An Employer Brand reflects a company’s values, work environment and career opportunities. So who better than a company’s own employees to authentically communicate it? At BNO, we’ve seen that tapping into internal influencers to tell their stories through social sharing is a powerful tool for attracting, retaining, and engaging the best talent. Here’s how.
Drive deeper engagement
According to SocialMediaToday.com, employee created content is 8X times more likely to be engaged with than company shared content. And 44% of people say they are more likely to apply for a role shared by a contact than by other means.1 Your internal influencers can be a rich, valuable source for feeding the recruitment pipeline.
Expand your reach
LinkedIn estimates that the average employee has a network that is 10 times larger than a company’s follower base. As a result, jobs shared by employees yield 30% more job applications.2 What’s more, an employee’s personal network can include connected professionals in related fields, so you’ll increase exposure beyond your specific industry.
Show your D&I in action
Over the past year, diversity and inclusion has dramatically shifted from being a feel-good initiative to a business-critical imperative, with 77% of talent professionals citing its growing importance.3 The best influencer networks are fully representative of a company’s diverse mix – across ethnicities, age, experience, gender and roles – enabling them to show rather than tell. Posts from employees discussing their own backgrounds and journeys or sharing teambuilding events and ERG activities can increase credibility while underscoring a company’s mission and vision.
Increase diverse slates for hard to fill roles
More and more companies are making qualified diverse slates a standard requirement in the hiring process. Recruiters should provide guidance on the company’s current demographic profile and diversity representation goals, so that internal influencer campaigns support those objectives. One BNO client was able to fill an important director-level hire through a direct result of their LinkedIn influencer campaign.
Give an insider’s view
A candidate’s impression of a company is now highly influenced by how it showed up and supported its employees, customers and communities during times of crisis. Job seekers want to know what current employees are talking about – the teamwork, the benefits, the opportunities for career growth and learning. Employee-created content can paint a realistic, authentic picture of the workplace and culture, allowing potential candidates to envision themselves being a part of it all.
Unleash the power of stories
Influencer campaigns allow employees to share stories, not just testimonials. And that’s an important distinction. Research has shown that messages delivered as stories are 22X more memorable. Your influencers telling their stories can have genuine, emotional impact – whether they’re talking about the company’s life-changing technology, a recent team achievement, or a specific individual moment when they felt empowered by leadership.
Connect on a personal level
Influencer marketing gives companies an alternative way to meet and recruit candidates at a time when there are few traditional in-person opportunities, like trade shows, exhibitions and job fairs. Content can be customized and targeted for specific roles or functions, and delivered through a personal post from a known, credible source within your company.
Ready to leverage your internal influencers?
BNO can design and implement an internal influencer campaign that meets your talent recruitment goals – from developing campaign strategies and identifying your most passionate internal advocates to creative execution and influencer training. Let’s get started.
