10 Practical tips for creating an authentic employer brand story

‍People remember stories, not bullet points. That is why you need to start formulating your employer brand story today. How? Let us help you out. 

What is an employer brand story and how do you write it?

Employer branding is more than just presenting your company's perks and benefits. It is about creating an engaging story that appeals to the ideal talent for your organization, while answering the question: why should someone choose to work for you? An employer brand story should focus on what makes a company unique. 

Instead of leading with messaging around mission and values, focus on stories told by your own people to create a more meaningful and authentic connection to those principles.This requires strategic thinking, consistent messaging, and frequent adjustments. But when you do it right, it can significantly impact your ability to attract and keep top talent.

No idea where to start? Here are 10 practical tips for creating an authentic employer brand story.

10 Practical tips for an authentic employer brand story

1. Start with employee testimonials

Employee testimonials provide a necessary level of authenticity. They are the closest a candidate can get to getting insight into what it's really like to work for your organisation and who they’ll work with.

‍

Highlight diverse experiences across different roles and departments to appeal to a broad spectrum of candidates.

2. Use interactive content platforms

When candidates interact with your story, it helps them remember it better and makes them more emphatic about it. Moreover, by converting traditional content into interactive experiences, you will be able to hold a users attention longer. Which is exactly what you want.

Platforms like Intractive are perfect for creating engaging brand stories in a jiffy.

3. Repurpose existing content

Creating an attractive employer brand story from scratch can seem daunting. However, there’s no need for creating all new content. Chances are you have plenty of stuff lying around. Take existing videos, articles or testimonials and repurpose them as interactive content. Cut up video’s into smaller snippets, take content from articles and turn it into multiple choice questions and personalize content by letting users choose who’s testimonial they want to hear.

4. Incorporate visual elements

The contents of your story are as important as its visual representation. Use photo’s, infographics and videos to make your story more appealing. Ideally, these all fit within a certain style to ensure..

Edit existing content to reach this goal, or create it fresh. Doing this as you go along is easy, especially when you ask employees to pitch in. Showcase everyday begin-the-scenes glimpses of company goings-on, take pictures and videos of company events, visually appealing office spaces and team-building activities. Bonus points for office dog-content.

5. Highlight company values and mission

Your company’s mission, vision and values should be an integral part of your employer brand story. After all, they are your reasons for existing. And they allow potential employees to assess whether their own values align with yours. Something that is especially important to newer generations like Gen Z.

Don’t just preach, show how these values are put into practice. Here too, employee testimonials can go a long way.

6. Use gamification to engage potential candidates

Originality can go a long way with potential candidates. In other words: avoid cliches in your employer brand story and instead opt for newer methods such as gamification. Adding gamelike elements like quizzes, rewards or challenges to your employer brand story can greatly increase participation and retention.

By making your employer brand story interactive and engaging, you will find it easier to hold people’s attention. It will also increase candidates’ positive associations with your brand.

7. Regularly update the brand story

As the company evolves, so should the brand story. Keep the narrative fresh and relevant and update your story and content when necessary. The best way to know which parts of the story resonate most and which areas might need improvement? Ask your employees. 

Recent achievements, new initiatives or changes in company direction can all make for great content opportunities.

8. Encourage employee participation

A brand story only works when it is genuine and resonates with your current employees. The best way to ensure it does? Involve employees in the creation and the evolvement of the brand story. 

Host brainstorming sessions or workshops to gather ideas and insights. Listen to your employees' ideas, even when you don’t agree with them. 

9. Optimise for mobile experience

At the risk of sounding like Captain Obvious: make sure your brand story is accessible and engaging on mobile devices. Test the user experience across different devices and browsers to ensure it works everywhere.  

10. Promote the brand story across channels

Share, share, share: promote your brand story on the company website, social media, and job platforms. Consider including a like to your story in every direct message on LinkedIn. Consistent messaging across platforms is paramount. 

Encourage employees to share and promote the story − as well as their own story and experiences − within their own networks. These can serve as valuable resources for inspiring like-minded people to consider working for your company.

Follow these practical tips to create an authentic and engaging employer brand story

And then do your story justice by getting it out into the world in an effective way. Intractive can be the perfect vehicle for communicating your employer brand story and is shareable via a simple link or QR-code. Click here for a free trial.