The 5 Questions to Ask When Searching for an Employer Branding Agency
For companies that have yet to dip into the pool of employer branding, vetting agencies can feel...weird?
There aren’t a lot of agencies that do employer branding, much less specialize in it. It’s not like going out to look for a branding agency that will help you grow your customer base. Employer branding uses different tools, works with different strategies, and measures different outcomes.
Here are five questions you should ask any agency jockeying to be your employer brand partner.
1. Can you show me examples of your employer branding work?
This seems like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised!
Employer branding is a specialized practice, so experience is something your agency just has to have. You wouldn’t hire an agency with no social media experience to run your Instagram. Obviously.
Your employee-facing branding is not your customer-facing brand. The voice won’t be exactly the same, the creative won’t be exactly the same, and the messaging and strategy will be totally different.
I know, I know, everyone has to start somewhere—even branding agencies—but it shouldn’t be with you. Don’t be a hero.
2. How will you work with our current branding?
We’re not saying you should be two-faced, presenting one face to candidates and entirely different one to customers. Not at all. In fact, there is a relationship between the two. Your candidate-facing brand should build on, should be an extension of, your customer-facing brand. The agency you work with should deeply understand your public identity.
If your agency can’t build off your customer-facing brand or wants to scrap the whole thing, it’s not the right fit.
3. What’s your employee retention strategy?
Employer branding is about more than pulling in potential hires. It’s also about getting them to sign and keeping them there. Your branding agency should have strategies and experience doing both attraction and retention.
And by the way, they should understand that these are two totally different things. Ideally, they should have talent and HR veterans on their team who know how to do both.
4. What’s your multimedia strategy and what are your in-house capabilities?
Employer branding is a multimedia, multichannel venture, and your brand partner should be able to deliver all kinds of creative for all kinds of channels. You shouldn’t necessarily use them all—you’re not a college freshman using Photoshop—but your team should have a complete toolkit.
A little insider tip: Especially important are their social media capabilities and strategy. Not only are job seekers using social platforms (79% of job seekers use social media in their job search), so is your competition (84% of organizations use social media for recruiting).
So if the agency’s plan stops at your careers page, it’s not a good plan.
5. How will you leverage my current workforce?
One of the best resources you have for boosting your employer branding is your workforce. Creating brand ambassadors out of happy employees is one of the easiest and most effective ways to attract new talent—and keep the talent you have.
Any employer branding partner you work with should have a plan for tapping this resource.
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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