Employer Branding 101: Why HR Needs Marketing More Than Ever

Did you know that over 85% of job seekers evaluate an organization’s employer brand before applying for an open position? That’s why employer branding is critical.

So, what is employer branding, and what are some of the effective strategies and examples? Read on for answers to these and more employer branding questions.

What is employer branding?

At its simplest definition, employer branding is how an organization presents itself to potential and current employees. Branding communicates your organization’s values and work environment, which shapes your reputation in the job market. As such, a strong employer brand helps you stand out in the competitive job market and attract, hire, and retain top talents.

What are the key benefits of employer branding?

HR team must now think more like marketers to create a compelling employer brand. The top reasons HR needs marketing more than ever can easily be shown through the many benefits employer branding delivers, the top 4 including:

Win the fierce talent war

Potential employees now have more choices than ever. Even more, they don’t simply pick the first open position that pops up during their search. Instead, they thoroughly research a brand to establish employee experience, workplace culture, and reputation before applying. As such, you can’t rely on traditional recruitment methods or job board posts.

You need an effective strategy even for temp jobs, which mainly entails positioning your company to not only be visible but also tell a compelling story.  This is where HR marketing comes in, allowing you to craft a compelling employer brand that highlights company values, benefits, and culture. This is through measures like storytelling, content marketing, and social media. The measures improve brand awareness and recognition, which makes your brand more appealing to top talent, easing your effort to attract and hire the best.

Convince the job seekers

Attracting job seekers is one thing; convincing them to apply and join your organization is a different story. HR marketing acknowledges that modern job seekers act like consumers, evaluating their options before making the final pick, just like when shopping for a product/service. The talent considers reviews and ratings on platforms like Glassdoor. They research social responsibility initiatives and browse socials like LinkedIn to learn more.

As such, HR must adopt marketing strategies like SEO to ensure the job postings rank higher and tailor targeted recruitment campaigns to capture job seekers' attention and convince them to join the team. Employer branding and recruitment go hand in hand, emphasizing the need for consistency across all touchpoints, from the career page to social media platforms. This delivers a compelling story that’ll convince top talent to apply.

Improve perception, advocacy, and retention rates

Creating a positive first impression is critical, which HR marketing facilitates. This is done through an engaging career page, professionally designed and maintained LinkedIn profile, employee testimonials, and other generated materials on social media. These strategies help create a good impression and perception of your organization, which enhances credibility.

Using employee-generated content further enhances engagement due to improved interactions and communications. This makes the existing employees feel valued, which translates to improved loyalty and retention rates. Such satisfied employees also act as brand advocates. This is an invaluable asset because the advocacy makes it easier to reach and attract more qualified candidates.

Data-driven talent acquisition 

Marketing relies on data. Analytics, such as which job postings perform well, the type of content that delivers better engagements, and how candidates interact with the postings, can empower HR teams to make informed decisions. HR can utilize these insights to improve branding, optimize recruitment strategies, and deliver personalized candidate experiences, considerably improving talent acquisition and retention rates.

The above and many other benefits of employer branding outweigh the investment the strategies may demand. This is considering the costly nature of recruitment processes as well as the inconveniences they cause. This is more so if the metrics like time to hire are extensive, especially during peak periods, which means your team could be stretched too thin to deliver to your client’s expectations.

Effective employer branding is invaluable as you strive to build a highly productive team. Now, the question that could be lingering in your mind is, what are some effective employer branding strategies? Let’s look at some of the proven strategies on how to improve employer branding. 

Employer branding strategies

Are you developing employer branding from scratch or improving an existing strategy? Regardless of your situation, the following strategies will help.

Define your employer value proposition (EVP)

What makes your workplace culture unique, why should candidates choose your company over competitors, and what career growth, benefits, and experiences do employees gain? EVP answers such crucial questions, which shows a candidate the benefits and values they’ll gain from working at your organization.

You can define and clearly communicate the EVP by researching and understanding what employees value the most. From here, use creative storytelling, including employee testimonials and success stories, to communicate this through career pages, social media posts, and job descriptions.

Capitalize on employee advocacy

Employee advocacy adds a layer of trust and credibility to your organization. Employees are your greatest brand ambassadors, and you can encourage them to advocate for your brand even more through measures like:

• Creating an employee spotlight series
• Encourage them to share their work experiences on platforms like LinkedIn
• Share behind-the-scenes content.

Spice up your online presence

A strong online presence improves visibility, which is crucial because it is often the first place job seekers hit. Enrich your career pages with content covering elements like company values, workplace benefits, and employee testimonials, not simply a list of job openings. Also, ensure you maintain an active online presence on platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter, among others, where your target audience often looks for your brand. Remember to use SEO-friendly content in all areas, which boosts ranking and visibility on search engines.

Invest in internal branding

Employer branding shouldn't be solely focused on attracting potential talent. It should also focus on making the existing employees feel valued to improve their productivity and retention rates. You can achieve this through measures like:

• Offering more career growth opportunities
• Facilitating professional development programs
• Invest in diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Foster a culture of recognition, such as through employee appreciation initiatives
• Regular feedback to understand and address employee concerns.

The above strategies can turn your employer's branding efforts around. You can further supercharge your efforts by working with employer branding agencies. Professional branding services can help you stand out in the competitive talent market, attract the best, turn existing employees into advocates, and enjoy higher retention rates. Experienced professionals with a proven track record like ReVerb eliminate guesswork and ensure you employ strategic measures. This way, your brand will shine, edge the competitors, and help you build a team pulling in the same direction.

You now know why and how you can craft an effective employer branding strategy. Here are two employer branding examples that demonstrate the power of HR marketing.

Nike

Every day, we are demanding a better future for ourselves, our athletes, and our communities. We believe that diversity fosters creativity and accelerates innovation. We believe in protecting a planet where all athletes can thrive. And we believe every kid, everywhere, should have access to sports.

The key strengths of this campaign are:

• The purpose-driven message centered around a higher purpose
• Strong diversity and inclusion commitment
• Emotional connection achieved through sports
• Commitment to sustainability and social responsibility

Apple

This is where individual imaginations gather together, committing to the values that lead to great work. Here, you’ll do more than join something — you’ll add something.

The main reasons this employer branding campaign works is because:

• It creates a sense of community and collaboration
• It emphasizes the value of meaningful work
• It shows a positive work culture, indicating that the organization offers more than just a job but a place to make a difference.

Despite being in different industries, these two employer branding examples show clear similarities, mainly in using emotional storytelling to connect with potential employees. This approach creates a sense of belonging and motivation, which makes candidates feel excited to be part of their vision. They also emphasize diversity and inclusion, which are crucial in creating a positive work environment where different perspectives are encouraged.

The bottom line

Employer branding is increasingly proving crucial for HR departments. This is because employer branding influences how current and potential employees perceive your organization. Essentially, HR marketing is all about applying marketing strategies to attract, retain, and convert talent into brand advocates. This is crucial since employees are the engine that keeps things running. With top and satisfied talent, an organization can effectively and efficiently operate and gain a huge edge over competitors.

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