Employer Branding: What It Is and How To Build It for Your Business

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A company’s reputation matters more than ever during a job seeker’s search, as 86% of workers would not apply for, or continue to work for, a company with a bad reputation with former employees or the general public.

Ultimately, you spend plenty of time creating a compelling brand story surrounding your products or services, but how do you build a strong employer brand that attracts top talent? Here, we’ll explore what employer branding means, examples of good employer branding, and how you can implement your employer branding strategy today.

Table of Contents:

What Is Employer Branding?
Why Is Employer Branding Important?
Employer Branding Strategy
Employer Branding Examples

What Is Employer Branding?

Employer branding is the reputation you have as an employer among your employees and the workforce. It’s also how you market your company to job seekers and internal employees.

The better you are at employer branding, the more likely you are to retain and attract your top talent, as 69% of surveyed employees think it’s extremely/very important that their employer has a brand they’re proud to support.

Let’s say you’ve done a phenomenal job building up a strong brand with your products or services. Unfortunately, that alone won’t convince someone to work at, or stay at, your company. You need to implement the same branding strategy when communicating your company’s leadership, values, and culture.

If a job seeker asks an employee at your company, “What’s it like to work there?” the employee isn’t going to say, “We’ve built some awesome merchandise.” Instead, he’s going to lay into the day-to-day of people management, company values, and workplace culture. To ensure a good employer brand, you need to tell a compelling story.

Employer branding goes deeper than storytelling — you also need to walk the walk. Telling your employees and the general public that having a ping-pong table makes you a great place to work isn’t going to cut it.

Why Is Employer Branding Important?

At this point, you might be wondering, does this really matter to me and my company?

Yes — employer branding is critical to your bottom-line. It can reduce turnover rates and cut your costs per hire in half, helping you save money. Additionally, active job seekers are more likely to apply for a job if the employer actively manages its employer brand.

You have an employer brand whether you’ve put effort behind it or not — so why not put effort in to ensure it’s a brand you can be proud of?

Next, let’s explore how you can implement an employer brand strategy today.

A good employer branding strategy can help you attract better talent, cut down on hiring costs, and reduce employee turnover.