Unveiling the Power of Employer Branding and Recruitment Marketing

Employer branding is the reputation you build for yourself as an employer and the organisation as a whole to attract quality candidates. To create a powerful employer brand, you need to define clear company values that appeal to your workforce. Doing so will allow you to retain top talent, as one survey showed that 69% of employees believe it is essential for employers to have a brand their employees are proud to support. 

On the other hand, recruitment marketing involves marketing strategies that promote your employer brand to qualified talent. Rather than improving your organisation internally, you focus on promoting what you can offer to people outside your company. In other words, it's how you decide to communicate your brand to potential applicants. In this guide, we'll explore the differences between employer branding and recruitment marketing and how to use recruitment marketing to promote employer branding effectively. 

What Is the Relationship Between Recruitment Marketing and Employer Branding?

An important distinction to note is that employer branding and recruitment marketing are two different concepts. Employer branding is the initial measure of developing an image of you as the employer and the organisation to show current and potential employees that your company is the ideal place to work. Recruitment marketing is a process you use after establishing your employer brand to spread awareness of the brand you built and attract top talent. 

Combining these two concepts can help encourage candidates to work for you. The most crucial part is finding the right balance. Here are a few examples to illustrate. 

Strong Employer Brand and Poor Recruitment Marketing Influence on Talent Attraction 

Let's say you have an excellent employer brand. You've spent years creating a strong work culture and company values. You've established the type of employees you want to hire, your company colors, unique and trendy offerings and your brand's voice. You're happy with everything and ready to grow your business by taking on new talent. So you put up a few job ads on career portals online. 

Three weeks have passed and you only received a handful of applicants. Why? Because the recruitment marketing side of things received less attention and while there may be fans of your strong employer brand, most of them may have missed your job ad due to poor recruitment marketing. 

Poor Employer Brand and Strong Recruitment Marketing Influence on Talent Attraction 

Now imagine you have strong recruitment marketing tactics. You post ads on various job portals and use all social media channels you can find. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram — you name it. Each of the ads you post on these channels explains the position a candidate may apply for and the requirements for the job. 

While these are great tactics, your audience may wonder, "Is this a good company?", “What's their company culture like?”, “Will I have talented colleagues?” and “Do they have growth opportunities?” Ultimately, these individuals may prefer to apply to a company that can answer these questions. 

The Perfect Balance of Employer Brand and Recruitment Marketing 

Now, suppose you're ready to add a few more workers to your company. You use various social media platforms to promote vacancies and reach a large audience. When potential candidates come across your ad, they're already fairly aware of your company's values, products and working culture because you've invested the past few years building your employer brand. 

These readers may ask themselves whether there are growth opportunities, what their colleagues may be like and if it's a great company to work for. The combination of your recruitment marketing techniques and employer brand will answer these questions and attract the exact talent you're looking for. 

How Can an Organisation Use Recruitment Marketing to Promote Its Employer Brand? 

The best way to promote a powerful employer brand is through effective recruitment marketing strategies. Promoting the employer brand through key messages during the recruitment process can make your company more unique and stand out among other job ads. Here are five recruitment marketing strategies to promote employer branding. 

1. Promote Perks and Benefits 

One of the most common recruitment marketing and employer branding practices includes showcasing your company's perks and benefits. Twitter does a great job of this practice. According to Glassdoor, they provide free health classes, gym memberships, meals and paid time off. They created a fun office space that showcases their positive and inviting work culture. The key takeaway is that they deliver on their promises. 

When using this strategy, offer something you can deliver and provide your employees with a good work-life balance. Add your perks and benefits to your job ads and company website. This encourages potential applicants to apply and evokes current employees to write glowing reviews about your company's culture. 

2. Add Videos to Job Ads 

Whether you decide to use a video to replace your job ad or complement an existing ad, using visuals is a great way to foster engagement. You and some staff members could introduce the role and yourselves to applicants via short videos to make your ads seem more personable and inviting. Doing so gives them a glimpse of your unique company culture and strengthens your image as an employer. 

3. Make Employees Brand Advocates 

Your employees naturally become ambassadors for your employer brand, making them your best asset in recruitment marketing. They communicate your brand to the outside world and prove that your work environment is genuine. A great example of using your employees for recruitment marketing and employer branding is Wistia's Careers page. They encourage their job applicants with multiple videos of current employees of the company and its culture. 

4. Engage With Candidates During the Recruitment Process 

Engaging with candidates throughout the hiring process gives applicants a good experience and strengthens your employer reputation. Some great ways to do this include keeping them updated throughout the recruitment process and informing them when they can expect to hear from you. 

5. Convey Your Company Personality and Brand Through Content 

Another way that recruitment marketing can promote employer branding is through your written content. Whether in a job ad, your website content or a social media post, your content conveys your brand voice and personality as an employer. For example, Eventbrite’s brand voice stands out on its careers website. Their use of encouraging and supportive language reflects their company values, inspiring readers to apply. 

Create Effective Employer Branding and Recruitment Marketing Strategies

When you use recruitment marketing to promote your organisation's employer brand, it can positively impact your ability to attract and hire top talent. These two concepts make a powerful combination that contributes to the growth of your business. 

So give it a try — starting with an experienced employer branding agency that knows how to make your company shine! Our employer branding and recruitment marketing specialists at Ph.Creative can help you craft effective strategies that combine both concepts seamlessly to attract the right talent and showcase your company's authenticity. 

Interested? Feel free to schedule a call or meeting with a friendly employer branding professional from our team today! Or sign up for our upcoming sprint series to learn more about employer branding and recruitment marketing and create strategies that last!