Why clicks don't matter in the ROI of employer branding

Coca-Cola doesn’t measure their success based on the amount of people that run to the store after seeing the commercial on TV nor the amount of clicks that they get on an add. They know that they are a successful brand, because of their market penetration and business success not the clicks they generated.

Tony Fadell (designer first Ipod, Nest) mentioned the importance of emotional momentum on Ted Radio. From the first time you learn about a product, you want to learn more, but only IF you establish that connection. It is about a combination of the emotional and rational components, and when blended successfully people go off and buy the product.

Let’s apply this to HR and not make it about buying a product but applying for a job. Changing jobs is an emotional decision and is in fact one of the major stressful impacts on our private life next to the death of a loved one, getting a child and buying a house according to the American stress association. So how do you measure if candidates are connected to your organization on an emotional level?

1.Measuring the unmeasurable

This might be very shocking, but there are things you cannot measure by clicks and will only reflect in your organizations data overtime. Accept that the emotional component cannot be measured in clicks. Curiosity and learning are the two most important things in establishing an emotional connection. You want people to feel good about your brand and wanting to work for you as a gut feeling not a rational fact. Think about a waiter, do you tip him solely on the quality of his work and the food he brings or do you also take the emotional click in consideration that differs from person to person?

2. LinkedIn data

When people apply for a job they are looking to fulfill certain rational aspects, such as career growth, financial compensation or work/life balance. In addition, they look for an emotional connection with the company they are applying for. Although clicks are unable to measure curiosity and learning, LinkedIn data is. Think about the amount of followers, interaction of LinkedIn members with your employees and the engagement on the things that you share in order to build up that awareness. In addition, we can also share data on what is interesting for your audiences to read, thus helping you in generating brand awareness and building the emotional connection candidates need in order to identify with your organization.

3.Your organizations data

Measuring hires and where they come from is one thing, but measuring the impact on your organization is what actually matters. Virgin Media lost 7,500 customers in 2014 due to a negative candidate experience, equating to a value of $4.5M in customer media subscriptions (and have since turned great candidate experience into a £5.3M revenue stream, which you will hear from Neil Chivers, Employer Brand & Marketing Manager at Virgin Media when he presents at World Employer Branding Day 27-28 April 2017 | Budapest.

We tend to forget but in order to achieve business goals, talent is key. Try to measure over a certain period of time if the revenue per employee goes up, Lou Adlers' ROI calculator can help you with focusing more on the ROI of a quality hire. This can help you to place a stronger focus on the ROI of a quality hire. So stop obsessing about clicks and start looking at other ways of measuring value. Once this start has been made, a conversation on strategic Employer Branding will become a logical next step.

Marlene De Koning is the Senior Solutions Consultant & Teamlead at LinkedIn and along with Alfonso Auñón García, Global People Capability Manager Procurement at Heineken​ will share a case study and insights at World Employer Branding Day 27-28 April 2017 | Budapest in how LinkedIn is being leverage in Heineken's latest campaign to build a market leading employer brand.