Fishing for Talent through Employer Branding

Linkedin, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter: what do they all have in common?  They are all channels for you to showcase workplace culture.  If your recruiting team is not using social media to attract and retain talent, you better get going because the truth is, your competition probably is.

I have been strategizing and executing the @lululemonpeople channel for a few years and have learned quite a lot from trial and error.  In the past year, our social recruiting team has doubled our followers and increased engagement.  I have had some key takeaways and identified 5 things to consider when starting your social recruiting strategy.

1. Intention

The most important thing you need to do when considering your social strategy is to figure out what you want to achieve.  Are you looking to gain more followers? Is it reach and engagement you are looking for?  Are you seeking another outlet to share job postings and attract passive candidates?  Whatever it may be, it’s important to sit down and write out your social goals.  Setting specific measurable goals will help you identify what path to take.  My team and I initially had a goal to share jobs with the hopes that with our global expansion, our applications would increase.  We quickly learned this is not what our followers wanted to see from us, and instead took the opportunity to share our culture and give them exactly what they wanted – what it was like behind our walls and what it looked like to work for us.

Now that we have that intention set, we know what we need to share and how much.  Your social strategy will adjust based on what candidates want to see and we use analytics and metrics to determine what that is.

2. Brand Voice

The content you create is impactful, and you want to ensure that it inspires your audience. You know your brand and more importantly, why people choose to be a part of it.  Figure out the characteristics that make your employees special and share that with the world.  The law of attraction is powerful, and knowing why people choose to work for your company will help you understand why others would too. Whether they choose you because of the culture, the leadership, the incredible benefits –identify that and share it.  Similar people, who are seeking this out will naturally be attracted to learn more about what you have to offer.  Questions to help get you started:

What do we stand for?

What makes us different from our competition?

The above is a great place to start because in understanding what sets you apart will help you determine what you need to share. I have found success in asking myself these few questions right before I hit the post button (to 10K plus followers)

Is this authentic, educational, challenging, cheeky or inspiring? 

If not, delete and start again. Every piece of content you share should be one of those.  I have found ease in sharing as I write as if I am having a conversation with a good friend.

3. Hashtags ##

The best thing your recruiting team can do is to team up with your copywriters and social media experts.  They are best in the world at all things social, so use what you got to elevate your channels. Creating your own unique, branded hashtag is a valuable method for gaining brand awareness.  Although it may take some time to get up and running, the benefits are worth it.  We have been using #joblove, #thesweatlife and #thislululemonlife and they each speak to what makes our brand special and unique.  We now have all employees sharing these catchy hashtags and when passive or active candidates take to the internet, there is a clear picture painted of who and what we are all about.  And hashtags aren’t just for twitter, you can include them in your email signature, website and business cards.

4. Cadence & Rules

Tweeting and gramming is always fun, but when you are doing it on behalf of a brand, guidelines and process must be set.  My team has found success in choosing select “content sharers” for each day of the week.  These are people that live and breath our culture and can spread messages in an authentic voice.  We split days based on what we want to share.  For any channel, cadence is about 2-6 shares a day.  This is an ideal target and remember quality trumps quantity, so its best to leave it if you don’t have anything exciting to post.

5. People = Brand

So we have this robust social strategy, with quality images and branded hashtags – but what is missing?   We can be creating perfectly curated content but if your employees are not joining in the fun it is pointless.  Your people are your advocators and the best brand ambassadors.  The community at lululemon uses social to share knowledge, engage, and speak honestly about what and why they choose us.

We have learned that people want to see what is happening behind the luon-clad walls and they want it shared authentically by their peers.  The true value of a brand is the experience and we aim to capture moments and daily occurrences and share it with the world.  People can see through posed and forced content so it is equally important to enroll your people in sharing.

In this candidate driven marketing, and the war with talent, we need to use what we have – our competitive edge as a company, what sets us apart from the rest as an attraction piece.

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Tas Goel:  Talent Acquisition at lululemon athletica.  The 5 F’s of my life: Family, Friends, Fashion, Fitness & Food.  I can be found on the mat, seawall, or on the saddle at RIDE.