Why Digital Storytelling is Key to Your Employer Branding Strategy

Build a unified brand identity, ensure omnichannel dissemination, and keep an unwavering eye on consistent messaging? Did you know that ‘digital storytelling’ plays a big part in making your employer branding strategy impactful? We look at 3 ways to approach this critical prong of organizational leadership, and how HR can help.

The idea that a story is only meant for a child is now a thing of the past. Today companies across the board, are looking to weave a web of ideas, product lines, services, core competencies, belief and value systems, intellectual footprints, and individual voices into a singular employer branding strategy, creating an impactful and feature-rich narrative via digital storytelling. 

This helps cement perception, drive a certain understanding of what an organization stands for, and envision an on-going communication pathway, with customers.

“The easiest and most effective way to market to candidates is to use employee stories. While this is a best practice in the industry, companies still sometimes miss the opportunity here to feature employees. Quotes and pictures of the office are great — they get the candidate picturing themselves in the work environment which is important — but stories leave a lasting impression. **When candidates consume 2-18 pieces of content before clicking apply, you have to be memorable. And stories stick**,” explains Opens a new window Lauryn Sargent, Co-Founder, and Partner at ‎Stories Incorporated.

Also read: Top 3 Opens a new window Employer Branding Trends Opens a new window for 2018Opens a new window

For most firms, then, inking an employer branding strategy is critical. It makes recruitment simpler, enhancing retention, and making both external and internal stakeholders, discover the true ideals and ideas powering its growth-path. As a result, employees are enthused, business leaders are now more relatable, and a product/service is placed at the center of a much, wider conversation.

Making it happen

The big question, then is, how does a company perfect the art of ‘Digital Storytelling’? Further, what transforms thought into a great story, that truly adds value to your employer branding strategy?

Interestingly, the basic tools in a marketer’s hand-box aren’t enough to craft a truly compelling storytelling approach. Beyond one’s history, timelines, list of achievements, or assertions of quality or growth, there must a more nuanced appreciation of what drives a narrative:

An eye to the ground, a sense of what the audience wants to consume, the ability to create characters who matter, time & space that is identifiable, and finally an overarching employer branding strategy, that’s reinforced across collaterals or channels.

Also read: Employer Branding Strategy Opens a new window = The Internal Consumer Comes FirstOpens a new window

For businesses, this commences on a blank slate, where key stakeholders must carve out their vision, consolidate ideas, and their basic nuts and bolts. Once the same is crystallized, it’s important to gradually flesh out all the moving parts of an employer branding strategy:

Who is my audience, the ‘listeners’ of my employer branding strategy?

What is my narrative, and how do I best exemplify the same?

Are there characters, milestones, touch-points, inflexions in the thought, needing specific articulation?

What are my carriers, vessels, and channels for dissemination?

And finally,

Have I architected a storyline that’s spread across every digital platform, reiterating the same thought, albeit changing form or shape, as per individual need?

At the heart of it all: What makes a perfect employer branding strategy

**The core of any digital storytelling strategy is powered by the narrator’s grasp over the company’s brand identity: Values, Beliefs, Behaviors, and Product design.** This will make all of the above, far easier to determine, and simpler to execute.

Also read: Why Culture is Key to Building a Strong Opens a new window Employer BrandOpens a new window

For starters here are three critical differentiators:

1. Don’t just tell a story – Instead of only saying something, make it interactive; invoke a response, ask for a reaction, and let everyone share their stories. By building this community of voices, a company’s employer branding strategy will find resonance with its audience’s ambitions, dreams, challenges, and aspirations.

   Andrew Seel, Chief Executive Officer at Qubist shares his thoughtsOpens a new window on an increasingly popular element of any employer branding strategy: “To find the brightest minds externally, companies are now turning internally to work with their best influencers – their employees. Employee advocacy empowers colleagues to share stories about the company they work for on their own social media channels, distributing the employer brand effectively, bringing the EVP to life and driving relevant referrals. When employees share content, they typically see a click-through rate double that of their company according to LinkedIn.”
    

2. Ask the question, that leads to insights – Your employer branding strategy, driven by its many collaterals (or, its avatars) must push the audience to ask questions: either for you or even for themselves. This will ensure a deeper connect with anything you’re putting out there, making your brand and your product, at the center of this need for self-awareness.
    
3. Don’t shy away from emotions – Remember, a digital narrative (no matter your line of business) must inspire a reaction. It could vary from wonder and awe, to concern and uncertainty, or to inspiration, and finally, an affirmative action. This is at the crux of your employer branding strategy: it’s why you started this process in the first place, and it will refine, revitalize, or reward the initiative.

Also read: Building a Opens a new window Strong Employer Brand wOpens a new window ith TechnologyOpens a new window

A parting shot

Today, businesses aren’t just cold, hard makers of things people need, covet, or might want later. They are builders of dreams, magicians crafting incredible experiences, offering their customers a whole new world of limitless possibilities.

All of this wouldn’t be possible, without an employer branding strategy or ‘story.’ This is why companies, big or small, are now looking at digital storytelling as an essential element of one’s marketing mix.

“Regarding trends in 2018, we see employer brands being deployed with more tactical efficiency than ever. A strong and coherent employer brand allows for consistent messages on multiple online platforms, and for recruiters to start adapting their interview and sourcing methods to harmonize with the brand. We’ve surveyed companies on this topic, and more than half say that investing in employer brand has improved recruiting outcomes.

We are also embracing technologies that enable the human tradition of storytelling, so that job seekers can engage in the personal brand building to help distinguish themselves to potential employers,” says Chris Cho, Chief Product Officer at Monster, in conversation with HRTechnologist.Opens a new window

So, go ahead, tell a story, share an idea, and speak to your people out there, in every which way, across the many channels available to the modern marketer, powered by technology and digital innovation.