What’s the gist? Video can be used to attract talent, engage talent and retain talent.

Marketing + Recruitment + Video = Relevant + Hires + Retention

If you are investing in video or considering investing in video for talent acquisition, below is a formula we have seen to be effective. This framework can be modified and/ or expanded to best suit your specific strategy, but the basic idea is this: Attract > Engage > Retain

Before diving into each step, this strategy is designed to achieve two primary things:

Maximizing the output from a video project
Distributing a series of videos across multiple platforms that lead candidates on a journey to your career site

Maximizing the budget

When planning a video project, one of the most meaningful discussions and decisions to make is focused on the end deliverables. What deliverables do we want to have and when, how and where are we going to distribute these deliverables. Making this determination up front creates tremendous value because typically the ‘cost-per-video’ is substantially lower when you can create multiple deliverables from one project. But more importantly, the videos can produce far more awareness, engagements and retention when distributed as a series.

Distribution

You can lead your candidates on a journey to your career site by attracting them first in social media using short-form videos (15-20sec). From Instagram to LinkedIn to Snapchat and beyond, these short-form videos can be created in multiple aspect ratios for distribution across multiple platforms so a wider range of your target demographic can be reached. At the same time, the primary longer-form videos (2min) can be strategically placed throughout the career site. Here candidates continue the journey of learning more about the organization and the position they are interested in. Meanwhile, all of the videos can be used internally for employee engagement.

Attract > Engage > Retain

Attract

Candidates would rather watch than read. Why? Because candidates are (usually) human beings. Short-form videos on social media capture the attention of candidates. Through the social platform, the candidate can be sent to a video living on the company career page.

Engage

The first video the candidate is sent to on the career page is a short, 90 second to 2-minute Video describing: what we do, who works for us, what it’s like to work for us, and why it’s cool to work for us. From there, the candidate is led to a page showcasing the specific position they are interested in.

Retain

The position-specific profile page contains a video that showcases a ‘day in the life’ of what it’s like to ‘be an engineer at XYZ inc.’ This detailed look at the position allows the candidate to hear from real employees, describing what it’s like be part of the XYZ inc team. From here, they are encouraged to apply or join the XYZ inc talent network, etc. Concurrently, all of the videos can be used internally to remind current employees ‘why it’s cool to work for us.’

Summary

Whether produced in-house or contracted out, video is a significant investment. By going into it with a clear strategy for distribution, the investment can be fully justified and deliver substantial returns. Most of all, when you lead your candidates on a journey, they become deeply familiar with your brand. Whether they become employees now or somewhere down the road, the candidate journey is a pathway to the greatest possible ROI; brand advocacy.

Candidate Journey