Demographics are important factors to consider when targeting candidates. However, be careful not to target too narrow, thus unintentionally excluding populations and reinforcing unconscious biases. Current and prospective employees will appreciate using an effortless system that guarantees accurate compensation. Setting goals and KPIs is a crucial part of assessing how your strategy is going—and to secure buy-in.
Building a strong employer brand is crucial to staying competitive in today’s talent market. At Universum, we offer over 30 years of experience in helping companies create compelling employer brands that attract and retain top talent. Your employer value proposition (EVP) is your company’s unique selling point to potential employees. Consider factors such as career growth opportunities, work-life balance, compensation and benefits, company culture, and social impact.
As companies face an employee exodus, talent acquisition and retention concerns have burst into the C-suite from the confines of human resources. Content is the medium through which brands educate and build relationships with consumers. It’s central to the marketing process, and it’s an area that’s fast becoming important for recruiting as well. Candidate experience has become a hugely important part of any company’s employer brand. Everything that candidates encounter on your website, from web page copy to jobs descriptions, reflects back on your brand. To put your best foot forward, make sure that you think through the following as you build your careers site.
Simply put, it’s why people would choose to join your organization over your competitors. A candidate persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal candidate, developed to help recruiters better understand the candidates they’re pursuing. It provides insight into the factors that motivate candidates to seek out and accept (or deny) a new position. Don’t shy away from embracing change and researching what the best candidates need to work with the companies for the long term.
A company where recent graduates have become team leads within 18 months has a genuine career velocity story. A company whose engineering team ships to production twice a week has a genuine technical velocity story. A company whose entire leadership started in frontline roles has a genuine story of progression. The structural case for employer branding has strengthened significantly in 2026 for three specific reasons. The most common and damaging mistake is articulating an EVP that does not match the actual employee experience.
But, you can do your best to shape the narrative of your company — and there are a variety of channels in which you can tell your story. These channels include social media, podcasts and your own company blog. Remember, the idea here is to understand how they really think and feel about the company, so be sure to ask questions that will provide meaningful information. Jennifer Soper has 25+ years of writing and content design experience, working with small businesses and Fortune 100 companies. A well-developed branding strategy can help you reduce turnover and attract new talent by creating a unique identity for your company.
It attracts top talent, reduces recruitment costs, and improves employee retention. When your company has a reputation for being a great place to work, high-performing candidates are more likely to apply, and current employees are less likely to seek opportunities elsewhere. Employer branding is the strategic process of promoting a company as an employer of choice by shaping how employees and candidates perceive the workplace experience. It blends internal culture development with external messaging to create a clear narrative about what it’s like to work at your organization. Unlike corporate branding, which targets customers around products, employer branding targets current and potential employees with messaging about career growth, culture, and benefits.
Company values may include principles, beliefs and philosophies that shape your company’s DNA and give you moral guidance. Well timed messages from your team will likely be able to fix many issues and complaints, and you’ll hopefully be able to harness the power of brand promoters more effectively. You’ve invested time, energy and resources to bring a candidate to your website — you don’t want to lose them at the final hurdle because the job description was unclear or unhelpful. Not many tech companies are lucky enough to be featured in a major series like TechCrunch Cribs the way Slack has been.
This is where you check team member retention, candidate engagement, and other metrics showing overall experience with your company. Video marketing is an effective strategy to help gain attention from the best candidates, and there are so many ways to do it. You can give a company tour or bring prospective candidates along typical work days or team-building activities. In this regard, an employer’s reputation plays a crucial role in how top talent perceives the company, which explains why you should consider building a solid employer brand in 2026. Track your KPIs to determine whether you’re meeting those goals you set.
This approach streamlines how organizations define their message, deliver the employee experience, communicate their story, and continuously improve. A well-defined employer brand does more than attract interest, it improves outcomes throughout the hiring process. Organizations with clear and authentic branding tend to move faster because candidates gain clarity earlier, reducing friction throughout the funnel. Offer decisions also become easier when applicants already have a strong understanding of the culture and expectations, which naturally increases acceptance rates. Creating an employer brand starts with identifying what you want your brand to be and who your audience is. Popular employer branding channels that you can use to promote your employer brand are Instagram, Linkedin, but also your careers site.
This may include sharing company values, employee benefits and perks, and testimonials from existing employees. Ensure your employer branding efforts align with your company’s overall brand identity and messaging. Regularly assess your employer brand and make adjustments as needed to reflect your company’s evolution.
Is it becoming increasingly difficult to choose the best candidate out of the candidate pool? If it is, this is a clear sign that your applicant quality is on the rise. This led to a new “Day In The Life” campaign to set the record straight, show what it’s really like to work at Goldman Sachs, and attract the next generation of talent.
- They aimed to change their employer brand to be more accessible and find emerging talent who wanted to work and stay at Lloyd’s.
- Companies like TalentHub and Screenloop make it easy for employers to survey their applicants to understand their application experience.
- If you don’t believe us, ask your candidates (because they’ll tell you)!
But if done poorly, it can negatively impact your organization and recruiting effectiveness. These are some of the most common employer branding mistakes to avoid. Company mission statements give employers a voice and a purpose and can help create a sense of culture and community within the organization. In today’s competitive Avetude Agency candidate selection job market, it’s more important than ever for employers to foster a positive workplace culture and identity. In doing so, employees will feel appreciated and motivated to stay with the organization, becoming advocates for the company and helping the business achieve its goals. Use different content formats to keep everyone job seekers – blog posts, video testimonials, social media posts, or podcasts.
A strong brand attracts better-aligned candidates, reduces time-to-hire, increases offer acceptance rates, boosts retention and internal mobility, and amplifies referral networks. It also builds resilience during challenging periods because employees and candidates who trust the brand show greater loyalty. An important part of building your employer brand is listening to your employees and responding to their concerns. Treat your employees well, and they’re likely to stick around and help you attract other “A” players.
As a result, there is an increasing need for organizations to focus on DEI practices that promote inclusive hiring. It also doesn’t hurt to highlight that you offer health insurance, employee discounts, and other benefits. This is important because you’ll save hiring costs in the long run which can allow you to reallocate funds towards other crucial areas, like your marketing budget.
Then, do a before-after analysis to understand past performance and optimize based on insights. If your auditing revealed some displeasure amongst employees about feeling unheard or neglected, here’s where you clear the air. Reiterate in your employer brand marketing that your company is forward-thinking, inclusive, and welcomes diversity.
Employer Branding Strategy: The Step-by-step Framework
Your Company Page can also react or comment on LinkedIn posts, follow other Company Pages, and publish a newsletter. Each activity represents a unique opportunity to build your employer brand and reach more candidates. When employees experience a truly inclusive environment, they become enthusiastic brand advocates who are more likely to share their positive experiences.
SEB, one of the largest financial services groups in the Nordics, faced challenges in attracting top talent in an increasingly competitive industry. To stand out, SEB partnered with Universum to develop a data-driven EVP that reflected the values and career aspirations of both current and prospective employees. From the initial contact to the final decision, treating candidates with respect, maintaining open communication, and providing timely feedback creates a good impression of your company. For example, an easy application process and periodic status updates demonstrate that you value your candidates’ time.
An overly lengthy or complex process can change that and often leads to frustration and ultimately brand damage. Research shows that 60% of job seekers will actually abandon the application if the process is too long or too complex. You need a site that is easy to navigate and lets people learn more about your company, mission, culture, and, of course, your open roles. Your careers site is one of the first places that interested candidates go to learn more about your company.
Define Your Company Values
Plan and budget for these projects as part of your recruiting strategy. It could include thoughts about your products, services, leaders, team members, history, and more. Your company’s reputation can inspire a specific perception — emotional, instinctive, intellectual — in the people who see your ads, use your products, and speak to others about you. That reputation is known as your consumer brand, and it can be a powerful if somewhat mysterious force.
Throughout LinkedIn, you will find stories of employees and videos that highlight their values. Tony’s does a great job at spreading its mission and values every chance they get. A great example is their chocolate and even the wrapper it comes in. A Tony’s chocolate bar isn’t divided into a number of equally big pieces of chocolate to remind people that profits in the chocolate industry aren’t fairly distributed either. On their career site, Teach for America boasts impressive stats to further showcase what kind of impact candidates could make if selected.
Some organizations also highlight employee voices in blog posts, videos, or event participation to expand authenticity. This strategic foundation guides all employer branding communications and helps organizations stand out in competitive talent markets. Of course, employer branding is more than just describing your work culture or values to potential candidates.
Survey Your Employees
Check out our in-depth guide on how to hire employees for more information about the process. Do you need customer service reps, engineers, designers, or salespeople? Designers might want creative freedom, whereas salespeople look for a fast-growing company. There are several national and state contests where your company can be listed as a “Best Place to Work.” This will give your employer brand a boost. Companies should craft a total compensation package that reflects their personality.
Your candidates’ and employees’ social media posts, employer reviews, testimonials, conversations, and referrals can impact your company’s reputation. This can work to your advantage when those people are brand champions. But it can work against you if your employee or candidate experience doesn’t mirror what you’re communicating via your employer brand. To reach your target audience effectively, you must be present where they are. Identify the online and offline channels where your ideal candidates spend their time.
If you haven’t yet devoted time and resources to building your employer brand, there’s no better time to start than today. Here are some employer branding best practices to be mindful of when developing and managing your strategy. The channels you’ll invest in depend on your target audience and ideal candidate persona. For example, if you’re looking to attract a younger demographic, Instagram and TikTok may be suitable platforms, and video could be a better medium to engage them with. Regularly collecting data from these sites will help you monitor your employer brand experience and make improvements where needed.
Create opportunities for employees to share their perspectives through employee spotlights, video interviews, or blog posts. Social media is a powerful tool for sharing your company culture with the world. Use platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn to showcase employee experiences, company events, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of your workplace. Authentic storytelling and visually appealing content can create a strong emotional connection with potential candidates. Encourage employees to share their experiences using branded hashtags. Prioritize employee well-being by creating a positive and inclusive work environment.
It’s the image that your company reflects in the job market, and it has a direct impact on whether or not potential candidates decide to come and work for you. Essentially, it’s the credibility you have in the eyes of job seekers and whether or not they perceive you as being a good place to work. Employer branding plays an important role in recruitment by shaping how potential candidates perceive the company. A strong employer brand draws in top talent, shortens hiring timelines and reduces recruitment costs. Align your employer branding strategy with broader brand, marketing and communication goals to create a cohesive, attractive and authentic identity that resonates with current and potential employees.
This research-driven approach means organizations can no longer rely solely on competitive compensation and standard benefits to attract and retain top talent. For passive candidates who receive outreach, scrutiny is even higher; they specifically seek independent validation before responding to an approach they didn’t initiate. Employer branding is the practice of managing your reputation as an employer among job seekers and internal employees.
Make sure that you respond to comments from candidates on Glassdoor. It takes up to 10 brand touchpoints to influence a consumer decision, (a touchpoint is just a fancy word for any interaction that someone has with your company). People rarely arrive at your website ready to buy (or ready to apply).
Consistency between public image and employer reputation creates trust among both customers and employees. Brand dissonance, where the company presents one face to the market and another to its workforce, creates reputational risk on both sides. The strongest organizations treat corporate and employer branding as complementary, not competing, disciplines. Your employer brand should connect your company, what it stands for, and the products you sell with customers, current employees, and potential employees. The best way to do this is to conduct a competitive analysis showing what your competitors are doing compared to your business.