According to the Content Marketing Association, content marketers are responsible for “creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience.”
This definition can be applied across the business spectrum, including building a strong employer brand to attract the right talent and hire better.
So, how can you get started?
Here are 3 great, easy ways to make sure your content marketing efforts help you compete for the very best talent.
1. Decide who your audience is. As a general life rule, we tend to speak to different people in different ways. Content marketing requires a similar approach – knowing who you’ll be speaking to helps you do it better. Define your target audience or candidate personas by asking yourself what types of people you’re looking to attract to your company. Once you’ve nailed down who your audience is, take a look at where they’re engaging, whether it’s a specific social network or a handful of platforms that you’ll need to populate with content. Think about what would be most attractive to them, and do your internal research by speaking to current employees about what drew them to your organization.
2. Develop the right types of content. Once you have a pretty good idea of who your target talent audience is, you’ll need to research the various platforms that offer the most candidates. Remember, not all industries and job types are blog friendly, or highly active on Twitter. Some companies strike gold on LinkedIn while others rely on email marketing or Facebook campaigns. The only way to decide what’s right for your content marketing strategy is to make sure you know what your audience wants and uses. Your goal when creating content is to draw in the types of candidates that are ideal for your organization, and then show them why your company is an employer of choice. Ultimately, your content should position you as an industry leader, making it easier to target the right talent.
3. Pick your platforms. Since there are so many social media and digital platforms to think about, start small. You can always branch out. It’s also important to remember that different platforms require different types of content. Simply applying your blog posts to all accounts or curating the same content to each platform isn’t necessarily the best strategy. Take a look at your strongest pieces of content and look closely at your analytics to understand performance on various platforms. You can still use the same content in different areas once it’s been adapted to fit that particular space. And once again, don’t forget that your current employees likely have great insight on which channels are best.
Types of content that generate interest and brand awareness include company newsletters that highlight new products, launches, or company achievements. You can also highlight award recipients to reinforce messaging around how your company fosters employee growth and teamwork. Plus, blog posts or articles on topics that are relevant to your business can help position you as a thought leader, while video content is a great way to get your talent pool engaged, especially when paired with social campaigns or contests. Start implementing your content marketing strategy today by following these three easy steps, and stay tuned for more on how you can leverage your current assets to make the most of your existing creative elements.