Your brand writes the story and your marketing tells it!
There isn’t a business large or small that would argue with the above. Now is an especially crucial time for having powerful marketing strategies, particularly since social media has changed the landscape of how your story can be told.
For one, social media has changed how conversations can be started and shared with others. In today’s digital economy, anyone who has a story can share it with their followers. And if those followers are moved by the story, they will often advocate for it across their network.
But in order for your marketing and branding to attract the right kinds of candidates, you’ll first need your branding and marketing techniques to allow others to identify with your brand and its purpose. Candidates need to be able to picture themselves working with your company, and feel confident in their role in your company before they even apply.
As previously established, in order for candidates to envision themselves in your company, your recruitment marketing message needs to be consistent and clear on:
Why your organization is a great place to work
Success stories and positive experiences from others in your company
Your promise to future employees as soon as they join
What is key to remember, however, is that these messages need to be consistent even when you are not hiring. Continuous recruitment marketing, especially on digital channels, creates what is called “recall and recognition,” meaning candidates might choose to work for you over others they don’t recognize.
THE REALITY OF WHAT MOST FREQUENTLY HAPPENS IN RECRUITMENT
Unfortunately, more often than not, recruiting is treated like an event; take, for example, when a company suddenly finds themselves down a team member because someone abruptly quit.
When this happens, we tend to go into panic-mode because we need to fill the position as quickly as possible. But this also happens to be the moment you really begin to reflect on the type of person you’re looking for and the qualifications they need for the role. So, when a few weeks go by and the very few who have applied aren’t as qualified as we would have liked, we start to feel discouraged and desperate.
The stress levels begin to mount on the existing team because everyone else is picking up the slack and sharing responsibilities from the person who just left. And at this point, you might feel like you have no choice but to look at less qualified candidates just to fill the role. But this is where the most crucial errors in the hiring process happen.
You can avoid this whole mess by proactively identifying the ideal candidates you want to market to on a continual basis, let alone when you need a long-term replacement immediately. Remember, recruitment marketing is an evolutionary process; it takes time to build a following.
And this brings me to my next point: you can’t expect instant gratification.
BUILDING TRUST WITH RECRUITMENT MARKETING
Patience in recruitment marketing is a virtue—you have to gradually build trust with your audience by proving to them that you are in fact a great place to work, especially for them.
This starts by making genuine connections through shared beliefs, communities, and interests. After all, the first level of trust in any newly formed relationship is through commonality.
What best offers these points of connection with your audience, then, is your employee value proposition (EVP). Your EVP is defined as the support, appreciation, and principles that your organization delivers to employees in order to achieve high levels of engagement at work.
SHOW YOUR AUDIENCE WHY YOU ARE GREAT
Your EVP should be the first thing people read in the job description when you post. It should be the main theme over and over again in your social posts. Let’s take Bain & Company’s EVP for example:
“Picture yourself at one of the world’s best places to work, surrounded by teams and people who challenge you, support you, and inspire you to be extraordinary.”
Quote: Bain & Company
Doesn’t this inspire you to learn more about Bain & Company? Your recruitment marketing should have this emotionally driving quality to it; it needs to share a story to begin to create a trusting following—particularly those you want to check out your job openings.
The famous Jim Collins once said, “you must inspect what you expect.” If you’re expecting a certain outcome, you need to check that it actually happens; in this case, with recruitment marketing, your story needs to be refined over time to make sure you are attracting the right types of people to your opportunities.
Recruitment marketing takes work, but if you are willing to pay the price for success, then I guarantee it will be worth it.
Learn more on how to become a master marketer when it comes to recruitment. Check out our training programs on recruitment marketing.
