Job board brand assets? Really?

Can a service that brings jobseekers and recruiters together for their mutual benefit have its own brand? I say “Yes!” and have been saying so for over a decade.

Are Job Board Brand Assets Really a Thing?

Brands are built upon a foundation of assets. Many think these brand assets are catchy tag lines, dynamite logos and nifty conference swag. These can be components but a brand is a living entity. When you think of a brand, you think of an experience, it is multifaceted and will be reinforced every time a person interacts with a brand. Since there can be many different experiences you can have with a brand – phone, in person, online, social media – it is important that there are guiding principles for every kind of interaction. You can’t be just a brand in one medium.

So How Do You Build a Brand?

A brand is built upon assets beyond the logo, tagline and sway. It’s built on relationships. So what are the assets of a job board?

Ears: Pay attention to what’s going on in your industry and on your job board

Not Mickey Mouse, but the ears of the particular niche that the job board is working on. Between customer service and the sales teams, job boards hear first hand what is going on in the industry. Are there hiring freezes, or ramp ups? How are recent regulations or business trends affecting the way companies feel about their businesses? How do jobseekers perceive efforts by companies to hire them? This is a wealth of knowledge. In essence, this is big data. We are all looking for ways to improve how we do business.

Industry Expert: Turn that information into actionable data and analysis

Now armed with the data of how the community reacts and interacts, job boards based on their analysis and history in the industry can provide recommendations for their customers. Information from the frontlines provides actionable data for not only the job board also its customers – employers and jobseekers. Should a job seeker look for a new job? Which part of the community might they consider? How do customers compare with their peers? What are some best practices? Analysis of this data and making recommendations based on it drives incredible brand value.

Voice: Have a point of view on your industry

The data and perception provided by interaction with both customer bases provides job boards with a unique voice of what is going on in their particular community. While there are trade associations and groups that provide a voice to legislators, job boards can provide the advocate role when their customers need someone to speak up for their needs. Job boards can also share their voice as an intermediary between their customers. As we know, job seekers don’t necessarily understand the actions of employers, while employers want to understand, but sometimes don’t, the trends impacting job seekers.

Taking It Further

Armed with understanding of these basic job board brand assets, you can build your outreach and content strategies. What are the burning questions in your industry? What doesn’t your customer – either one of them– not understand? How can you support better interactions within your community?

This is how you put life into your brand. And this kind of brand building is not limited to just job boards.

All of us – individuals and companies – can use these assets to build and grow a brand.