5 Signs It’s Time to Hire an External Agency to Build Your Employer Brand

Does this response look familiar when asking internally about employer brand video? (via Giphy)

By Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza

Do you know where to start building your employer brand? 

Internal marketing agencies are normally the first stop when it comes to pushing a company out into the world, but an employer marketer is not just any marketer. 

Marketing your employer brand is best left to the employer branding experts. We’re a little biased, sure. But we’re also brilliant at what we do. 

Here are five signs you should work with an external agency to build your employer brand. 

1. You’re not a priority 

Internal creative teams face competing obligations—the product team needs a new landing page, PR needs a new media campaign, the sales team needs new collateral (yesterday)—and the so-called profit centers win, especially when resources are thin. 

According to a survey of more than 400 creatives and marketers published in March 2021, 58% of creative teams said their workloads grew in the last year. 

Your priority is getting qualified candidates in the door, and you deserve a partner who puts that at the top of their list too. 

2. You get blank stares when you ask for an employer branding video 

Employer branding is a relatively new discipline, and it’s not widely practiced or even understood in traditional marketing circles. 

You deserve to work with someone who is prepared to build an employer brand that attracts and retains top talent. If your team doesn’t understand what you’re asking for, consider it a red flag. 

3. They have to outsource 

Your internal agency may not have key capabilities, like video or social media, and will have to farm out your branding campaigns.

If your internal support is doing half of the work and outsourcing the rest, you can end up with branding inconsistencies and breaks in the chain of communication. 

4. They can’t offer you more ideas 

Great creative collaboration requires input and enthusiasm from both sides. You should be tossing ideas around, hearing “yes, and” from your creative team, and growing your own branding knowledge in the process. 

According to that same survey of 400+ creatives, the number-one reason for outsourcing work to agencies is to tap into that specialized talent. So why not go straight to the experts yourself? 

You need a team that understands the market and what your ideal candidates are looking for. 

5. You need to compete for top talent 

Employer branding matters. According to LinkedIn, 75% of job seekers will consider an employer’s brand before applying. 

Seventy-five percent! 

Why risk missing out on more than half of the best talent on the market?

Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza writes about workplace culture, DEI, and hiring. Her work has appeared in Fast Company, From Day One, and InHerSight, among others.

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