4 Important Ways Content Marketing Supports Your Employer Brand

Content marketing helps you attract new customers and partners, but it can do so much more for your business. 

We’ve already explored how content can help support your existing customers and provide exceptional service. 

But that’s just the surface of what you can achieve with content.

You can also use content marketing for employer branding to help you build a strong company reputation and image.

Content broadcasts your company culture and values to talented professionals in your field. It also reinvigorates your existing employees, so your business can grow stronger from within.

You can even profit financially by using content to reduce recruitment costs and improve your company’s overall reputation.

Sounds good?

Then let’s see how else content contributes to your image as a desirable employer.

Content Helps Attract New Employees

First things first—job seekers need to learn that you exist. Your online content helps you build awareness of your company and the job opportunities you offer. 

Search engine-optimized career pages and engaging social media content put your company on the map as soon as candidates start looking for a new role. Possibly even sooner than that, if you can make the idea of working at your company appealing and exciting for casual surfers. 

Second, once you do have a person’s attention, your content can convince them to send in their application. It serves as the inviting storefront of your company’s employer brand, drawing potential candidates in and enticing them to explore what you have to offer.

Content isn’t just an optional extra for employer branding. It’s the very first thing that a potential employee will look for when considering an employer. 

75% of job applicants look up a company’s online presence before applying. So you have to supply them with engaging and informative content that tells the story of your company culture and values. 

Research also shows that a healthy culture is 10 times more important than the salary for candidates, so make sure your content reflects what you’re all about. 

Employee stories, day to day life at work, or video office tours are just some of the ways you can capture and, ultimately, keep a candidate’s interest in your company.

According to Matt Charney, a recruitment professional, candidates want to learn as much as they can about the company before applying, just like they would when buying a new appliance.

They analyze all the pieces of information they can find to see what company suits their goals the most. 

Therefore, content, in its various forms and formats, helps your employer brand become a force that attracts talent that aligns not only with your work scope but also with your purpose and vision.

Content Marketing Reduces Recruitment Costs

If you’re a numbers person, you’ll appreciate this finding: LinkedIn has discovered that companies that invest in employer branding can reduce their cost per hire by up to 50%.

That’s because content marketing can do a lot of the heavy lifting to attract talent, so you can save or redirect resources into more valuable recruitment activities.

When your employer branding strategy and content draw in the right candidates, you’ll notice that you can reduce recruitment costs in more ways than one.

First, it is the cost-effectiveness compared to traditional paid advertising methods.

Can paid ads get you candidates? Sure. Paid ads let you cast a wide net, which can get you a sea of applicants because your vacancies are prominently displayed.

However, this approach often lacks precision and fit.

Paid ads might flood your inbox with resumes, but quantity doesn’t necessarily equate to quality. Many of these applicants won’t align with your company’s values, culture, or long-term objectives.

Now, just imagine you’re bidding for highly competitive niche terms in the IT industry—it gets expensive real fast.

And once you stop pouring money into ads, your talent pipeline dries up too. 

On the other hand, creating relevant employer branding content doesn’t aim to attract just any candidate.

When you use content to build your employer brand, it attracts the right candidate. A candidate who has read and watched your content to learn about your brand story, mission, and values. 

Employer branding greatly impacts the quality of hires—83% of talent acquisition professionals say so.

That means your recruitment team saves money by not having to screen and interview candidates that aren’t a good match from the word go.

But that’s not the only way that employer branding content reduces recruitment costs.

When you invest in content marketing and find a good fit right away, you can lower your turnover rate by as much as 28%, reducing the need for constant onboarding of new hires.

But, what’s the catch, and why don’t all companies do this?

The answer is quite simple. It takes much more time to build a great employer brand through content marketing than it does to post openings on job boards. 

Still, a content-driven strategy for recruiting creates a self-sustaining cycle where your employer brand becomes increasingly attractive, lowering the cost and effort needed to find exceptional talent.

Yes, it takes time to set up and start showing results, but think of it as a long-term investment that will only grow in value over time.

Content Fosters Employee Engagement

Relevant and well-planned content has the power to educate and inspire employees, which leads to better performance.

One important caveat, though. You should never ever pressure employees into posting about the organization. 

Instead, you want to involve employees in content creation in a way that’s authentic and engaging for the employee. 

And what’s the best way to boost the employee experience and engagement?

Recognition.

When employees feel recognized for their work, it directly increases employee engagement, productivity, and performance by 14%, according to Deloitte. 

You can provide your employees with opportunities to get creative with the following types of content:

• Social media posts
• Blog posts
• Internal training materials
• Industry insights
• Video introductions
• Employee testimonials and spotlights

These are all great ways to publicly recognize someone’s commendable work. At the same time, it’s authentic content filled with authority and expertise that you can market to potential clients and customers.

Modern companies are recognizing this leverage and are increasingly turning their employees into industry influencers. 

The best thing is that such employee-generated and employee-focused content works outward and inwardly. 

For instance, you can give a top employee space on your social media content or blog to demonstrate their expertise to outsiders. On the other hand, you can also use your internal platform for them to inspire, educate, and train their peers and team members. 

Internal communications are a form of content marketing. After all, it’s about creating and distributing valuable, engaging content with a purpose: building up your people so they can, in turn, build up your company.

Content Marketing Builds a Strong Company Brand

We’ve previously covered the roles that content has in employment-related issues, and we’ve seen that content marketing is absolutely crucial for building a good employer brand.

But did you know that employer branding content also impacts how people see your organization as a whole?

In other words, content can help you build a strong company brand.

Content shows people that your organization is an exceptional place to work, which naturally contributes to a more favorable perception of your company. 

“It’s all about content. It’s what feeds the engine. It’s the fuel. Without great content, it’s harder for candidates to really select in or out of your hiring process. It’s harder to attract top talent in your company, and engage your current workforce. Without content, you can’t tell your story.”

Will Staney, Founder and CEO of Proactive Talent, for LinkHumans

Unique employee testimonials, transparent and honest job descriptions, and even nicely listed perks and benefits can get you visibility, shares, and engagement. All these elements can start a snowball effect that results in increased online authority for your brand.

That way, you won’t only get competent employees but also customers who believe in your vision.

Ever since Covid-19 swept the Earth, the way brands treat their employees has become a major factor for buyers.

An Edelman report found that 27% of customers decide whether to try your brand based on how you treat employees. And for 29%, it’s the deciding factor whether to stay loyal to your brand or not.

If clients see that you take good care of your people, they can trust that you’ll take care of them too. 

So, if your company does have a healthy culture you’re proud of, employ your content to show the world you take good care of your employees. 

This will leave a great impression not only on people coming to work for you but also on those who consider working with you.

The Importance of Content Marketing for Employer Branding

Now that you’ve read about all the beneficial roles that content plays in employer branding, it’s probably clearer why leading tech companies put so much thought into content for employer branding.

Chances are that you’ve also started imagining what kind of content your business could use to attract skilled professionals. If so, you’re one step closer to planning an effective employer branding strategy.

With the right approach to employer branding content, you’ll be on your way to attracting new hires, retaining existing ones, and improving your overall brand.