The secret is out. There’s no denying that an employer brand is crucial when it comes to attracting and retaining talent. I know that, you know that, the world seems to know that. The question is, how do you get started? Though there’s no unwavering recipe in place for creating the perfect EB, there are definitely proactive steps and ingredients to consider before attempting to get yours off the ground. Whether you’re starting from scratch at a start-up, or coming in to a preexisting corporate culture, here are a few tips and tricks that can help you spearhead those tough to navigate conversations. By securing the right tools and mapping out a strategy that makes the most sense for your brand, tangible progress will inevitably follow your lead.

Before you begin to map out your trajectory, first ask yourself, why would an individual want to work for this company? Alongside this culture? Once you’re able to answer that question, thoroughly and firmly, you can then begin to set your employer brand vision into motion.

4 Essential Steps to Creating an Employer Brand

1. Start at the Top

Your first stop should always be your leadership team. Too often I’ve seen a passion for employer branding/social recruiting fizzle because it never received the necessary buy-in. Start at the top. Find one senior leader who believes in the direction and can help knock on a few gatekeeper doors

2. Build the Team

Build a rapport with those gatekeepers. Even if the initial meetings consist solely of an introduction, they’ll appreciate the gesture. Their concerns and advice will be crucial to building an enterprise-wide, comprehensive strategy that will prove sustainable.

3. Take the Time to Do It Right

Be sure to avoid over-extending your efforts, especially in the infancy stages. Conduct the research and figure out where it is your “must reach” audience spends most of its time on social media. Even if you only have a Facebook or Twitter channel at your disposal, content done right will generate strong engagement. Once you’ve mastered the craft, you’ll have created the trust necessary to broadening your presence.

4. Create Infrastructure

Response guides, playbooks, escalation processes should be your next move. Before going live, make sure you have prepared the company for the “what if” scenarios. This is what Employee Relations, Legal, TA, HR, Comms. and Marketing want to see. If you don’t have a plan in place, even for the unlikely, you’ll most likely encounter a situation where you wish you did. In addition, any and all approvals should be in writing. Follow up an in-person meeting with an email recap with a prompt for a written green light. If it’s not in writing, it never happened.

At first, the ROI will come in the forms of engagement, reach and following, in other words, the social media diagnostics. From there, you can start mapping your content to the bigger picture KPI’s: # of applications, # of hires, time to fill etc. Again, there is no secret recipe to creating the perfect employer brand but when you trust in the messaging, you’ve secured the necessary support and generated sustainable stability, you’ll feel that much more confident in your efforts.