By Raul Harman

Marketers together with your creative team in charge of your content strategy always need to put themselves in all kinds of different shoes. They do that to encompass the perspectives of all relevant people to the creation and dissemination of your brand, from your most loyal customers, your prospective buyers, your disgruntled clients, all the way to your potential partners and investors. 

Another piece of the content puzzle should be focused on your employees. Many modern brands devote a decent amount of effort, time, and creativity to craft stories and other forms of content that will appeal to their potential employees. Other companies, however, neglect this portion of their recruitment strategy and end up making one of the greatest mistakes that can cost them many a talented candidate. 

In order to make sure you skip this particular error of judgment and you really give it your best to attract the most qualified employees that will enrich your culture, we’ve compiled a list of effective ways you can rethink your content creation. Let’s go over some of the most powerful ideas for your recruiting content strategy that will bring more people to your doorstep!

Employee-generated content

Do you have an influencer-outreach program that helps you get in touch with people who have a sizeable follower base and share your values? Most brands do. This is indeed one of the smartest ways to be proactive and reach a greater audience that might be interested in what you offer.

Why not grant your employees the same treatment, since they are in fact your most valuable brand ambassadors out there? Working under your wing and directly with your brand gives them a unique “behind the scenes” perspective that all of your potential workers will appreciate. Some of the most effective ways to let your employees share their thoughts through content are as follows:

• Get your employees from different sectors to write their own reviews on relevant websites such as Glassdoor. This boosts your credibility and allows you to create a reputation of trustworthiness!
• Work with your employees on the regular output of their own stories, such as sharing their experience in dealing with demanding clients, and how working under your wing is beneficial.
• Live-streaming is a helpful way to inspire greater engagement.
• Short “behind the scenes” videos and social media stories are wonderful when it comes to inspiring an emotional reaction among potential candidates. This will let them see a glimpse of your culture and consider if it’s a place they’d feel welcome.
• Do your employees have personal brands? Let them show off their skills and expertise! 
• Do your teams have interesting hobbies? Do the same as with their brands and let them tell the world about what they do outside of the office, since that will show how your business strives to foster work-life balance for their crew.

Diversification 

Too often, brands solely invest their time and budget into using blogs as a way to reach their potential customers and employees. Alas, as useful and engaging as your writing may be, this is certainly not the only or the most efficient way to get your message across. In fact, with over 235 million US users watching videos, it’s no wonder that the video ad spend will increase to reach almost 60 billion by 2023. That’s not taking into account the global picture, which means you can rest assured there are millions more out there eager to watch engaging video content.

So, let’s see what content formats you should consider when creating for recruitment purposes:

• Images that show your employees at work and team-building exercises, these are an amazing tool for Instagram!
• Educational podcasts that discuss your company culture, charity work, employee diversification, and training programs you offer your employees.
• Infographics dedicated to statistics and data of your employees and your business success.
• Videos, both on dedicated platforms such as YouTube and other social networks in the form of stories and live-streaming to give your potential candidates a more intimate glimpse into your business.

Focus on locally-relevant content

Although most SEO experts use specific strategies in the hopes of getting more brand visibility and increasing their profits, brands need to make better use of their SEO teams to target employees, too. How, you ask? Well, content that is SEO-driven is not limited to targeting customers, but also potential employees, especially the ones that are in your region. 

As an example, versed Melbourne SEO experts need to use localized, Melbourne-relevant keywords and content preferences in order to gain more traction in their local talent pool. Such a narrow, focused approach has immense benefits for businesses that work with the local community and also have a significant number of competitors that are trying to achieve similar recruiting results. 

• Research which social networks your local community prefers and make sure you’re active there regularly.
• Post content that draws on local culture and discusses locally-relevant values, to be more easily found in search engines, but also to make your business more relatable.
• Be present on local events where you can hand out printed materials specifically designed and written with the local people in mind. 

Employer branding front and center

Your talent acquisition strategy is a complex segment of your brand, and due to so many brands showing up to steal the spotlight, companies are now using a method called employer branding in order to make themselves more appealing for their potential employees. 

In essence, employer branding is about building your brand from a new angle, the one that includes your employees as your target audience, and doesn’t limit itself to customers and prospective buyers only. Why should anyone consider working with you and how will they benefit from adding your business to their resume? Is there room to grow and advance? How about work-life balance?

Just like you would craft your content with the aim to educate your customers on how your brand’s service or product resolves a relevant issue, present content that explains how your brand improves your employees’ lives. The following are some of the most prudent ways to achieve that:

• Consider your employee value proposition when writing your ads.
• Regularly post social media content that targets employees exclusively to build a consistent employer presence even when you’re not actively hiring.
• Use your website’s careers page to promote your values and the many perks of working with your business, and carefully craft the descriptions for each position in your business.
• Get to know your potential employee persona and your goals in order to customize each content piece to target different groups and different candidates.
• Consistently analyze the success of your employee-focused content in order to make sure your recruiting will actually deliver results and reach your outlined goals. That will help you adapt and change your approach on the go, so monitoring is vital in succeeding. 

Slow and steady wins the race

Most brands are eager to see immediate results from every single strategy they craft, and content for the purpose of recruitment is no different. Still, when it comes to this particular challenge, patience is indeed a virtue that will help you make your current employees more valuable in the chase after new candidates, and maximize your brand’s potential to attract the right people. 

Make use of these tips to advance your recruitment strategy with the help of stellar, employee-focused content, and you’ll be able to reach and hire the most qualified individuals that will grow your business along your side.