Writer: CHARLIE FLETCHER
As a small business in a big world, finding high-quality talent and customers can be challenging, especially when you have to compete with big corporations selling similar products. You need to get creative and think outside of the box.
Luckily, there are various ways that you can bring in the best people by showcasing your brand and showing that you’re the best place to work and shop at due to your values and ethics. Here are some tactics to become more alluring to consumers and potential employees.
Showcase Your Brand to Customers and Candidates
One way to attract customers and candidates is by showcasing your brand in the best light possible and proving that you’re more than just another faceless corporation. You need to humanize your brand if you want to build trust with customers. Start by incorporating storytelling into your marketing. Show how you became a brand.
Tell folks how your products are best for them. Tell them why your products and services are unique, and educate them on how to use your products most effectively. This will allow your business to build emotional connections with your customers.
One way to build these connections is to showcase some of your team members in clips you can share with your customers. Make short videos, share them on social media, and try to make them funny as you tell about the worker’s life outside of the job and why they value working at that company so much.
A video like that could show potential job candidates that your company is worth looking into, and it will show potential customers that you treat your people right, which may draw them to you.
You can also attract top talent by showcasing your culture. The culture is defined by how your business runs and how your employees feel at work. A good culture has open communication where employees have a voice and feel like part of a team. Another part of a good culture is providing your team with ways to grow within the organization and reach their career goals.
Company recognition, culture, and brand building often go hand in hand. You can demonstrate that your brand offers the best competitive benefits and offers the flexible work environment that many employees want.
You can also showcase these perks through your job descriptions. If you know your brand is strong and you believe your current employees know that as well, then create a referral program so they can convince their friends that yours is a company to work for and you can bring them into your organization to fill necessary positions.
Finally, when you’re marketing your company, it’s important to put out job postings or attend recruitment events and highlight all of your benefits so people looking for a job in your industry will take notice.
Show That You’re More Than Just a Company
With many companies hiring today, potential candidates have a lot of options to choose from. For many people, working at a company that matches their values is important, which is why you need to highlight how your business practices what it preaches.
For example, many customers and candidates will be excited to find a company that regularly gives back to the community. There are many ways for companies to do so. One is to give money to a charity of your choice every year. For instance, the eyeglasses company Warby Parker regularly helps to provide vision care and glasses to kids in school so they can live their best lives. Try to do something along those lines and you’ll be shocked at the positive attention you could get.
People are also more excited than ever to find a company that values diversity. They like companies that truly want to give everyone from every background a chance to excel at their company. You can promote diversity within your company by removing gender-specific wording from your job descriptions and advertising your job listings on various websites and physical locations where people from different walks of life are likely to see it.
Once you know you have a diverse workforce and initiatives in place that ensure that your company remains diverse going forward, mention it in your marketing materials. Current employees who see your positive actions are also likely to refer their highly-qualified friends, and you could find the talent you seek. You’ll also get customers from all over the diversity spectrum, and the more people you attract, the better.
Creative Perks
Finally, if you want to attract qualified candidates away from the big corporations, then you need to offer the perks. One of them is offering your employees the chance to work remotely from the privacy of their own home.
You could also show your employees that you see them as people with lives outside of work by offering flexible schedules. If an employee needs to take care of their kids in the morning, but they can start later and still complete their work, then consider letting them do so.
Some companies need employees to come into the office at least a few days per week, so a hybrid work environment may be desirable for employees and managers alike.
Mental health is another major focus these days. Show employees that you care about their well-being by offering them the chance to take mental health days and offer counseling services if they need it.
Many companies don’t understand how much pressure they put on their employees and require more than the workers can handle. By separating yourself from them and showing empathy and appreciation, you could draw in a whole new generation of talent.
There are many ways to make a name for your small company to attract candidates and customers. By showing that your company is different and that it cares about people, the people will love you back.
[Image Source: Unsplash]
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