Importance of Content Marketing in Talent Acquisition!

Now we all know how competitive talent acquisition is…. Companies competing for the best of the best; And we also know how the advancement of technology has transformed every single industry out there, making competition even greater!

As talent acquisition focuses more on a long-term focus, rather than the speedy pace of recruitment, developing relationship management strategies are a must – Read here how this can benefit your recruitment success….

However, that is a story for another time as the demand of content continuous to dominate marketing strategies.

Whilst your internal recruiters may be starting to fully understand the worth of marketing, if their specialities lie in KPIs and conversions, providing them with some form of structure to advance your employer brand will add significant value …. And that is why I’m here today!

Why do you need content?

In a world where we heavily rely on recommendations and social platforms, personal content creation is a must to differentiate yourself in a heavily saturated market. By touching on the point of competition – As there are lots of companies on the lookout for talent, you need to think about what will make you stand out to your potential new hires.

Giving your company a credible representation is a key strategy to incorporate, which blends perfectly with content marketing. Furthermore, creating your own adverts, blogs, social posts… (the list goes on), you’ll have greater content to circulate over your website, social platforms and other advertising resources, increasing your likelihood of a higher SEO ranking.

Now we’ve covered why you need to incorporate content into your strategies… here is how:

Define and understand your audience

First things first, you need to have a clear understanding of who you are trying to attract. It’s all well and good circulating content, however, if it isn’t reaching your target audience, you’re wasting your time and effort.

The cycle of attraction is just like the buying process, where you need to be positioned in the right place at the right time to become an option for a potential hire.

Relevance is key!

Additionally, having knowledge of your target market’s interests and desires is an effective way to understand what type of content you need to create. Click here to read on about how important this stage is and how to complete it.

Learn your niche

The next step to take to ensure you are coming across as a credible hiring manager is learning the ins and outs of your specialist market. There’s nothing worse than someone thinking they know what they are talking about yet are so far off the mark.

In your role, potential new hires are relying on you to find out if your company and the role is right for them, therefore, they expect you to have great knowledge of the area. Some of the best ways you can boost your expertise is to attend industry led conferences, read around your area and fully grasp your employer brand and culture.

Create your own content

Right, you are now armed with all your knowledge…. It’s time to kickstart the creative process.

Content creation isn’t second nature to everyone, however, trying to channel your creativity to either devise your own or collaborate with marketing pros is a must. Most companies do have a dedicated marketing team, so if you’re struggling, utilise their copywriting skills.

The next step is to create your very own content plan. This is recommended so that you have an idea about the type of topics you need to cover and a timescale to do so. This will ensure that you’re actively generating and distributing your copy… however, you do need to ensure that you focus on ‘quality over quantity’.

Along with having substance to your content, as you are building a brand, you need to get your culture across so that people will be attracted to your roles. Candidates are actively looking for a culture that matches their personality, so this step is highly important!

If you’re looking for the type of content to share…

1. Blogs – Blogging is a great way to put your own stamp on a topic (like I hopefully am for this piece). The purpose of blogs is to inform and increase your audience’s knowledge of an area, while also creating copy that will inspire and draw them in. Click here to see how you can incorporate blogging into your plan.

2. Q&A’s – A further valuable piece of content that can increase your credibility are Q&A’s with your employees. Not only will this increase your knowledge, it will also give your candidates the opportunity to have a sneak peek of what your employees are like. Furthermore, it shows that you are valued as employees are happy to be advocates.

3. Reshare valid articles – Ok, so this isn’t creating your own content as such, but this can fill the gaps in between your own. The only thing I will say is, again make sure it is on brand, relevant and getting across a message that you wouldn’t mind writing yourself.

Utilise the latest technology

Once you have created your content, it’s important that you utilise the latest technology and social platforms to get your name out there. Not only will this increase your visibility, it will also boost your candidates experience.

By circulating your culture and knowledge online, it provides your potential new hires with an in-depth process to gauge whether you are the right company for them – And if you’ve been sharing high quality, relevant content, they will have a greater perspective of you, prior to even attending an interview.

I understand that it is difficult to focus on long-term goals as your current vacancies are important, however, understanding and implementing content marketing into your daily workload will help to build up your own talent pool and attract greater talent into your company.

What you need to think about is…. Why would someone want to work with you? And then transfer this into your employer branding, as ultimately you are a walking employer brand.

Long-term, this will help to build your reputation within the market and increase your desirability.

 

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