Your company’s reputation determines the kind of talent you attract. The more positive it is – the more you can showcase your perks and company culture – the greater attention you’ll receive. After all, potential employees want to work for a vibrant business that shares their values and keeps them engaged.
You’ve heard of employer branding. However, it should be called digital employer branding, as most of the go-to strategies take place online.
Online, employers promote themselves in the obvious places: LinkedIn, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter). But there are two places online that often get overlooked: Google and YouTube. YouTube has over 1 billion users and is a prime location for recruiters to expand their branding and recruiting techniques.
Meanwhile, Google is the premier search engine – a one-stop-shop for blog articles, videos, infographics, and other site-based employer branding and recruiting content.
Here’s how to build effective digital employer branding on these two platforms, lowering the cost of your hiring process and boosting the quality of your candidates.
We’ll cover:
- Digital Employer Branding Meaning
- Key Benefits of Strong Digital Employer Branding
- Promoting Your Digital Employer Brand on YouTube
- Tips to Boost Your Digital Employer Branding on Google
What is Digital Employer Branding?
Unlike traditional employer branding, digital employer branding works exclusively with online branding strategies. It aims to optimize the recruitment process, establishing a strong online reputation as a coveted place to work and attracting the best candidates.
Put simply, digital employer branding is a cocktail of HR, online internal and external communications, digital marketing, and other aspects of PR. These teams work together to showcase your company to potential hires across major online platforms – like LinkedIn, Facebook, Google, and YouTube.
Consider this analogy: Establishing your company as an attractive employer to top talent is akin to establishing and promoting an eCommerce store in the online shopping domain. They’re both branding.
Digital employer branding involves:
- Crafting a compelling digital employee value proposition (EVP)
- Highlighting your company’s online culture and presence
- Designing an accurate digital candidate persona
- Differentiating your company from competitors in the online space
- Enhancing the online candidate experience for maximum candidate satisfaction
Does it work? According to Career Arc, 96% of companies feel that employer branding can influence their revenue?
That’s well-founded — 64% of consumers have refrained from shopping with a brand after learning of its poor treatment towards employees via online news or social media.
Key Benefits of Strong Digital Employer Branding
Building your online reputation isn’t simple. It takes consistent effort to produce content, answer employee reviews, and get ranked in Google’s search results. However, the results are worth it, whether that’s an uptick in applicants, greater employee retention, and more.
Let’s explore the pros and cons of digital employer branding:
Pros:
- Attracts Top Talent: A robust digital presence showcases your company as progressive and relevant, which can attract tech-savvy and top-tier candidates who are active online.
- Cost-Effective Recruitment: A strong digital employer brand can reduce the cost-per-hire. When potential employees are already aware of and attracted to your brand, it can lead to faster hiring processes and less expenditure on advertising job positions.
- Enhanced Company Reputation: A well-maintained digital employer brand can boost the company’s overall reputation. It not only attracts potential employees but also builds trust among clients, stakeholders, and the general public.
- Employee Retention: Employees are more likely to stay with a company with a strong, positive online presence. Pride in affiliation and alignment with company values, easily discernible from strong branding, can lead to increased loyalty and reduced turnover.
Cons:
- High Maintenance: Maintaining a robust digital employer brand requires consistent updates, monitoring, and engagement. The digital landscape is ever-evolving, and companies must stay proactive to maintain their brand reputation.
- Risk of Negative Publicity: Digital platforms are transparent. Any negative employee reviews or unfavorable news can spread quickly online. Even minor incidents can escalate and potentially tarnish the brand’s digital reputation.
- Overinflated Expectations: A very polished and idealized online image can sometimes set unrealistic expectations for potential hires. If the actual company culture or benefits do not align with the online portrayal, it can lead to dissatisfaction and quick turnover of new hires.
Promoting Your Digital Employer Brand on YouTube
Not considered YouTube for your digital employer branding strategy? That’s a mistake. While LinkedIn has the biggest audience of professionals, YouTube is more than just a platform. Its videos can be embedded on any site, shared effortlessly, and if you’re already making video content, you may as well upload it to the platform.
Why Choose YouTube
Still not convinced? Here’s why YouTube should be a key component of any branding strategy:
- YouTube is the second-largest search engine, allowing access to a vast potential audience.
- You can easily embed YouTube videos in blog articles, on webpages, or share them via other social media platforms.
- The return on investment (ROI) is significant – while there’s an initial investment, the branding benefits far outweigh the costs.
- Real employee testimonials and behind-the-scenes glimpses of your company foster trust and authenticity.
- YouTube videos rank exceptionally well in Google searches, further boosting your digital visibility.
- From interviews to day-in-the-life features, you’ve got an endless potential for video ideas.
Don’t miss out on a golden ticket to connect with a broader audience and convey your company’s voice. Integrate YouTube into your digital employer branding strategy to experience the proven benefits of expansive brand reach and genuine engagement.
Content Ideas
If you’re scratching your head for ideas, we’ve got you covered. There are tons of topics you can gather without breaking the bank. And most ideas rely on your best resource: your employees.
Here’s what to do:
“A Day in the Life” Series
Showcase the typical workday of employees from different departments or levels within the company. This offers potential candidates a transparent view of what working at your company really is like.
Employee Testimonials
Let employees share their experiences, growth stories, and reasons they love working at your company. Authentic voices can resonate deeply with potential hires.
Behind-the-Scenes Tours
Give a virtual tour of your office space, facilities, or any unique areas. Highlight aspects like collaborative workspaces, relaxation zones, or state-of-the-art tech labs.
Company Culture Highlights
Share snippets from company events, team-building activities, workshops, or corporate social responsibility initiatives to showcase your organizational values and culture.
Interview Tips and Recruitment Process
Offer insights into your hiring process, interview tips specific to your company, or spotlight HR personnel discussing what they look for in candidates. This can help potential hires prepare and feel more at ease.
Tips to Boost Your Digital Employer Branding on Google
That’s not all – don’t forget the biggest search engine in the world. You can drive organic traffic to your site through Google’s different features, targeting your audience with the right keywords.
1. Optimize Your Company Website
Unless you’ve done the work, your site won’t get ranked. You should ensure your careers page(s) is user-friendly, mobile-optimized, and contains up-to-date information about your company culture, perks and benefits, and job opportunities.
Use SEO best practices, such as targeted keywords and high-quality backlinks, to establish your site as an industry leader and boost your ranking on Google.
2. Leverage Google My Business
Tailor-made for businesses, Google My Business allows companies to create and maintain a profile. It includes core information, location, and more – showing up on Google Maps or as part of the Map Pack.
Keep it updated with photos, company events, and news; and encourage employees to leave positive reviews, as your staff strongly influences how candidates perceive your brand.
3. Create a Content Marketing Strategy
Most big companies have a dedicated employee blog – think of Google’s ‘Life at Google.’ Publishing high-quality, relevant content on your blog or website, including employee success stories, insights into your industry, or tips for job seekers, can improve your site’s authority and boost its ranking.
In Life at Google, the tech giant runs a ‘My Path to Google’ series, exploring the journeys of individuals who’ve succeeded at the company. It’s a helpful roadmap for aspiring candidates.
4. Use Google Ads Smartly
The alternative to SEO content marketing is pay-per-click (PPC) ads. If you’re running paid campaigns for a particular job advert or even your careers page, target specific job titles or skills. Not only can this direct high-quality traffic to your career pages, but it’ll also improve your overall visibility among relevant audiences.
5. Continue to Manage Your Online Reputation
Reputation management and digital employer branding aren’t an overnight process – it’s ongoing. You’ll routinely need to answer employee comments on review sites, monitor metrics for SEO and PPC, and refine your strategy to ensure the best results.
Closing Thoughts
Google and YouTube are powerful tools in the recruiter’s arsenal. Combined, they’re a chance to broaden your reach and spark conversations with aspiring employees. Most of all, they put your business on the map.
But remember, digital employer branding is not just about visibility; it’s about authenticity. Keep your digital content genuine, engage actively with your audience, and always strive for consistency. Your branding, while shaping impressions, should genuinely reflect your company’s values and culture. It’s not just about recruiting talent; it’s about recruiting the right talent.
Sources:
https://www.smartdreamers.com/blog/promote-employer-brand-youtube
https://www.digitalsilk.com/digital-trends/employer-branding/
https://www.careerarc.com/blog/employer-branding-study-infographic/
https://change.walkme.com/employer-branding/
