Q&A: Create Recruitment Marketing Content that Lasts

The number one thing that the Rally community wants to learn — in every poll we’ve conducted for the past two years — is how to create great Recruitment Marketing content. So at our recent webinar, “Strategies for Creating Recruitment Marketing Content that Lasts”, we asked the experts: Brittni Williamson, Director of Talent Acquisition at Ochsner Health, Lauryn Sargent, CoFounder and Partner of Stories Incorporated, and Lori Sylvia, Rally Founder. During the webinar, they presented strategies for building out your Recruitment Marketing content library the right way so that the content will be relevant no matter how your organization moves forward.

One of the things we learned is that creating content “that lasts” is different for Recruitment Marketing compared to Marketing. In Marketing, the goal is typically to create evergreen content, which means content that isn’t obviously dated. But in Recruitment Marketing, the goal is to create content that will remain relevant no matter how your organization evolves or how your company culture may change.

Our experts shared so much content on a webinar about content that our panelists didn’t have time to answer our audience questions before the webinar ended. So with our panelists’ help, we’ve pulled together this Q&A.

Meet Our Panelists

Webinar Q&A: Strategies for Creating Recruitment Marketing Content that Lasts

1. What do you recommend for a company that’s very strict about not using content once an employee has left the company? It’s hard to get buy-in for big projects/investments when there’s a chance the employee might leave and we can’t use the content anymore!

Lauryn: This is a hurdle! For this reason and more, collecting stories from new employees on a regular basis is important. Collecting stories from employees who are thriving and engaged as a result of your culture is also one thing you should be doing anyway, and might help capture stories from employees who are more likely to stay (some of the time).

2. How would you recommend a company handle content that contains an employee who has since left or was terminated?

Lauryn: Hello! Before gathering employee stories, you should get their signature on a release form. This is an expected/common part of the process, and generally it states that the company owns the content. That protects you legally. But of course, you won’t want to keep this content up if the employee doesn’t want you to or if they left for contentious reasons (i.e., were terminated for cause). 

However, if you’ve used an employee story — focusing on what the company has done to make life better for that person — it’s still relevant to the candidate. You need to audit your content periodically to make sure the story still reflects your current culture. And culture evolves, so for that reason you should expect to collect new stories from new storytellers on a regular basis anyway.

3. Could you talk about the relationship between recruiting & marketing if those are two separate departments in an organization?

Lori: At most employers, recruiting and marketing are separate departments, although they work closely together. In the last 5-10 years, a new function has emerged called Recruitment Marketing. Recruitment marketers are responsible for marketing the company as an employer, versus marketing the products or services sold to customers. In our 2019 Recruitment Marketing Job & Salary Survey, we learned some interesting statistics about where this function resides in an organization. 66% of full-time Recruitment Marketing practitioners and 64% of part-time practitioners report into the talent acquisition or HR department. 11% of full-time Recruitment Marketing practitioners and 3% of part-time practitioners report into the marketing or communications department. 

4. Do you recommend responding to reviews? What are some pro tips?

Brittni: Managing your employer reputation is critically important, with so many employer review sites now available. Responding to reviews is an essential part of the customer service experience of social media.

It is best to respond to negative reviews with clear and compassionate language. The goal is NOT to address the issues raised in the review head-on and publicly; It is more important to show other potential candidates that you are a responsible employer concerned about the employee experience. My recommendation would be to craft a formal customer service response to negative reviews and get the language approved by compliance and/or your legal department. Explain that you regret or apologize for the way the reviewer feels and encourage them to email their complaint to your organization directly. Take the issue out of the public eye and provide contact information to specific departments or representatives that can address these concerns. 

If you receive a positive review from an employee, it is equally important to respond and thank them for the review. Thank them for being part of the team and report the positive feedback (especially if they name a specific leader or team member) to leadership as part of your social reporting.

5. Is this kind of project typically led by your corporate marketing department or your recruiting staff? I’m not sure I feel like I have the skills to put all this together as a recruiter.

Lauryn: Typically these projects are led by the employer brand person or team (if the function exists at your company) or talent acquisition. Corporate marketing could lead it, but oftentimes they are devoted to the consumer, not the candidate, so if corporate marketing does lead it they will need your insight and perspective throughout the project. 

Recruiters are incredibly valuable to projects like this because you know your candidates better than anyone (the questions they ask in the interview process, why they choose you over other companies, the kinds of people that thrive in your culture once they get there). Where you need support is creating the content (creative) and amplifying it so a wider group of potential candidates see/experience the stories (marketing). An outside partner like Stories Incorporated can help with this, and you would learn from the process as well. You can also learn a great deal through the content designed to educate recruiters like you on marketing basics from Rally Recruitment Marketing. You can do this!

6. I am an HR department of one, just hired for a growing startup. What is your biggest advice for someone like me with a small budget and team?

Brittni: My advice to you would be to spend your time and money where most of your job seekers frequent. Start by weighing the value of LinkedIn vs. Facebook in terms of relevance for the kind of jobs you are working to fill. Reach out to your LinkedIn representative or ask to get set up with a representative from their team. They can provide you with information on the saturation of your target job seekers on their platform.

Facebook is relatively easy to set up and low cost if you stay clear of paid ads in the beginning. I would do research on pages for similar businesses to your own. Mimic those things that you find attractive.

Depending on your savvy level, it may be helpful to work with a vendor in the beginning and worth the money to get you started. I would offer to you to consult with my social media guru if you had specific questions.

It’s helpful if you plan your calendar at least a month in advance. Start simple with “hot job” posts and what’s current in your industry, and national celebratory days (which you can google, to see what applies to your needs).

Lastly, schedule a meeting with your key stakeholders who need hires, and have a brainstorming discussion.

Rally Note: Brittni has great advice for how to get leadership and stakeholder buy-in to your recruiting content project. Hear her pro tip in this short video:

7. What are some tips for capturing employee stories while companies are working from home?

Lauryn: Do everything you can to create an experience that’s comfortable for the storyteller. We’ve created a methodology to capture employee stories in a virtual setting for companies that aren’t returning to the office soon. In addition to facilitating the session with the employee storyteller, so the stories are conversational and substantive, the Stories Inc. team walks them through how to create the best visuals. We like to use professional equipment so we can control the quality, but there are other ways you can make sure lighting, etc., is set up correctly so the storyteller feels good about how they look and sound.

8. Where can I watch the webinar recording ?

Lori: Thanks again to Brittni and Lauryn for a fantastic webinar! You can now watch the webinar on demand here plus you can access and download the speaker slides. Enjoy!

Have more questions about creating a Recruitment Marketing content library? Contact Us and we’ll reach out to Brittni and Lauryn to get you the answers!

Stories Inc. is a sponsor of Rally. Their sponsorship fee helps us to provide educational resources on Recruitment Marketing.