More and more companies are beginning to realise the value of including influencer marketing as part of their recruitment strategy, both when it comes to recruiting new employees and when it comes to building an employer brand for the long term. No wonder, perhaps, as studies show that up to 86% of job seekers use social media in their job search. In this blog post, we highlight three benefits of including influencer marketing as part of your recruitment strategy.
Benefits of influencer marketing in recruitment strategies
There are so many benefits to investing in influencer marketing, and utilising it within your recruitment strategy is no exception. Here are three key benefits of using influencer marketing as part of your recruitment strategy:
1. Reach your target audience more effectively
Understanding how to reach your future employees can be tricky. Fewer and fewer people are looking for jobs the traditional way, i.e. through job sites and job advertisements. By collaborating with the right influencers, that you know reach the target group for the role you are recruiting for, this can become a direct channel to your next rising star. Of course you need to ensure, right from the start, that the profiles you choose to collaborate with actually reach out to the right people and that they will be perceived as credible talking about your company and the position. However, they do not necessary need to have the exact occupational role as the one you are recruiting for – an influencer focused on training and health, for example, could in a credible way talk about the role as police officer – even if they do not work within the Police Authority themselves.
2. Communicate with your target group – on their terms
A job advertisement published on LinkedIn or a job site is what it is – an informative description of a position and the qualifications candidates are expected to possess. By letting relevant influencers tell their followers about the role you are recruiting for, you can communicate with your potential candidates group in a brand new way – on their terms, through influencers that they have actively chosen to follow. This way, your message can be conveyed in a relevant context and discovered by people who might not have found you otherwise. As already mentioned, many people, in pursuit of their dream job, do no longer use traditional search methods. This is extra important when we talk about the younger generations, since millennials, and above all generation Z, have high demands for communication to be genuine, smart and intended for them – on their terms.
3. Strengthen your employer brand – both in the short and long term
When talking about influencer marketing in connection to employer branding, the first association is often to turn your employees into brand influencers. That is, creating a corporate culture where the employees are so passionate and engaged in the company and in their job that they are more than happy to share this with their family, friends and even in their social media networks. Turning your employees into brand influencers is of course an important part – the word-of-mouth generated through a well-executed employer branding strategy can have tremendous impact. When you have this in place, you are ready to take the next step and let established influencers who do not work at your company, but who align well with your brand and reach out to future recruits, tell your corporate story in their channels. By collaborating with relevant influencers, you can strengthen your employer brand among your target group, both in the short and long term.
Whether your goal is to recruit someone for a specific role or to build your employer brand in the long run; by showcasing your brand via relevant influencers, whom your potential employees have actively chosen to follow, you have an increased chance of reaching your target group – especially when it comes to the younger generations.
Are you curious about what this kind of campaign could look like? In the case study below, you can read about how the Swedish Police Authority used influencer marketing as part of their recruiting campaign, aiming to recruit more people to the Swedish National Police Academy!
