Why I don't see a lot of shampoo ads
It's called multi-channel marketing and we could learn some useful lessons.
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Sometimes I irritate recruiters because I say things like…
TA Leaders, do you have any idea what your recruiters
are saying to candidates right now?
Or things like…
Legal, I know you want to review every piece of content
that goes on the LinkedIn feed, but do you have any clue
what recruiters are saying to people without any oversight?
That last one is my party trick to freak out the company lawyers (or someone from the comms team) as they do the math of how many people recruiters are communicating to on a daily basis under the aegis of the brand without any review whatsoever.
I suspect recruiters get irritated because they think the underlying statement is “we need to control what recruiters say!”
And that’s not what I’m trying to say at all.
What I’m talking about is multi-channel marketing.
When you shop at The Gap (for example), it tracks your purchases. If you have a loyalty card, it knows that you are a woman who tends to buy boot cut jeans and hoodies there. It knows you have a preferred color palette. It knows you don’t buy coats or warm weather clothes, but it also knows your zip code and infers if you either buy those things elsewhere or just don’t need them at all.
And when you get emails from them, it doesn’t suggest men’s button-down shirts because it knows you don’t want those. It doesn’t show images of black hoodies when it knows you prefer vibrant colors. It also knows that you never click on text messages, but that when you do get a text message, you are more likely to go to the website and look around.
What’s happening is that the different marketing channels are coordinating. They aren’t different tools, but different elements of the same strategy.
They aren’t treating your in-store purchases as a silo that doesn’t inform what emails you get. The text blast to your phone isn’t a “failure” because you never click on, but rather a clear picture is being built of who you are and how you prefer to buy.
And in a lot of ways, when it is strategic and not just the chorus of a song everyone’s mean to sing, employer branding is the foundation to building something more “multi-channel” to your recruiting.
For example, your recruiter has a great conversation with a killer candidate, where that recruiter extolled the virtues of working there: the chill culture, the amazing food, the relaxed atmosphere, and the killer holiday parties. The call ends with the promise of another, more actionable conversation.
What do you think the very next thing that killer candidate does?
That’s right. They Google you.
And that’s when the wheels fall off the wagon.
Your career site is focused on the performance-focused culture, and all the amazing things people have achieved there by pushing each other.
The job posting (ignoring the generic list of requirements that aren’t really requirements) talks how proud everyone feels to be working there.
Your social posts talk about your company’s commitment to doing good and giving back.
And your reviews suggest a company where infighting stifles innovation.
Suddenly, the candidate feels like they can’t get a clear picture of the company. And it certainly doesn’t sound like what the recruiter said. And after that, the recruiter finds it impossible to get them on the phone again.
A strong employer brand connects the dots so that there is thinking being done that gets to what’s true and different about the company, and teaches every channel (from career site to job board to recruiter talking points) how to create a clear picture about the company.
One that will hold true throughout the interview process and well into their tenure.
Yes, getting recruiters to adjust their talking points might mean that slightly fewer will engage (but that’s not true, because when you present a clear picture, more great candidates start reaching out to recruiters), but the value is that they will stop dropping out of the process.
The heart of multi-channel marketing isn’t “we’ll spam you on different platforms!” but “all the different platforms and touch points all feel aligned to the same ideas, so you can understand what the company is all about regardless of how you start the journey.”
This is yet another way that thinking more strategically and seeing the big picture will allow you to attract more great hirable candidates without having to add on to your already-bloated tech stack.
🃏 A lot of different people in your company need to know about your employer brand project. Here’s a guide to winning them over »
🃏 A guide to picking the right EVP/EB vendor »
🃏 How to better communicate strategy »
🃏 The value of branding »
🃏 We can learn a LOT from how the creator economy works and influences people »
🎙️ Podcast worth listening to: How Stories Happen. Jay Acunzo is a content marketing OG and in this podcast he looks at one business story at a time and breaks it down to help you build better ones »
🎙️ Podcast worth listening to: LinkedIn Branding Show. Michelle and Michelle (collectively ‘Michelle Squared’) take LinkedIn (but not themselves) seriously. A totally worthwhile listen »
🎙️ Podcast worth listening to: Pos!tioning with April Dunford. The queen of structural branding (i.e. positioning), April’s podcast is fantastic. »
🏛️ All 2,400+ (five years worth!) articles from this newsletter are in a searchable archive. Go get ‘em!
One: Understand the financial impact having a strong employer brand. Nine questions to get your custom report. It’s free! »
Two: Compare 25 employer brand building companies side-by-side. It’s how you make a better decision about who will help you best in your EB journey. It’s free! »
Three: Three case studies that prove how an employer brand can be built in just three weeks. A 250-person manufacturer, a 300-person construction company, and an 800-person video game company. Just reply to this email.
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