Your Employer Brand Funnel, 4 Simple Steps For Success

An employer brand funnel is a lot like a sales and marketing funnel, where instead of selling a product or service, you're raising awareness and selling your company to candidates. 

By developing an effective employer brand funnel, you can attract and retain the best talent for your positions.

From initial company awareness to transforming employees into brand advocates, let's dive in. 

Key Takeaways

• Your employer brand funnel is a framework to attract and retain top talent through four stages: awareness, consideration, decision, and advocacy.
• Consistency is key for your employer brand, which includes consistent communications across platforms, presenting a consistent company culture, and more.
• Modern tools like the Vouch video platform are brilliant at optimizing the results from every stage of your employer branding funnel.
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What Are The Four Stages of the Employer Brand Funnel?

The employer branding funnel consists of four main stages, and every stage plays a crucial role in attracting and retaining top talent. The first stage is building awareness.

Stage 1. Awareness

Like marketing a product or service, building awareness is vital for all stages of your employer brand funnel. In the awareness stage, you are striving to generate awareness amongst suitable candidates to attract an active and passive talent pool that aligns with your company culture and mission.

When it comes to building awareness, little beats video content, especially employee testimonials from your current employees. These are highly engaging, authentic, and ideal for building your employer brand. 

Next: See how Vouch helps you build Brand Awareness online.

With highly engaging video content at your fingertips, you can then promote your employees and company culture through various channels such as word-of-mouth, social media, blog posts for SEO and engagement, and of course job boards.

Stage 2. Consideration

In the consideration stage (research phase), potential employees will start evaluating your company as a potential employer of choice and make sure your employee value proposition is aligned.

They will research your website, watch employee testimonial videos, read employee referrals on sites like Glassdoor, and more. In this stage, quality candidates will do their research to ensure your company aligns with their values and career goals.

Next: See how Vouch helps your Candidate Consideration stage.

Highlighting your company culture, employees, and customers can make or break this stage, and with Vouch, you can ensure consistency across your awareness and consideration stages—which is absolutely critical.

Stage 3. Application

The application stage in the candidate journey is where potential employees make the final decision to apply for a job at your company and undertake the application process within your hiring funnel.

This application stage includes initial interviews and screening, as well as your job offer. Like the awareness and consideration stage, it's crucial to showcase the values and benefits of working for your organization to drive applications for ideal candidates.

Next: See how Vouch helps your Candidate Application stage.

The recruitment funnel is quite complex and is a funnel within itself. This stage is also handled by dedicated HR managers, hiring managers, or talent acquisition specialists. 

Stage 4. Employee Advocacy

The golden circle is the advocacy stage, where employees become advocates for your company, helping you to create employee experience videos and share content on their social media channels to help attract other talented people - building up the entire funnel from the awareness stage and attracting the job seekers you want.

Employee advocates share positive content, refer others to your organization, and promote your company in ways your HR, TA, and marketing teams can't. Employee advocacy is a powerful tool you can use to attract ideal job candidates.

Next: See how Vouch helps your Employee Advocacy stage.

To build employee advocacy, it's essential to create a positive workplace and nurture a strong company culture. By putting employee satisfaction first, offering real growth opportunities, and simply being a great company to work for, you can build a passionate workforce who are happy to promote your company.

What Factors Are Required For A Successful Employer Brand Funnel?

Several critical factors are required to effectively implement the four steps of the employer branding funnel, one of which is consistency. 

1. Create a consistent employer brand across all channels

Ensure that your employer brand is consistent across all channels – whether it's your website, company news, social media activity, job posts, or even your employee testimonials. Consistency is vital in building a trustworthy employer brand that resonates with potential candidates.

2. Personalize your outreach

Take the time to understand each individual's preferences and needs. By personalizing your outreach efforts and content, you can effectively tailor your messaging to your candidate's specific interests and needs. This personalized approach also shows prospective employees that you value their unique skills and experiences.

3. Ensure consistency on social media

One of the most effective ways to connect with potential employees is through your social media accounts. However, like any channel, you need to ensure that your messaging is consistent at all times—if it's not, your social media presence will be quickly watered down and less effective.

Here is an excellent guide on Social Media Video Production.

4. Offer consistently competitive compensation and benefits

With websites like Glassdoor, it can look strange if your employees' salaries vary significantly within the same job roles—it can be perceived as preference and bias. Of course, in 2025, offering competitive compensation and benefits is a must, but keep it consistent across roles and positions. 

5. Create a consistent workplace culture

A positive work environment is essential for employee satisfaction and retention. Fostering a workplace culture where employees feel valued and supported and focusing on diversity and inclusion are essential. It's also important to provide opportunities for growth and development and encourage employees to collaborate and contribute to the company's success.

6. Recognize and reward employees

When it comes to employee experience, consistently recognizing and rewarding employees for their contributions in a genuine way is everything. This could be through formal programs such as employee of the month awards or informal gestures like a simple thank-you lunch. Employee recognition creates a strong sense of belonging and feeling valued, which are the foundations of a great employer brand.
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What Are The Benefits Of Your Employer Brand Funnel?

Having a set and simple employer branding funnel can bring numerous benefits when it comes to attracting and retaining top talent.

Your employer brand funnel also plays a crucial role in creating a positive candidate experience throughout the recruitment process, from initial contact to onboarding. Your candidates interact with your company throughout every stage, and even if they are not the right candidate for the particular job, you are leaving a lasting impression to differentiate your employer brand while building your future candidate pool.

Ultimately, your employer branding funnel helps your company stand out by attracting the right talent, retaining top performers, and building a positive company culture where your employees do their very best work. 

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How Do You Measure The ROI Of Your Employer Brand Funnel?

The employer branding funnel is designed to provide a significant return on investment (ROI) by attracting and retaining top talent. These talent, in turn, help your company grow with higher levels of productivity, innovation, and employee satisfaction.

Here are some steps you can measure:

Reduced Recruitment Costs

One key advantage of the employer brand funnel is its ability to reduce recruitment costs. By streamlining the hiring process and improving the quality of candidates, you can cut down on expensive recruitment efforts and agencies. This includes saving resources spent on sourcing, screening, and onboarding new employees.

Increased Productivity and Innovation

Attracting and retaining top talent through the employer brand funnel results in a highly motivated and engaged workforce. When employees feel connected to the company's mission and values, they are more likely to be productive and innovative, driving business growth.

Positive Industry And Customer Impact

A strong employer brand has a positive impact on your organization's overall reputation. By showcasing a positive work culture, attracting talented individuals, and ensuring employee satisfaction, you can attract more customers and investors.

Measuring ROI

Measuring the ROI of the employer branding funnel involves tracking key metrics such as cost per hire, time to fill positions, employee turnover rates, and customer satisfaction scores.

If you are looking for ways to measure your recruitment funnel, please see here: 7 Recruitment Metrics To Optimize Your Hiring.

By analyzing your hiring metrics, you can assess the effectiveness of your talent acquisition strategies and make data-driven decisions.
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FAQs

What is the employer branding funnel?

The employer branding funnel is a framework designed to attract and retain top talent. It consists of four stages: awareness, consideration, decision, and advocacy.

What happens in the awareness stage of the employer branding funnel?

In the awareness stage, potential employees learn about your company through various channels, such as word-of-mouth, social media, and job boards.

What happens in the consideration stage of the employer branding funnel?

In the consideration stage, potential employees start considering your company as a potential employer, often researching your website and reading employee reviews.

What happens in the application stage of the employer branding funnel?

In the application or decision stage, potential employees make the final decision to apply for a job at your company, which may include interviews and job offers.

What happens in the advocacy stage of the employer branding funnel?

In the advocacy stage, employees become advocates for your company by sharing positive content, referring others, and promoting your company in various ways.

What are some tips for using the employer branding funnel?

Some tips for using the employer branding funnel include ensuring consistency in your employer brand, personalizing outreach, engaging with potential employees on social media, offering competitive compensation, creating a positive work environment, providing opportunities for employee growth, and recognizing and rewarding employees.

What are the benefits of implementing the employer branding funnel?

The benefits of implementing the employer branding funnel include increased talent attraction, improved candidate experience, and the ability to measure the effectiveness of talent acquisition strategies.

What is the ROI of the employer branding funnel?

The ROI of the employer branding funnel can be measured through metrics such as cost per hire, time to fill positions, employee turnover rates, and customer satisfaction scores.

Why is the employer branding funnel important?

The employer branding funnel is important for attracting and retaining top talent, enhancing recruitment success, and creating a strong employer brand.
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Conclusion

Your employer branding funnel is a crucial tool for attracting and retaining top talent. By implementing a simple four-stage funnel that you can test, measure, and improve, you can grow your awareness, application, and acceptance rates, make more informed decisions, and build your employee advocacy. 

Your employer branding funnel is designed to increase talent attraction and help you stand out in the competitive talent landscape that is recruitment in 2025.

Finally, modern tools like Vouch make it remarkably easy to build your employer brand and streamline your recruitment process.
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Like to try Vouch?

Loved by companies like Canva, Nike, Cisco, Stryker, HubSpot, Amazon, and more, tools like Vouch make leveraging video in your business remarkably easy.

Be sure to book a Vouch demo today and chat with a video content expert.