In most cases, marketing has the task of attracting buyers. However, some companies have adapted their marketing techniques into the realm of hiring. The result of this evolution is recruitment techniques that use marketing principles to “sell” the company to potential hires. The businesses that have done this may see a lot more attention from A-list talent than those who have sequestered their marketing department to work solely with customers.
But how can a company best apply marketing principles to attracting talent? Twelve contributors to Forbes Agency Council explore this subject in great detail, using examples they’ve witnessed themselves.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.
1. Use PR To Tell Your Story
It’s most important to make sure your actions and your words align in the public space. Recruits and stakeholders can smell a ruse a mile away. Use your marketing and PR to tell your company story, as well as tout the benefits of your products. – Christine Wetzler, Pietryla PR
2. Emphasize Your Company Values
There is a search for meaning in work among employees in 2020. They want to work for companies that are ethical and care for their employees and clients. This is critical to attracting great talent. Then, marketing pros can help their clients by establishing brand positioning that states why the company is in business, and amplifying that the company is customer-focused and values its employees. – Ajay Prasad, GMR Web Team
3. Align Culture Before Recruitment
Address the company culture before investing in recruitment. Churn is expensive, not just in constantly recruiting and training new staff, but in the productivity, loss of IP and institutional knowledge from a toxic work environment. A workforce that advocates for the company is a force multiplier for any recruitment campaign. Values, mission, vision and how work actually gets done must align. – Sara Steever, Paulsen
4. Offer A Peek Behind The Curtain
Allow potential new talent to get a taste of your company culture through content distribution, testimonials or case studies. Although making decent money while working for a big brand can be exciting, it all comes down to core values and community. A structured and efficient working environment is a result of great leadership that cares for its people, their education, morale, ideas and well-being. – Alex Quin, UADV
5. Apply Inbound Marketing Strategies
Inbound marketing drives leads — both sales leads and recruiting leads. We’ve used it to help clients attract potential workers for a variety of positions. Not only does it allow companies to nurture potential hires from observers to applicants, it helps them attract people with the skills and experience they need. – Mary Ann O’Brien, OBI Creative
6. Take Advantage Of Your Social Media
While many brands, agencies and service-based businesses are extremely successful in their business-to-consumers advertising, many of them completely neglect the effort they need to put into their own social media page. Your social media page should reflect your company’s culture, people and case studies which portray the organization’s wins with its clients. – Daniel Snow, The Snow Agency
7. Promote Culture On And Off Social Channels
Company culture is predominantly internal, but that doesn’t mean you can’t market it. Showcase your staff, your clients and your brand on external channels to highlight and promote the culture you’ve built through articles, social posts and a dedicated recruiting page on your site. Promote your off-sites, community involvement, employees’ passions and philanthropy to attract the talent you want. – Kathleen Lucente, Red Fan Communications
8. Create Manifesto Films
Manifesto films are an excellent way to attract both employees and consumers. It is a powerful tool that helps position, empower, dream and assert the company’s values and purpose through an authentic yet emotional storytelling way that moves us. It’s an inspirational piece that makes the viewers want to be part of a bigger mission and a greater cause. Dream Further is the perfect example. – Faycal Hajji, THE UNKNOWN
9. Provide Educational Opportunities
Often, we find that hiring managers and recruiters focus too much on the paid ads and less on the touchpoints with the pool of potential applicants — or even on the candidate experience. Conversely, those who hire well and have an amazing recruiting brand focus on using a creative and customized approach to fostering relationships within their community. – Megan Cunningham, Magnet Media, Inc.
10. Leverage Incentive Platforms
A number of employee incentive solutions exist in the market. We use Cooleaf. It enables us to incentivize staff around any objective that’s paired with a task. Want to encourage people to take better care of themselves? They can earn Cooleaf points for their steps. Motivate them to read more. Post summaries of reads for points. Same with recruitment. Receive points for networking, introductions, etc. – Adam Binder, Creative Click Media
11. Encourage Employee Ambassadors
Any company with passionate, engaged employees should consider highlighting staff content on brand-owned social channels or websites. By integrating brand ambassadorship into the company culture, businesses can encourage existing employees to become influencers for potential new customers and recruits alike. – Dean Trevelino, Trevelino/Keller
12. Attract Better Employees Through Modeling
Often, companies say they can’t find great candidates. But you can have great candidates find you by using modeling as a motivational stimulant. Every organization has numerous employees that are perfect for their culture. By examining and amplifying their behaviors through social media as an example, you can tap into the motivations of candidates that mimic the same set of behaviors. – Danielle Wiley, Sway Group
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Author: Forbes Agency Council, Forbes Councils Member
