Communicate Your Brand

Build Your Employer Brand with Brand Marketing Strategies

A company’s brand is more than just the product or service it sells—it’s the company’s identity, which includes its mission, values, and unique consumer proposition.

Think of the most well-known brands and how they’ve set up their customers’ expectations. For example, Nike makes exercise gear and sneakers, but because of successful brand marketing, you not only think of Nike products when you see that iconic swoosh, you also think of the world’s highest profile athletes working hard and winning.

That’s the identity—the brand—they want customers to internalize, and they create it with the right communication.

Your employer brand functions very similarly to a company brand, as it also includes your values, your mission, and the unique proposition of your workplace culture and employee experience.

It’s made up of thousands of interactions, including:

  • How you welcome new hires into your organization
  • How you communicate with the applicants you don’t hire
  • The benefits you offer employees and how you promote them
  • The level of transparency leaders give regarding business decisions
  • The resources and training you provide your managers, so they can give employees a clear path to grow and succeed
  • Employer brand even matters to your customers, as it’s become another way for them to gauge if a company is true to its stated values.

How to Market Your Employer Brand to Candidates and Employees

Brand marketing is a long-term strategy built on consistent communication. It takes more than putting your best foot forward to actively shape the perception customers and applicants have of you as an employer. For people to view you favorably, you need to put that best foot forward every time, at every opportunity, until it tells a story people will remember.

Here are a few ways you can start applying brand marketing strategies to expand the reach of your employer brand.

Start with positioning your brand: Before you can talk about who you are as an employer, you need to figure out how to talk about your organization to prospective or current employees as a unique and desirable place to work.

What’s the most attractive thing about working for your organization?

What sets you apart from other workplaces?

Sell the right brand to get the right people: Employer branding isn’t just about putting out a positive image, though that’s certainly a big part of it. You also want the people who work for you to feel motivated to contribute to what you do and who you are. So as you craft your branding message, make it clear how your organization wants to achieve its goals, so your brand attracts people who align with your organization’s needs.

Defining your values helps clarify how you operate. Should your ideal employee prioritize collaboration, personal achievement, financial results, or your organization’s purpose?

Tell the truth: Most importantly, you should tell the truth about your organization, so make sure that you’re not selling something the company doesn’t actually provide. For example, don’t position yourself as a family-friendly employer if you don’t offer an attractive paid parental leave benefit.

As these principles show, an effective employer brand can’t use half-truths and misleading highlights as shortcuts. If the full truth about the company doesn’t attract the people you want, you need to take on the bigger job of moving the company closer to that ideal before you can attract—and retain—the right talent.

How to Market Your Employer Brand to Candidates and Employees?

Brand marketing is a long-term strategy built on consistent communication. It takes more than putting your best foot forward to actively shape the perception customers and applicants have of you as an employer. For people to view you favorably, you need to put that best foot forward every time, at every opportunity, until it tells a story people will remember. 

Here are a few ways you can start applying brand marketing strategies to expand the reach of your employer brand.

  • Start with positioning your brand: Before you can talk about who you are as an employer, you need to figure out how to talk about your organization to prospective or current employees as a unique and desirable place to work. 
    • What’s the most attractive thing about working for your organization?
    • What sets you apart from other workplaces?
  • Sell the right brand to get the right people: Employer branding isn’t just about putting out a positive image, though that’s certainly a big part of it. You also want the people who work for you to feel motivated to contribute to what you do and who you are. So as you craft your branding message, make it clear how your organization wants to achieve its goals, so your brand attracts people who align with your organization’s needs.
    • Defining your values helps clarify how you operate. Should your ideal employee prioritize collaboration, personal achievement, financial results, or your organization’s purpose?
  • Tell the truth: Most importantly, you should tell the truth about your organization, so make sure that you’re not selling something the company doesn’t actually provide. For example, don’t position yourself as a family-friendly employer if you don’t offer an attractive paid parental leave benefit.

As these principles show, an effective employer brand can’t use half-truths and misleading highlights as shortcuts. If the full truth about the company doesn’t attract the people you want, you need to take on the bigger job of moving the company closer to that ideal before you can attract—and retain—the right talent.