Employer Branding Vs Recruitment Marketing: All you need to know
Most people get confused with Branding and Recruitment Marketing. How are they different? Read on to find out!
In today’s fast-paced world, candidates have more options than ever before, which enables them to choose the right company. Businesses too are moving away from old and outdated techniques for hiring such as public job boards, cold hiring, etc, and switching over to newer and efficient techniques like postings on multiple platforms and using Applicant Tracking software. With this shift, two key aspects are Employer Branding and Recruitment Marketing, which have gained momentum and are increasingly being considered as some of the very important elements necessary to hire the best candidates for the company.
Employer Branding and recruitment are two different, yet similar aspects and there is a thin line separating one from the other. Companies that don’t understand the difference between employer branding and recruitment marketing risk misrepresentation and brand inconsistency, which in turn creates a poor candidate experience. A lot of HR professionals are confused with these buzzwords and can’t exactly tell the difference between them.
Here is a detailed description of both these elements and how they correspond with the company’s success
What is Employer Branding?
Employer branding can be defined as the external image of a company, that helps it to attract candidates from various platforms and in multiple ways. It helps convert passive candidates into active ones, as well as modifies the internal image that helps to retain employees into the organization. Employer Branding also includes the company’s impact on its consumers, employees, various stakeholders, and the society at large. In short, Employer Brand is the company’s image as a whole.
Employer brands revolve around various aspects of a company, such as their vision, mission, goals, and the values that they uphold. This also helps determine various other aspects of the company such as their Employee Value Proposition (EVP) and candidate personas, which are essential when faced with the question of what makes a company a great recruiter.
What is Recruitment Marketing?
Recruitment Marketing is basically nothing but the employer branding into action, usually via various social media platforms in the form of campaigns or spending into advertisements. These are specific and targeted promotion methods that are designed to communicate the message of the company to the right candidate at the right time. In short, recruitment marketing is promoting the company’s brand.
What are the differences between Employer Branding and Recruitment Marketing?
There are some very subtle, yet important differences to consider between Employer Branding and Recruitment Marketing.
Recruitment Marketing strategies change, Employer Brand remains the same
Recruitment Marketing is constantly evolving in response to industry and cultural trends.
Modern recruiters and marketers come up with innovative strategies for attracting candidates, new communication channels (such as social networks) appear, content trends are changing (for example, video is becoming more and more popular).
On the other hand, your Employer Branding is more consistent and constant. Your Employer Branding should be based on your company’s core values, vision, and mission. It is a long term promise and an ongoing commitment you make to your existing and potential employees.
Establish the Employer Brand first, follow with Marketing
Employer Branding comes first, and Recruitment Marketing is built around it, with additional methods and tactics. So Before you start promoting your Employer Brand, it is crucial to articulate a clear and precise definition of it. Otherwise, you risk your message sounding inconsistent which will make you look distrustful in the eyes of candidates. Both are equally important for an organization’s reputation to flourish. Any company cannot succeed with just following one of them.
Employer Branding indicates defining the brand, Recruitment Marketing is promoting the brand
Recruitment Marketing is the process of promoting your Employer Brand by creating interesting and engaging recruiting content and sharing it via different channels such as your company’s career site and blog, job boards, social media, email campaigns, talent networking events, job fairs, etc.
What do both have in common? How to use them together?
Employer Branding and Recruitment Marketing are both concerned with the same thing — the company’s Employer Brand. A strong Employer Brand communicates that your company is a good employer and a great place to work. Much like employer branding, a great communication channel is essential to a recruitment marketing strategy. It’s important to think about how a candidate interacts with your brand.
Establishing an employer brand across all platforms should be any company’s first priority, as the company’s reputation as an employer should remain consistent over time. While both employer branding and recruiter marketing rely on each other to work optimally, recruitment marketing cannot work without an established employer brand. Once your organization has a strong understanding of what makes each of these concepts different, you can use them to ensure the right talent discovers your company before discovering your competitors.
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