3 ways startups can boost employer branding without breaking the bank

Startups believe that employer branding requires millions of dollars dedicated to ad campaigns. However, the most trusted and authentic employer branding comes from a resource you already have – your employees. Universumglobal defines employer branding as the process of promoting a company, or an organisation, as the employer of choice to a desired target group, one which a company wants to recruit and retain. Employer branding has a significant impact on a company's ability to hire good talent. Here are three cost-effective practices on how startups can boost employer branding:

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Highlight your company's unique work culture

An organisation's employer branding goes beyond job postings on different career pages. Today, before accepting a job at a company, employees want a picture of how the company functions on a day-to-day basis and how the company's top talent treats their employees. This picture would include more information about the company culture, physical office space, and the candidate experience. One way to give potential hires an insight into the employer brand is by creating a well thought out Employee Value Proposition (EVP). It gives your employees a view into what they receive in exchange of coming to work at your company. It answers the pertinent question (What's in it for me?) that goes beyond salary and benefits.

Create a welcome video for potential employees

Even before the interview process begins, the hiring team should create a video for the applicants. This video can have the hiring team take the candidates through the office space virtually and introduce them to the team they will be working with if they get hired. This not only gives the candidate an insight into the company culture, but it also shows them that the employers are doing their bit to keep things transparent. The best part of this is that the video doesn't have to be shot by videographers professionally. It can simply be shot by the hiring team through their mobile phones. The more authentic and personal the welcoming video is, the greater the chance that the potential candidate will want to work with the company

Give the world a sneak peek into life at your company

Make optimum use of social media to give the world a sneak peek into the goings-on of your company. Create a blog as well as Facebook and Twitter pages to grant aspiring candidates an opportunity to look behind the scenes and engage with your company. Ensure that whoever is handling these pages is constantly active and responsive to any queries that come in. Use social media to your benefit by chatting with customers and sharing employee stories that focus on your company's work culture. Boost your employer brand exponentially by introducing the world to your values, culture and employees.

Employer branding requires on-going support from managers at all levels and is well worth the effort in the long run. Use the above mentioned techniques to boost employer branding without breaking the bank and your organisation will end up attracting the right talent.