Communicating an employer’s brand entails a lot more than merely having a careers page on your website and a LinkedIn company profile. All companies have a story to tell, not only about their products and services, but also about why they’re a great (or terrible) place to work. These stories sometimes lurk in the “below the surface” world of word-of-mouth, namely the mouths of employees, of ex-employees, of investors, and of executives. But companies can no longer afford to allow these stories to remain part of the enterprise’s collective subconscious. An employer brand disconnected from the companies other marketing messages, or worse yet ignored, represents real risk that can be experienced as an ever-increasing difficulty when it comes to attracting, hiring and retaining talented employees. In this presentation, Todd Nilson, a 15-year recruiting consultant and social media strategist, will outline some leading practices for an effective employer branding approach: * Getting started or Cultural Anthropology for Business * Laying out your employer brand strategy * Considerations for integrating your employer brand with your overall marketing and branding efforts * Matching up your social media campaigns with word of mouth marketing * Revving up your Careers Pages for maximum effect * Your active and passive digital employer brand * Metrics, measurement and accountability for your employer branding

1. Every employer has a
story to tell
Your employer brand strategy
via social media

2. Is your employer story
less than stellar?
Come work for us. We’re a
great place to work. Really!
We really mean it. C’mon!
(Pay no aBention to the
ominous smoke stacks.)

3. Yesterday

4. In the past, our channels
were limited.
• Print
• Radio
• Television

5. One-­‐‑way communication
We are an
Radio
awesome
place to work!
Print
Television
Potential
Hires
...

6. Today

7. Social Media = mainstream
370
Source: Did You Know 4.0

8. Social Media = mainstream
370
Source: Did You Know 4.0

9. Social Media = mainstream
370
Source: Did You Know 4.0

11. For many companies,
social media is only a...

12. Short Quiz
1. I have a LinkedIn profile.
2. I have a Facebook profile.
3. I tweet.
4. I belong to one or more other social networks.
5. My company has hired someone I identified or
attracted via one of these social networks.
6. I have tracked hiring results via social media.
7. My company has blocked one or more of these
social networks.

13. Who uses social to hire?
• Recruiters who look at social profiles... 86%
• Companies who reported hiring someone using...
o LinkedIn... 89%
o Facebook... 26%
o Twitter... 15%
• Social companies get 31% more employee referrals!
Source: Jobvite 2012 Survey

14. Social Media Reaction Scenarios
Risk Benefits Trust Response Risk Benefits
Perceived
Actual
High
Low
Low
Control
High
None
High
Low
Low
Ignore
High
None
Varies
High
Varies
Explore
Low
Low
Low
High
High
Engage
Low
High
While organizations that aBempt to ignore or control social media perceive high risk,
the actual risk of this reaction is high due to blind spots, missed market
opportunities, and more agile competitors who realize the benefits of engaging.

15. Social Media as Irritant

16. Omni-­‐‑directional
communication
We are an
awesome
place to work!
Broadcast
Online
Print
Meh. That’s
not what my
Facebook
friend said!

18. Planning your employer
brand strategy
Check and
mate, old
man!

19. Social Media Business Context
Execution Framework
Social Solution Suite
Results
Accountability
Mission
Vision
Business
Focus
Interesting
Channels
Strategy
Direction
ROI
Social ü Influence
Media
ü Engagement
Timing
ü Placement
Word of Mouth
Marketing
Message
Brand
Was there a reaction?
Public Relations
Advertising
Was it the reaction we
wanted to achieve?
Social Media KPI’s
Company’s actions
Metrics for ü Feedback
ü Targets achieved
Public Policies
Stories
Accountability
ü Guidance
Company What were the best
channels?
How do we do beBer?
Values
Achievement targets
People
Social responsibility

20. Social Solution Suite
A
set
of
social
media
channels
and
the
means
of
measuring
actionable
outcomes
so
that
you
can
adjust
your
market
messages
to
best
effect
and
START HERE
maximize
your
Strategic
Objectives
Adjust Message

21. Start with a brand audit
• Do you have a careers site?
• What drives prospective employees there?
• What do your current (and former) employees have to
say about you? (glassdoor.com)
• Your online presence
o Discussion boards
o Blogs
o Facebook
o LinkedIn
o Twitter
o YouTube
• Benchmark your competitors
o Regional
o Global
o Top Brands outside your vertical

22. Formulate your
employer brand message
• Know your assets
o Pay
o Benefits
o Facility
o Upward mobility
o Technology
o Management team
• Elevator pitch
• Look the part
• Supporting documents
• Your online self (yes, you,
not the company!)

23. What are your building blocks?
Great story
Great story Great story
demonstrating
demonstrating demonstrating
how cool your
how amazing
rock star team
shop really is
is for Brilliant
is for Amazing Benefits
is for Creative
Management
Environment

24. Building the brand
What you convey face-­‐‑to-­‐‑face
Brochures, LinkedIn
company profile, digital
communications
Your
foundational
stories

25. The Direct Approach

26. Wabbit Hunting
• LinkedIn / Facebook / Twitter Profile Searches
• LinkedIn Answers / Quora
• Hunt LinkedIn Groups
• Follow LinkedIn Companies
• Blog searches
o Via Technorati, Icerocket
• Google Alerts

27. The Indirect Approach

28. Honey Pot
• Interesting blog content
• Webinars
• Viral videos about your company
• Thought leadership
• Conversation leadership
• Community creation
o Pinterest
o Instagram
o LinkedIn Groups
• White papers
• Traditional job posting

29. Metrics Accountability
Awareness
• Visits, views, followers, fans, subscribers, mentions
Influence
• Share of voice, sentiment, top influencers, recurring visitors
Engagement
• Shares, replies, wall posts, comments, blog entries
Action / Conversion
• Resumes received, interviews, offers extended
Hired!
Based upon image by Nichole Kelly. ABribution-­‐‑NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-­‐‑ND 2.0)

30. Insight Tools
Free Pay
hBp://wiki.kenburbary.com/social-­‐‑meda-­‐‑monitoring-­‐‑wiki

31. Tomorrow

32. Prepare for more disruptions
Augmented Reality

33. Augmented Reality
Followers 12
Following 5

34. Augmented Reality
EllKell: @talentline411 Waiting for my tweets
and LinkedIn activity to yield $100K
Followers 12
Following 5

35. Prepare for future disruptions...
• 3D Printing
• Big Data
• Social CRM
• Bioscientific
advances
• Cyborgification
• Artificial intelligence
• Quantum computing

36. ... and their impacts
• Ubiquity of connectedness (the
good and bad of it)
• Organizational uncertainty /
blurring
• Free agent nation
• Globalization, localization and
extreme audience
segmentation
• Gamification
• Social profiles replace resumes
• Predictive networks (Talentbin,
Entelo)
• Extreme longevity forces
companies to be friendlier to
older “re-careering” employees
• Millennials demand a better
candidate experience

37. What to watch for

38. A few closing thoughts
• Remain calm.
• Social engagement matters in the
“War for Talent.”
• Personally embrace these tools and
raise your awareness of what they
can do.

39. Special Offer
Connect with me online (LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.)
and receive a free PDF guide: 99 Questions to
Start Building a Better Employer Brand
Todd Nilson
@socialsyntax
(414) 378-2083
http://socialsyntax.net