The 4 Essential Types of Videos You Need for Every Stage of Talent Acquisition & Retention
The ideal time to expand the talent pool of potential candidates for your company is yesterday. You read that right! Even if you have no vacancies at the moment, there’s no guarantee you’ll have a full staff tomorrow.
If your list of applicants is looking less than impressive, there’s no time like the present to start reaching the future leaders of your company, and one of the most effective ways to reach those rising superstars is video content.
Why Video?
Did you know people retain up to 95% of a video’s message after watching it just one time and only retain 10% when reading the same information? Plus, it’s estimated that the average U.S. adult spends about 149 minutes watching videos online every day. If this doesn’t convince you to add video content to your careers page and social media platforms, nothing will.
But wait. When it comes to talent acquisition, you don’t want to put out just any video content. In the content game, quality and strategy is always more important than quantity.
We talked to Ginny Wethington, Senior Account Specialist for E&V, to get her perspective on video content as a talent acquisition tool: “In a world where content is king, a lack of quality, dynamic, and easily accessible content is a missed opportunity to tell your story and reach your ideal candidates.”
This means to attract the most highly qualified candidates, you need to show potential employees why your company is a cut above the rest.
But Why Is Video Essential for Today’s Talent Acquisition Teams?
Let’s take a closer look at how video content relates to talent acquisition.
Video content is an essential part of your employer branding strategy. A professional video helps you communicate exactly what you want to the world, including prospective employees. It’s how you can tell your company’s story. And if you’re a company that claims to be “cutting edge” or disrupting traditional practices, you aren’t going to convince anyone you are who you claim to be without a modern content plan.
The way you tell this story will communicate the right message to your future workforce, and the video format you choose can make all the difference.
When it comes to employer branding, there are four types of video formats to consider – Impact or Anthem, Social, Features, and Internal – and each one has its own role in solving challenges popping up within the talent pipeline.
Style: Impact or Anthem
Where You Need This Video: At the Beginning of the Candidate Journey
An Impact or Anthem video is likely the first piece of video content a prospective candidate sees when visiting your careers page, Glassdoor, or LinkedIn channel. When done correctly, it sets the tone for your company’s culture, the impact you have on the world, and the mission, vision, and core values that you claim your company lives and breathes every day.
In other words, if you could only make one video, this is the one that should be at the very top of your list.
Prospective candidates feel excited about the possibility of working for your company after watching Impact or Anthem videos. In the best-case scenario, it will drive them straight to your list of job openings and apply for those open roles you never thought could draw interest. Candidates will share this video with their friends who are looking to make a move while recruiters, sales professionals, and your Communication department will all be able to find uses for this branded asset depending on their strategic needs.
Style: Social
Where You Need This Video: Still at the Beginning of the Candidate Journey
A Social video is a little different. While a social media share of an Anthem video is a nice plus, Social videos such as a video job post are designed to be shared – and shared widely
Video is quickly becoming top boss when it comes to content sharing. It was a top media trend in 2022 and has only gained in popularity. The all-video platform TikTok first reached one billion users in the fall of 2021, and by early 2023, there are over 1.53 billion users sharing their video creations with the world.
But Wethington warns companies not to get the wrong idea about shareable video content. Just because everyone can make a video on their iPhone doesn’t mean you should. To attract top candidates, you need relevant, targeted, first-rate video content.
“Posting high-quality videos casually and consistently will spark interest and encourage qualified candidates to seek opportunities for employment or partnership,” added Wethington.
Social videos tell miniature stories about your company, particularly time-sensitive stories that will engage your target audience with topics they care about.They’re designed for engagement. They surprise and delight. They inspire clicks and shares and comments.
From the first interaction with your company, your future Sales Lead or HR Manager or even CEO is excited and motivated to learn more.
Features
Where You Need This Video: The Middle of the Candidate Journey (so get this one into the hands of recruiters and hiring managers )
A Features video functions just like a feature article on a website or in a magazine – it provides more context and depth around a certain subject. Features videos are hyper-focused, and whether they’re profiling an Employee Resource Group, company value, or technical challenge being solved by a company’s products, they get right to the point.
Think of Features like a short story – a little slice of what your company is all about. This could be the story of a recent win. Or maybe how your team overcame a challenge or handled a defeat. A Features video could be a spotlight on a particular employee or an Employee Resource Group. Or how your employees spent a company-wide volunteer day giving back to the local community.
The possibilities are endless, but the end goal is the same: Amplifying your employer value.
Internal
Hiring is the last stage of the talent acquisition funnel, and once you have your new employees onboarded, Internal videos reinforce the cultural values that helped persuade candidates to apply in the first place.
Internal videos can get new hires up to speed as quickly as possible on everything from company history to best practices in the workplace.
Through Internal videos, recent hires learn what to expect in their new roles, how to complete various processes, about company policies, and ways they can connect with co-workers, such as joining an ERG or a mentorship program. Internal videos are also an effective tool for current employees. It’s an efficient way to streamline messaging or make important announcements.
An underrated benefit of Internal videos for both new and existing employees is creating a sense of company pride. Content that reminds your workforce about the positive impact of their work is an invaluable tool and one that should not be skipped!
Taking the Leap
Expanding your talent acquisition strategy to video content is an investment for your company.
Think about how much you value working with a team of people who are just as passionate and excited about your business as you are, and consider the message you want to send to future employees. Effectively communicating this message through video content is how you connect with the right people, your people.
Wethington had the final word on this: “Hiring an expert to guide your video content, development, and production shows the world that you value your brand and speaks volumes to potential candidates.”
Jennifer Johnson is a writer and researcher who works primarily in career services, recruiting, content development, and PR. But she's been known to take on any project that piques her interest.
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Launched in 2016, Uncubed Studios is a full-service creative agency with a client list representing the most influential employers on earth along with the high growth tech companies.
The team that brings the work of Uncubed Studios to life is made up of award-winning experts in cinematography, journalism, production, recruitment, employee engagement, employer branding and more.
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