Employer brand and candidates marketing

Employer brand and candidates marketing

The two terms that HR specialists often use – candidate marketing (recruitment) and employer branding – are frequently mixed up. Learn how to use them correctly, how to develop your own set of effective strategies, and attract the best candidates.

Why Should You Know the Difference?

Many terms enter our lives too quickly. Sometimes they are used interchangeably when they actually differ from each other. Examples of such confusing terms can be candidate marketing (recruitment) and employer branding. They have certain similarities but are separate. Employer branding defines the employer’s brand, while candidate marketing promotes it through various channels.

When HR specialists understand the difference and the significance of these two terms, they can effectively use these strategies in their work. By using them together and compiling them into a successful campaign, you can achieve more significant results, attract the best candidates, and improve your recruitment skills. To understand what these strategies mean and how to use them correctly, each term must be examined in detail.

What is Employer Branding?

Employer branding (EB) is a term used to describe the complex steps taken to build and develop a company’s reputation – the employer’s brand. When candidates look for a job, they are mostly guided by the brand’s image and the information known about the employer. The better developed your employer branding strategy is, the more attractive your brand image appears to candidates, and the more talented professionals you can attract.

What are the Key Components of Employer Branding?

Since the main goal of employer branding is to create an image of a desirable employer, certain steps need to be taken:

  • Defining the company’s employer brand – an identity that has a mission, vision, values, and individuality.
  • Employee Value Proposition (EVP) – the benefits, advantages, and rewards that your employees will be interested in, such as team motivation, dynamic work environment, ping-pong tables, gaming club, free library, and many others.
  • Candidate Persona – time must be spent establishing the characteristics your ideal candidate possesses.
  • Defining the company’s culture through creating and internally maintaining traditions. Then, spread your mission, vision, and goals.
  • Managing the company’s reputation. For example, reviewing and responding to feedback while defining and spreading key messages.

In other words, employer branding is aimed at candidates and makes a good impression by providing them with information about the company. Statistics prove how effective the employer branding tool is and how worth developing it is. For example, 84% of job seekers say the company’s reputation is one of the most important factors influencing their decision to apply.

What is Candidate Marketing?

Candidate marketing (CM) is the process of promoting your employer brand and delivering the right message to the right candidates at the right time. In other words, it works with employer branding to promote it to the best candidates.

What are the Key Components of Candidate Marketing?

Candidate marketing is primarily focused on attracting talent, setting goals, and achieving those goals. Various steps can be taken in a candidate marketing strategy (recruitment). They include:

  • Communicating with candidates and encouraging their engagement — using various channels for this, Q&A on your website, and email.
  • Writing clear and attractive job descriptions. Focus on growth and opportunities. Engage your current employees in identifying the key benefits of working for you and debunking established prejudices about your company in the job descriptions.
  • Creating engaging content. For example, you can share opinions of your current employees, create videos about your workplace, and the activities your company performs.
  • Creating employer awareness and promoting through channels such as social media, blogs, and websites. The more you talk about growth opportunities and career development in your company, the more candidates will want to work for you. Use storytelling to build trust among candidates.

86% of HR specialists agree that recruitment nowadays is very similar to marketing. That’s why it’s not surprising that many promotional marketing tools can successfully be used by recruiters in their work.

Barbara Oat, HR Director at EssayTigers, says: “Social media marketing and content creation are the most evolving directions in recruitment that every HR specialist should take advantage of. We have great plans for further developing our candidate marketing strategy, as we see it yields the best results when used in conjunction with other complex methods and tools.”

Differences Between Employer Branding and Candidate Marketing

So, we have understood what these two terms mean, and now it’s time to determine the distinctive differences between them.

#1. Definition and Main Functions

The most obvious difference between these two terms is that employer branding is the process of defining your employer’s brand, e.g., (Candidate Persona, Employee Value Proposition). Candidate marketing is related to promoting it, e.g., (creating and sharing content).

#2. Adaptation

While employer branding will remain more or less constant, your candidate marketing strategy should evolve and adapt to modern standards, trends, and innovations. Employer branding is a strategy based on the company’s values and mission. Therefore, it is a long-term commitment. On the other hand, candidate marketing must keep up with the latest trends and changes in the recruitment industry.

#3. Interrelation

These two terms are not interchangeable, but both have a deep connection, as candidate marketing is built around employer branding and cannot exist without it. Every marketing strategy is defined by its goals. In this case, it would be building the desired employer image to attract the best candidates and the most talented professionals.

Employer branding and candidate marketing cannot exist separately. They have the same goal but different methods and tools to achieve that goal. This means you need to:

  • Set goals and understand what the aim of your strategy is.
  • Understand why the components of an attractive employer brand are Employer Brand, Candidate Persona, and Employee Value Proposition.
  • Develop a strategy that includes working with a wide variety of tools and methods that will help you achieve your goal and promote your employer brand.

While employer branding and candidate marketing work with Employer Brand, only by understanding the difference between them can you develop a successful strategy for defining and promoting it among the professionals you want to attract to your company.

Did you know that Horizons Bulgaria can help you with your employer branding efforts?

Don’t miss this opportunity to take control of your brand and reach the right job candidates for your company today!

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