Visual branding: 5 tips

Visual branding constitutes any imagery that gives your brand a specific, unique identity. As hiring managers and recruiters know, a company's employer brand is a representation of the company's work environment. It's what gets job seekers excited about working for your organization. As with consumer-facing branding, a company's employer brand requires stimulating visual elements.

To gain more opportunities to engage skilled job seekers, consider these visual branding tips:

1. Show off your workplace

Job seekers want to know what it's like to work for your organization. Visual branding can provide a glimpse into the daily happenings at your company. For example, job seekers may want to know if your company utilizes an open floor plan or cubicles. By utilizing images of your office on your website, job seekers have a chance to see if your organization's style of work matches their own. Likewise, a virtual tour of your offices can really show off what it would be like to walk your halls and explore your workspaces.

Virtual tours and office photos can also be a way to show off your company's amenities such as a coffee nook, food options and other perks that make the workplace more comfortable. For example, if your office features standing desks and other ergonomic options, you can highlight them here.

2. Introduce your people

Video interviews with your current employees can show prospective job seekers what it's like to interact with your staff. Videos and images of your employees working, collaborating and getting creative can have a strong appeal for job seekers, especially inexperienced individuals who may not know what to expect. Remember, employees often spend more time interacting with their coworkers than they do with their families, so they'll want to know what types of professionals your company hires.

"Putting our people front-and-center has always been a vital part of our marketing strategy," says Chris Wilcock, Senior Marketing Coordinator at Beacon Hill. "That's why we send out a video from our CEO to everyone who interviews with us internally, so they know what to expect. That's also why we included video interviews with our employees when we launched our careers website, so people would get a true sense of what it's like at Beacon Hill from a first-hand perspective. Oftentimes, the people your organization has will be its strongest differentiator – why not show them off?"

In addition to hosting videos on the employment section of your website, consider running features on social media. For instance you could highlight a new position every week, showing what it's like to work in a specific role.

3. Highlight your company culture

Together, your workplace and employees form two thirds of your company culture. The final piece of the puzzle is represented by the policies and management styles your organization utilizes to keep things running. Graphics, images and videos can show job seekers how your company manages its employee population.

You can also highlight non-work activities to show off your company culture. For example, if your teams attend leisure outings, bring along a camera to capture some of these fun moments.

4. Integrate visual branding and digital marketing

Consistency is vital to visual branding. For that reason, HR should work closely with the marketing department to align color choices, visual styles, logos and more. If job seekers have one idea of your company from your marketing efforts, but see a different picture when they go through your hiring process, it can leave them feeling uneasy and disengaged.

Look at your company's recent marketing efforts and determine if they're telling the same story as your recruiting collateral. If your public-facing assets make your company seem fun, but your employer branding is strictly no-nonsense, it could create a disconnect that makes your brand seem disingenuous.

5. Formalize your style guide

Once you have a visual branding strategy that supports your recruiting strategy, consider creating a formal style guide. You can model this guide after your organization's larger editorial style guide, or make a short document that collects all essential elements. This will help you develop consistent visual content and will allow for easy transitions if someone new takes over your role. This style guide should be revisited periodically to ensure it remains aligned with your overall hiring strategy.

Your visual brand should be an accurate representation of what it's like to work for your organization. You must reinforce your branding message with a consistent hiring process. By working with an expert recruiting firm, you can create more opportunities for acquiring top talent. To learn more, speak with an experienced account executive from Beacon Hill today.