Branding Guidelines for Your Staffing Firm
A good brand is essential to remain competitive in the staffing industry. 
Candidates are not going to sign on with a firm that has a bad reputation and clients are not going to beat down your doors if they know that your track record with timely placements is questionable. Remember the most important staffing firm branding guideline; focus your attention on all three areas of your business, clients, candidates and your team. When you focus on just one or two, your brand suffers.
Service Delivery Basics
The biggest staffing firm branding guideline is not a secret and should be evident to any good business owner. Constantly evaluate your service delivery process and make sure that your team is delivering high-quality service. Build your brand by surveying your clients and candidates to ensure that they are satisfied. Make improvements where needed to encourage positive word-of-mouth referrals and be sure to stay on top of industry trends. Remain competitive by producing great content and establishing your staffing firm as a resource for talented candidates.
Kick it up a Notch
Now that you have ensured that you are delivering the best possible service, are there opportunities for potential service growth and expansion? If you are currently working with a client to fill their open IT requisitions, meet with the client to discuss your ability to dig deeper into your talent pool in order to fill other types of positions. As part of the marketing plan for your staffing firm, determine your limitations and never promise something that you are not going to be able to deliver. In order to build your staffing firm brand, don’t think of your clients’ demands as unreasonable. Look at their requests as a call-to-action and figure out how your team is going to achieve those goals.
Bond with your Candidates
Many staffing firms focus their brand-building efforts on their clients, but you need to remember that the number of candidates who come through your door is always going to be greater than the number of clients. Although you definitely do not want to forget about your clients, you must work on improving your working relationships with your candidates. Today’s candidates are very well connected, and it is in your best interests to market your staffing firm to your top talent. Satisfied candidates are much more likely to recommend your staffing firm to their friends and colleagues. Work to clearly identify your candidate target audience and go where they go. Join online forums that they frequent. Host networking opportunities and certification classes in order to create a positive environment and build your staffing firm brand.
Brand Success = Better Team
Another staffing firm branding guideline is that in order to build a successful brand, you must have buy-in from your team. When your recruiters and sales managers believe in your staffing firm, they are bound to go the extra mile and deliver the best service to your clients and candidates. Include your staff in team meetings and get their input so that they understand they are helping to shape your staffing firm brand. As your brand credibility increases, so does your ability to attract the best recruiters and sales people. Staffing professionals are looking to work for the top firms, so by building your staffing firm brand you are not only attracting better clients and candidates, you are also attracting the best staff for your team.
Don’t Say Anything At All
Now that you are working with your clients, candidates and team to build your brand, how are you going to spread the word about your great staffing firm? In the world of video advertising, brands are now embracing the power of silent video, and target audiences are responding. Yahoo, Twitter, Instagram and of course Facebook have all begun placing muted autoplaying video ads on their sites and brands of all sizes are seeing positive results. In order to make your visual ad compelling, it is essential that you sit down with your team to design a marketing plan for your staffing firm. Determine what key points you hope to communicate to your target audience, and make sure that your video layout includes an incentive for those who watch the entire segment.
Key Takeaways for Branding Guidelines for your Staffing Firm:
- Evaluate your service delivery process and make sure that your team is delivering high-quality service
- Identify whether there are opportunities to expand your service delivery options
- Improve your working relationships with your candidates
- Include your staff in team meetings and get their buy-in
- Make use of silent video to communicate your brand’s message
About S.J.Hemley Marketing
S.J.Hemley Marketing is a marketing and sales consulting firm focused on driving tangible results for professional services firms. Brand matters, but not without ROI. With over 20 years of sales and marketing experience within staffing and recruiting, we have helped to drive successful branding, sales training, lead generation activities as well as defining marketing strategy for top organizations.