How to Build a Strong Employer Brand with Video Streaming

Despite concentrated efforts, managers and HR agree that it can be challenging to attract and retain key talent. The post-pandemic shift in employee priorities, coupled with an uptick in candidates’ access to online job resources, has only intensified the war for talent.

Sound familiar? So, how can you win the war for talent?

One foolproof strategy: Strengthen and promote your positive employer brand using video.

In this blog, we’ll discuss what an employer brand is, why employer branding matters, and how to use video streaming to enhance your employer brand with two key audiences: candidates and employees.

What Is an Employer Brand?

An employer brand is how your company is seen as an employer: your reputation and what you stand for. It’s how people—employees, candidates, contractors, and even consumers—perceive your company as a place to work.

Multiple factors shape your employer brand. Your culture, core values, work environment, management practices, growth opportunities, and employee benefits all influence the extent to which your company is viewed as an attractive employer.

It’s important to remember that employer brand is an essential part of your company’s overall brand perception. Think of it this way: Corporate branding is how your company markets itself to customers, and employer branding is how your company markets itself to your prospective and existing workforce. The two brands may be managed by different teams, but they need to work hand in hand.

Why is Employee Branding Important?

A great employer brand helps attract and keep exceptional employees. In a tight job market, companies that prioritize employer branding have an easier time building a skilled, high-performing workforce.

What’s more, 96% of businesses believe employer brand impacts revenue—for good or bad. That means employer branding can affect both your talent pipeline and your bottom line.

Here are a few of the measurable benefits of employer branding.

• More candidates. A LinkedIn study found that a good employer brand increases the number of applicants by 50%. Which makes sense: Most workers say they wouldn’t join a company with a bad reputation.
• Reduced time and cost to hire. Strong employer brands can cut cost per hire in half and fill open positions twice as fast. These improvements in recruiting efficiency can yield millions of dollars in savings.
• Increased employee retention. A quality employer brand can reduce turnover by 28%. Retaining top talent keeps morale and productivity high and avoids the hefty cost of replacing someone, which can total as much as 200% of an employee’s annual salary.
• Revenue protection. Your employer brand influences customers’ purchasing decisions. Nearly two-thirds of consumers have stopped buying from a company with a reputation for not treating employees well.

It’s clear a compelling employer brand pays off. So, how does video fit in? Let’s look at the ways you can use video to build a top-notch employer brand with candidates and employees.

Using Video Streaming to Enhance Your Employer Brand with Candidates

Did you know that three out of four job seekers research an employer’s brand before applying for a job?

When considering employers, candidates want to know what it’s really like to work there. They want to get a feel for the company culture and day-to-day work experience. And they want to understand—and identify with—an organization’s purpose and values.

That’s where employer brand videos come into play.

Employer Brand Videos

Videos that tell your employer brand story are a powerful way to attract and engage in-demand talent. Well-crafted employer brand videos strengthen your position as an employer of choice, prompt job seekers to apply, and result in a bigger pool of qualified candidates.

Employer brand videos should showcase the best aspects of your company culture and employee experience.

• Core values. Build a positive connection with candidates by communicating your company’s mission, purpose, and values. Follow the “show, don’t tell” rule to establish trust and authenticity.
• Company culture. Highlight your company’s unique personality and work environment to attract like-minded candidates and differentiate your employer brand in a crowded job market.
• Employee testimonials. Use employee stories to give candidates a credible insider’s take on what it’s like to work for your organization. Job seekers trust employees to give them the straight scoop.
• Hybrid workplace. Does your company support remote working? Appeal to candidates looking for flexibility and work-life balance by showing how remote work fits into your company culture.
• Diversity and inclusion (D&I). Share your efforts to make the work experience better for underrepresented groups. Sixty-four percent of candidates say D&I is an important factor when evaluating an offer.
• Job perks. A pet-friendly office. Paid volunteer days. The chance to win a two-week sabbatical. Shine a spotlight on employee benefits that make your company a better, happier place to work.

Where to Post Employer Brand Videos

Activate your employer brand by pushing video content through the channels most likely to reach target candidates.

• Your career site. Posting employer branding content on your career site is a no-brainer; it’s the go-to resource for job seekers interested in learning more about your company. Plus, video content can increase the time candidates spend on your site by over 100%.
• Social media properties. Social media sites are the second-most-visited resource for people researching potential employers. Use sites like Facebook and LinkedIn to broaden audience reach and promote your employer brand organically with relatable, shareable videos.
• Employer review sites. Nearly 80% of job seekers use review sites when evaluating employers. Show candidates why you’re a great place to work by adding employer brand videos to your company profile on Glassdoor, Indeed, and other popular employer review sites.
• Job boards. Get your employer brand in front of active job seekers and increase the conversion rate for job postings. Research from CareerBuilder found that job ads with embedded video get 800% more engagement and yield 34% more applications.
• Email campaigns. Market your employer brand to current and past applicants by incorporating video into email nurturing campaigns. Adding video to email can rekindle a candidate’s interest in your company and improve click-through rates by 300%.

Using Video Streaming to Enhance Your Employer Brand with Employees

Employees are just as important as candidates when it comes to employer branding. A robust employer brand engages and retains internal talent, which is crucial for sustained business success. Plus, employees are the ones influencing your company’s reputation with comments on social media and employer review sites.

The employee experience is full of opportunities to use video to bolster your employer brand. Let’s review three: onboarding, internal communications, and learning and development.

Onboarding

Onboarding influences your employer brand by setting the tone for the employee experience.

An onboarding process that makes new hires feel welcome and engaged, that immerses them in your culture and arms them to excel on the job, will boost your position as a top employer. It can also increase retention rates by more than 80%.

Here are four ways to improve your employer brand by integrating video streaming into employee onboarding.

1. Strengthen the cultural connection. Use welcome videos to reinforce positive impressions made during the recruiting process. Revisiting your company story, including your values, culture, and mission, ensures that new hires are in sync with who you are and what the company aims to do.
2. Meet the team. Videos introducing colleagues, company leaders, and the CEO help build rapport and are especially valuable in remote or hybrid workplaces. Clips of employees discussing their career trajectories can inspire new hires and establish your company as a place for growth.
3. Systems and tools training. Get new hires up to speed with simple how-to videos on company systems and tools. Employees will feel more at home once they can schedule a conference room, submit an expense report, and access relevant Slack channels.
4. Explain company benefits. In a Brightcove survey, employees said that of all onboarding videos, a video describing employee benefits was most likely to increase their confidence in their employment decision. Relatable employee stories can illustrate the value of your benefits and perks.

Internal Communications

Your internal communications program significantly impacts the employee experience and, consequently, your employer brand.

Effective internal communications can energize your culture and deepen employee engagement. Informed employees feel valued, trusted, and more connected to your company culture—all positive outcomes for your employer brand.

Consider these opportunities to use video to maximize the brand-building power of internal communications.

• Deliver effective executive communications. Company leaders can use video to deliver a steady stream of messages in a more human and transparent way. In our survey, 81% of employees reported feeling more connected with leadership through video communications. Top requests for executive videos included business updates, crisis communications, and policy changes.
• Connect a hybrid workplace. Bring remote employees together by livestreaming town halls, quarterly kickoffs, and other company meetings. Livestreaming builds a sense of community—a feeling of “we’re all in this together”—that’s impossible to achieve with an email or intranet post. You can also record virtual events for people to stream later so no one’s left out.
• Activate your employer brand internally. Remind employees why you’re a terrific place to work by keeping your employee brand story at the forefront. The videos that attract candidates to your company can also galvanize current employees and encourage retention. Plus, arming your people with the right messages and anecdotes allows them to be powerful ambassadors for your employer brand.

Learning and Development

Training programs improve the employee experience—and by extension, employer brand—by giving people a chance to learn and grow at work.

Employees feel motivated and supported when they can master new skills and take on new challenges. They’re also more inclined to stay put. According to Harvard Business Review, the top reason people look for a job elsewhere is a lack of learning and growth opportunities at their current employer.

Training programs are critical to employee retention, and integrating video streaming enhances them for several reasons.

• Employees prefer video learning. Video is how today’s workforce likes to consume information. Our survey revealed that employees prefer live or on-demand video for policy training (76%), product training (68%), and product demos (75%).
• Video learning is more engaging. Video is more effective than text at grabbing and holding attention, as anyone who’s ever nodded off while reading a manual knows. Adding interactive elements to videos makes learning more memorable and fun for employees.
• Video learning is more accessible. Video enables learning from any place, at any pace. Employees can stream training videos when and where it’s convenient, whether that’s on a computer at home or on a mobile device during the commute.

Video benefits many learning and development programs, including upskilling/reskilling, sales enablement, leadership training, and compliance courses. Of course, an employer brand that celebrates learning and growth also appeals to candidates. People want to join companies where their careers will take off.

Seize the Opportunity to Build a Strong Employer Brand with Video Streaming

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic caused many people to rethink their employment options, an effective employer branding strategy has become a must. Candidates have more information about prospective employers than ever before. And it’s all too easy for frustrated employees to check out other companies on Glassdoor and LinkedIn.

Video streaming is a valuable and versatile tool for employer branding, with applications in recruiting, onboarding, training, and internal communications. Using video to strengthen and showcase a positive employer brand can improve how your company attracts, engages, and retains high-quality talent in today’s challenging job market.