As we enter a new season, upgrading your employer brand marketing plan for 2024 is vital. It’s time to shake off that holiday slumber and reignite our passion for crafting magnetic employer brands.
Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting in this fascinating world of employer branding, let’s talk about how to get a proper kickstart for an unforgettable year in your job!
Dive with me into practical tips and innovative ideas to elevate your employer brand marketing content and social media marketing to meet the expectations in 2024!
VIDEO
In this episode of Building a Modern Employer Brand podcast, I’ll guide you on how to reflect and reassess your employer brand marketing during 2023 so that you can make your best employer brand marketing plan for 2024.
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Why is upgrading your employer brand marketing plan for 2024 a must-do?
As we embrace the new year, starting with a period of reflection and reassessment of our employer brand marketing efforts and recruitment campaigns in 2023 is essential.
We want to start a new year to ensure we are not repeating anything that didn’t work last year but continue with what delivered results and value last year. Finding these out is crucial in your employer brand marketing plan for 2024.
We want to start a new year to ensure we are not repeating anything that didn’t work last year but continue with what delivered results and value last year. Finding these out is crucial in your employer brand marketing plan for 2024.
Susanna Rantanen
While reflecting on 2023 HR marketing data, results, and experiences is important, this process is not about looking back.
Learning about last year’s data helps you set a solid foundation for this coming employer brand marketing and recruitment marketing season.
Dive with me into practical tips and innovative ideas to elevate your employer brand marketing content and social media marketing to meet the expectations in 2024!
8 recommended steps to make your employer brand marketing plan for 2024
Take this next information as a list of actions and steps worth making. You can make these steps big or small, but try to make them all. It will be worth your time.
#1 Comprehensive HR Marketing Data Analysis
Start with a comprehensive employer brand marketing and recruitment campaign data analysis. This includes your social media, career site and campaign data and results.
I previously spoke about HR marketing data in episode 164. Browse through the show notes or listen to the entire episode here.
#2 Ask employees for feedback on employer brand marketing and recruitment campaigns
Talk to employees to get their sentiments and feedback on your HR marketing efforts last year. This does not have to be a major study. Simply, ask around and collect feedback.
Did they notice employer brand marketing last year? What were their thoughts on it? What would they do differently or more this year? Getting their feedback and ideas can add value to your employer brand marketing plan for 2024!
Did they [employees] notice employer brand marketing last year? What were their thoughts on it? What would they do differently or more this year? Getting their feedback and ideas can add value to your employer brand marketing plan for 2024!
Susanna Rantanen
#3 Identify new opportunities for your employer brand marketing plan in 2024
Identify opportunities for improvement based on your data analysis, results and employee feedback.
#4 Make plans for something new this year
Set the stage for new. What can you do this year to take your employer brand marketing to the next level? Your audience will likely welcome a spruce of innovation and newness, too.
#5 Put more emphasis on content
Then, put more emphasis on content. What worked, what didn’t, and how can you develop your (organisation’s) skills in content creation? Or get an employer brand content marketing partner to help you level up.
Want to work with us? Contact us to set up a discovery call online >>
#6 Make employee advocacy more professional in 2024
This is the final call for modern employees boarding the employee ambassador flight.
Make your employee advocacy opportunities more professional and beneficial for both parties in 2024. Including employee advocates in your employer brand marketing plan for 2024 makes it all more coherent and collaborative.
#7 Upgrade your employer brand marketing consistency
Consistency is vital. If you didn’t make it last year, it’s time to become consistent in employer brand marketing this year.
#8 Focus on audience growth and engagement in 2024
Focus on engaging and growing: building brand trust is essential, and it will only happen with an engaged audience. Let them grow with you, and be open to growing yourself. That’s how your employer brand marketing success grows.
Make sure your employer brand marketing plan for 2024 includes plenty of engaging content and captions!
Ok, that’s the list and now I’ll take you through it with more detail.
Step 1 – Begin by reviewing employer brand marketing and recruitment campaign data from 2023
What were your 2023 marketing objectives for employer branding and recruitment marketing?
If you didn’t have marketing objectives in place for 2023, make sure you will for 2024. This is the only way to consistently follow the outcome of your marketing efforts and build a bigger picture month by month.
Key Recruitment Marketing Data
Look at recruitment marketing metrics such as content engagement, click-through, and conversion rates in your recruitment marketing campaigns.
Evaluate: Did you get lots of clicks on the apply now -button, but you didn’t get as many applications? What could have caused it? Did you get returning visitors to your job posts?
How long did people spend on your job posts and other career site content? Or, do you recognise bottlenecks in your recruitment marketing process?
Employer Brand Marketing Data
How well did your employer branding efforts meet objectives? Did you manage to grow employer brand awareness and the size of your organic audience? How did you do in terms of growing employer brand affinity?
What about employer brand value conversions? Was it worth for the business to invest in employer branding last year? Can you make a case when discussing resources for this year?
Don’t just focus only on the numbers though; consider the qualitative aspects too.
How did your employer brand marketing activities and recruitment marketing campaigns align with your employer brand’s voice and values?
Did they tell a compelling story about your company as an employer? Did they pursue consideration?
Did your (employer brand marketing generated) recruitment funnel work well enough and deliver leads to talent acquisition?
Don’t overlook these important elements in your employer brand marketing plan for 2024.
Are you looking for a data-driven employer branding partner for 2024? Can I suggest you book a discovery call with us to see if we are your right partner?
Important Social Media Insights
Social media platforms are treasure troves of social media marketing insights.
Dive into platform analytics to understand your audience behaviour and preferences, from reach to usage times and from engagement to posts to content types that resonated the most with your audience.
Look beyond likes and shares; examine comments for genuine feedback and sentiment.
What kind of content sparked conversations? Was it employee spotlights, behind-the-scenes glimpses, or industry insights?
Understanding these preferences will guide your content strategy in your employer brand marketing plan for 2024.
Step 2 – Move onto asking employee feedback and sentiments
Your employees are your employer brand’s heartbeat.
Gather their feedback on how they perceive the employer brand and its representation. Conduct surveys, focus groups, or simple informal chats to get their honest opinions.
What aspects of your company culture do they value the most? How do they feel about the way the employer brand is portrayed externally? What should you be communicating more about your workplace than you are now?
This internal perspective is invaluable in ensuring your employer brand is authentic and resonates with both current and potential employees. Your best employer brand marketing plan for 2024 takes into account your employee sentiments and feedback.
Step 3 – Make room for revitalising your employer brand marketing plan for 2024
Every brand has a story, but the power lies in how well it’s told. Reflect on the narratives you’ve shared, if any. Were they engaging, authentic, and reflective of your company’s culture and values?
Did they connect with your target audience on an emotional level? Assessing the effectiveness of your storytelling will help you craft even more compelling narratives in the future.
Remember, no employer brand is perfect, and there’s always room for growth. Identify areas where your strategy fell short last year.
- Was it in reaching a particular target audience?
- Did you have clear enough goals, objectives and the correct metrics indicating your progress in those specific areas?
- Were your resources enough or did you fall short in any areas that need more attention this year?
- Any development or learning areas that need attention this year?
- Did you build on each of your key employer brand messages equally?
- Did you stick with the content plan or slip into the alleyway of inconsistent messaging?
- Were you brave enough to leverage new social media platforms, features and formats?
- Or, were you repeating the same ol’ the same ol’ or did you introduce compelling variety in your posts?
Recognising these gaps is the first step towards addressing them in your employer brand marketing plan for 2024.
Step 4 – Make a plan for setting the stage for something new
With your reflections in hand, you’re now poised to innovate.
Use your learnings to experiment with new approaches.
It’s time to explore new social media platforms, dive into video marketing, or amplify your employee advocacy program. The insights from your reflection will be your guideposts for these innovations.
It’s time to explore new social media platforms, dive into video marketing, or amplify your employee advocacy program. The insights from your reflection will be your guideposts for these innovations.
Susanna Rantanen
The key here is to make it official, as in making it into a formal employer brand marketing plan for 2024.
Remember, this reflective exercise is not just a retrospective; it’s a proactive step towards a more impactful and resonant employer brand in 2024. By understanding where you’ve been, you can chart a clearer, more strategic path forward.
2024 is all about next steps and becoming better in reaching your goals and objectives, and returning value for the business.
Explore emerging trends in employer branding and social media. Are there new platforms where your target audience is active?
How can you incorporate AI, virtual reality, or other tech advancements into your employer brand marketing strategy?
Staying ahead of the curve is key to keeping your brand fresh and engaging. Not to mention, keep you developing and moving forward on your professional journey!
Step 5 – Plan how to get more resources towards content creation in your employer brand marketing plan for 2024
Content remains the cornerstone of any successful employer brand marketing strategy and employer brand marketing plan.
This year, focus on personalised content as well as storytelling. Get your people involved, speak more directly to your target audience, human-to-human and continue to showcase what value working in your organisation will provide for your people through your company’s culture, values, and unique selling propositions.
Content remains the cornerstone of any successful employer brand marketing strategy and employer brand marketing plan. Focus on personalised content as well as storytelling
Susanna Rantanen
Use a mix of formats – long-form copy (articles), videos, short-form copy (social media posts), polls and whatever new features social media platforms provide for us in 2024.
This will not only cater to diverse preferences but also go for new content types that will generate algorithm favours.
But always remember that authenticity and relatability are your best tools for creating compelling employer brand marketing content.
Check out ‘The Art of Dynamic Content Creation Process in Employer Branding’
Step 6 – Empower employee collaboration in your employer brand marketing plan for 2024 to make more out of employee advocacy
Your employees are your best brand ambassadors.
Encourage them to share their experiences and stories. Give them guidelines and key themes to focus on but let them do their own thing without interrupting in the middle. Educate, inspire and collaborate with them in their roles as ambassadors.
Employee advocacy will not only boost your content’s authenticity but also expand its reach.
Provide them with incentives to become active participants in your employer branding journey.
Check out ‘How to work with corporate employer brand influencers (=your employees)’
Step 7 – Upgrade employer brand marketing consistency and adaptability
While consistency in messaging and visual identity is vital, so is adaptability.
The digital landscape is ever-changing, and so are audience preferences.
Be ready to tweak your employer brand marketing plan for 2024 based on real-time feedback and analytics. Test different approaches and learn from them. However, the only way to do this is to adopt a data-driven approach to employer brand marketing and recruitment campaigns.
If you want to upgrade your HR marketing to data-driven, contact me to book a discovery call to discuss if my agency is your right partner.
Check out ‘Empower HR marketing data with these 7 concrete value-adds’
Check out ‘Data-driven recruitment marketing’
Check out ‘Data Analytics to supercharge your employer branding and recruitment marketing’
Step 8 – Include plans on how to better engage with your target audience in your employer brand marketing plan for 2024
Social media is not just about broadcasting; it’s about engaging.
Actively interact with your audience, respond to comments, and participate in relevant conversations.
This engagement not only humanises your brand but also helps in growing your network and reach.
When you engage as your company profile, always add your first name on your comments to make it more transparent who people are engaging with. It’s so irritating see companies hiding behind their logos.
As we embark on this new journey in 2024, remember that employer branding is an ever-evolving field.
Stay curious, be bold in your creativity, and most importantly, have fun with it.
This is your year to shine and make your mark in the world of employer branding.
Let’s make 2024 a year of impactful stories, innovative strategies, and magnetic brand! I’m in it with you!
Before I let you go, can I remind you about our short survey to gather employer branding people’s views, feedback, ideas and needs when it comes to an employer brand manager certification program?
It will only take you a couple of minutes, but it will be as valuable for us as this podcast has been for you.
Okay, this is it for this week!
Thanks for tuning in to the ‘Building a Modern Employer Brand’ podcast’; happy new year, my sweet peas!
Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with your HR and employer branding colleagues.
Moi moi!