That has become more important as candidates have become more cautious about leaving their current role. People are not moving just to move; they want to know what they are walking into. They want to understand the business, the culture, the leadership team, and whether the opportunity will be good for their career.
To attract the best people, you’ll want to get to work on your employer brand.
A strong employer brand allows prospective employees to educate themselves about you and your business before they apply for a job or interview. The people who are a good fit will get excited about the opportunity. When you talk to them, you’ll spend less time selling them and more time engaged in a rich conversation about the role.
Here are the components of building that brand, the five stories prospective employees are looking to hear.
#1 You’ll find an exciting growth opportunity here
A rapidly growing business is a dynamic and exciting place to work. Employees work on interesting projects, have greater opportunities for promotion, and can look forward to building skills, making powerful connections, and gaining accomplishments that enhance their resume and open doors for the future.
The first part of the company story reflects the mission of your business: what you do, whom you serve, what your innovation is, and what kind of results you deliver.
The second part shares the traction you have achieved: growth to date, milestones achieved, investors, respected partners, logo customers, user volume, customer outcomes, product progress, and other evidence that your business has momentum.
The company story is critical, and it should be the foundation of your LinkedIn presence. (This isn’t only important to job candidates. It’s also the story prospects, partners, investors, and the media want to hear.)
For prospective employees, make sure the vision is clear. They can take an exciting journey with a mission-driven business. They will be challenged, work with new technology and new ideas, add useful skills, make powerful connections, and gain accomplishments that help them grow their careers.
You do not need to make the company sound perfect. Candidates know every company has challenges. What they want to understand is why this opportunity is worth their time, talent, and energy.
#2 You can see our company culture in everything we do
You have built your culture intentionally, designed to attract and support the type of high-caliber employees you want.
Make that culture visible.
When you showcase your culture, you attract people who want to work in that environment. And, even more importantly, you allow people who are not a fit to go away without wasting your time.
Culture can show up in many ways.
It can show up in how people work together, how decisions are made, how managers support employees, what wins are celebrated, how hard moments are handled, and what the company chooses to recognize publicly.
It can show up in team photos, employee stories, customer stories, volunteer work, celebrations, offsites, product launches, professional development, promotions, and everyday moments that reveal what the company values.
But be careful. Talking about culture on social media demands that you walk the talk. You must authentically reflect what really happens in your company, not what you think people want to hear or an idealized version of what you wish the culture was.
If your culture is intense, show what that looks like. If your culture is flexible, show how that works. If your culture is highly collaborative, let people see the collaboration. If your culture rewards ownership, show examples of employees taking ownership and being recognized for it.
#3 You’ll work with a leadership team that has demonstrated vision and credibility
The CEO sets the tone for the entire company.
Let people see who you are as a leader. Be transparent about your management philosophy, how you think, and what matters to you.
If you are scaling hiring in sales, the leadership brand of your Chief Revenue Officer or VP of Sales matters too. If you are hiring engineers, consider the brand of your Chief Technology Officer. If you are hiring in marketing, finance, operations, or customer success, candidates will look at those leaders as well.
Just like with your culture, an authentic leadership brand serves you. It attracts the people who want to work for someone like you and are therefore more likely to stick around. It also helps you avoid spending time on people who want something different.
People want to know about the people they work for. It is as simple as that.
Are you trustworthy? Can they trust their future with your leadership? Are you smart, innovative, and respected? Do you care about your team? Do you share credit? Do you communicate clearly?
LinkedIn lets you answer those questions proactively, before you are aware someone is even interested in your business.
- Profiles can highlight the backgrounds, experience, and leadership styles of the company’s top executives.
- Articles can share thoughts, insights, and perspectives from the company’s leaders on current industry trends and thought-provoking topics.
- Posts can share behind-the-scenes glimpses into the daily life of the company’s leadership, including how they think, how they lead, and what they are building.
When you do this, the right people can see why your company is the perfect fit for them. This brings a higher percentage of highly qualified, good-fit candidates into the top of your recruiting funnel.
#4 You will be safe and valued here
The benefits of having a diverse team are well understood and appreciated, and attracting diverse candidates is high on the priority list of many employers.
To attract top candidates, you need to show that you believe in diversity, have a diverse team or are working to improve diversity, and have programs in place to ensure equity and inclusion.
Candidates do not want to see polished statements that sound like they came from an HR handbook. They want to see whether people are actually respected, supported, and able to do good work.
Do you have employee resource groups, mentorship programs, inclusive hiring practices, leadership development, flexible work policies, or specific initiatives to support underrepresented employees? Make those visible.
If your company has made progress, talk about it. If you are still working on it, you can say that too. Honest progress is more credible than pretending the work is finished.
Your executives can also help make this story real. When executives interact with diverse leaders, peers, and employees in social media, it shows that DEI goals aren’t just on paper. They are lived out by people who make decisions in the company.
Candidates want to know whether they can thrive in your environment. They want to know whether they will be heard, respected, supported, and given the chance to do meaningful work. Make it easier for them to see that.
#5 You can join our efforts to have a positive impact in the world
People want to work for a business that has a mission.
You may be improving healthcare, strengthening cybersecurity, expanding access to education, helping companies reduce waste, protecting data, improving financial systems, or solving another important problem for your customers.
Or the impact may show up in the way you operate, the causes you support, the communities you serve, or the standards you hold yourself to.
You are never going to be aligned with everyone on everything, and you do not need to take a public stand on every issue. But if there is a cause that matters to you as a company, or if your work creates a positive impact for customers, employees, communities, or the world, that story should be easy to find.
Share how your company serves the community or contributes beyond daily operations. Has your team supported a nonprofit, helped fill a community need, mentored students, contributed to an industry initiative, or helped customers solve a problem that really matters? Post about the steps and the wins.
If sustainability is important to your company, show what you are actually doing. If mentorship matters, show the people being developed. If customer impact is the heart of the story, tell those stories clearly.
The key is to keep it specific and authentic. Candidates can tell the difference between a company that is trying to look good and a company that is proud of the work it is doing.
How to tell these stories on LinkedIn
You can tell these stories in a variety of ways on LinkedIn.
On your profile (and the profiles of your leadership team):
Your cover photo can have a photo of your team, a message about your mission, or something that reflects the company you are building.
Your About section can include your founding story, your traction, and your culture. You can also talk about diversity here.
Your Featured section can include a video where employees talk about what they like about working for your company. It can highlight awards you have won, such as being named a Best Place to Work. You could include a podcast where you talk about your culture, a customer story, a recruiting video, or photos from a company volunteer activity.
On your company page:
Post regularly about what is happening inside the company: new projects, collaborations, customer success stories, team moments, product progress, and employee wins.
Share stories that showcase the company’s values and the way they are brought to life in day-to-day work.
Highlight the company’s unique processes, methodology, and innovations.
Post behind-the-scenes looks at the company’s offices, your remote-first culture, your hybrid work model, your ping-pong tournaments, or the ways your team stays connected around the world.
Let employees be part of the story. Tag the employees involved and let their stories come through. Candidates trust employees far more than marketing copy.
You can also tell stories in the way you engage with people:
- Like and comment on posts made by your team.
- Welcome new employees.
- Compliment people who win promotions or awards.
- Give kudos for a job well done.
Make a point of sharing posts that are aligned with your leadership philosophy, perhaps talking about work-life balance, servant leadership, Stoicism, or whatever is authentic for you.
Follow diverse thought leaders and like or comment on their posts.
When leaders engage with employee posts, it creates visible proof of culture. People see that your team interacts in a genuine, positive way. That warmth and connection can be felt immediately, even by someone who has never met you.
A vibrant LinkedIn presence makes the company feel active, connected, and alive.
Make it easy for the right people to choose you
When you are strategic about building a strong employer brand, you allow people to educate themselves about you and your business before they apply for a job or interview.
That matters because the best candidates are usually not making a simple decision.
They are deciding whether to take a risk and leave a company where they are already successful. They are deciding whether to trust you and your leadership team.
Your employer brand can help them make that decision.
You can show them the growth opportunity, the culture, the leadership, the environment, and the impact. You can help the people who are a good fit get excited about the opportunity.
These stories do not just help you attract more candidates. They help you attract people who understand your mission, believe in the opportunity, and will thrive once they join.
That means you can hire faster, and with a higher degree of confidence that you are hiring the right person. So your company can grow faster, with fewer hiring mistakes.
Need help getting started?
At ProResource, we work with executives who want to use social media to make faster progress on their goals. We would love to build a strong employer brand for you. Let’s talk!