So you want to go global with your employer branding. Great!

Companies wishing to reach potential employees on a global scale, while declaring a valuable employer promise worldwide, can benefit from incorporating international search engine marketing into their employer branding strategy.  

Multilingual social media

An effective way to deliver your employee brand to an international audience is through multilingual social media. Multilingual search engine optimisation for keywords relating to your employer brand is another useful endeavour.

Since you are essentially selling yourself to your workforce, you should approach global employer branding in much the same way you would approach global product or service marketing. While some companies may cringe at the thought of spending more time and money on marketing, multilingual web marketing offers a cost-effective route to build a buzz-worthy employer brand.

Keyword and search engine optimisation competition

As the competition for English keywords rises, it is becoming much more difficult to achieve decent return on investment in pay-per-click and search engine optimisation campaigns. However, the competition remains low internationally as many companies overseas have been slower to understand the branding benefits of search engine optimisation.

Global markets

While the UK internet market nears penetration, more and more countries overseas are going online. The number of Chinese internet users has surpassed that of the US. There is plenty of room for this number to grow, as China’s current internet penetration only represents one-eighth of its population. There has been a 1,575 percent rise in the number of Arabic speakers online, along with an 800 percent increase in Russian internet users, over the past five years. Closer to home, the French and Germans are now spending more on online travel than the UK. These all represent significant markets for your employer brand.

Web marketing strategy & pay-per-click

However, international audiences can be tricky to reach without a suitable international web marketing strategy. Brand recognition and perception varies widely according to the culture, so it is essential to really do you research before getting started. I’ll give you a few tips for how you can begin planning your strategy, according to your budget.

Small budgets

Companies with a limited SEO budget should begin with market scoping. In other words, find out which international markets might be interested in your employer message. We at OBAN always take this first step with clients to establish just how much demand there is and then build a strategy.

A low-cost entry point to begin taking your brand global would be to set up a pay-per-click campaign in different markets that leads to landing pages either in the local language or English. This can prove to be a great toe-in-the-water exercise. If your budget allows it, have your website optimised for the keywords that your target culture is likely to associate with your brand. A recent study by Google and Enquiro research showed a 16 percent increase in brand association when the brand appeared in both the top ad and top organic listing.

Medium budgets

Companies with mid-size budgets should begin by building an international website with an international search engine optimisation strategy. In addition, they should think about establishing a presence on social networking websites. As the popular social media sites differ from country to country, the companies that can afford the research should study their target markets to ensure they aim their employer brand message at the most popular websites. For example Orkut.com is a very popular social networking website in India and Brazil, whereas in China, QQ.com is the main player. There are also very niche social networking websites that can be used according to the nature of the company and its business strategies.

PR

Submission of press releases about the employer brand in local languages is something else that should be considered. Medium-sized businesses might want to collaborate with international PR companies to send their localised press releases through the effective channels in their target international markets.

Large budgets

Larger companies will want to look at creating their own social media websites. Brand introduction is usually not an issue with this size of company, since they have their audience and usually benefit from good brand awareness. We recommend, in this case, that they create social media websites focused on their core business, to engage their audience and potential employees in different ways with their brand both directly and indirectly. Keep in mind that research shows that different cultures react differently (Jupiter, May 2008) to brand and social media and so what works in countries like the UK will not work in countries like Korea or Russia.

Viral advertising

Viral advertising is another area that large size companies can afford to invest in. This can be in the form of a short video or a game, relating to your employer brand. Viral marketing is a great way to generate a buzz about the benefits of working for your company.

International employer branding

Savvy companies with the potential to go global are beginning to think ahead, buying local domains and launching sites locally, allowing them better control of their international brand reputation. With over 70 percent of internet users not speaking English (around 900 million people), an employer branding campaign in English-only will mean that companies are greatly restricting their message in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Good luck!