An all-too-common-mistake employers make when searching for talent is hanging a help wanted sign (literally or metaphorically) in the window and expecting candidates to come knocking. While today’s job market is an uber-competitive space for job seekers, it is equally as competitive for employers as both passive and active job seekers have more tools and resources at their disposal to understand what an organization can offer them.
Whether it’s social media, networking platforms, or even Google reviews, job seekers can research a company's culture, compensation and benefits, and current or past employee reviews. Content marketing can be a powerful, engaging tool to convey the value proposition your organization offers, but it can also help strengthen your employer branding and encourage current employees to become digital brand evangelists through sharing content with their personal and professional networks.
With this in mind, let’s examine the important elements employers should consider when leveraging content marketing as a recruitment tool.
As an employer, you engage in the competitive analysis process all the time. Whether it’s looking at the wage your competitors are paying or the perks they provide employees, you’re always looking over the proverbial fence to remain in step with the major players in your industry. Evaluating content marketing as an element of your overall recruitment strategy is no different, and some important elements to consider when engaging in a competitive analysis for your content marketing plans are:
Every employer has something unique to offer job seekers. Part of your task in creating a content marketing strategy is identifying the nooks and crannies that make your organization just a tad different from your competitors and putting yourself in job seekers’ shoes to understand what’s in it for them by joining your company. Once you’ve established your value proposition, you can then amplify it through your content.
Keep it simple:
Much like what we discussed earlier with a competitive analysis, establishing your value proposition requires a little introspection. But the answers to these questions are the stuff your content will be built upon. Quality content marketing is first about having something compelling to say, and second is having a creative, memorable, and impactful way to say it. Discovering your value proposition for job seekers is step one and step two will come later.
Once you’ve asked the hard questions and unlocked what makes your organization interesting to job seekers, you’re now in a position to begin populating your platforms with content. But it’s not enough to simply publish some social media posts here or upload a blog post there. When we say populate your platforms, we mean deploy a strategized, thoughtful pipeline of content across each platform to reach your ideal job seeker via a variety of channels.
When developing a strategy to create and publish relevant content, there are a couple key considerations to keep in mind, especially in the recruitment space where needs are based on job openings and can fluctuate in a somewhat unpredictable manner. These considerations include:
Content marketing, especially when first dipping your toe into this kind of advertising and outreach, is not a one and done proposition. This means to effectively deploy content marketing as part of your recruitment strategy you must continue to hone and refine your voice based on both internal priorities and reception from your audience. Perhaps the most foundational element of content marketing is understanding your audience and purpose, and these two variables may change or morph depending on the position, experience level, and location of the recruitment need.
A major component to finding and refining your voice is being authentic to who you are as an employer and the identity you’ve established. If your culture is not the super laid back Google or Facebook culture, then don’t try to convey that culture or tone in your content marketing. Or, for another example, content marketing as a recruitment tool for a hospital would much different as opposed to a media company — whereas the tone with the media company can be more playful and casual, the tenor of the hospital’s content marketing will likely be more inspirational and affirmative given the nature of the work of the industry.
With all of these points in mind, it’s clear that an intimate understanding of your voice and how that voice impacts a candidate is a powerful driver in your content marketing strategy, and that content marketing itself can be a potent tool in your recruitment arsenal.