Building Your Company Brand to Attract Talent

By Alyssa Laffitte on September 23, 2019

It’s likely you have heard about “building your company’s brand”, but did you know that having a solid branding strategy could help your company attract new talent?

In this post, we’ll discuss how to build your company’s brand to attract new talent.

Image via Isorepublic.com

What is a company brand?

In short, a company’s “brand” is a quick snapshot of what the company is. It encompasses the company’s mission, vision, goals, and target audience. It is the company’s reputation. For example, when you think about famous companies like Apple or Google, your will associate them with “cutting edge modern technology”, because that is how these companies have branded themselves. Building a brand will help the public recognize what your company is. Through this post, we’ll discuss why it’s important to build your company’s brand, and how to build it to attract new employees.

How does building a company brand attract new employees?

When your company has an established brand, it will be easy to attract new employees. Importantly, your company brand will attract the type of employees you want. For example, if your brand is “college students”, and you portray this brand correctly, your company will attract college students as new employees. When potential recruits recognize a brand and know they can identify with the brand’s values, they will feel comfortable working there.

Building a company brand will attract new employees because it allows potential recruits to understand, before applying, what the company is all about. These potential recruits will want to work for your company because they know you are catering to them.

Additionally, building a company brand will make current employees happy. When current employees are happy, the company culture is better, and they will more likely to refer potential recruits to your company. Building a brand creates a sense of loyalty and teamwork between current employees. It makes them feel like part of a team. They will likely tell their friends how proud they are to work at your company, which will encourage people to apply to work for you!

In other words, building a company brand will attract potential recruits because they know you are catering to them, and because it will create a unified company culture.

How can you build a brand for your own company?

Building your own company brand is easy, but it requires you to know your company well. After all, how can you show off your spectacular company if you don’t know what makes it special? Take a moment to think about the following questions, as they will help you to better define your company’s brand.

  • Think about what makes your company unique. What makes your company different from its competitors? What does your company have to offer that others don’t? Play up this uniqueness!
  • What are the company’s goals? What is your company’s mission or vision? What does your company hope to contribute to the world? In an ideal world, what would your company accomplish?
  • What are the company’s values? What issues are important to the company?
  • Who is your company’s target audience? Whom does your company hope to serve? (Specifically, what is your ideal customer’s age, gender, and interests?)

When you answer these questions, you get a better sense of the image you want your company to portray. Once you know how you want to portray your company, you can start building the company’s brand.

Determine where you stand in your “brand building”

Now that you know your company better, you can begin to think about how to build your company’s brand. In other words, you can now adjust your company’s public image and company culture to better align with its values, goals, and target audience. But first, you need to figure out where your company currently stands in the “brand building” process. Here are some questions to ask yourself to determine how your company’s “brand building” is going.

Are you attracting the target audience?

Building your company’s brand will help you attract the customers and recruits you want to attract. Figure out who your company’s current recruits are. How old are they? What is their background? Are they your target audience? If so, then your company is already on the right track. If you are not attracting the type of applicants you want to attract, you will need to change your branding strategy to attract your target audience. We’ll discuss how to do that later on in this article.

Does your company’s public image reflect the company’s goals and values?

A company’s goals and values are a big part of their brand, and their public image should reflect their brand. When the company’s public image reflects their goals and values, it will attract recruits who identify with those goals and values. Take a moment to consider what your company’s public image reflects. Does it match their goals, values, and target audience? If not, you will need to adjust some things to better reflect your company’s identity. Here are some things you can adjust:

  • Websites and social media profiles. Does your company’s online presence cater to the company’s goals, values, and target audience? Design your profiles so that they do! For example, if your company sells toys for small children, design a colorful, stimulating website that targets that audience and creates the image of a child-friendly environment.
  • Company’s physical location. Does your company’s office, store, or other physical location reflect who the company is? Continuing from the previous example, this toy store’s physical location should also be fun, colorful, and child-friendly.
  • Company’s products and services. Are your company’s products and services something that helps accomplish the goals? Do they align with the values? Finally, are they something your target audience would care for?

Attract recruits who share your company’s values and goals, and who are of your target audience by ensuring your company’s public image/brand aligns with the company’s actual goals.

Does the company’s culture reflect its goals and values?

Similarly, does the company’s internal culture reflect its goals and values? Potential recruits will be turned off to a company if they discover that the company’s public image does not match its internal culture. They will feel like they were promised one thing and ended up with another. For example, if your company’s reputation is one of good service, and your current employees are mean to each other, a potential recruit will not be impressed by your company. Conversely, if a potential recruit sees that there is an internal culture of good service, along with a public image of good service, they will be satisfied because the company delivered what they promised. When your company culture reflects its goals and values, it will attract potential recruits that align with the goals and values.

Is the company meeting its goals?

Similarly, is the company meeting its goals? If your company has big goals (such as ending world hunger), it might not be 100% feasible. However, if your company moving toward those goals, (such as feeding a few families every day) it is a good sign. If you are moving toward those goals, let potential recruits know! Recruits apply to work for your company because your company’s goals resonate with them in some way. If they see that the company is moving toward those goals, even if it’s moving slowly, they will be inspired and excited to work with your company.

What does your company “promise” to current employees? Are you following through on those “promises”?

A company’s brand is also a “promise” to its current employees. These may not be specific “promises” that are outlined in the employee’s contract, but they are certain expectations employees have when they work for your company. For example, if your brand is a modern, high-tech company, you are “promising” cutting-edge technology to your employees. An employee at your company could reasonably expect to have access to the latest computers, even if it is not outlined in writing. Part of a company being aligned to its brand is to deliver on these “promises” or expectations. If your company meets the expectations of their employees, the employees will be happy and might recruit their friends to work at your company.

Start building your company brand from inside

Now that you know where your company stands, it’s time to start building your company’s brand from the inside out. This is the first step in building your brand to attract new recruits. The best way to do that is to talk to current employees.

Survey current employees

It would be a good idea to survey current employees to figure out if your employees are happy and if the company is meeting their expectations. You could also ask if they have any suggestions to improve the working environment and the company culture. The results of this survey will help you decide how to move forward in improving your company, which will attract new recruits.

Encourage employees to become involved in the recruitment process and to become brand ambassadors

Once your employees are happy, it will be easy to involve them in the recruitment process. Happy employees will attract recruits to your company. You can do things like encourage current employees to be interviewed by recruits. This gives recruits an opportunity to see your company as a fantastic working environment. It will also allow recruits to envision themselves working at your company.

You could also encourage current employees to post reviews on job searching websites like Glassdoor since potential recruits will likely look on there for information.

Recognize hard-working employees

One way to make your current employees happy to recognize hard-working employees who have been involved in the recruitment process. Again, this will improve your company’s culture and encourage current employees to become involved in the recruitment process.

Tailor your recruiting strategy to your target audience

You have improved your company’s image to match its goals and values and to appeal to its target audience. Your employees are happy and willing to help with the recruitment process, so it is now time to recruit! You are in a position to attract new recruits. Here are ways to attract the kind of recruit you want:

Advertise your company’s job postings where your ideal recruit would look

You know who your ideal recruit would be, so be sure to advertise your job where they can see it. For example, if you want to hire college students, you should advertise your company’s job openings at a nearby college or on websites that college students visit. If your target audience is college students, advertising there should align perfectly with your company’s established brand. Advertising in the right place will make it more likely that your ideal recruit will see the company’s job posting.

Image via Isorepublic.com

Take advantage of social media

Social media, and the Internet, in general, is a great tool to advertise your company’s job openings and to show off your company’s brand. The first thing you should do is create profiles on popular job searching websites for your company. This way, recruits who are searching online can easily find your company. Another thing you can do is create active social media accounts for your company. These accounts can be used to show off what employee life is like at your company. This will attract recruits who want to enjoy their work as much as your current employees do! Building your company’s brand on social media is the perfect way to attract new recruits.

Provide what your ideal recruit needs

As an employer, your employees need certain things from you. Consider what your ideal recruit would need, and then advertise that your company will meet these needs. This is sure to attract recruits. For example, if you are targeting recruits who have recently graduated, provide opportunities for job growth since that is something this particular group of people needs. Make a “job growth” or “career progression” map to show recruits how they can grow with the company. Similarly, if you are targeting recruits who have children, provide childcare. Of course, your company should definitely provide a reasonable salary and benefits, and it is always a good idea to provide flexible working hours and telecommuting options. When you meet your ideal recruit’s needs, they will be more likely to work at your company.

When your company has a solid brand, you will attract the right kind of talent.

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