How To Attract Top Talent With a Strong Online Presence

What if you put as much effort into attracting top talent as you put into attracting customers? Just as you can optimize your website and social media pages to bring in clients, you can also leverage your online presence to find high-quality candidates.

Millenials make up the largest percentage of people in the workforce today, and in the next several years, you can expect to see Generation Z following closely behind. Both generations are products of the digital age–when they job-hunt, you can guarantee they’re scoping out your website and social media to gain insight into your company culture.

This means that your website and social media marketing strategy play a huge role in the kind of talent you attract. If your company is hiring, take an honest look at both: is your online presence strong enough to attract the ideal candidate?

What Exactly Is a “Strong Online Presence”?

According to HubSpot, an online presence is defined by how easy it is to find a brand or company online. Your online presence affects your brand visibility, reputation, and awareness. A digital marketing agency can help you carve out a strong online presence, or you can take steps to strengthen your brand on your own. 

There are two parts to a strong online presence. The first is practical. Is your website user-friendly, functional, and aesthetically pleasing? Is your social media marketing strategy consistent and informative across all platforms? Are both grounded in SEO best practices?

If the answer is no for any of those questions, check out our other blog posts to get up to speed on digital marketing strategy. For this post, we’re going to focus on the second part of building a strong online presence: culture.

How To Attract Talent With Values, Culture, and Employee Experience:

People aren’t just looking for jobs anymore. They’re looking for: 

• An opportunity to make a difference or fulfill a purpose. 
• A company whose ethics and values match their own. 
• A positive office culture that protects against burnout. (Read: Work-life balance). 
• A position in which they would be valued members of the company.

So, does your company culture embody all these qualities? Here’s how to make sure your online image shows it. 

1.) Develop Your Business’ “Why”

People want to feel like they’re making a difference, or that what they’re doing is important. In response to this, it’s important to focus on your “why”. Why does your company do what it does? 

To expand, ask yourself the following questions. Why does your company exist? Who’s the villain, and why are you the heroes? How is your company’s product/service valuable to the community? 

Include a paragraph or two about your “why” on the “About Us” page of your website, or embed a video dedicated to it on your homepage. Highlight it in your blog posts, and weave content about it into your social media marketing strategy. 

Even if your company is similar to others, a thoughtful, well-developed “why” will differentiate you from the competition and make your company more attractive to high-quality candidates. 

2.) Convey Company Values

The ideal candidate will have values that gel with yours. To help these candidates identify you, your company values should be crystal clear on your website's  “About Us” page, your social media platforms, and in your job description. 

Does your company have a green initiative? Showcase relevant certifications on your website. Create blog posts about the importance of reducing waste. Post photos across social media accounts that highlight your company’s environmental activism. 

Or, maybe you partner with charities, host food drives, or offer employee incentives to volunteer. Show that you value giving back to your community. You can embed links to donate on your social media accounts, schedule community-centric blog posts, or document your company’s volunteer efforts on video.

The possibilities are endless. But, it's important that the values you highlight are genuine. Avoid creating values just for the sake of it. 

3.) Exhibit Your Company Culture

Company culture involves work environment, company mission, leadership styles, ethics, expectations, and goals. Essentially, it's the lived experience of your employees. 

In the age of remote work when many potential employees will never step foot in your physical office, gauging your online presence is often the only way candidates can assess what it might be like to work for you. 

That’s why it’s important that both your social media and website offer insights into your company culture. Whether it’s casual or serious, team-driven or mission-oriented, fast-paced or laid-back, your company culture should be clearly defined online.

You can get creative with it, too. Check out this video that our Wild Fig team put together for one of our clients: 

Framed by employee feedback, videos like this can be showcased on a variety of platforms or embedded into your “Careers” page. 

A final note about company culture: Candidates will also try to puzzle out what it’s like to work for a company via reviews on sites like Glassdoor, Indeed, or Google. Don’t fear the review page–own it. Encourage positive feedback from current employees, and respond to any negative feedback gracefully. This will reflect well on your company in the eyes of potential candidates.

4.) Show That You Prioritize Your Employees

Your website should always feature an “About Us” or “Meet the Team” page, complete with photos and bios of each of your employees. This shows that you consider your team members to be a valuable part of the company.

Your social media posts should also reflect your employees in creative, positive ways. Whether it’s a group photo for “Bring Your Dog to Work Day”, or a portrait of an employee to laud their accomplishments, posts about your team will help candidates envision themselves working for your company. 

Finally, the best way to show how much you value your employees is through compensation. Remember, millennials are the generation who've been priced out of homeownership, saddled with student debt, and who are just stepping into parenthood. That means this generation places high value on competitive pay and benefits packages. As much work as you put into communicating your company culture and values, you may still be passed up if your compensation isn’t competitive. 

Need Help Boosting Your Online Presence? Call on Wild Fig

In the midst of the Great Resignation (a.k.a., the Great Reshuffling), the job market is packed with high-quality candidates. It's also more competitive than ever. To attract top talent, you're going to need to put your best foot forward online. 

Think your online presence needs a complete overhaul? Consider outsourcing your needs to a digital marketing agency. Our experienced team at Wild Fig can:

• Design your website so it attracts both customers and candidates. 
• Create high-quality content that highlights your company’s culture.
• Manage your social media presence to boost your brand image.
• Develop results-driven content marketing strategies to manage your brand across platforms. 

Once we optimize your online presence for future company superstars, job-seekers will be flocking to your digital doorstep. Schedule an exploratory call today — we look forward to helping you attract top talent!