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Brand Activation Management

Humanising your brand: How to get it right

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Papirfly
8 minutes read

‘Humanising’ may sound like another buzzword, but it’s actually something that the world’s leading brands have been doing for decades. It’s a large part of what makes them so relatable to consumers across the globe. In this article, we emphasise the importance of humanising your brand to build stronger emotional connections with your audience.

What does humanising your brand mean?

In essence, it’s a way to shed the image of a soulless corporation and show the ‘human’ side of a business. It helps your customers put a face, or at least a personality, to the brand they are engaging with.

But, this is about more than projecting values and purpose. When you’re marketing to an audience who not only dislike most advertising, but will often go out of their way to avoid it, people aren’t just going to take your word for the great things your brand says about itself. What really matters is clear evidence of how your brand embodies the claims it makes in its marketing.

To humanise your brand you need to present it as an approachable entity with something relevant to offer.

Why do brands need to be human?

Nobody responds well to robotic advertising tactics. Yet so many brands come across in the same sales-heavy way. If they are able to become more human, brands can communicate with nuance, and provide a more authentic demonstration of value to develop stronger bonds with their audience.

Transparency and authenticity have become decisive purchasing factors for an increasing number of consumers. This makes it more important than ever to bestow your brand with the emotional intelligence to talk about any subject in a way that feels natural.

Humanising your brand allows you to produce content that uses emotional archetypes to tap into universal feelings that resonate with everyone. This means you can begin to create a personal relationship between brand and consumer and open doors to new ways to instill more trust in your brand.

Personalisation is an especially important consideration for digital marketing strategies — it’s an important way to gain trust, increase relevance and promote engagement. However, without the in-store experience offered by good sales agents, it’s all too easy to sound like a robot. It’s the simple things like a warm welcome, remembering a customer’s name and engaging in natural, unscripted conversation that make customers feel valued as individuals.

Humanising your brand is a way to win back these lost interactions. But to get it right, you need to go beyond faceless transactions and towards building a memorable relationship between brand and customer.

How to make your brand more human

As we mentioned before, your brand needs to sound human across every touchpoint. If you roll out a beautifully crafted email campaign that really connects with your audience, only to link them through to a sales-y, robotic-sounding landing page, the whole experience can be undone; the ‘human’ element disappears. With these steps, you can make sure that every aspect of your brand embodies the same personality traits and feels like a human:

#1 Tell your brand’s story

For your humanised brand to come through naturally, you need to tell stories, not just sell products. The stories you tell should make your audience see your business as a likeable, relatable person that represents your brand.

Telling stories is a fine art and there are endless ways to communicate them. You could weave them into your email loyalty campaigns, share them as articles on your blog or bring them to life through video. The important thing is that they all feel consistent and that they are told with authenticity.

A brand that got it right:

Airbnb does an excellent job of bringing the human element to their content by focussing on their hosts (the people that rent out their homes through the site) and the experiences of the travellers who have rented properties from them.

It’s a great example of how to make your audiences feel like an integral part of your brand by celebrating the ways in which they use a product or service.

#2 Celebrate your staff

Employee advocacy gives people a unique insight into what your business is really like on the inside. The ‘human nature’ of a brand inherently spreads from company culture — ultimately, it’s your employees that make your brand what it is.

Giving staff a platform to create and share their own content adds an extra layer of trust and authenticity to your brand. To give this some context, 76% of individuals surveyed in a recent study said that they’re more likely to trust content shared by “normal” people than by brands.

A brand that got it right: 

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Starbucks created social media accounts for all of their employees, who they refer to as ‘partners’. This not only gives their employees a sense of belonging and responsibility, but also a dedicated platform to share the things they love about their day-to-day. 

Starbucks has also made their comprehensive social media guidelines available to all partners so that it’s easy for them to post relevant, engaging content while maintaining consistency with the brand.

#3 Empathise with your audience

Get to know who your audience really are. Find out what they care about, understand their pain points and find ways for your brand to become the solution.

Just like any positive human relationship, empathy needs to start with a two-way conversation. Don’t be afraid of customer feedback, even if it’s negative — every interaction with your audience will help you learn more about them and build (or re-build) their trust.

A brand that got it right: 

tesla-logo-1

Elon Musk’s public-facing approach to entrepreneurship has made him synonymous with his brand. So any negative feedback from Tesla customers is negative feedback towards him personally. When Tesla driver, Paul Franks, Tweeted about making an improvement to his car, Elon Musk replied within 30 minutes promising to solve it in the next software update.

Being able to put an instantly recognisable face to your brand is a failsafe way to humanise any company. But what makes this example so impressive, is translating this quality into open communication between founder and customer — making them feel listened to, even if it’s just via a tweet.

#4 Educate, don’t sell 

For your marketing to feel human, it needs to show that your brand understands what your audience wants and needs.

Instead of pushing features, talk about solutions. Tell your audience what it is about your product or service that will make their lives better and how.

A brand that got it right: 

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Amazon-owned shoe retailer, Zappos, knows that their audience has come to expect a simple returns process and fast, low-cost shipping when shopping online. Their advertising not only acknowledges this, but suggests that it’s every customer’s ‘right’ to have them.

It’s a genius way for Zappos to talk about their renowned customer-friendly policies while making their audience feel front-and-centre of their messaging.

#5 It’s not just what you say, but how you say it

Tone of voice is one of the first giveaways of your brand’s personality. Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t just mean being quirky. There is a balance between conversational and professional, but using overly formal language or filling your copy with jargon doesn’t impress anyone — normally it just leaves them bored and confused. Anyone who’s a real expert in a subject can distil concepts and information, and present them in a way that everyone can understand.

Setting clear tone of voice guidelines is vital for achieving this balance and making sure that your brand sounds like one entity across any touchpoint. For more on this, be sure to read, Why tone of voice and language are critical to a consistent brand.

A brand that got it right: 

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Throughout their fierce rivalry with McDonald’s, Burger King has become known for their quick, light-hearted sense of humour, never missing an opportunity to poke fun at the competition. However, the true test of any tone of voice is its ability to flip (pun intended) when it needs to, without losing a long-established brand personality.

When COVID-19 hit the hospitality sector especially hard during lockdown, Burger King found a way to use their witty writing style to create heartfelt solidarity with their rivals at a time when every restaurant chain was feeling the effects of the pandemic.

#6 Practice what you preach

Today’s consumer can spot a disingenuous marketing tactic a mile off. To an extent, this has probably always been the case, but the difference now is that audiences have social media platforms to call brands out for saying they’re one thing and acting like another.

Jumping on band-wagons or trying to capitalise on important causes is never a good look. The best way to avoid these marketing faux-pas is to humanise your brand from the inside out. Take your brand personality from what your business values and the way it already behaves.

A brand that got it right:

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Patagonia is a brand that is synonymous with their commitment to sustainability and the environment, and has been since day one. Their values have become something that countless brands try to replicate but which very few are able to back up when pushed.

Even now that they have become renowned as being one of the most ethical brands out there, Patagonia still makes sure that they embody every claim they make about their products. Whether that’s pioneering the use of organic cotton in the early 90s, or recently announcing that corporate logos will no longer be added to its clothing in a bid to reduce landfill.

#7 Challenging perceptions

The best way to win over negative feedback is to own it. By trying to ignore an issue raised by a disgruntled few or sweep bad press under the carpet you will only add fuel to the fire.
Instead of shying away from confrontation, show the human side of your brand by opening up an honest, transparent, two-way conversation. When you talk about both the negatives and the positives with your audience, your brand shows that it has nothing to hide.

A brand that got it right:

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When misleading information on Reddit and Twitter began to cause confusion around their payment service, Swedish FinTech company, Klarna, found a creative way to ‘set the record straight’.

Working with contemporary artist Ignasi Monreal, they commissioned mythical-inspired artwork based on the top myths being spread about the company. They also created the Mythbuster Challenge as part of the campaign which incentivised users to discover the truth about Klarna for the chance to win prizes.

Back to contents

Bring out your brand’s human side with BAM by Papirfly™

It takes time to give any business an honest, believable personality, and a lot of work and dedication to maintain it. With BAM by Papirfly™, you can create consistent marketing assets and implement failsafe processes to humanise your brand. Here’s how:

Make your brand guidelines impossible to ignore

  • BAM gives you one place to store and share relevant assets, documentation and guidelines. It means you can easily educate your teams to produce content that’s firmly attached to your brand purpose

Create consistent on-brand assets

  • To keep your brand looking, feeling and sounding like its true self, consistency is key. BAM allows you to set predefined templates that give teams the freedom to be creative, without veering off-brand.

Empower your staff

  • With BAM’s easy-to-use creation suite, your teams will have everything they need to create studio-quality assets with no outside help needed. Working within set parameters, they can tell your brand’s story through digital, print, social media and video.

Stay on top of your marketing output

  • Through BAM’s innovative portal, you can have a clear overview of your campaigns and control who has access to prevent any misuse of materials.

Want to learn more about capturing your audience’s imagination with BAM? The best place to start is with a live demo of all of its innovative features. You can book yours here.

Table of contents:

  1. What does humanising your brand mean?
  2. Why do brands need to be human?
  3. How to make your brand more human
  4. Bring out your brand’s human side with BAM by Papirfly™
Brand Communication, Brand identity, Brand strategy

How to communicate your brand

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Papirfly
3 minutes read

Branding is all about communicating your brand – building a strong brand presence that creates desire and attracts customers. Successful branding = Business growth. Consistency and brand experience are two of four key qualities consumers value and that keeps them coming back for more. How effective is your brand communication? Are you attracting the right customers, and are they loyal?

Factors that impact your brand communication are your colleagues, available resources and manpower, the number of channels and platforms that require your brand presence, your competitors, and your audience to mention a few. As always, there are some dos and don’ts that affect your success rate.

Here’s a short list on how to successfully communicate your brand

1. Establish brand identity guidelines

A key goal for any brand should be to achieve consistency. Consumers expect your brand to be consistent and it is connected to the growth potentials of your company. This is not an impossible task, but it does require effort and dedication in addition to a real plan.

For brand consistency to happen, you need brand rules. Proper brand identity guidelines that concern everyone who is communicating your brand. These brand guidelines need to set the standard for all employees and external stakeholders on how to use and apply your brand across any and all channels.

Also read: Create branding guidelines with a brand management platform

2. Establish internal brand guidelines and align your branding processes

Employees are the central participants in your brand communication. It’s impossible to communicate a brand if you don’t have your employees on your side. Think of it as a football team playing a game. If the team isn’t aware of the purpose and goal of the game, and no one knows what position they play or how to do it, you will have a team scattered all over the football field, running in different directions. It’s safe to say that team won’t win the game.

The same applies to branding. Everyone in the company needs to know why branding is important and what role they play on the team. Therefore, make sure your brand guidelines include internal brand strategies and align your external and internal branding processes.

3. Establish proper brand asset management

Having brand identity guidelines in place is unfortunately not enough to achieve brand consistency. In fact, 95% of organizations have branding guidelines, but only 1/4th have formal guidelines that are consistently enforced. One step in the right direction is to establish brand asset management.

Brand asset management is the system that connects the dots between your brand guidelines and your brand assets. This is the system that enables seamless and intuitive user workflows, making it effective and easy to apply your brand regardless of who’s in need, or which channel or platform is utilized. By having this in place, growing and developing your brand becomes easier, and everyone who needs to use your brand can do so effortlessly and quickly from one single location.

Also read: What is brand asset management?

4. Create a brand communication strategy

To win the football game, or in this case, win against the competitors by achieving brand consistency and building a strong brand identity, your employees need to be included and informed about the strategy.

It’s not enough for them to know that they are a part of the plan and their role. They also need to know what is required from them. This part is essential in brand communication. Although a customer service representative and a receptionist represent the same company, their role and how they need to interact with the audience is different. To succeed, this needs to be accounted for in your brand communication strategy. By adapting the brand communication strategy to each role individually, you’ll have a better chance of realization.

5. Develop and grow your brand continuously and meet market expectations

There’s no resting when it comes to branding. How you communicate your brand today, might not fit or be sufficient tomorrow.

The market changes and so do consumers. On one hand we have a fast-growing Martech space that puts pressure on marketing teams and our ability to follow our own brand communication strategy. It’s not easy to deliver on demand when deadlines are behind us, and resources are short. On the other hand, we have consumers. How they search for information, what they value and how they engage with your brand varies between them. When communicating your brand, you need to adapt at the same speed and meet these expectations.

Communicate your brand with digital solutions

Just as you digitize your private life to simplify and increase your own efficiency, you need to do the same for your work life and your brand. By digitizing your branding processes, following the above steps will be easy. Everything about your brand can easily be maintained, developed, and communicated from one single solution.

No second guessing. Everyone will know everything they need to know to communicate your brand with ease.

Employer Branding

The essential role of storytelling in employer branding

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Papirfly
8 minutes read

There are few things that leave a more powerful impression on the human mind as a well-told story.

Whether it’s a blockbuster movie or the latest ad for a global brand, strong storytelling captures the imagination of audiences and imparts messages, lessons and emotions that, when conveyed effectively, stay with people for the rest of their lives.

But the art of storytelling is not restricted to Hollywood or publishing houses – it also has a vital role in the persuasive power of employer branding.

The decision to join a company and remain there is largely driven by emotion. Prospective candidates want to feel what it is like to work for that brand, to experience how it will engage and motivate them day-to-day. Meanwhile, existing employees need consistent reinforcement of the purpose behind your brand, and their role in bringing that to fruition.

Good storytelling is essential in getting these points across in a way that standalone facts and statistics simply can’t. 

Stories inspire emotions. They move people. They forge connections.

Here, we advocate the value of storytelling in employer branding and how it can greatly enhance your efforts to recruit and retain top talent, illustrated with real-life examples from top brands.

How storytelling conveys employer brand values

At a fundamental level, employer brand storytelling should be purpose-driven. This means it conveys a message or lesson that the reader/viewer takes away, having recognised the experiences and emotions of the characters within that story.

Take the timeless tale of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”. Although you could simply tell someone the moral of this story outright, that if you lie too often then people won’t believe you when you’re actually telling the truth, framing it in its true ‘story’ context leaves a more potent, vivid impression as to why this lesson is so important.

Employer brand storytelling should take the same initiative. Simply presenting candidates and employees with statistics, benefits and perks of being part of your company will not inspire the same emotional response as a well-told story. 

They want to know what it feels like to be part of your team. 

  • What skills will they pick up?
  • What challenges will they face?
  • Who will they interact with?
  • What will make them happy? 

This can only be effectively conveyed in a well-constructed story, harnessing the history and values of your brand and the authentic experiences of your existing employees.

67% of employers believe their retention rates would improve if candidates had a clearer picture of their company’s values (Glassdoor)

A compelling story is the most valuable gift that organisations can give their employer brand. To breathe personality and experience into the glossy imagery and polished messages. When done well, employer brand storytelling should:

  • Inspire available talent to become part of your organisation
  • Plant the seeds in passive candidates’ mind that you would represent a great place to work one day
  • Provide the information on-the-fence candidates need to deselect themselves if they don’t feel connected to your company values
  • Differentiate yourself from competitors within your industry
  • Consistently reinforce your brand values and objectives into your existing workforce, so they always feel connected to your company
  • Create internal brand advocates, who will in turn share their own stories that will inform and encourage future candidates

It requires a firm understanding of your target audience’s characteristics and ambitions. Emphatic content writing and creative direction. Knowledge of the most appropriate channels to use and a number of truthful employee experiences to lay the foundations.

Below we’ve identified some top-notch examples of employer brand storytelling and the lessons to take away from these, divided into three overarching categories:

Employer brand storytelling through social media

75% believe companies are more trustworthy if their leadership teams communicate their brand values over social media (Glassdoor).

It’s impossible to escape the pull of social media platforms in today’s landscape, making them essential places for companies to promote their employer brand story.

Microsoft Life

The Microsoft Life Instagram page weaves powerful stories about what it is like to be part of their community through the journeys of their team members across the globe.

This delves into the real-life experiences of their talent, both positive and negative, and how being part of the Microsoft family helped them overcome any challenges and achieve their ambitions. 

By harnessing these authentic stories, from people representing all backgrounds, cultures and personalities, their IG page paints an extraordinary picture of how supportive the brand is to its workforce, which should encourage others to join.

Lesson learnt – by utilising identifiable human stories of triumph and challenge from within your own team, you help forge real emotional connections towards them and, consequently, your brand as a whole.

Salesforce

The #SalesforceOhana Instagram tag is all about emphasising the pride the company has in its employees. Ohana is the Hawaiian word for family, and by using this expression, it immediately creates a narrative that the people working for Salesforce are more than just employees – they are family, connected to each other and the brand as a whole.

This framework is then fleshed out with images, videos and stories of their team members worldwide doing fun and interesting things, often with other employees. This highlights the fantastic company culture within the Salesforce brand, making it appear as a welcoming and enjoyable place to work.

Lesson learnt – create a unifying hashtag or term to bond your employees together across the globe on social media, making your team members always feel part of your community and the values that this represents.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp’s Instagram page often presents behind-the-scenes footage of life at the company alongside the experiences of specific members of their team. These videos and imagery illustrate the culture of the brand and the humour and creativity of those working within it, framing it in a way that is very slick and aspirational.

Especially since the transition to more home-working, Mailchimp has also used their social media platforms to depict how they are bringing their remote workers together with community activities, from yoga and meditation exercises to group cooking classes.

Lesson learnt – tell stories on social media that go behind the curtain of your business, allowing prospective candidates to envision themselves being part of that environment.

Employer brand storytelling through video

Video has quickly become the go-to source of content across the entire Internet, and represents a perfect medium to bring your employer brand story to life.

Zendesk

In one compact, well-structured video, Zendesk presents a clear picture of who their brand is, where they are based, what you will experience when you go there, and the type of people that you will be working with.

It blends the right amount of humour and irreverence to present it as a fun, light-hearted brand where you will enjoy working. But, it doesn’t steer too far away from the actual work, illustrating how they make it exciting. Plus, it signs off by saying they hire interesting people with interesting backgrounds – a category most people would like to find themselves in!

Lessons learnt – inject your employer brand story with personality, and make it abundantly clear what candidates can expect when they join your team.

Etsy

After Etsy announced it would offer employees six-and-a-half months’ parental leave, they produced this video containing interviews with their parent employees about what this support from the brand has meant to them.

This projects a powerful message to both existing employees and potential recruits about how much Etsy cares about its workforce, and how it doesn’t present a barrier to their personal lives. For those with plans for having kids in the future, hearing these stories will provide immense reassurance that this company will continue to have their back.

Lesson learnt – identify specific pain points or concerns that your audiences may have relating to where they work (parental leave, flexible working, overtime, etc.) and create story-driven content that clearly demonstrates your stance.

Heineken

The “Go Places” video by Heineken is incredibly clever and creative, depicting the questions and doubts potential recruits might have about joining their brand (or any other brand for that matter) and providing snappy, encouraging answers.

Through this, Heineken strongly positions itself as a brand where people can join and forge their own path and find their niche. By casting a large number of their employees alongside the main narrator and throwing in selective facts and figures like their 250+ brands and 70+ countries, it illustrates the scale and variety of the company in a way that is neither too corporate nor arrogant.

Lesson learnt – revisit the questions, thoughts, and journeys of your existing employees before joining your brand, and tie these to your company values to demonstrate that you understand what your audience is thinking and what they’re looking for.

Employer brand storytelling through career pages

Charity Water

Quit your day job and come change the world. Right from the opening line of their career page, Charity Water immediately tells the story of how working with them means you are making a difference, and reinforces that spirit throughout.

Weaved into this overarching narrative are distinctly defined perks and benefits, photos and videos of company-wide activities, and copy dedicated to the diversity of their employees. Blended together, Charity Water’s career page emphasises that they are a brand that gives people a purpose in a welcoming, inclusive environment.

Lesson learnt – start your employer brand stroy with a punchy, powerful statement, and then reinforce that with data, testimonials and more that illustrate that you practice what you preach as an organisation.

VTS

The VTS career page effectively utilises video content throughout to showcase the unique experience that they offer for employees. The first element you encounter as you scroll down is a behind-the-scenes video that highlights their employees in action and tells the story of how they are transforming the world of commercial real estate.

Further down the page, VTS’ company values are put in full focus, and then reinforced by interviews with employees explaining how these values work in practice. This is particularly important as while any organisation can say how they are different, the authentic testimonies of their workforce give these a lot more weight, and will signify to potential recruits that you are what you say you are.

Lesson learnt – back each and every one of your company values with a narrative, whether that is a backstory behind each one and what it means to your leadership team, or examples from employees putting these values into action in their everyday lives.

Twitter

At a time when Millennial and Gen Z talent is motivated by the difference they can make to a company, Twitter pivots off of this with their career page. The page focuses on how its workforce drives conversations across the globe and the values that underlie their organisation, from being totally transparent within their team, to helping people maintain healthy work-life balances.

Each of these is backed up by beautifully produced videos spotlighting members of their team in a variety of roles, with each of them advocating the role they and others play in making Twitter the world-renowned platform that it is today.

Lesson learnt – harness the voices, skills and experiences across your team and connect these to your company values to illustrate their authenticity and pinpoint the type of people who would excel in your environment.

Bringing story into your employer branding

We hope that these examples of employer brand pieces that capably tell engaging stories about who their organisations are, what makes them different and why people want to be part of them will give you the inspiration you need to forge the same for your own company moving forward.

Storytelling is the most powerful weapon for employer brand professionals in stirring the right emotions from their audiences. Approaches such as those highlighted above are how you put candidates in the shoes of your existing employees, so they can vividly recognise what it would be like to join your team, and whether that aligns with their own ambitions.

As a final recap of how to maximise the potential of storytelling in your employer branding, we recommend you keep the following in mind:

  • Build a thorough, watertight understanding of your target audience, and use this to guide the direction of the stories you craft
  • Always remain truthful and authentic – fake stories and broken promises will only lead to low retention rates, and potentially harm your ability to attract talent in future
  • Where possible, adapt and adjust your brand story for the specific audiences that you wish to target
  • Leverage your existing employees to be the foundation of these authentic, purpose-driven stories, and give them all the support they need to tell them
  • Identify the most appropriate channels based on where your target audience can be found and the type of message you are looking to share
  • Experiment with different content mediums and make the most of each resource – one employee interview could inspire multiple videos, blog posts, images, infographics and more!

Discover how far your employer brand can go with an all-in-one brand management platform – get in touch with our team today.

Table of contents:

  1. How storytelling conveys employer brand values
  2. Employer brand storytelling through social media
  3. Employer brand storytelling through video
  4. Employer brand storytelling through career pages
  5. Bringing story into your employer branding
Brand Asset Management / BAM, Brand identity

What is a brand platform?

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Papirfly
4 minutes read

Tired of colleagues who don’t follow the brand guidelines and do their own thing? Or perhaps you’re always stressed because you’re lacking resources and enough hours to do your marketing responsibilities properly? The feeling of constantly being behind, missing important deadlines, is not pleasant and stress doesn’t tend to result in quality either.

It’s time to take control and become a marketing superstar! You need a brand platform.

Applying a consistent brand is hard

How do you distribute and enforce brand rules? PDF’s and emails or intranet? Do you know if your colleagues find it easy to find and use brand collateral or even understand your brand guidelines?

There are surprisingly many questions that come to the surface when we start looking at brand identity guidelines and how employees adopt them. In fact, 15% still lack guidelines and 31% indicate that their guidelines are followed selectively.

There’s not a single marketer who would disagree with the importance of brand consistency. But the journey of getting there is proven to be bumpy and lengthy, in the mentioned report it is found that the creation of off-brand content has only dropped 4% in two years, a staggering 77% still see off-brand content in circulation. In other words, we understand the importance of consistency, but we are incapable of achieving it.

A typical challenge related to off-brand content is the marketing team’s ability to deliver on demand. Ad hoc tasks and support requests tend to drain resources and it gets hard for the team to deliver as expected. Instead, colleagues do their own thing, off-brand of course… Another factor that’s related to off-brand creations is the usability and availability of the brand guidelines. Where can one locate the guidelines? How can one apply the rules to the actual assets being made? And where are the assets stored?

Also read: You know you need a brand management system when…

A brand platform unifies your brand

A brand platform digitizes your brand management. Driven by powerful CMS technology you’ll be able to create stunning online brand identity guidelines that perfectly matches your brand image. Like creating a website, you’ll collect and structure your brand guidelines as you see fit and create a logical online brand platform that your employees and stakeholders can easily use.

No more looking for the last PDF version of your guidelines. Just like your company website, your brand platform will have its own unique URL that every employee can access, 365 days a year.

With an online brand platform, managing and developing your brand is easy. Regardless of changes or updates, everything happens in real time. The risks of colleagues using outdated marketing collateral is eliminated and you can rest assured your brand looks the same everywhere.

Also read: Surely, you have a brand portal

A brand platform simplifies brand development

Just like brand consistency is important, so is growing and nurturing your brand. The market changes, consumers change and technology advances. A good example of this can be taken from the Covid pandemic. Many marketers learned then how important it was to swiftly adapt to changing consumer behaviour to stay in the game. Without proper technology at hand, the ability to adapt consequently has an impact on your branding initiatives and you risk falling behind your competitors.

A proper brand platform allows you to expand and grow your platform to quickly adapt to unexpected changes. Whether you need to update and inform, create and add new brand assets, or update templates, you can do it quickly and easily, without breaking with the guidelines. A proper system will also allow you do integrate with other necessary marketing tools such as video creators or banner creators to name a few. Simply put, a proper brand platform enables brand development on demand.

Also read: This is how Brand HUB streamlines your day

Benefits of a brand platform

Hopefully by now you’ve realized that investing in a brand platform should be your next step. But we know that you perhaps need to convince management or other colleagues that this is the way to go.

Also read: Why you need to invest in brand management

We advise you to do a thorough map up of your challenges and needs before you choose your desired system, in the meantime have the following benefits in mind as you complete your analysis.

  • Managing your brand strategy is straightforward:
    A brand platform brings your strategy to life, organizing your brand to secure quality and consistency across all channels.
  • Protecting your brand identity is easy:
    Protecting your most valuable asset is crucial, and with a brand platform this is a done deal. Everything is neatly stored and organized to simplify brand asset management.
  • Your brand becomes practical:
    When it comes to brand guidelines, the more user-friendly your brand is, the more likely it is that everyone will use your brand as intended. With a brand platform, you’ll link the rules and the actual brand assets together. Users don’t have to think; just act and your brand identity remains intact. This is brand asset management at its best.
  • Streamline your branding processes and operational efficiency:
    When time is of the essence and you are looking to avoid being a bottleneck and frustrate your colleagues, a brand platform saves your day. A proper platform enables self-service, allowing anyone to create their own marketing collateral, quickly and on-brand.

Also read: How to choose a branding system

Take the step and invest

To summarize, a brand platform enables seamless brand asset management, creating a home for your brand. This is the platform that allows you to focus on the big picture while resting assured that your brand looks the same everywhere. And remember, when you master your brand, your business will grow.

Want to dig into more details on how a brand platform can benefit your brand, download our free whitepaper

Content Creation

20 high-impact marketing video content ideas

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Papirfly
6 minutes read

Video isn’t just a nice-to-have in today’s marketing mix — it’s a core part of how brands earn attention, build trust, and convert customers. With more than 90% of 16 to 54-year-olds watching online videos every week (source: Statista), brands that fail to show up visually risk being forgotten entirely.

But showing up isn’t enough. You also need to optimize your video content by ensuring it aligns with your brand values, visual identity, and audience expectations across multiple channels and at every touchpoint.

Whether you’re just starting with video content marketing or looking to scale your efforts, these 21 proven video content ideas can help you spark engagement, tell your story, and drive demand.

#1 – Tell your brand story

Use video to shout about who you are and bring your brand values to life. A well-crafted brand video builds emotional connections with customers by showing who you are, where you’ve come from, and what matters most to your company.

#2 – Demonstrate your product

Don’t just describe your offering – show it in action. Explainer videos and product walkthroughs help viewers visualize and understand your products in ways that writing can’t always communicate.

#3 – Share customer reviews and testimonials

Social proof builds trust. So why not let satisfied customers do the talking? Sharing authentic stories of people who have used and enjoyed your products is a highly effective way to promote your brand and the benefits you offer.

#4 – Showcase user-generated content

Encourage customers to get directly involved in your video content marketing by sharing footage of themselves using your products or services. Spotlighting people who love your brand makes for great social media content as well as helping you strengthen connections with your community. Make sure you have permissions before you share.

#5 – Create thought leadership pieces

Modern B2C companies are expected to be more than just product manufacturers and sellers. Video interviews and expert POVs help position your brand as a source of insight. They also encourage viewers to learn more about you through your other channels.

#6 – Host live Q&As and webinars

Create high-value content and drive real-time engagement by hosting live discussions on a topic that’s important to your brand and your customers. This kind of video content marketing makes the audience part of the process and helps drive consumer trust in your brand. You can also repurpose the highlights for ongoing social media content.

#7 – Answer your FAQs on video

Turn static support pages into engaging, helpful video explainers. Easy to consume and easy to share, these videos provide useful content on common issues you’ve identified within your communities.

#8 – Repurpose your blog content

Take snippets and key points from your blog posts and turn them into short, snackable videos that drive more traffic to your site. A great way to share useful information, while also linking people to the original article to learn more.

#9 – Increase engagement with list-based formats

People love a list. Use countdowns, “top 5” formats, or quick wins to make educational content more engaging.

#10 – Create behind-the-scenes content

Going behind the scenes can be a highly effective way of aligning video content with marketing objectives. Use making-of footage to explain the how and why of your brand and give people the real story behind your products. This approach to creative content marketing can also help build transparency and trust.

#11 – Launch a video diary or vlog series

Vlogs are hugely popular. Why not encourage members of your own team to share moments from their day-to-day life. It’s a great way of building emotional connections with customers and giving your brand a human face.

#12 – Produce how-to guides and tutorials

Solve common problems or pain points for your audience. They don’t always need to feature your products or services – just your expertise. Example: a toy brand might produce a guide on how to create games for children using household items.

#13 – Use whiteboard video explainers

Ideal for breaking down complex concepts or product features, whiteboard videos help you educate consumers in a simple but engaging way.

#14 – Partner with influencers

Influencer collaborations can help expand your reach and boost brand credibility – as long as there is alignment with your audience and values. Proven creative content marketing ideas include unboxing videos or videos where influencers incorporate your products into their own content.

#15 – Bust common myths

Challenge misinformation in your category with fact-led, authoritative videos. Myth-busting content boosts customer trust and helps position your brand as an expert in the field.

#16 – Interviews team members or industry experts

Harness the expertise of your people and contacts by conducting thought-provoking interviews on favourite topics. Not only does this kind of video content marketing position your company as a source of knowledge for consumers – it can also provide a real boost for your employer brand.

#17 – Create relevant parodies or trend-based clips

Social media content that parodies or builds on recent trends has huge viral potential. Just make sure your video content ideas are authentic and well-timed – and always stay true to your core brand values.

#18 – Use timelapse videos to show transformation

Whether it’s a physical product or a digital process, timelapse reveals progress in a way static visuals can’t.

#19 – Run product comparisons

A tried and test form of video content marketing. Create videos that compare your products to competitor products and show customers – simply and clearly – the additional benefits your brand offers.

#20 – Experiment with VR and 360° footage

Immersive formats are especially powerful for showcasing environments, events, or new product launches.

Don’t just create content — build brand equity

Whatever formats you choose to explore, one principle remains constant: consistency.

Consistent visuals, voice and customer across every asset and in every market are the key to building brand equity.

That’s where Templated Content Creation tools can change the game. Papirfly gives your teams the power to create video content at scale, with tools that embed brand controls into every frame — so your story is told clearly, confidently, and always on-brand.

Does everyone create content that’s on‑brand, every time?

Find peace of mind with
better brand governance.

Does everyone create content that’s on‑brand, every time?

Find peace of mind with
better brand governance.

Discover content templating

Find peace of mind with
better brand governance.

Discover content templating
Campaign templates interface showing on-brand content across digital, print, and social channels.
Discover content templating

FAQs

Why should B2C brands invest in video content marketing?

Video has become a core channel for brand visibility, trust, and conversion, with over 90% of people aged 16–54 watch online videos weekly. Without a strong video presence, brands risk being overlooked. Video also communicates brand values and product benefits more vividly than static formats, making it a vital tool for customer engagement.

What are some of the most effective video content ideas for building trust with consumers?

Customer reviews, testimonials, and user-generated content are among the most powerful video content ideas. They provide authentic social proof, showing real people using and loving your products. This authenticity builds credibility and emotional connection far faster than brand-led messaging alone.

How can B2C brands use video to drive engagement with social media content?

Trend-based parodies, countdown lists, and behind-the-scenes footage often perform well. These formats are quick to consume and easy to share, and make your brand feel approachable. Pairing them with consistent branding across platforms strengthens recognition and recall.

What role does thought leadership play in B2C video content marketing?

Thought leadership videos, such as expert interviews, myth-busting content, or educational explainers, position your brand as a trusted authority. In a competitive market, being seen as a credible source of insight can influence buying decisions and inspire long-term loyalty.

How can brands ensure video content marketing remains consistent across multiple markets and channels?

The key is strong brand governance — maintaining consistent visuals, voice, and messaging in every asset. Templated Content Creation tools like Papirfly embed brand controls into every frame, allowing teams to scale video production without losing alignment to core brand identity.

Table of contents:

  1. #1 – Tell your brand story
  2. #2 – Demonstrate your product
  3. #3 – Share customer reviews and testimonials
  4. #4 – Showcase user-generated content
  5. #5 – Create thought leadership pieces
  6. #6 – Host live Q&As and webinars
  7. #7 – Answer your FAQs on video
  8. #8 – Repurpose your blog content
  9. #9 – Increase engagement with list-based formats
  10. #10 – Create behind-the-scenes content
  11. #11 – Launch a video diary or vlog series
  12. #12 – Produce how-to guides and tutorials
  13. #13 – Use whiteboard video explainers
  14. #14 – Partner with influencers
  15. #15 – Bust common myths
  16. #16 – Interviews team members or industry experts
  17. #17 – Create relevant parodies or trend-based clips
  18. #18 – Use timelapse videos to show transformation
  19. #19 – Run product comparisons
  20. #20 – Experiment with VR and 360° footage
  21. Don’t just create content — build brand equity
  22. FAQs
Marketing

How to identify red flags in marketing role interviews

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Papirfly
8 minutes read

Working in marketing can be one of the most rewarding careers in the world – if you work for the right company that is. Too often companies portray exceptional employer brands, but once the new employee scratches the surface, they realise they have been mis-sold or have made a big mistake.

Likewise, talent can pull the wool over the eyes of some hiring managers and turn out to be something entirely different to what they signed up for.

We’ve scoured high and low to bring you all the red flags from both sides of the hiring desk. So whether you’re moving to your next role or hiring for the next big thing, make sure you don’t miss these warning signs.

Identifying 10 red flags:For an interviewee..

#1 How you are welcomed

If you are attending an in-person interview and it takes a while for you to be greeted, it could be that you happen to arrive on an exceptionally busy day. Make yourself seen and known so that your hiring manager knows you’re here. If nobody seems prepared for your arrival or there is confusion before you are directed to the right place, it could be a red flag that the hiring process generally will be quite disorganised. 

#2 If the interview gets cancelled last minute

If your virtual or in-person meeting gets cancelled last minute, it could be an insight into what the company is like – unreliable or chaotic. Of course, genuine emergencies can’t be helped, but if no decent explanation is given or a follow-up date for rescheduling, this could mean you have had a lucky escape. 

#3 The list of duties as part of the role is messy and unclear

When asking questions about the role, if the hiring manager is vague or evasive about your specific queries, then it could be that:

  • The wrong person is interviewing you/the right one was too busy. 
  • The role isn’t yet clearly defined, which leaves your responsibilities in question and open to change. 

As a prospective employee, you should have a clear idea of what you’re being brought in to achieve. Marketing can be a chaotic industry as it is – without knowing your boundaries, limitations and outline responsibilities of the job, you’re almost already set up to fail. 

#4 The hiring manager isn’t prepared

While we all have off days and busy days, if the person interviewing you is totally unprepared for the interview, it could suggest that they are overworked. Of course, hiring for the department (interviewing you) could help to resolve this, but not having time to prepare for an interview could suggest an unhealthy attitude towards workloads and burnout. 

#5 Salary expectations are asked about before they’re shared

Hopefully you will have an idea of the salary before having applied, but if you are in an interview without this knowledge, and the interviewer asks what your expectations are, this could be a potential red flag.

By purposely leaving the salary off the description and asking you about your expectations, they are putting themselves in an advantageous position to negotiate – and leaving you in a vulnerable position in terms of finances.

#6 The salary offered is much lower than the marketing industry standard

If the salary doesn’t match your expectations then hopefully you won’t put yourself forward for the role in the first place. If, however, the role sounds ideal for your skill-set but the salary doesn’t match what’s being asked, you should see if there is any room to negotiate.

If the employer flatly refuses (even after being shown comparable roles for a higher salary and after you’ve proven your worth), then don’t bother taking the application any further.

#7 The job entails a lot more than what’s in the job description

A vague job description can leave you with more questions than it does answers. Make sure you expand on the bullet points in the interview process so you have an exact idea of what’s expected of you. Often, blanket statements are used to cover a wide-ranging remit that doesn’t always match what you’ve read.

If you scratch the surface of the role and uncover a whole new side you were unaware of, proceed with caution. It could be that the employer has melded multiple roles into one and that their overall expectations are unrealistic.

#8 There’s no clear hierarchy or area of support

Many companies going through a period of growth may make it clear that the structure is adapting to the needs of the company. But if you aren’t given a clear outline of who you are reporting to, take this as a big warning. It’s likely you could be left to fend for yourself and be without support if the interviewer is unable to answer your questions.

#9 They are entirely married to the technology or software they use

If you have successfully used a piece of software to do your job or completed training in a particular technology, the hiring manager should be inquisitive and interested in this, even if it’s not something their company actively uses. If the company dismisses a skill or piece of software without real reason, then it could allude to an outdated or close-minded approach.

#10 The employer is openly negative about the person you are replacing

Always ask how the role came about. Are you replacing someone? Is the team growing? Will this role exist in 5 years? If they are replacing someone, tactfully try and discover why they are leaving/did leave.

If the employer is vocal or overshares with you, then it’s a warning that the company isn’t very professional. Try not to get caught up in the gossip, as it could very well be you they are talking about in the future should you choose to take the job (you shouldn’t!).

3 common misconceptions: Interviewee

Be inquisitive and ask questions that are of genuine interest to you – but don’t ask questions for the sake of it. The interview should flow naturally, with both sides of the hiring desk steering the conversation at certain points. 

Try not to come prepared with a list of questions. Instead, think about what’s left for you to know on the day – it will be more authentic and more beneficial for you.

Lots of marketing buzzwords have a short shelf-life, and some companies downright hate them. Read through the company’s website prior to your interview to try and get an idea of their tone of voice. Although this won’t necessarily be employee-facing, it may help you to place what their expectations may be in terms of language and interview style. 

If you’re applying to a creative agency, the dress code is likely to be a lot less formal than a traditional interview, but always check out the website first or ask the question to your hiring manager if you’re unsure.

Sometimes turning up in a suit when a smart shirt and jeans would have sufficed could be enough to give a creative employer a bad impression – not because you did anything wrong, but because you missed the ‘vibe’ and ‘culture’ of the agency.

For more corporate in-house roles, smarter is always better, but always double-check with your recruiter to avoid any embarrassment.

Identifying 8 red flags: For an interviewer…

#1 Vague answers to questions you’re asking

A good marketer can sell anything, but if what they’re saying is all shine and no substance, this could be a warning that their real-life skill set doesn’t match what they’ve put down on paper. 

Where a candidate talks about a particular skill, ask scenario-based questions that will give you a better understanding of their knowledge. If their language is loose, vague and evasive, they might not be the right fit or could be more junior than they think.

#2 They don’t sell themselves well

While not every marketing role will mean directly selling, it’s important that the candidate is confident in what they’re talking about. Now this doesn’t mean there isn’t room for nerves or a bit of anxiety, but if the candidate isn’t able to talk consistently or comfortably about themselves – a subject they know the most about – this could mean that they will struggle in their day-to-day role.

#3 They talk too much about other offers

If a candidate is repeatedly name dropping other companies that are interested in them, they are angling for you to get competitive – usually with financial incentives. While mentioning who they are interviewing with (when asked) is perfectly acceptable, commandeering the interview to be about all their different job offers could mean they don’t see loyalty as a useful trait.

#4 They haven’t researched what the company does

While not everyone will spend hours researching what it is your company does, it’s important that the candidate grasps what you do at even a most basic level and can explain what it is your brand is with ease.

Why is this important? Because how could a candidate possibly be ready to start a career at a company they know nothing about – and contribute to the marketing department effectively?

#5 They use a lot of marketing buzzwords without going into detail

While a high-level knowledge of certain tools, terminology and processes will always shine through naturally in conversations, if a candidate is forcing in language that doesn’t quite fit with the conversation you’re having, it could be a red flag that they are trying to get the role without truly understanding what it entails.

If they use particular words frequently, politely probe them on the terminology to ensure they understand. It may sound a little extreme at the interview stage, but if a candidate isn’t honest at this early part of the process, it doesn’t bode well for the rest of the application.

#6 They are set in their ways about how they do things

Part of hiring new talent is the hope that they bring with them new ideas, ways of working and initiatives – but they also need to be open to the way your company and brand function. If they come across as close-minded or refuse to acknowledge other ways of working, this could cause huge problems further down the line.

#7 If they are late and they don’t call or email ahead to explain why

Being late to an interview is forgivable, but a candidate not having a level of courtesy to inform the potential employer that they are running late could be seen as a warning sign.

The world of marketing is fast-paced and spare time is low, so if a candidate turns up more than 5 or 10 minutes late without calling or emailing ahead, this could be interpreted as them not caring too much about whether they get the role.

#8 They don’t ask any questions about the role

Not every candidate needs to be armed with a thousand questions, but demonstrating an active interest in the role by asking the odd question here and there shows they are genuinely engaged in the conversation. 

Likewise, if the candidate leaves all their questions until the end – when you ask them if they have any – they may be pre-calculated, as opposed to genuine questions that have arisen as an outcome of the interview.

3 common misconceptions: Interviewer

It’s not uncommon for marketing roles to be contracted. These can be anything from 3 months to 3 years. Most candidates will state when they were contracted on their CV, but if they don’t, don’t write them off immediately, as their placement may only have been for a short time or maternity cover.

While ideal candidates should be open to doing tasks or providing an additional layer to their application, some companies have been known to take advantage of prospects by asking for too much.

If a candidate isn’t keen on doing a presentation, speak to them about their concerns and assure them of your way of working. Also, make sure each stage of the hiring process (including any presentations or tasks) is made clear at the beginning of an application stage.

A career is for fulfilment as well as financial remuneration, but the reality is that job satisfaction doesn’t pay the bills. Candidates are well within their right to ask about salary brackets and progression. If anything, it shows they are seriously considering the role, but that this might be the final barrier.

Some of these red flags are common, others less so…

Regardless of which side of the desk you sit, it’s important to continually assess your next step – whether that’s a marketing role promotion or growing your team. Recruitment and finding a new job is a difficult process, so we hope this article has helped shed some light on what to avoid.

Table of contents:

  1. Identifying red flags: For an interviewee…
  2. 3 common misconceptions: Interviewee
  3. Identifying red flags: For an interviewer…
  4. 3 common misconceptions: Interviewer
Employer Branding

Getting your employees to build their personal brand: here’s what they need

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Papirfly
6 minutes read

If you have an account on LinkedIn, you are likely exposed to thousands of ‘personal’ brands each day. From what you post on social media to how you sign off an email, a personal brand can be a powerful thing that shapes how the people of the world see your professional self.

When companies invest time and resources into helping their employees propel and magnify their personal brands, it can be highly beneficial for the person and the brand they represent.

Anyone can use the corporate brand’s narrative to help carve their own. Let’s take a look at which roles in particular should be actively encouraged to propel their personal brand.

Sales Professionals

Those sending out emails, inMails or hosting sessions with prospects are not only representing the company, but in most cases are the first point of contact for individuals. They are responsible for building trust in the brand and establishing a positive relationship with business decision-makers across the world.

It’s vital that sales professionals have the basic sales tools and documentation they need to do their job, but above this, they need support to create an impressive online presence. If a prospect is being reached out to by a sales professional, more often than not, they will check them out on Google. If the prospect is met with a poor online presence, it may tarnish the respect they have for the brand. If the individual is a thought leader or active poster online, they could be more likely to engage.

Sales Professional:

  • Needs access to videos, social assets and email templates
  • Nees access to tone of voice guidelines
  • Should understand brand values

Customer Service Professionals

Much like Sales Professionals, those in customer service play a crucial role in how they portray the brand to new and existing customers. They too need access to documentation that can assist them with queries and company information, but if they actively made being helpful and knowledgeable part of their personal brand, there could be an exponentially positive ripple effect on the company’s reputation.

Customer Service Professional

  • Needs detailed documentation
  • Needs access to tone of voice guidelines
  • Should understand brand values

Managers and Director-Level Professionals

Your brand’s content strategy may not extend to the experts in your business, but it most definitely should. Not just from a corporate perspective, but from an employer brand view.

People want to know the company they’re investing in, whether as a customer or a potential candidate, is as expert as it claims. If each head of department is creating their own content (or assisted in creating it), those in each respective team can share, comment and engage – further casting the net for your brand to get noticed.

Managers and Director-Level Profession

  • Needs access to professional resources such as copywriters and videographers
  • Shoukd pioneer brand values
  • Needs specific area of expertise to become thought leader on

HR and Employer Brand Teams

Showing the world that you lead by example is a great way to attract recruits. Those that are responsible for attracting and retaining employees should shout about what a great place it is to work, and keep everyone updated with any new or impressive policies.

HR and Employer Brand Teams

  • Helps brand to practice what it preaches
  • Understands employee brand inside out
  • Needs access to pool of assets

What will motivate employees to build their personal brand? 

Employees that do not have a strong personal connection to your brand are unlikely to be willing to build their personal brand in conjunction with your corporate story. Your employer brand must be strong in the first place and rooted in a positive culture in order for personal brand building to be effective and beneficial.  
Here are some key ways to help motivate employees:

  • When setting guidelines on what they can and can’t do, make them easy to read, understand and implement. 
  • Provide easily accessible resources and assets that can be edited or shared directly. 
  • Don’t expect this personal brand building to take place outside of work hours – it’s a big ask. Allocate some work time to personal development and brand building – once they’ve reached a certain level, employees are more likely to invest their own time.
  • Don’t leave them hanging. If they want to be involved but are unsure of how to get started, put them in touch with whoever can help, such as your agency, marketing consultants, designers or copywriters. You could even do in-house sessions that help individuals in certain aspects of personal brand building.
  • Don’t be too militant about which websites they can access on the company network. Restricting access to social media, for example, will discourage employees from building any form of personal brand. 
  • It’s important to remember that not everyone will want to partake in representing the company on their personal channels. It’s a big step for many, so think about rewarding those that do contribute – this can help incentivise others.
  • Know your brand mission and identity – if your brand is misaligned internally there’s little point in getting employees to shout about it.

Building a personal brand: what they need checklist

Now we’ve covered the who and the how, let’s get into the what. This list is by no means comprehensive, but it is the bare minimum your team should expect to implement should you wish to recruit more employees into building their personal brand:

Professional photography

Without a professional photo, an employee has little chance of making a good impression. If a photographer isn’t available then someone should be available internally to help shoot them professionally.

LinkedIn (or equivalent) training

If social media isn’t part of their job, it’s a huge ask to expect employees to get involved. A crash course or ongoing support to help them progress and answer any questions will be critical.

Access to a company laptop or phone outside of work hours

If you want your employees to represent your brand at all times, they need access to the technology that can help them facilitate it, even if they don’t engage outside of work hours.

A copy of the company mission and values

Employees need to be aligned to their corporate mission and brand values, otherwise it’s a wasted effort trying to build their personal brand. Someone that doesn’t share your vision will be instantly obvious on any social media feed.

Brand and tone of voice guidelines

This may be a smaller, more focused version of your wider guideline document. It could contain all the key brand terminology, dos and don’ts, and some key information about their industry or area of expertise.

A digital resource for assets and files 

Appearing professional starts with looking professional. This may begin with a nicely shot photo, but the content that appears on social feeds must look and feel like it’s part of the brand. Having a central, digital repository that teams can dip in and out of when needed will break down any barriers to engagement they have and actively encourage them to get involved.

A simple approvals process

If you’re using a Brand Activation Management (BAM) system, you should have a built-in DAM and approvals process for any new assets created. If your asset creation and sign-off process isn’t digitised, then try to make sure employees only have one hoop to jump through to get their content signed off – any more than this and they are likely to disengage.

Idea and topic generation sessions

Whether it’s in the form of a company meeting or a Friday whiteboard session, it shouldn’t be down to just the individual to come up with every topic they write about. While most content will be focused on their area of expertise, wider company updates and discussions are paramount, otherwise things can become quickly misaligned.

Assistance from other employees or an agency

If your employees are from a technical background or aren’t used to writing about themselves publicly, offer them access to resources inside or outside of your organisation that might be able to assist.

Empower your employees to build their personal brand with BAM by Papirfly™

One of the biggest barriers for brands is being able to produce high-quality, varied content on demand. Add brand advocates in the form of employees into the mix and that’s an entire content stream that needs to be accounted for. What BAM does is provide a central place for marketing teams and employees to create, edit, share and manage campaign materials.

Videos, social media assets, emails and more. Every digital and print asset team could need, produced in-house, by anyone, an infinite amount of times. The best part is that there’s a digital audit trail and an in-built sign-off process, so you can guarantee that only approved content makes its way onto the internet. 

Find out more about BAM today or book your demo.

Table of contents:

  1. Sales Professionals
  2. Customer Service Professionals
  3. Managers and Director-Level Professionals
  4. HR and Employer Brand Teams
  5. What will motivate employees to build their personal brand?
  6. Building a personal brand: what they need checklist
Employer Branding

The 9 signs that you have a strong employer brand

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Luis Cupertino
8 minutes read

Employer brand is for everyone

So, a strong employer brand makes the chances of capturing the imagination of top talent and inspiring existing employees much greater. That begs the question: is your employer brand living up to its full potential, or is there room for improvement?

Here, we share 9 ways to assess the strength of your employer brand to ensure it is having a positive impact on your recruitment efforts. For information on other aspects that will help with attracting and retaining talent, check out our complete guide to employer branding here. 

9 telltale signs that you’ve got a great employer brand:

#1 Employee retention rate is high

Employees come and go in any organisation. However, the rate at which employees voluntarily depart is a useful indicator of how well your employer brand is performing.

When you are able to retain employees for numerous years, it indicates that they see value in being part of your organisation. Whether it’s due to financial incentives like salary and bonuses, or a close affinity to the values and missions that your brand stands for, it shows that your employer brand is keeping people engaged.

Conversely, if employees leaving after a few months in the role is a regular occurrence, it could be a strong signal that their reality as an employee isn’t living up to the promises of your employer brand. 

So, when does turnover become a problem? While employee turnover rates vary from industry to industry and location to location, in the UK it averages out to around 15%. Use this as a benchmark – how does your turnover rate look in comparison?

To work out your monthly turnover rate, simply divide the number of employees who left your company during the month by the average number of employees at your organisation in the same period. For example, say you had an average 100 employees in your company and 7 leave, that month’s turnover rate would be 7%. 

To quickly calculate your turnover rate in any given period, work out:

A – The number of people you employed at the start of that period of time

B – The number of employees who left during that period of time

B/A = Turnover rate  

If your turnover rate is lower than your regional or industry average, it is a good indication that your employer brand is doing an effective job of keeping people tied to your organisation.

#2 You receive many unsolicited applications

Do you find that, despite having little to no vacancies listed, you still receive job applications and CVs from interested recruits? If so, that’s a powerful sign that your employer brand is resonating with top talent, and they like what they see.

While there is little statistical evidence as to what a ‘large number’ of unsolicited applications amounts to and will vary depending on the scale and reputation of your organisation, receiving these approaches indicates that people aspire to be part of your team. 

The fact that they are willing to make a completely speculative effort to join you should be a clear illustration that you’re sending the right messages out there. If the number of these applications you’re receiving is rising, then it’s a good indication that your employer brand is getting stronger. 

#3 You have a high job offer acceptance rate

If the majority of your job offers to potential recruits are accepted, it’s a strong sign that your employer brand is:

  • Connecting with the right candidates
  • Providing the right incentives to join
  • Motivating people to be part of your team

In 2020 the average offer acceptance rate across all industries globally was 95%. To work out yours, simply divide the number of offers accepted by the number of offers issued:

If your percentage matches or exceeds this level, then it’s another positive marker for your employer brand. However, it is useful to assess those who didn’t accept an offer and find out their reasons for doing so where possible, as this could highlight potential improvements for your branding:

  • At what stage did they reject the offer?
  • Why did they refuse?
  • Which company did they join instead?

#4 You are securing quality hires 

It’s a highly competitive recruitment landscape – the best talent is hard to secure. For today’s top-tier talents, salaries and perks will likely only go so far in attracting them to your organisation. They will want to join a brand that aligns with their own values:

92% of people would consider switching jobs if offered a role at a company with an excellent reputation (HR Daily Advisor)

Knowing whether your employer brand has secured the best candidates is difficult to measure, but these factors are a good way to tell whether you’ve made a good hiring decision.

Are you securing quality hires? Here’s your checklist…

✅ Your hiring manager is satisfied 
✅ They are very competent or go beyond expectations at their job
✅ They meet or exceed the seniority level they displayed in their interview
✅ They have made an immediate positive impact
✅ They have become embedded within the organisation

#5 You have a high employee referral rate

If your employees recommend your job vacancies to friends, family or people in their wider network, it indicates several positive things about your employer brand:

✅ They have a strong grasp of your values and can see them in resonating with others
✅ They enjoy the culture of your organisation
✅ They are happy to act as advocates for your brand

Referrals are still one of the most effective recruitment methods for securing great talent – in 2020, the average number of jobs filled by referrals was 51%, and 45% of hires sourced from referrals stay at a company for longer than 4 years.

So, not only does it take an employee to be passionate about their job to recommend your company to someone they know, but they are also more likely to have confidence in the person they are recommending for the role.

If you feel this aspect of your approach to recruitment is lacking, try offering referral bonuses for staff who bring in successful hires from their network. In 2019, the average referral bonus was over £1,800.

#6 You have a positive giveaway/takeaway ratio

This ratio denotes the number of people you’ve hired from competitors against those who left your company to join a competitor.

Between two similar roles with equally matched salaries, your employer brand is often a candidate’s deciding factor and sometimes the only basis upon which they have to choose. So if you’re attracting employees from your competitors, it’s a big win for your employer brand.

Conversely, if you are losing potential hires or your existing employees to competitors, it should start to raise some red flags about the strength of your employer brand – particularly if the promise of a salary increase is not enough to win them back:

  • What did your competitor offer them – pay increase, career progression, personal incentives, etc.?
  • Did your own company culture or employer value proposition contribute to their choice to depart?
  • What are their core values and mission? Are they highlighted more prominently than your own?
  • Is their employer branding more visible than your organisation’s?

For more information, check out our insight on “14 reasons why you’re losing good employees to competitors”.

#7 You have a happy hiring manager

One of the easiest ways to tell whether your employer brand works is to speak to your hiring manager.

If they’re satisfied with recent hires and confident in your company’s recruitment campaigns, then they are almost certainly onboard with your employer brand.

#8 Your marketing and HR teams work side by side

Communicating your company values, posting job adverts and launching recruitment campaigns is a team effort between marketing and recruitment. And the thing that links them together? You guessed it, your employer brand.

Combining the expertise of your employer brand and marketing teams is one of the best ways to improve engagement of internal communications, keep staff in-the-know and instil your brand’s shared goals and values company-wide.

#9 Your employees are active on social media

When your employees are engaging with your company’s content on social media, you have visible proof that your employer brand is working. Even better if your employees are creating their own content through employee advocacy programs.

68% of Millennials visit a company’s social media channels to evaluate their employer brand (CareerArc)

To break down barriers between employees and organisations, staff need a way to share their stories and show the world what it’s really like to be part of your brand. Social engagement can be encouraged using platforms built for this very purpose, such as PostBeyond and EveryoneSocial.

Both these employee advocacy solutions actively encourage staff to share high-quality content with their wider networks and engage prospects.

How does your employer brand measure up?

If your company is falling short against the tangible metrics above, then it might be a sign that your employer brand isn’t working as well as it could be, and that you’re missing out on top candidates as a result. 

As well as exploring the 9 signs of a strong employer brand, it can be helpful to look for inspiration from the global brands that are leading the way. Here are a few pointers to take away from three employer branding examples we love.

Tony’s Chocolonely

In an effort to remind people that profits in the chocolate industry aren’t evenly distributed, Tony’s Chocolonely fair trade chocolate bars are not moulded into neat squares like other brands. 

This powerful mission statement to end unfair practices in the chocolate industry is combined with their bright, colourful packaging and informal typography to present a brand that is fun and inviting on the surface, with a strong, meaningful message inside.

Why we love it

The Tony’s Chocolonely brand mission and core purpose come across in every part of their employer branding – from their brand manifesto video to the way they showcase their team on their website.

What makes this such a success is the effective way that they walk the delicate balance between an important purpose to improve the lives of others, while maintaining a light-hearted brand packed with humour and joy.

Zappos

In addition to a highly engaging employee-driven social media presence through #insidezappos, the success of this company’s employee branding goes a step further to secure the best talent during their onboarding processes.

Every new hire undergoes a 4 week training process where they learn about the company’s values and gain experience working in the customer service department – regardless of the role they have been hired for. 

Before their ‘onboarding graduation’, new hires are offered payment to quit if they feel the job isn’t the right fit for them. According to Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO: “The original motivation for doing it was to make sure that people were there for reasons beyond a short-term paycheck.” 

Why we love it

Zappos’ purpose and personality are embodied at every employer brand touchpoint. From keeping the world up to date with what’s happening within the company through social media, to making the interview process match their positive values.

It has helped them garner a passionate, engaged workforce who share the same drive and purpose for the exceptional service Zappos has become renowned for.

Greggs

In recent years, UK-based bakery Greggs has excelled in building positive brand perception through witty campaigns and publicity stunts that won the hearts of consumers and loyal customers. The brand is also becoming regarded as a highly ethical employer, thanks to its support of mental health initiatives and help for people from disadvantaged backgrounds through The Greggs Foundation.

These are values that can also be seen in the way they treat their employees. After the resounding, and somewhat unexpected, success of launching the vegan sausage roll, all staff received a bonus from the incredible sales and profit boost that it resulted in.

Why we love it

It’s clear that Greggs understands and celebrates the value of its employees and the work they put in. They are careful not to forget that their biggest success is a result of their people and make sure they communicate this with actions not just words.

Shaping positive staff experiences goes a long way to shaping positive customer experiences. For Greggs, this has given them the perception as an ethical brand that values its employees and wants to give back to local communities.

Support the strength of your employer branding

With these 9 signs highlighted in this article, we hope that you are able to use them to check the strength of your own employer brand, and determine whether any improvements can be made to raise these all-important metrics. The continued success of a company’s employer brand plays a pivotal role in shaping its future, whether it’s attracting impressive candidates, to retaining its most exceptional employees for the long term. Keeping it strong and in shape will help ensure your organisation consistently expands and thrives with a motivated, engaged workforce behind it.

Table of contents:

  1. 9 telltale signs that you’ve got a great employer brand
  2. How does your employer brand measure up?
  3. Support the strength of your employer branding
Digital Asset Management

GDPR explained: A guide for global marketing teams

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Papirfly
5 minutes read

25 May 2018 was a wake-up call for the marketing world.

Since that day, when GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) was introduced, every organization has had to rethink how it collects, uses, and protects data from people in the EU. It doesn’t matter where you’re based – if you have customers in the EU, GDPR applies to you. And if you break the rules, the penalties can be eye-watering.

Marketing teams have felt the impact of GDPR more than most. Whether building a prospect database for email campaigns or creating personalized customer portals, they are often the ones responsible for capturing and managing personal data. And yet most marketers are not compliance experts. How can they be sure they’re getting GDPR right?

This guide is here to help, providing insight into why GDPR matters, what it means for your marketing activity, and how you can make compliance second nature.

If you would like GDPR explained, read on.

Why GDPR matters in marketing

Personal data is the currency of modern marketing and digital content creation. It fuels:

  • Personalised, relevant customer experiences
  • Smarter, data-driven campaigns
  • Sharper targeting and higher ROI

But with great value comes great responsibility. Fail to follow GDPR, and you’re not just risking your company’s reputation and eroding brand trust. You also risk fines of up to €20 million or 4% of global turnover (whichever is greater).

And these fines are no idle threat. British Airways was forced to pay over €26 million for a 2018 data breach affecting more than 400,000 customers while H&M was fined €35.3 million for illegal surveillance of employees.

The international reach of GDPR

Just because GDPR is an EU regulation does not mean it only companies within the EU. If you collect data from EU citizens, then GDPR applies to you, no matter where your organization is based.

This was underlined by a 2021 EU Court of Justice ruling, which found that big tech companies with European headquarters in Dublin can be taken to court by any national data protection authority if there are cross-border data processing activities.

Marketers targeting UK citizens aren’t off the hook either. Despite quitting the EU, the country has retained GDPR regulations in domestic law – so the same rules still apply.

In short: if your campaigns interact with customers from the EU or UK then your company is impacted by GDPR.

What is personal data and when can you use it?

GDPR defines personal data as anything that can identify someone directly or indirectly. This includes everything from names, phone numbers, emails, and home addresses to IP addresses, ID numbers, and online pseudonyms.

Under GDPR, there are six lawful bases for collecting and processing personal data. These are:

  • Consent (you have the individual’s consent to process the data for a specific purpose)
  • Contract
  • Legal obligation
  • Vital interests (to protect someone’s life)
  • Public task (because it’s in the public interest)
  • Legitimate interests

Consent is the most common basis for marketing teams – and, crucially, consent must always be given freely and never assumed. In other words, it has to be the consumer’s choice to share their personal data with you – or not.

This means:

  • No pre-ticked boxes or default opt-ins
  • No confusing privacy policies
  • No bundling multiple permissions into one tick box

You must also make it just as easy to withdraw consent as it is to give it, for example by including an unsubscribe button in email newsletters.

5 tips for marketers to secure GDPR compliance

1. Be transparent about data collection

You need to make it crystal clear what data you collect from people and why. Consider:

  • Is your website’s privacy policy up accurate and up to date?
  • Do contact or download forms contain links to your privacy policy?
  • Do you make it clear you use cookies to collect personal data and give people control over what they share?

2. Establish clear opt-out systems

The right to be forgotten is a key principle of GDPR. Make sure customers can easily manage what they receive from you. Every email you send should have a visible unsubscribe link.

3. Audit databases regularly

Check marketing or website databases once a year or even once a quarter to verify you are maintaining best practice. This is an opportunity to remove outdated or unconsented data, and to identify any holes in your approach before they escalate into costly breaches.

4. Report data breaches immediately

With GDPR, honesty is the best policy. Report any data losses, theft or accidental transfers as soon as possible. Any attempt to cover up breaches will likely lead to maximum financial penalties and heavy damage to your brand reputation. 

5. Focus on employees as well as customers

Just like customers, employees have rights over the personal information. If using employee-generated images or videos in your marketing or employer branding, you must ensure you have each employee’s consent.

The easy way to ensure GDPR Compliance for global marketing teams

Papirfly’s Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution helps global marketing teams safeguard every aspect of privacy and consent by automating compliance when managing digital assets. Our DAM software includes a GDPR consent manager tool to ensure:

  • Images with identifiable people are only used with permission
  • Content is automatically withdrawn the moment permissions expire
  • People have the ability to review and revoke their content anytime

Bottom line: GDPR isn’t going anywhere. And neither is the need to earn and keep customer trust. The sooner GDPR compliance becomes second nature in your processes, the stronger your brand reputation will be.

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FAQs

Which organizations does GDPR apply to?

GDPR applies to any organization that collects personal data from people in the EU or UK – regardless of where the company is based. If your campaigns interact with these customers, you must comply.

What counts as personal data under GDPR?

Personal data includes anything that can directly or indirectly identify an individual, such as names, emails, phone numbers, IP addresses, ID numbers, home addresses, and even online pseudonyms.

What are the potential penalties for non-compliance with GDPR?

Fines can reach up to €20 million or 4% of a company’s global annual turnover, whichever is greater. This is in addition to the reputational damage that can be caused by illegal data breaches.

How can global marketing teams simplify GDPR compliance?

Papirfly’s Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution includes a GDPR consent manager tool that automates compliance across all digital assets. This ensures:
– Images with identifiable people are only used with permission
– Content is automatically withdrawn the moment permissions expire
– People have the ability to review and revoke their content anytime

Table of contents:

  1. Why GDPR matters in marketing
  2. The international reach of GDPR
  3. What is personal data and when can you use it?
  4. 5 tips for marketers to secure GDPR compliance
  5. The easy way to ensure GDPR Compliance for global marketing teams
  6. FAQs
Employer Branding

Is your employer brand strategy due a health check?

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Papirfly
4 minutes read

Keeping your employer brand in good shape requires an honest assessment of its current condition. The sooner the better.

Perhaps your employer brand is currently fit and healthy with hires steady, retention high, and perceptions positive. Or maybe it’s not currently in its prime state. Either way, it can be tempting to take your foot off the gas when it comes to employer brand investment – be that in terms of time, effort or budget.

Yet if the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that you never know what’s around the corner. Teams need to be agile with streamlined processes – ultimately, your employer branding framework should be working as hard as possible every day.

Conduct a health-check today and take the essential steps to keep motivated teams together, while winning the race to attract new talent by persuading them to choose your brand over your competitors.

How strong is your employer brand?

Measuring the direct impact your employer brand is having on your overall business’s profitability can be difficult as there are many contributing factors. You can, however, check whether your employer brand is reaching its full potential in several ways.

Work out your employee turnover 

The number of employees coming and going is a strong indication of how engaged staff are with your EVP (employer value proposition). 

To work out your monthly employee turnover rate, simply divide the number of employees who left your company during the month by the average number of employees at your organisation in the same period. For example, say you had an average of 100 employees in your company and 7 left, that month’s turnover rate would be 7%.

High employee turnover will have significant costs for your business. If you’re struggling with employee retention, it’s important to investigate the reasons why they are deciding to leave. This can highlight common patterns that will show you where you could improve as an employer, or whether you need to adjust your recruitment strategy for attracting and retaining talented employees. It may even be that you need to attract a different kind of candidate.

Check employee engagement activity on social media

When your employees are engaging with your company’s content on social media, you have visible proof that your employer brand is working as your talent can be a brand ambassador. 

Establishing employee advocacy programmes and empowering employees to create their own content is a great way to get them more engaged with, and build an employer brand.

Discover if you have a positive giveaway to takeaway ratio

This is the number of people you’ve hired from competitors against those who left your company to join a competitor. 

If you’re losing good talent to the competition, it can be easy to jump to the conclusion that they have been offered a higher salary. This may not be the only reason. Factors like work-life balance, flexible working, company culture and opportunities for growth have overtaken pay on the list of employee priorities and are key to building a great place to work.

Build positive brand perception from the inside out

The reason that your EVP is so closely linked to the financial success of your businesses – now more than ever– is because consumers care about employer branding.

As we’ve discussed before, building a positive brand perception is the key to winning the hearts and minds of consumers. It’s no use hiding behind your external messaging when what happens behind closed doors doesn’t match the ideals your brand is pitching to consumers. At best, your messaging will come across as inauthentic. At worst, your hard-earned trust and customer loyalty can all come tumbling down with a single post on social media – hence the importance of employer branding.

To let your positive company culture shine through, start from the inside out. Your external and internal employer branding should be natural extensions of each other, centred on the same purpose and core values.

How senior leadership teams can strengthen their company’s employer brand 

As a CEO or senior-level employee, you have the power to make or break the success of your company’s employer brand. If you’re not engaged with your EVP, why should your teams be? 

Here are three relatively simple ways you can instil belief in your employer brand and boost your profitability:

#1 Create an authentic EVP and embody it

Once you’ve established your employer value proposition with your team, it’s vital that the values and aspirations you are promoting to others come through in your own actions and decision-making. Lead by example to bring your staff on board with what your company stands for.

Unsure if your EVP is in the right place? Read up on the crucial components of any employer value proposition.

#2 Communicate regularly

You may not get to work directly with every employee in your business, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get to know them. Opening two-way channels of internal communication, like intranets and staff portals, will make all teams feel more equally valued and help you better understand their day-to-day impact on the business.In addition, having brand guidelines in one place will also help align everyone to the same message to stay consistent with the brand they work for which, as a consequence, can strengthen your company culture.

#3 Promote content around your company culture

As a member or key influence on your company’s senior leadership team, it’s important to have a visible online presence. Showcase your company’s big wins. Celebrate your employees. Let consumers see the human side of your brand.

Give your employer brand a regular checkup

There has never been a more important time to invest in your employer brand. No matter how successful it is, the attitudes of employees and prospective talent can switch at any time, and it’s important you have processes, tools and skills in place to respond. 

You can make your employer brand work smarter with brand management solutions from Papirfly.

With our brand management platform, you have a centralised portal for all recruitment and brand assets, which teams can edit, share or even create from scratch. Digital, print, video, social, email – everything you need to keep your employer brand front and centre.

 
Make this quarter count, find out more about unleashing your employer branding with Papirfly. You can even book your demo today.

 

Table of contents:

  1. How strong is your employer brand?
  2. Build positive brand perception from the inside out
  3. How Senior Leadership teams can strengthen their company’s employer brand
  4. Give your employer brand a regular checkup