Content marketing is great for many things… getting new clients, increasing organic website traffic, growing your email list, and making sales. But there’s another benefit to producing and publishing awesome content for your business you may not have considered… and that’s attracting the right people to your team when hiring.
It’s hard to attract the right people to your business – and not getting the right employees can have a detrimental effect on your business growth, which is something you want to avoid at all costs.
So, how can great content help to get the best employees to apply to your upcoming vacancies?
Get noticed by the best candidates in a challenging job market
According to a recent survey by Monster, in 2023 51% of UK recruiters claim finding candidates with the necessary skills is the most significant challenge they face.
So when finding great people is difficult, you need to do everything in your power to stand out and make applying to work with you attractive.
If you can get your brand values and company culture across in your content marketing, you’re one step closer to attracting the right employees. It won’t reduce the HR side of hiring new employees but it will make your candidate pool stronger.
Why? Because people remember good content. And bad content (or a lack of it altogether) can have a negative impact… As it’s harder to get behind a company you don’t know anything about or dislike their approach.
Get into the head of the modern job seeker
Consider this… Lots of people in today’s world care about social, economic, environmental, and political issues when looking for an employer. And they can take their pick with the current candidate shortage. Research by Gartner shows that 65% of employees want to work for organisations with a strong social and environmental conscience.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, people are looking for good company culture, flexible working, and well-rounded HR policies. Work well-being is considered more than ever before… So people want to know what you’re doing to support employees.
88% of employees believe it’s no longer acceptable for companies to make money at the expense of society at large. And nearly 70% of employees say they wouldn’t work for a company without a strong purpose.
All this means you have an opportunity to appeal to the best candidates by telling people you care about these things. Shouting about it not only attracts new employees but also helps current employees to be aware of what you’re doing for the greater good.
So as long as it’s not all talk, there’s no downside to sharing your values or purpose through online content!
Attract top talent to your company with content marketing
Earlier this year at Jammy Digital, we put a job advert out for a Content Manager. The response was overwhelming with applicants and the person who got the job (who’s also the very person writing this blog post) applied because they’d seen our content.
POV: How did content attract me to the role of Content Manager?
When I saw a LinkedIn notification saying Jammy Digital was hiring, even though I wasn’t specifically on the job hunt, I couldn’t help but look… and after only a few moments, I decided to put an application in.
So, why was applying for the role of content manager a no-brainer?
Jammy Digital was already on my radar. I’d attended webinars hosted by Martin and Lyndsay, I’d been on their mailing list, and I’d even filled out their recent survey about mental health in entrepreneurs.
I liked everything I saw. From reading their content and being involved in their other events, I knew they ran their business in a way I truly valued… with kindness and honesty. And they seemed like great people (which, by the way, they are!).
Many marketing companies out there are cut-throat and don’t care about people’s well-being. I’ve experienced it myself as a freelancer and heard 101 horror stories. But not Jammy Digital – Martin explains in the Content Fortress book introduction the reason they started this version of their business was to protect their mental health, not be overloaded, and to have their business support a happy lifestyle. This makes them stand out in a crowded industry.
So when I saw the job advert before meeting them ‘officially’, I felt like I already understood what they were about… and the rest is history!
Receive more tailored cover letters and relevant applications
Last month, we’ve also advertised for a Content Writer position. Many of the applicants specifically mentioned that they enjoyed and related to Jammy Digital’s content, which spurred them to apply…
We had messages that said this like, ‘Your values resonate with mine, and I know you’d be fantastic to work with‘ or ‘I’ve been a fan of yours for ages and LOVE how you do business!‘
This really does go to show your content can work wonders for hiring amazing people, as the candidate pool for this position was top-notch. And – sorry recruiters – but we’ve not had to outsource any of the hiring process!
So, how can you attract the right people to your team with your content?
You’ve already found out why we think sharing great content is important for hiring the right people…
Now you’re here to attract the right team members to you, right? Ok, well let’s run through 7 ways you can apply this to your business so it’s easy to hire people who ‘fit’ with your company values.
1. Communicate your purpose
What’s the big picture of your business? That’s your purpose… And as we’ve already discovered, purpose matters to employees. People want to feel a part of something. So start telling people.
Share your purpose on your website – a great place for this is your ‘About’ page. Regularly talk about your company’s goals and purpose on social media, link it to case studies for customer success stories, and mention it anywhere else you can!
2. Share your opinions about the industry
Here at Jammy Digital, we’re vocal about what we like – and don’t like – about the marketing industry. By voicing your opinions, you attract people with similar views… and put people off who disagree.
There are always going to be people who think about things differently, especially when your industry can be subjective, so publicly sharing opinions shows your beliefs.
3. Build trust using multiple forms of content marketing
Sure, we love blog content… but having videos, live webinars, and emails creates a well-rounded online presence for our audience. Meghan had multiple touchpoints with Jammy Digital, and experiencing our content through different channels helps to build trust.
So we encourage you to take a look at your full digital footprint:
- Are you creating video content, so people can hear you talk and see your expressions?
- Do you host live events where your audience can ask you questions?
- Are you talking to your audience on different social media platforms?
- Do you reply to their comments and engage in conversations?
All these things add to your credibility and authority in the industry, which helps for all elements of your business growth but can be especially useful when looking to hire great candidates.
4. Tell people your brand values
Are you actively saying what you care about online? Every business has its own values and reasons for doing things in certain ways. When you start expressing that, people can find out what’s important to you and your company, and if they agree you’ll stay in their minds.
If you have a particular focus on the environment, for example, are you writing or talking about it online? These things matter to people and can be the reason they apply – or don’t – to your job vacancy.
There are many candidates out there who may not be looking for a new role yet but if they like what they see and agree with your values, it may make them reconsider. We had people actively say they weren’t looking for a job but applied for this very reason. As with all content marketing, being consistent pays off.
5. Demonstrate company culture
Like with your purpose and values, it’s important to show your real company culture. What’s a day in your office like? How do employees really feel about working with you? How do you demonstrate your values into that culture?
You may have to get creative if you have a remote team. It’s possibly harder to show ‘behind the scenes’ images if your team works remotely, but it’s not impossible. Share online, from the employer’s perspective, success stories or awesome things your employees are doing both at work and during their free time.
6. Don’t just get employees – get brand advocates
If your employees are talking about how great it is to work within your company, it will help to build brand advocates. Think about how quickly word can spread to their friends, online connections, and other people they chat with. Before you know it, you’ve got your employee’s brother-in-law looking out for vacancies.
How do you do this through content? Ask employees to write guest posts, share video testimonials, and populate their own LinkedIn profiles. But it can’t be forced on them (as that will look inauthentic)… They have to want to do it to spread the word about your company.
The same goes with your customers and business contacts – if you’re doing a great job, they will help to spread the word. This builds your own reputation and credibility, especially if it comes from a well-respected person.
For example, people applied to us having seen we were recommended by Daniel Priestley or the foreword to our book was from Marcus Sheridan.
Everyone loves a referral, and any time another person mentions your brand or company online you’re getting in front of way more people.
7. Show your personality (both as a brand and humans)
Now, the last point is that not everything has to highlight your values and the good you do to connect with the right people. Sometimes it’s as simple as sharing the things you love or mentioning an element of your past that adds to your personality.
Lyndsay mentions her obsession with Harry Potter and cats on our About and Meet The Team pages. Yes, it’s a simple little addition, but it draws people in and makes you more memorable (Plus, would we really want to work with someone who doesn’t love HP?).
And a few brilliant candidates mentioned Harry Potter when they applied to us!
People crave connection – so don’t hold back on what makes you, you! Add personality to your content.
I’m hiring right now – is it too late to share content that attracts great employees?
The beauty of content marketing is that you can publish things instantly across multiple channels. If you’re reading this today and you’re hoping to attract more people to your current vacancy, don’t panic – it’s not too late.
Here’s a few ideas about what to focus on:
- What the day-to-day life in your company is like and how you work as a team – told from the perspective of a current employee
- What your company’s big vision is and how a new employee plays a part in that
- Highlight the key perks of the role, such as extensive training, flexible working, etc.
- Does your company get involved in any charitable acts or have strong environmental policies? Explain this through online content.
- Is your About or Meet the Team page updated?
So, what could that look like?
3 example content ideas to illustrate these points
- Can you ask an employee to share their experience in a video interview? Perhaps they have asked for specific training to support their role, have learned a lot from other team members, or feel a deep sense of pride in their work. Ask them a few questions and post this online.
- Can you showcase your daily company culture? Take photos of your team meetings or office spaces on ‘real’ days (i.e. not staged for cameras).
- Have you helped a local charity recently or supported another business in need? Write a blog post about community projects explaining why that’s important to not just them, but also your values.
Not ready to hire? Attract the best freelancers instead!
You might not be ready to employ someone permanently, which is perfectly okay. Maybe you’re here to be nosey about what we did in our own business!
Well, the good news is the same concept goes for if you’re looking to partner with expert freelancers to build your team… You still want to work with the best people to do your business justice (even if it’s on a short-term basis).
The content you put out there will show freelancers what your company is like to work with, so consider this if you reach out to them or put a call-out for an expert. What you say online in your content marketing will impact their decisions to work with you or not.
Felicity of The Brand Language Lab regularly partners with agencies to deliver work, and she said a defining factor of working together is:
“Case studies that show work with wow factor and go in-depth about the strategy and steps to make it happen. It shows there’s method behind what they do and that they genuinely care about doing their best for the end client, too. It helps me judge if our values, beliefs, and approach to work align, which is a big deal for me…”
So if you want to partner with that coveted expert, make sure you’re communicating what’s important to you to attract the right people to you and not giving off any red flags.
Get help producing consistent stand-out content for your business and fill your vacancy with awesome candidates
Are you feeling inspired to be a bit more creative in your approach to content marketing – considering it from the point of view of potential employees instead of just potential clients?
There really aren’t any downsides to producing stand-out content!
But planning, writing, and publishing content is time-consuming… And that’s without the added pressure of coming up with new ideas every month. Don’t worry – we love it and can take it off your to-do list.
At Jammy Digital, we believe there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing our clients grow their businesses through awesome, stand-out content. That’s why we offer fully managed content marketing services, where the work you put in is minimal. Think of us as your partner to start growing your business on autopilot.
What do we offer? Our two main regular services are SEO blog content and short-form video content packages. So, no matter your audience, you can share content in a way that feels right for you.
The post How to attract the best talent to your company through content appeared first on Content Marketing & SEO Agency | Get More Sales From Your Website.