10 Best Practices for Developing an Employer Branding Strategy

1. Define Your Hiring Goals: Establish clear objectives, such as attracting more qualified applicants, increasing online engagement, or building brand awareness.

2. Perform an Employer Brand Audit: Gather feedback from existing employees and candidates to understand the current perception of your brand. What words do they associate with your company? This will help you refine your employer brand strategy.

3. Create an Employee Value Proposition (EVP): Develop an EVP based on what people love about your company, such as pay, benefits, work-life balance, training, and career development opportunities. A strong employer branding strategy should communicate these values effectively.

4. Write Your Employer Value Proposition: Collaborate with HR and recruiters to articulate the values and benefits you offer. This proposition should resonate with both existing employees and job seekers.

5. Use Tech Tools to Prevent Bottlenecks: Leverage technology to streamline the hiring process, ensuring a consistent experience for candidates. This not only improves the candidate experience but also reduces the cost per hire.

6. Develop DE&I Initiatives: Show your commitment to diversity and inclusion by integrating DE&I into your employer branding strategy. Highlight these initiatives on your careers page and social media channels to attract a diverse range of candidates.

7. Build an Ideal Candidate Persona: Understand who will fit into your company's culture by creating detailed candidate personas. This helps in targeting your employer branding efforts toward attracting top talent that aligns with your company’s values.

8. Select the Right Channels to Promote Your Employer Brand: Choose the social media channels where your target candidates are most active, such as LinkedIn, Reddit, Instagram, and TikTok. Promote your employer brand consistently across these platforms.

9. Establish Metrics to Gauge Success: Track overall metrics and metrics per channel to measure the effectiveness of your employer branding strategy. This data will help you refine your approach and ensure your messaging resonates with top candidates.

10. Use Data to Make Informed Decisions: Analyze the information gathered from your employer branding efforts to determine what works and what doesn't. Continuously test and optimize your strategies to improve long-term results.

Bonus: Utilize tech tools like Fetcher’s automated candidate sourcing platform to expand your employer branding reach. Fetcher helps you build awareness with diverse, top talent faster, enhancing your employer branding strategy and supporting your talent acquisition goals.

Examples of Employer Branding Strategies in Action

Employer branding strategies come with impressive advantages. But how do companies bring their employer branding strategy to life? It starts with seeing what works and learning from successful examples. Below, we showcase creative ways companies have used social media channels to build their employer brand.

1. Show Off Your Company's Culture

Your company culture is unique, so why not showcase it? Zappos does an excellent job of highlighting its strong employer branding by emphasizing work-life balance and employee experiences.

The takeaway: Be authentic. A strong employer branding strategy is built on genuine representation of your work culture, which resonates with both in-house teams and remote employees.

2. Show Your Team IRL

With more companies operating remotely, in-person interactions can be rare. Zapier, a remote company, prioritizes creating real-world connections through annual retreats, enhancing its employer branding strategy by fostering employee engagement.

The takeaway: Be human. Strong employer branding involves recognizing that employees are individuals with personalities and interests beyond work. This human connection strengthens employee retention and reinforces your employer brand.

3. Recognize Employees

Publicly recognizing and rewarding employees is a powerful employer branding strategy. Zappos, for example, uses its social media channels to celebrate individual achievements, demonstrating a commitment to employee recognition.

The takeaway: Show gratitude. Highlighting employee achievements not only motivates your team but also attracts job seekers who value recognition and a positive work environment.

4. Instill Diversity in the Workplace

Microsoft’s “Microsoft Life” Instagram account showcases its commitment to diversity and inclusion, sharing stories from diverse employees as part of its employer branding strategy.

The takeaway: Be diverse. A successful employer branding strategy highlights your commitment to diversity and inclusion, making your company more appealing to a broad range of qualified applicants.

5. Use Social Proof from Employees

Foundation, a marketing agency, encourages new hires to share their experiences on social media, amplifying their employer branding strategy through employee advocacy.

The takeaway: Lead by example. Encouraging employees to share positive experiences enhances your employer brand’s reach and authenticity, attracting top talent who align with your company values.

---