101 Employer Branding Strategy Ideas for 2023: Brand, KPIs, Personas, EVP

To attract talent in an environment where unemployment rates are at historic lows, and competition for top talent is fierce, companies need a stand-out employer brand.

In this two-part article, we have compiled 202 tips to help you create a winning employer branding strategy in 2023.

In part one, the 101 tips will cover a wide range of topics, including:

• Aligning your employer brand strategy with your organization's needs
• How to identify and define relevant KPIs
• Creating relevant candidate personas
• Developing a compelling and unique EVP
• Examining and optimizing your hiring process

In part two, we continue by sharing 101 great tips on:

• Leveraging social media and other digital platforms to promote your employer brand
• Developing strong employee advocacy programs
• Creating a culture of transparency and authenticity
• Localizing your employer branding strategy
• How you can support your talent acquisition and hiring teams
• The importance of regularly refreshing your employer branding strategy

Using these insights and strategies you'll be able to improve your employer branding efforts in 2023 - and beyond.

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The importance of employer branding in today's job market

It's 2023 - and employer branding is critical to both attracting and retaining top talent. In fact, it's your winning edge when trying to hire the best and brightest in an increasingly competitive job market.

Employer branding can help you build a good reputation, and raise employee engagement and happiness. Employees are more inclined to stick with a company long-term when they are proud to work there.

All this ultimately leads to increased productivity, reduced turnover rates and big cost savings for your organization.

Aligning Your Employer Branding Strategy with Your Organization's Needs

The first step to crafting a successful employer branding strategy is defining the unique culture and values within your company. By aligning your messaging to your culture you increase candidates' trust in your organization. This, in turn, increases the likelihood that they will want to work for you. Learn more about aligning your purpose and culture to drive a compelling employer brand here.

Before you begin implementing your strategy, use these tips below to ensure you have identified your company's unique culture.

Recommendations for Identifying the Unique Culture and Values in your Organization

1. Conduct employee surveys and focus groups to gather feedback on the current culture and values within the organization.
2. Interview key stakeholders including senior leaders and managers, to understand their perspectives on the organization's culture and values.
3. Analyze data from employee engagement surveys and exit interviews, to identify any cultural issues that need to be addressed.
4. Evaluate your organization's purpose, vision, and values statements to ensure they accurately reflect the identified culture and values.
5. Examine the company's heritage, history, structure and methodology to understand if the new values align with your company's past.
6. Analyze how your company's competitors in the market promote their culture and determine what is working for your target hires.
7. Observe how employees and leaders behave on a daily basis at work to see your company's culture and principles in action.
8. Use social listening tools to monitor what current and former employees are saying about the company culture and values online.
9. Consult with clients and suppliers to learn how they view the company's culture and values.
10.  Study feedback from employees, managers, customers, and vendors to determine the culture and values that make up your organization.

Use these 10 tips to develop a clear understanding of your company's culture as an essential element of your employer branding strategy. If your company is trying to undergo cultural change, read about how you can drive change in a large organisation here.

Tips to Communicate your Organization's Culture and Values Through Employer Branding

Once you are clear what your organization's values are, the next step is to communicate these with potential talent.

We’ve put together 10 tips to gear up your employer brand to communicate this:

11. Develop a consistent and clear message that communicates your organization's unique culture and values to employees and potential candidates.
12. Use a variety of communication channels, including newsletters, intranet, and surveys, to keep employees informed about the company's culture and values.
13. Use social media and digital platforms to share stories, photos, and videos that showcase the company culture and values in action.
14. Create an employee brand ambassador program that allows employees to share their experiences working at the company with potential candidates.
15. Host events and activities that bring employees together and allow them to experience the company culture and values firsthand.
16. Incorporate company culture and values into all parts of the employee experience, from onboarding and training to performance evaluations and rewards.
17. Make sure that leaders and managers are setting an example by living and embodying the company culture and values.
18. Encourage employees to share their own experiences and perspectives on the company culture and values through employee-generated content.
19. Track data and metrics to check how the company culture and values are being received by employees and candidates.
20.  Continuously review and update your communication strategy to ensure that it stays aligned with the company culture and values.

These tips will help you communicate your company's culture and values to existing and prospective employees.

Establish and Define Employer Brand KPIs

It's important to set clear and measurable goals for your employer branding efforts. Establishing appropriate key performance indicators (KPIs) can enable you to track the effectiveness of your employer branding activities. By monitoring and analyzing these KPIs, you can make data-driven decisions to improve your employer branding strategy.

Setting precise objectives for your employer branding plan is crucial for the following reasons:

• It helps you stay focused and on track. By defining clear KPIs you can prioritize the projects that will help you hit your goals.
• It enables you to monitor progress and gauge success. With measurable goals, you have a benchmark to compare your progress and determine what is and isn't working.
• It enables improved decision-making. Deploy resources and invest in your employer branding more strategically once you have a clear grasp of your objectives.
• It helps you communicate with stakeholders. Setting clear and measurable goals makes it easier to communicate your strategy and how it will help the organization overall.
• It helps you justify your budget and investments. Having clear, measurable goals makes it easier to justify your budget and investments, and demonstrate the value of your initiatives internally.

When setting your goals, be sure to make them SMART, specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. This will help you to create a clear roadmap for your employer brand strategy.

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Recommendations for Choosing Appropriate KPIs to Assess the Effectiveness of your Employer Branding Strategy

21. Start with your goals: Identify the specific goals of your employer branding strategy, and then track your progress through relevant KPIs.
22. Look for both quantitative and qualitative metrics: to give you a more complete picture of how effective your employer brand initiatives are.
23. Track brand awareness: You can track this key KPI by analyzing website traffic, social media engagement, and online search volume.
24. Monitor your employee engagement: through employee satisfaction surveys and turnover rates to understand how your employer brand impacts employee retention.
25. Measure the impact on recruitment: including time-to-hire, diversity hiring, cost-per-hire, and application-to-hire ratio.
26. Track employee turnover and employee retention rates: to see how well your employer brand efforts are supporting human resources.
27. Monitor employee advocacy: through key metrics including volume of employee referrals, employee engagement on social media, and employee-generated content.
28. Track company revenue changes: it is recommended to assess any potential revenue growth or cost savings of your employer brand initiatives.
29. Monitor employee productivity: By tracking metrics including performance reviews, employee satisfaction surveys and employee engagement.
30. Track the Return on Investment (ROI) of your employer branding efforts: through metrics such as cost per hire, time to fill the role, diversity hiring ratios, application volume and interview volume.

Tips for monitoring and analyzing your employer branding KPIs to make data-driven decisions

From attracting top talent to building a strong online presence, your KPIs are the key to success. Here are 10 tips for maximizing the power of your employer branding data:

31. Establish a monthly or quarterly schedule: for monitoring and analyzing your KPIs, to ensure you have timely and accurate data.
32. Use different data sources: to track your employer branding KPIs, such as web analytics, social media analytics, and employee surveys.
33. Compare data trends and patterns over time: and determine whether your employer branding efforts are having a positive impact.
34. Look for relationships in the data: between your efforts and key metrics such as brand awareness, recruitment, employee retention, and revenue.
35. Use benchmark data: to compare your employer branding performance against industry standards and best practices.
36. Identify relevant key performance indicators (KPIs): such as brand awareness, employee engagement, and recruitment.
37. Track your progress: over time, and use data to inform decisions about how to improve your employer branding efforts.
38. Analyze the data by segments: such as location, job function, and employee tenure to identify any differences in performance.
39. Use data visualization tools: to make it easy to understand and communicate the data, such as charts and graphs.
40.  Use the data to make informed decisions: to improve your employer branding efforts, and to measure the success of your strategies.

These suggestions will simplify your decisions about your employer branding strategy by tracking and assessing your KPIs. You will be able to pinpoint your employer branding initiatives' weak points and determine what needs to be modified. You can see an in-depth example of this in our article on using data to measure success in employer branding.

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Creating Candidate Personas

In today's job market, candidates have more options than ever before, and they are selective about where they want to work. Understanding your candidate personas helps you stand out from the competition and attract the right candidates. If you understand your target audience, you can create a compelling value proposition that speaks to their needs. 

It's critical to understand your target audience in order to successfully communicate your employer brand to potential hires. Read more about the importance of identifying candidate personas to communicate your employer brand successfully here.

You can accomplish this by crafting detailed candidate personas that accurately represent your ideal candidates. As mentioned in our guide to creating personas in employer branding, these personas should include details including demographic information, career goals, pain areas, and motivators.

Creating candidate personas is not a one-time exercise. As your organization evolves, so too should your personas. Regularly reviewing and updating your personas ensures that your employer branding efforts remain relevant and effective.

10 Guidelines for Building Detailed Candidate Personas

41. Start by identifying the key characteristics and qualifications of your ideal candidates, such as education, experience, and skills.
42. Conduct research and gather data on your current employees and top performers to understand their backgrounds and motivations.
43. Use surveys and interviews to gather information directly from candidates and employees.
44. Create detailed profiles for each ideal candidate persona, including demographic information, career goals, and pain points.
45. Use buyer personas to understand the needs and wants of your candidates.
46. Use data from social media and job search websites to gain insights into the language and terminology your candidates use.
47. Segment your personas based on different levels of seniority and roles within the organization.
48. Update your personas regularly as your organization and job market changes.
49. Use personas to inform your recruitment marketing efforts.
50.  Share the personas with your recruitment and hiring teams to ensure they understand the ideal candidate they should be targeting.

Ways to Leverage Candidate Personas in your Employer Branding Strategy

By creating accurate candidate personas, you can tailor all your employer branding content and initiatives to resonate with your target audience. 

Additionally, candidate personas can also help you understand the channels and platforms where your candidates are likely to engage with you. This allows you to target your efforts more effectively. In particular, you can use candidate personas to:

51. Improve the messaging and language in your employer branding materials, such as job ads, job descriptions and career websites.
52. Guide the design and layout of your recruitment marketing materials, such as brochures and videos.
53. Enhance your recruitment campaigns and outreach efforts through personalized messaging.
54. Understand the channels and platforms where your ideal candidates are most likely to engage with your employer brand.
55. Support the development of your employee value proposition (EVP).
56. Validate the relevance of your content and topics on the company’s social media channels and blog.
57. Inform the development of your onboarding and employee engagement programs.
58. Use personas to adapt the design of your office and workspace to appeal to your ideal candidates.
59. Inform the types of perks and benefits that will be most appealing to your ideal candidates.
60. Identify any potential challenges or objections that candidates may have about working for your organization, and develop strategies to address them.

Developing a Unique and Compelling Employee Value Proposition

Developing a compelling and distinctive employee value proposition (EVP) fosters a sense of purpose and pride among employees. By highlighting the unique benefits of working at your company, you will be very well placed to attract and retain the right candidates.

Creating an EVP is a key aspect of your strategy - distinguishing you from competitors, and is critical for top talent to know. Creating an EVP that is authentic, distinctive, and relevant to both current and potential employees needs to be a top priority. A great example of a compelling EVP is Vodafone who adopted a new EVP to adapt to the pandemic.

An EVP should be created with input from employees and promoted across all of your employer branding and recruitment marketing materials. A well-written EVP can help you establish a positive reputation and foster a sense of belonging among your employees. It's a powerful tool that can assist you in achieving your objectives for talent attraction and employee retention.

We've put together tips to help you develop a compelling EVP and to communicate your EVP once it is established.

Tips on How to Create a Compelling, Strong and Unique EVP

61. Identify your organization's unique selling points and what sets it apart from competitors.
62. Gather input from current employees to understand what they value most about working for your organization.
63. Conduct research on industry trends and competitor EVPs to understand what is currently being offered in the market.
64. Clearly communicate the benefits and perks of working for your organization, including opportunities for growth and development.
65. Use employee-generated storytelling to bring your EVP to life and make it relatable to potential candidates.
66. Use language that is authentic and reflective of your company culture.
67. Test your EVP with potential candidates to ensure it resonates with them.
68. Make sure your EVP is consistent across all of your recruitment materials, from your website to job postings.
69. Continuously review and update your EVP as your organization evolves.
70.  Make sure your EVP aligns with your overall employer branding strategy.

10 Ways to Communicate your EVP through Employer Branding Efforts

Once you have your strategy in place to develop your EVP it's time to communicate this to potential hires.

Here are 10 tips to promote your EVP through employer brand initiatives:

71. Incorporate your EVP into all recruitment materials, including job descriptions, advertisements, recruiter outreach messages, interview packs and career pages.
72. Share your updated EVP and encourage your employees to speak about it in blog articles, videos and social media posts.
73. Use your updated EVP to guide the messaging on your organization's website, social media, and internal employee communications.
74. Communicate your EVP with new hires and incorporate it into onboarding and employee training programs.
75. Utilize your EVP to influence the design of your office space, company culture events and other employee engagement initiatives.
76. Share the EVP with external stakeholders, such as partners, suppliers, and customers, to demonstrate the value of working with your organization.
77. Use your EVP to drive your perks and benefits, like flexible work schedules, professional growth programs, and wellness and health initiatives.
78. As part of your alumni relations plan, distribute the EVP to alumni and invite them to share their stories.
79. Measure and track the impact of your EVP on employee engagement and employee retention.
80.  Continuously review and update your company’s EVP to ensure it remains relevant to your organization and employees.
81. Deep dive into building (or rebuilding) your EVP by following the steps outlined here.

Using your Employer Brand to Examine Your Hiring Process

As part of your employer brand strategy, it's important to create a positive candidate experience throughout the hiring process. Positive candidate experiences help to build your reputation as an employer of choice. A good hiring process should be easy to navigate, provide clear communication and feedback, and be consistent in its approach. To foster positive candidate experience it is important for employer branding and recruitment teams to work together.

Tips to Align your Hiring Process with your Employer Branding Strategy

Use the tips below to improve your candidate experience and increase your chance of attracting top talent:

82. Clearly define the job requirements and responsibilities to attract the right candidates.
83. Use clear language that aligns with your EVP to attract job seekers who align with your company culture.
84. Streamline the application process to make it easy and efficient for candidates to apply.
85. Provide your recruitment team with content and materials for talent to ensure they have a positive candidate experience.
86. Use technology and automation to make the hiring process faster and more efficient.
87. Create clear and consistent communication with candidates throughout the hiring process.
88. Use assessments and interviews that align with your company culture and values.
89. Utilize employee referrals to tap into your current employee network.
90. Monitor and measure the success of your hiring process through relevant KPIs.
91. Continuously review and improve your hiring process to make sure it aligns with your employer branding strategy.

Recommendations to align your Hiring Process to Your Company Values

Once your EVP is embedded in your hiring process it is equally important to embed your company's values and culture. This ensures a higher employee retention rate once candidates join your organization and avoids employee turnover due to culture shock.

Here are 10 ways you can align your recruitment to your business values:

92. Clearly define the values of your organization, and ensure they are reflected in the hiring process.
93. Train your hiring team on the values, and ensure they understand the importance of aligning the hiring process with these values.
94. Set clear cultural expectations for job candidates, in all recruiting materials, such as job postings, JDs and interview questions.
95. Use tools such as behavioral-based interviewing to assess how well a candidate aligns with the organization's values and culture.
96. Include a cultural fit assessment in the hiring process, to ensure that candidates are a good match for the organization's culture.
97. Encourage employee referrals, to identify job seekers who are already aligned with your organization's values and culture.
98. Develop a mentorship program that connects new hires with current employees who can help them understand the organization's values and culture.
99. Provide regular training and development opportunities for employees, to ensure that they understand and align with the organization's values and culture.
100. Make sure that the hiring process is transparent and fair, and that all candidates are treated with respect and inclusivity.
101. Continuously evaluate the hiring process to identify areas for improvement, and to keep it aligned with the organization's values and culture.

To Be Continued in Part 2!

These first 101 tips should give you the basics for creating a compelling EVP and leveraging your company values and culture.

In part two, we dive deeper into specific strategies and tactics to take your efforts to the next level. From emphasizing employee experience to localizing your strategies, there's a lot to explore.

So, buckle up and read on for part two of our comprehensive guide to employer branding in 2023

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As always, a big thank you to The Martec for their AI-powered content tool for Employer Branding - which makes this content possible.