Get the best talent working for your salon
Have you ever noticed how some of your competitors manage to attract the top talent with ease, even in this difficult recruitment market?
If your salon reputation and brand fall flat with jobseekers you may well find yourself losing them to your local competition explains Alice Kirby, founder of the Salon Social Club and Lockhart Meyer Salon Marketing. Employer branding is the hot topic in social marketing and recruitment right now and Alice explains how to harness its hiring power for your salon.
Attract the best with your salon social
I’m sure you already use your social platforms for your recruitment marketing when you’re advertising for new team members.
BUT your salon social can play a much more powerful role in attracting and retaining the best talent in town all year long. And there’s a marketing name for this – it’s called ‘Employer Branding’.
In today’s increasingly competitive hiring marketplace, the salons who use both marketing strategies (recruitment marketing + employer branding) are the ones most likely to win.
So what’s the difference?
Recruitment Marketing
Recruitment marketing is a one-off activity – usually an advert. It’s how you get your message in front of the right candidate at the right time.
On the other hand, building a strong ‘employer brand’ is an ongoing marketing process throughout the year.
Here’s how it works:
Employer Branding
Many salons invest in creating a strong brand to attract clients to their salon, but very few spend time promoting a positive image and reputation to ensure they attract and retain a top team.
This is what employer brand marketing is all about. It’s building and nurturing your reputation as an awesome place to work – the salon in town that everyone wants to work in. And it’s the power of employer branding and how it can help you hire the best that I’m talking about today.
What’s in it for YOU?
Whether that experienced therapist or stylist decides to join your business, or accepts a local competitor’s offer instead, is often down to the strength of your brand and local reputation. In other words, your ‘employer brand’.
92% of people would consider changing jobs if offered a role with a company that has an excellent reputation.
The better you are at employer branding, the more likely you are to attract higher quality applicants - the best local talent.
Strong employer branding will help you:
- Attract quality team members
- Cut recruitment costs
- Reduce employee turnover
Build a strong employer brand on social
Your salon social is the perfect place to build a strong, positive employer brand week by week, month by month.
Think of prospective employees as a separate target audience when you’re creating salon social posts. Social media shouldn’t just be targeted at new clients.
There are dozens of ways you can show what a brilliant workplace your salon is and encourage your competitors’ employees to start thinking that they’d rather be working with you.
Salon social media makes it easy to be visual with your storytelling so people can visualise themselves working in your business and think: ‘Wow that would be an amazing place to work and grow my career.’
Try these social post ideas:
- Impress them with your outstanding training
- Catch their eye with your gorgeous salon
- Excite them about your awards and event opportunities
- Motivate them with behind-the-scenes at work
- Wow them with career development stories
- Spark their interest in your perks and rewards
In fact, anything and everything that makes it clear that your salon is the one to work at.
Social proof boosts your employer brand
But don’t just rely on what you say about your salon to convince potential team members. Use social proof from third parties to ‘prove’ you’re an amazing salon and the best in town.
86% of employees and job seekers research company reviews and ratings to decide on where to apply for a job.
Client testimonials and reviews show that you ‘walk the talk’, as do star ratings/accreditations from quality industry organisations like the Good Salon Guide. All these celebrate and promote the outstanding quality you offer adding independent trust and credibility to your own employer brand marketing activities.
Use all marketing channels
If you want to reach out to the best remember to use all available marketing channels, including your website and salon industry media, to nurture a strong employer brand.
When writing your website keep in mind you have two target audiences to attract: new clients and the best staff. Building your employer brand isn’t just for your career page it needs to flow throughout your website – it may sound tricky, but it can be done.
Members: Don’t forget to send us your news and photographic collections as we love to include them on our website (which gets well over a million hits a month), popular social platforms, and twice-yearly magazine to showcase your business to both new clients and potential candidate
Employer branding: your new recruitment weapon
Still need convincing about the power of a strong employer brand? Here’s a quick reminder of how it can grow your business:
- Attract the best for less
- Cut recruitment costs
- Improve team retention and churn
And given how difficult it is to hire high quality employees right now, I think employer branding should shoot straight to the top of your salon social marketing to-do list.
Hair & beauty marketing specialist Alice Kirby can be found at the Salon Social Club and Lockhart Meyer Salon Marketing.