They couldn’t afford to not get this right. The results were positive, but confusing. Testing your employer branding is crucial, especially if there's a big investment behind it.
A client of mine had produced some ambitious employer branding materials. A fully immersive experience, that took you behind what can be a little known or misunderstood employer.
It had taken many months of development, a lot of budget. Inevitably, that will attract a lot of scrutiny. Those working most closely were convinced of the project, but were able also to see that they were too close to retain objectivity.
So, it became my task to see how the target audience reacted to the creative. That needed to come in two parts:
1. I still wanted to see if the creative had shifted audience perception closer to the employer value proposition.
Did they understand the distinctive and attractive reasons to come to work for you? Could they evaluate if you’re the right employer for them or not?
2. But in this type of creative where you “live” within in it for some time, they need to enjoy the experience too, or you’ll never get that far.
Did they enjoy taking part? Of itself, was this an interesting thing to take part in?
I heard directly from the target audience and got them to express how they felt about taking part AND what they took from the whole thing.
Not everyone loved it, but most did. They didn’t feel their time was badly spent, they might encourage others to take part. They thought it was well-executed, and they understood what to take away. There was no reputational risk by continuing.
What possibly confused was that despite this positive result, knowledge and likelihood of applying went down.
But closer scrutiny found that the experience had showed candidates that there were gaps in their knowledge. Thet tells the client they need to keep going. And it had done its job well, it had started to dissuade the people that wouldn’t be a great fit.
The insight I could bring gave my client the confidence to continue and maximise their investment.
How much do you test your employer branding materials?
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