In 2025, employer branding needs to be more than just a flashy slogan. As we are experiencing talent shortages and companies are competing for top talent, simply having a strong brand isn’t enough.
What truly makes the difference is how companies communicate their culture, connect with candidates, and make their hiring process efficient and transparent. To attract the right people, your employer brand needs to speak to candidates’ values and expectations.
With the help from our internal Talentech experts, we have put together five key steps to do just that in 2025.
1. Optimize your career pages for conversions
Your company website is not often the first touchpoint candidates have with your company. In fact, most candidates will arrive at your website, and more specifically the career page by redirection from another site, for instance a social media ad where you are advertising a specific job.We know that about 90% of candidates come from a third-party site. That can be a job board, LinkedIn or other social media, where they have encountered a job ad. And our data shows that most of these views that lead to the career page take place on a mobile.
Maja Lindstöm, CPO at Talentech
To convert these visitors into candidates, avoid sending them directly to a generic application form without providing more context. Instead, create a dedicated landing page that highlights relevant information specific to the role they are considering. There, you can:
- Highlight your company culture with engaging content such as videos, pictures, employee stories or behind-the-scenes looks.
- Create an overview of what the recruitment process will look like for the candidate.
- Display the work benefits they will get if they say yes to this job.
- Showcase the team or specific colleagues they will be working with.
Needless to say, when visiting a company website, candidates expect a seamless experience. If it takes ages to load, links are not working or the content on the page is messy, you risk losing candidates before they even get to the point of checking you out properly. Optimizing your career page, not only for computers, but also for mobile devices, is therefore indispensable.
2. Let your employees talk your case
Candidates trust employee voices more than any corporate marketing material.
Our Nordic Recruitment Report revealed that up to 64% of candidates trust employees above all else to recommend a workplace. Hiring managers with 14% and HR with 11% as the two other most popular answers were not even remotely close.
It is clear that the most powerful employer branding tool is your own employees. Authentic stories and testimonials from your team provide invaluable insights into what it’s like to work at your company.
How can you make this reality?
- Incorporate employee testimonials on your website to give candidates a sense of what it’s really like to work with you.
- Feature employee videos and stories on your career page and in recruitment materials.
Both we at Talentech, and our customers, like to use Gobi – an incredibly simple and effective tool that encourages employees to use their smartphones to create personal videos showing their experiences at work. Gobi then helps you easily edit and personalize them with just a few taps and share them on your career page, social media profiles or job posting.
Jens Christian Borgen, CEO at Talentech Norway
Video content is without doubt one of the most effective and engaging ways to share more about your employees and their experiences. Gobi simplifies this process incredibly and leaves no excuse for not doing this.
3. Publish and advertise jobs in the right places
Job boards and social media are key tools for finding new talent, but not all platforms are created equal. In 2025, your employer branding strategy should be aligned with where your ideal candidates are most likely to spend time.
As part of our Nordic Recruitment Report, over 5000 candidates told us that they most often look for jobs on jobs portals, on LinkedIn and on specific companies' websites, in this order. Simultaneously, when asked if they would be open to a great job opportunity they see on social media (Eg Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn), 92% of candidates responded yes.
How can you make this reality?
- Research where your target talent not only looks for jobs, but also usually hangs out (places like social media, niche industry sites, talent communities).
- Leverage the power of social media platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook to showcase your culture in creative ways.
- Invest in targeted job ads on the selected platforms that make sense for your audience to reach specific candidate profiles. Use advanced targeting based on location, experience level, skills, and interests.
By advertising jobs in the right places, you’ll reach candidates who are already aligned with your company’s values and mission.
4. Leverage your employees’ personal networks
As we have already established, employees can play a huge part in reaching talent. Aside from being your internal advocates, it is important to realize that they also have extensive personal networks that can help you find great talent. By empowering your employees to tap into their personal connections, you can increase the reach of your job posts and find candidates who are a good cultural fit.
How can you make this reality?
- Encourage employee referrals and reward team members who bring in high-quality candidates.
- Facilitate easy sharing by providing employees with templates and content they can share on their personal social media.
- Host employee referral contests or incentivize top referrers to create excitement around the referral process.
Leveraging personal networks makes it easier for your employees to act as your most powerful recruiters and humanize your company in the eyes of potential candidates.
5. Engage new hires early
The candidate experience doesn’t stop once the offer is accepted. Preboarding – the process of engaging new hires before their first day – is becoming more important than ever. Engaging candidates early keeps them excited and connected, even before they start the role.
Our Nordic Recruitment Report found that 61% of new hires have experienced not hearing much from their new workplace between contract signing and the first day on the job.
How can you make this reality?
- Start engaging with personalized messages, team introductions, and company information as soon as the offer is signed.
- Create a preboarding portal where new hires can learn about company culture, meet their team virtually, and access important resources.
- Plan for a welcoming and interactive first day, ensuring that the excitement for the role doesn’t fade by the time they walk in.
Engaging your new hires early increases retention rates and sets a positive tone for their experience within your company.
In our Nordic Recruitment Report, 98% of candidates shared that receiving key information before their first day – such as company insights, team introductions, and practical details – helps them feel better prepared for their first day on the job.
What's next?
Employer branding is shaping up to be a vital part of creating an authentic, engaging, and transparent recruitment experience that resonates with candidates. By following our tips and implementing these strategies now, you’ll be well on your way to establishing a reputation as an employer of choice in 2025 and beyond.
And if you feel that you still do not know enough, you can also opt for downloading our reports to get more insights into candidate as well as employee experiences and expectations that can serve as insights into what to focus on with your employer branding strategy:
