in that their customers are candidates. However, for other organisations, it is beneficial to create a separate blog for your careers website targeted at candidates instead of customers.

Revamp your careers page

A careers page is an important opportunity to engage with jobseekers. Job descriptions are not enough any more! Your careers page should be optimised to the same level as the rest of your website and you should be reporting on analytics.

“What’s working? Is it pictures, videos, easy to navigate? Determine what works best for you and your audience.”

Use analytics to gauge what your potential candidates are most interested in and allow this to inform your recruitment marketing efforts.

Make your job descriptions engaging

Job descriptions should all be tailored to the people you are trying to hire. Be truthful and don’t oversell the opportunity.  Stand out and be unique, as it can be boring to read the same description repeatedly. Vague language won’t cut it.

AtBetterCloud, when there is a new opening, they hold a kick off meeting with hiring managers and ask what they want their new hire to accomplish, what traits will make them the best fit, and how can they add to existing teams.

Tailor descriptions based on who you are trying to reach. For example, an advertisement for a developer should be filled with technical jargon, and keywords that will increase its visibility on Google.

Keep language conversational, but beware of biased and gendered language. Some words and phrases are different in attracting more males or females. There are free online tools available to check your job advertisements to ensure they are engaging and unbiased.

Use social media

Promote your employer brand through social media. It’s everywhere, so use it to your advantage. You can even use it as a form of employee social engagement by asking people around the office to submit pictures. BetterCloud’s Instagram is employee-run, offering people a peek into what it’s like within the company.

Start a newsletter

BetterCloud use their newsletter to promote their brand and stay in touch with both candidates and customers. Start to generate more conversations by asking smart questions.

Keep an eye on your Glassdoor page

Responding to all the reviews you receive on Glassdoor lets people know they are being heard, and shows you are trying to create an excellent experience for your people. Using some canned responses is okay. Generally, any response will create the desired effect in showing you are reading reviews and are working on their feedback.  

“Bad reviews are going to happen, they are almost as important as the good ones. it shows we’re not forcing employees to leave positive reviews. It’s also an opportunity to address negative feedback in a public way.”

Have 31-day check ins with new hires

Check in with new hires after their first month, automatically or in person. If you are a large organisation, request they complete an online survey or email template. Ask them about their onboarding experience and if their expectations measured up to their experiences. Also ask if they have any suggestions for improvement, and take this feedback to your HR team!

This is also a valuable recruitment marketing opportunity. Finish interviews by suggesting they write and publish a review about their interview and first months’ experience.

Get involved with events

Create an impression on potential future candidates by attending, sponsoring, and speaking at events. Keep things fresh and interesting, for example annual conferences for customers and contacts. Instead of hosting an event, you may be interested in attending or sponsoring local events.

Employee spotlighting

Your careers page should feature employee profile stories. Potential candidates want to see people who could be potential peers, what they are like, and why they like their positions. This is not a hard sell, as it’s a very organic approach.

“Candidates trust employees more than employers to provide truthful information!”

Overall, your talent experience should be complex. You need to create a variety of touch points and opportunities to engage with potential candidates before they even consider applying.

With proactive marketing, passive candidates become potential new hires.

Measure your ROI

When measuring your ROI, don’t expect results immediately as employer branding and recruitment marketing are long-term investments that will evolve over time. Measure success by evaluating your talent pipeline (do you have one? Is it growing?). Find out where your best candidates are coming from and invest further in that channel.

Address gaps in your talent pipeline

Another useful tip is to ensure the people in your talent pipeline have a variety of skills. “Do you have enough, sales, marketing, security, software people? Are you building a pipeline that covers as many positions as possible? Speak to your executive team and address deficiencies.”

Without proactively marketing your employer brand, you are missing out on great potential candidates. “Those are the unicorns! Get your brand in front of people. People care about your values, so showcase it on your website and social pages. This is important in your hiring strategy.”

Your employer brand showcases what is unique about your organisation, appealing to and informing candidates. Recruitment marketing is how to “shout your employer brand from the rooftops”. By using the diverse range of strategies above you will drastically improve your talent pipeline and have your pick of the best talent.

How do you showcase your employer brand? Have you used any of the above strategies? Let us know in the comments.

Source

Employer brand vs. recruitment marketing (and how to use them together)

Abigail Horne

Greenhouse x The Muse