haley marketing logo
Search
Close this search box.

Establishing Your Employer Brand Around the Holidays

Employer Branding Around the Holidays
Share this:


The following transcript was taken from InSights, a staffing and recruiting podcast from Haley Marketing Group dedicated to providing quick-hitting takeaways on Social Recruiting, Content Marketing, and Employer Branding. To listen to the episode, click play on the player above or visit the episode page [InSights] Is It Time to Break Up with Twitter?

 

 

Brad Bialy: Matt, let’s break down employer branding for the holidays and really staffing up for peak production. I know that you recently had a conversation with a client that you’re working with from the recruitment marketing landscape. They have some challenges in finding a lot of individuals for a specific job. Why don’t you break that down for us?

“We Have this Really Great Opportunity…Where Should We Get Started?”

Matt Lozar: Seen and Heard, we like to try to bring, maybe if it’s a national report or some data or interesting content that we’ve seen out there in the recruitment space to the segment. This one I felt was really interesting because I’m sure it’s a pain point that other staffing agencies and recruiters are feeling, as we ramp up here for the end of the year seasonal and holiday staffing. My client came to me and said, “We have this really great opportunity, this job order for dozens, 50+, 100, 200 warehouse positions in a state of the art factory with, a really, a nationally known chain.”

Matt Lozar: They have to fulfill a lot of orders throughout the holidays, as consumer shopping picks up or even as B2B picks up as well. So, how can we get more candidates? We’re not going to Twitter, spoiler alert, but we’re jumping on Facebook and trying to reach their audience there. Where employer branding’s coming into this, and kind of had that light bulb moment above my head is, a lot of people are hiring for seasonal positions in quarter four.

Matt Lozar: So, when your staffing company has to hire for it versus your competitors down the street, versus even local employment, a local business that’s not using a staffing agency, have you created that connection with your target audience throughout the previous nine months of the year? So when you have this really great opportunity show up in front of them, if it’s on Facebook, if it’s email, if it’s anywhere, are you at their top of the mind so they, “Hey, I know who ACME Staffing company is.”

Matt Lozar: “I’m going to go apply for their job, where I have never heard from them, onto the next one.”

The Connection Between Seasonal Hiring and Event Marketing

Brad Bialy: For me, it’s almost like event marketing. So you’re thinking through, we have seasonal hiring and Q4, the same way as we have a conference in October. How far back do you need to go when you think about your calendar to actually start ramping up for that event, to start ramping up for that production? Are you telling candidates in June that you’re going to need more employees? You’re going to have to hire more individuals in October.

Matt Lozar: I don’t even know if I’d go that far.

Brad Bialy: That far back?

Matt Lozar: I don’t even know if, with that tactic, I would go with just being top of mind with them. Being like, you know who ABC Staffing company is, so you’re in front of them. Or if we’re really digging into employment breading here, that reputation management of maybe somebody worked for your staffing company, 2018 holiday season. Hopefully, they had a really good experience. They’re going to tell buddy Joe, buddy Brad down wherever they’ve seen them for the summer picnic if it’s wherever. “Yeah, that’s a really good place to work for it. They can get you some extra cash, some extra hours, so you can make some more money for yourselves during the holidays.”

How to Build Your Local Presence

Matt Lozar: So what can you do to build that local presence in the real world and also digitally, so that you become a best place to work for someone that might just need to pick up 16 hours for a couple of weekends?

Brad Bialy: So let’s start with reputation management. I think that’s the best place to start when you think about really developing who you are in the local market. Everybody, I think it’s 88% of individuals, trust a online review as much as they trust a friend or a family member. Everybody that is working for a staffing firm, at least 88%, is going to Google and researching who you are, and more importantly, researching what others have to say about you. So if you’re not actively building that online reputation throughout the year, to Matt’s point, and developing that employer brand, you’re missing out by the time you’re coming to hire.

Matt Lozar: The best way to build that online reputation is to get more positive reviews. It’s not to respond to the negative ones or even avoid it. It’s honestly, and maybe you can do this for your firm this year, is when the holiday season is over and you’ve really fulfilled and helped them make some more money, provided more work for them through this holiday season, ask them for a review at the beginning of 2020 or at the end of 2019. Right at the end of their assignment say, “Hey, what was your experience like? Would you mind leaving us a review?”

Matt Lozar: So be positive with that at times when people are apt to leave you really positive reviews, to build that base. But also, we can’t ignore it in the real world too. Referrals, if you talk to … I talked to [inaudible 00:21:07] recruiters all the time, it’s referrals are an incredible source of new employees, new placements, new hires, new starts for staff, AC’s and recruiters. So what can you do digitally? But also what can you do locally? So, word of mouth travels fast and it’s the same thing. The negative ones are going to outweigh the positive all the time. So really build off of that positive reviews and get people and ask them to share great testimonials about your staffing agency.

Going Back to the Basics

Brad Bialy: I think that’s a great idea, Matt. Going back to that, putting old school and finger quotes or going back to those grassroots tactics. As social media and the digital marketing landscape continues to shift and pivot, staffing firms and even marketers are looking for the newest thing to do, the newest idea. “Oh, how do we use Facebook groups? Or how are we going to deploy a TikTok strategy to recruit? What are we going to do differently this year?” Why don’t we go back to our foundation, go back to what’s always worked and actually talk to the people that we’ve employed? Ask them if they have any friends or family members that you can help. Go back to being human and just having that conversation.

Matt Lozar: It’s hard to find. I mean, it’s always hard, I would think, to find seasonal talent. But 3.7%, 3.8% unemployment right now.

Brad Bialy: Maybe, maybe not though, because of seasonal talent, everyone needs more money for the holidays. So if I can work an extra 20 hours to not have to charge Christmas presents for a daughter or a family member or whatever, I would pick up those extra shifts. I think that it would be pretty similar. A weekend shift here and there to alleviate some of that stress makes perfect sense.

Matt Lozar: Good point, Brad. So what can you do to build that brand throughout the year, so you’re not begging and pleading people in September, October? This kind of what I’m talking about here. They do a really good job. They have a lot of online presence, so they’re not just coming to us in this moment of need, to where, “Hey, we’re desperate.” It’s, “Yeah, we need workers for these positions.” But they’ve also done a really good job, locally and digitally, to build that brand, so that they can be a best place to work and top of mind. So when these positions in the student job order opens, they’re ready to get those candidates to fulfill that job order and bring in new revenue for their business as well.

Brad Bialy: If you have questions about your specific employer brand or you want to talk to Matt Lozar about your recruitment marketing strategy, you can reach out to Matt on LinkedIn. Go search for Matt Lozar and you can connect with him. I know he’d be glad to talk to you about building and strengthening your employer brand in your local market.

Share this:

Hey you! Don’t miss out…

WEEKLY INSPIRATION

Get our best marketing tips—one idea a week. You’ll also get invites to our webinars, and exclusive offers on our products and services.

You may also like