Introduction

Good morning everyone. I hope you have all grabbed a quick coffee and are all ready to kick off your mornings with the first of our with the second, actually, of our, employer branding session. Scolds your online employer presence. So in just 30 minutes, I will talk you through the most important elements that are to know. Because why take longer if speed and experience is everything that it’s about in a recruitment today, right? So before we start, you, are able to leave some questions in the private jets or in the comments of this LinkedIn event. And towards the end of the session, we will cover one of those questions. But if you might have additional questions or you have just things that haven’t been answered yet, which hopefully is not the case, but in the case of you can, towards the end book of 15 minutes free sparring session with me to talk about your individual case.

Who is Donja Laarhoven (your awesome speaker)?

So it might be the second time you’re joining today. Or is your first. So a quick introduction about myself, then. My name is Donia. I am the co-founder and CEO of employer and AVP Dot AI, and we are proud, proud, finalists of the Air Technology Awards. This year and last year, I was nominated for the FDA talent of the year awards. Which was a great achievement as well. Together with a team of nine brilliant minds, we’re currently covering Europe and Australia into creating, for employers and making sure that’s amazing. Employer brands and, online presences are created. And as a result of that, we have, scanned more than 112 different companies and their online presences and help them to improve, and find their best target group.

What is an online employer presence?

So guys, what we’re going to talk about today is you may be the Beyoncé of your company culture, but if your online presence is more like a culture Benz, how will talent then know you’re holding auditions? And of course, it might sound easy, but it’s not. So what is online employer presence actually? So let me tell you straight.

I hope you all recognize the first image, which is, an image that went viral a few years ago, and it was about an ad, a simple ad on Facebook about a dress you could buy. And there was a whole discussion that went viral about whether this this dress was gold or black. And there were there were so many different views on this one ads and people started discussing people’s just started to reposting it. Brands were tapping into this discussion because there was a whole psychological, reasoning behind it, and people just really loved to talk about it. And across the globe, everyone was raving and talking about it. And I think almost every one of you should have, might have seen this, this image. But what happened is it was just a simple ad of this one company on Facebook, but being there on the right moments in the right place. This simple ad resulted in incredible sales of this specific dress because people wanted to buy in the hype, so to say, the reach was incredible. And, this specific brand was able to donate a lot of the, revenue, created by this one simple ad, to charities as well. So the results and the reach that they have gotten was larger and bigger than they could have ever imagined.

So I want to emphasize on online employer presence in shorts is actually the art of showing up and standing out. When and where your best candidates are. And standing out is super important because, if you just have an average presence or if you are just, yeah, almost similar as most of the companies are, then you won’t stand out. So this is a crucial part of having a good employer online presence is you only have four seconds. Each time a candidate visits a certain platform, visits your career site, every time they see something about your company, you only have four seconds to convince them. This is really important to understand when creating your online presence.

So being a hidden gem might sound cool and might that might be something that you want to achieve. But let me tell you that this is not, the case when you are hiring. It’s not about being a hidden gem. It’s about making you a visible gem.

So ask yourself before we dive into the details. When you were looking for a vacancy, or you might have been even looking for a vacancy when you, applied for your current job, but what triggered you? And where did you find your clearance that you can see? And when you. Was it maybe because of an Instagram post? Was it maybe because you saw a vacancy on LinkedIn? Was it maybe because you googled something and you just popped up on this company or on this vacancy page? And when you have when you did find this vacancy, that you then also decided to scroll and go around the internet to find things about the company. Maybe you looked at the online profile of the leader that you were going to work for, or the CEO, or which platforms did you actually use? Well, all of these questions are important because your job seekers are also doing this.

What does the online employer journey look like?

Though, there’s a whole journey behind your online employer presence because every company has a different online employer presence for two reasons. This is because every company is recruiting different people. So truly understanding who your persona is and your persona is actually the the definition of the type of candidate you’re looking for. And it’s really important for creating a online presence to understand which platforms they are present on and what type of content they like. Because if you are present on Facebook but your persona is on TikTok, then you simply put won’t find your perfect candidates. Then it’s important to understand what type of content is resonating with them. Because, and that is all about your employee value proposition. In short, it’s your EVP. This is what the previous session all has been about to create your EVP, so you can rewatch the recordings if you want to. But it’s exactly it’s important within those four seconds to emphasize on why they want to work for you and not for your competitor. And those two elements are then important to share with the world on a larger scale. And this is an online employer presence is the ability to engage with a large amount of potential candidates on the right moment, on the right place to attract.

Why is it important to have an online employer presence?

So why is it important for them to have an online employer presence? Because we all understand as recruiters and HR alike, a lot of the a lot is expected from us. But you can actually see recruitment as marketing nowadays, right? It’s as important to let them know that you have vacancies, then, that you have certain products or service that you offer, especially because the global talent shortage will continue to grow. So we’re looking at almost 6% in two years time, and it will be 11% in 2030, which is an incredible number that will be continue to grow. So tell your management about this. On top of that, what we see happening is that younger generations are in demand and are actually utilizing the online world more and more. So an incredible 91% of millennials are active on social media. And it’s important to understand that millennials will cover 75% of the labor market. In today’s world in just a year and three months. So while they’re using, social media, even 79% of job seekers will use social media in their search for at least one hour, and 64% won’t even apply if they don’t like what they see, let alone if they don’t see you at all.

What does the online employer presence landscape look like today?

So the question is not if you need an online employer presence, but how fast you can stand out of the crowd. And the reality of today, guys, is, out of all the 112th employer skins that we’ve done, the online average employer presence score generated for those companies has been a 3.8 out of ten. So I don’t know from which country or dialing in. But with ten being the most positive score, we really have a huge gap that we need to close all together because we see that there’s a lot of knowledge and a lot of, things that can be improved. In today’s release.

What are the results of having a strong online employer presence?

Because when you do your when you fix your online employer presence and when it’s done well, what you will and then result is, is compared to with your current situation, you will get a much larger reach. And within those this much larger reach, you will be able to find and attract more matches. Because good and strong employer branding is not only about a big reach, but it’s also about filtering out those people that are your perfect match.

So the results that you will get from a a great online employer presence is of course, you cannot attract talent if there is nothing attractive to find about you and what it does. It just generates a great first impression online because imagine someone landing on your indeed page with an amazing corporate story and amazing, exciting cultural value that they find there versus a company page that is not existent or is completely lacking it just immediately and understandably, that whenever talent has 4 or 5 companies to, choose from, that if other competitors are doing it better than you, you lose your competitive advantage. So it’s important to stick to stand out. Also, brands reputation is really considered important in today’s style of market, so having a proper presence on those platforms shows potential candidates that you care that you are a company that is, fast forward and is utilizing online worlds, which they find important. But I think also amazingly, in, when working on an online employer presence, it that is that it generates both internal and external engagements and provides because we have seen so many customers that we have helped with their employer branding and online presence and the pride that employees get when you’re you as a company or as an employer, give them information that they love and are able to a proud to share, they will definitely do so.

Where do I start with my online employer presence?

I can imagine that, you know, asking of thinking of yourself. So where do I start? Let us help you.

The number one first step you always need to take. And in our, in our opinion, this is a no brainer is to always start with data. You always need to understand. Now, approaching the end of 2023, what are my 2024 hiring goals and what is the strategy that we want to need to achieve? The strategy that we need to take to achieve those goals. On top of that, you then are going to analyze which type of platforms does your persona use. So, do we need to utilize the platforms that we already have? Do we have a presence already on these platforms? Do we maybe need to utilize different platforms? So really research your persona needs, to match with that. Then you can, analyze your current platforms. So how many followers do you have on each platforms? What is the actual reach that you have? What are the most successful posts? How many likes, engagements, etc.? So to really utilize your current data, you also have a business case to your management and your business and your, team to say, hey guys, this is our zero management. This is where we are at today. And combined with our 2024 hiring goals, who are going to achieve X, but most importantly, to drive the case and to also prove the importance, within your business. We have also learned that comparing your stats with your competitors is essential to, also, understands, okay, am I doing the right thing or am I actually, ahead, or do I need to actually fill the gap between myself and my competitors?

As a second step talking about your online presence strategy. So, yeah, as a second step, you can align on okay, where do I want to be in two years? Do I actually have the right presence nowadays or what is actually my what are my strategy needs. Because it could, for example, be that your you, you are hiring lawyers, for example, but you’re completely automating in the coming years. So your focus from hiring lawyers needs to go to developers next year. So there might be that other platforms are necessary for this. Then also what could change is your type of persona, because currently you might be looking for really analytical people, but if you’re looking for developers, they might have completely different needs. So what type of presence do you currently have versus the type of persona you will need in the future?

And if you have those two elements, straight then of the police and force go into activation mode. So activating your online presence, based on your persona and company strategy. And that starts with creating a strong presence on your most important platforms. And no, don’t create an incredible place of platforms on all the different platforms. Right. At the same time, that’s not necessary. It’s important to at least fix all free and quick wins first, because in this today, still in markets, what you don’t want and you cannot use is to miss a candidate that might be, amazing for your company. But doesn’t apply because you don’t have, for example, a LinkedIn presence or an Instagram presence. So at least make sure that you have a good baseline on each platform. 603 and quick wins first and then decides and, manage and monitor the most important platforms for you. How you do that is measuring and monitoring your progress and traction. So number one rule, always make sure that you have your own analytics page, so that you can track the traffic to your career site, etc. and understand which social media platforms drive most traffic for you. But also look, for example, at your ads data or your HR system. So this type of data also helps you to understand which platforms drive most traction for your candidates. But also, for example, make sure that always after an interview or after you have spoken to a candidates, always make sure that you add in an automated way or in an interview the question to understand, which platforms that they were using. Then of course, it’s important to, understand that you need to continue to grow your online presence and always needing to level up. So leveling up means that there’s always, a reason that you, can grow. So having a great presence now on LinkedIn and Instagram, for example, isn’t enough in a year’s time. So continuously also this platform continuously evolving. So you always need to understand that you need to level up. It’s not a one time gig. It’s a continuous thing that you need to be focusing on.

Employer online presence, the corporate equivalent of online dating

It’s actually like online dating guys because you always you also want to have your most prettiest profile picture if you want to hit up your future person. Right. You always want to have the most important synthesis presence on your profile. To make the best first impression. So it’s not different than wanting to hire new people. So activating your employee.

What are the most important online employer presence platforms?

Right. I’m going to give you some insights in the most important platforms. And a few no brainers are in here for us. So review our rating platforms like in these and Glassdoor are essential to have a great company page here, because 86% of job seekers actually review company reviews. You also see, of course, reviews of Google already trending more that employees or ex-employees are leaving reviews here. But indeed is essential because it’s your number one Google booster. It’s one of the largest customers of Google and as we might have have don’t have so much budget to become more visible, visible. And Google indeed is your number one reason why you would want to have this platform used. And once you have the right, say your texts on your platform so that it gets picked up by Google and that you get more exposure. Via indeed Glossier and indeed are owned by the same company where indeed started really as a vacancy pay page and is going and has been adding reviews and ratings. Glassdoor truly started as a review and rating platform. So compared to indeed, Gloucester has the highest conversion in terms of applications. So out of all of their visitors, 73% of their visitors actually also apply or click through vacancies, which is remarkable. And the reason why you should want to work with Google and Glassdoor as well. And just to speed up the process, if you’re going to create content for indeed, you can just also copy paste the same content on Glassdoor. So having two different and amazing presences here is a no brainer if you ask us.

Another no brainer is LinkedIn, because this is an professional platform and people are actually active here to search for jobs. Also because with all the data legislations currently in the world, LinkedIn is the most, logical place where you can profile or target on specific target groups based on, recruitment needs. So you can actually track which type of companies they are from or which type of roles they were adding. And it’s increasingly becoming more difficult to do this and to target on other platforms. So LinkedIn is therefore super important. And also, you have only important to understand here that you only have a few minutes to engage with your target group here because where, for example, people are spending hours on Instagram and on TikTok nowadays, LinkedIn, has out of all of their users, only 40% uses this uses this monthly but only short amount of time. So hence why you need to make impact super fast on LinkedIn.

And then, important to understand that on average, every applicant, scrolls through six different platforms about your company before they apply. So hence why it’s just important to have a presence on all of the most important social media platforms and not just 2 or 3. Because if your competitor does have a presence on these other platforms, this might be a reason to apply for a competitor and not for you. It’s just what it is guys in today’s market. It’s not something we can overcome. It’s the reality of today. So looking at other different social media platforms like Instagram, this is really the best way where you can show your company culture. Because it’s super visually attractive. It’s a bit younger, age group. So the millennials are really, presence on this platform. Why it’s super important in today’s markets. And, Instagram has one of the highest engagement rates out there for people to like and share your posts, especially using stories. But it’s also cheap for targeting and advertising. So compared to LinkedIn, for example, it’s much cheaper to specifically targets and do campaigns for your, the for your, joke marketing versus LinkedIn, Facebook. Of course, there’s a big discussion. Is it still sexy? Is it still important? Well, let me tell you guys, it’s still the most it’s still the largest platform in the world. So yes, it’s important because if people are there, they will see you around, see you. And especially because Instagram is owned by Facebook. It’s just a no brainer for me that if you’re posting posts anyway on Instagram too, just literally with one click, also post them on Facebook. So then you at least have content and a presence there. And then I think one of my most favorite ones is YouTube, because video is the future. It’s important to understand that messages, delivered by video have 95% more conversion or more people remember at 95% more then done, for example by text or by images. So video is your way to go in the future, and especially because you have the same format for, for example, Instagram Reels, YouTube and YouTube shorts and TikTok. It’s like a no brainer to utilize this platform for that. Also because, now if you go back, a YouTube is owned by Google, so it’s important that’s Google being your largest search engine and, YouTube being the second largest search engine in the world. Also, when having the the right titles and texts, full loads on your videos, your Google visibility will increase. Incredibly as well.

Then of course, we also have some newer kids on the block. They’re not so new anymore, but TikTok is really the most used platform for people under 30 years old. So if your target group is there again, of course that might not be for everyone, but if your target group is in a younger age, then definitely TikTok is crucial for your target group. Also, the algorithm of TikTok is incredibly great to, grow faster because if you have 1 or 2 successful videos, your reach will be incredible over the next coming months. It’s also currently already the third largest platform after Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. So this is amazing how fast they have grown. Pinterest might be interesting if you’re more in a visually attractive, target group. So you really can have a creative outlet here. And it’s amazing to have your company culture showcase sit here. And Snapchat is also an important platform for you and your target group. It has, almost, for the target group that it’s using. It has a super high daily usage, almost similar as WhatsApp. So this means that, you can have direct engagement with candidates, and it has a really fun way to use geo filters and lenses into your employer branding, which can be amazing to attract the right candidates as well.

And then and of course, an online platform we also cannot forget about is your career sites. So an average social media conversion to your career site should be 2 to 5%. Your career site is the place where you show your company culture, where you show your vacancy texts, and where you have to create a candidate experience within Wow moments to really know and make sure that all the effort you’re putting in social media, you need to convert via your career sites. So don’t forget this important platform and make sure that you make a difference here.

Do’s and don’ts of online employer branding

And some do’s and don’ts. Please to everyone here. Keep it agile and fast. Don’t overthink it. Don’t overdo it. You won’t know whether you will be scoring at ten until you start doing it. And it’s always about testing what’s successful and what’s not. So keep it agile and fast. Start with all three options first. Don’t go spend to crazy budgets. And if you are going to spend budgets, do it all on pilot based. So let’s say okay, let’s test it for three months and then see whether it’s successful. If it’s successful then let’s go ahead. Also utilize tools like ChatGPT to help you in creating content, etc.. Why do it all yourself? Of course not. Copy paste it and make it unique, but these tools just help you fast in the process. And also continue to to measure the impact because don’t just do things. Always keep measuring because you want to understand that you will want to report back to your business what the results is of your efforts and what you’re doing well and what you’re doing right. If you at a certain point notice that you don’t have any additional recruitment results. This is the moment where you need to realize, I need to take action. I need to adapt. Because looking back at, for example, the example of the blue collar dress, using the right messages, etc., you can and will get recruitment results when done right. So when you don’t, it’s just a matter of adapting and not a matter of stopping.

Closing comments before the Q&A

So to create a strong online presence in 2024, hopefully with the knowledge today is, given to you today, you can do it yourself. We can’t really say how long it will, take to get there. But it’s definitely for free. And there’s super many options and information all around the internet to help you, on creating a strong online presence yourself. But if you want to do it fast, and if you want to do it the right way, and if you don’t want to spend time or budget on the wrong things, we have created the tool for you to support you right away. So within two weeks, and with the budget starting at five K, we will be able to deliver you a full scan of your online presence and employer brands. Even benchmarks compare two of your competitors and this you can all present or we will present to your stakeholders to make sure that you have everybody looking in the right direction for 2024, and you can get the budgets and the commitment on the importance of this for the coming years. Plus, you don’t need to all do it yourself. You will get a whole dashboard where you can manage your quick wins and big wins, so that you can just really fly into the new year with a great online presence.

But this is a quote of one of our. Previous customers, where we helped intercept with all the insights, data and steps into creating an online presence. And, is an amazing ambassador, we support in her journey of taking all the right steps. So, approaching the end of today’s session, guys, you will, after this session, receive an email including, the recording of this session, of course, a registration of the waitlist for our newest innovation. My, if I please rerecord of, what’s the recording of the previous session? So really understand what it is or visit the websites. My ETP. I, also let us know if you haven’t received the email, because sometimes this goes wrong. And of course, we want to make sure that you get all the right information. On time, you will have the possibility to, we will actually give you a one time offer, based on today’s session for our employer solution, and you will have the possibility to book a 15 minute session with me. And, of course, don’t forget to register for, the session on the four Things of November when we are going to talk to you about how to utilize your EVP in your online presence into your new styles of vacancies.

What if I cannot use online platforms because marketing won’t allow me?

Oftentimes, when providing we’re doing scans for companies that, for example, marketing teams say, well, we don’t want to show cast or company culture on LinkedIn because it’s, we only want to use it, for example, for a product or for a services and similar for, for example, Instagram. How to go about it. Well, the first quick win I would advise you to do is also always, ask marketing for a pilot phase. Just say, well, I have never experienced a company where a strong online employer brings, limits. For example, the commercial brands, because people want to buy for companies that are good for their people and people are good for and people want to and the other way around. So in today’s world, your employer brand will actually only empower your commercial brands. But let’s always meet in the middle. If you really have a discussion and it’s difficult for you to get there, then agree on a pilot phase where you say, okay for 2 or 3 months, let’s agree that we can have some more, employer branding content, for example, visible on, on LinkedIn. We together define the tone of voice and what we need to do there. And if there’s impact interaction on vacancies, then it’s a common goal to actually create recruitment results. And if it’s going to be driven by LinkedIn, then please, let us continue to do amazing things there. So always make it short and make it practical and, use pilots faces to make your case.