Let’s start with a question: if you create Employer Branding initiatives but no candidate can find them, do they really exist?

Of course, they exist!  However, the real question is if they are useful.  And that is the case where you say they aren’t.  So what can you do to make these Employer Branding initiatives useful in your recruitment marketing strategy?  There are a few things!

First, when I’m talking about Employer Branding, a number of initiatives can fit under that umbrella from recruiting web commercials / videos, employee interviews & blogs, social recruiting profiles on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, your own Talent Network opt-in program as well as a number of other initiatives.  No matter what initiatives you have dedicated to Employer Branding, you need to make sure that they are accessible to interested qualified candidates that view your job ads, visit your career site and inquire about job positions.

The question is when and where to include these initiatives in your recruiting process.  Here are a few places to make sure you are providing candidates with an easy path to your employer branding:

Job Ad Description:  This is one of the best spots to include links to your social recruiting profiles and employer branding videos, however, time and time again I see organizations not include links to this information in these job ads.

By including links to this content you will be able to instantly connect & engage with candidates that view your job ad and make them more likely to apply for the position or become a contact in your Talent Network.  Make sure that these links open in a new window or tab, however, as you don’t want your candidates to have to leave your job ad to visit this content.

Career Site: Access to your Employer Branding videos and Social recruiting profiles should be within one click from the homepage of your Career Site.  Let candidates easily view why your company is a great place to work and enable them to easily add themselves to your Talent Network by including a link on every page of your Career Site.  Your Career Site is meant to educate and capture qualified candidates, make sure it can do both easily.

Completed Application: Once a candidate finishes an application for your organization, make sure to provide them with ways to interact and engage with your recruiting organization.  Whether that’s through your social profiles or your Talent Network, point them to those portals.  This will enable you to engage with these candidates and potentially hire them for other positions if the one they applied for wasn’t the right fit.

You put a lot of hard work and time into creating great Employer Branding initiatives so why hide them?  Make sure to include these initiatives with all your job distribution campaigns and career hubs and I guarantee you will improve your candidate drop-off rates and increase the size of your Talent Network that you can utilize in mobile recruiting and email campaigns.

Be accessible and reap the rewards!

Originally posted on the SmashFly Recruitment Technology blog.