We talk a lot about attracting active or passive candidates, however, it’s important to note that you actually need to nurture prospective talent regardless of where they fall on the job seeker spectrum. It’s necessary to think about what tactics to use at each stage of the talent acquisition funnel and how branding and sourcing play into it. This playbook is intended to give you a high level guide and tips for navigating the branding and sourcing relationship. This playbook also references more in-depth content on a number of topics we discuss so that you can quickly dive deeper into topics of interest. We aim to make your life easier! Authors: Elle Green and Nayomi Alexander Edited by: Rebecca Feldman

1. 1
5 Steps to
Branding &
Sourcing in
Tandem
_________

2. We talk a lot about attracting active or passive
candidates, however, it’s important to note that
you actually need to nurture prospective talent
regardless of where they fall on the job seeker
spectrum. It’s necessary to think about what
tactics to use at each stage of the talent
acquisition funnel and how branding and
sourcing play into it.
For example, highly-skilled, in-demand
professionals may start the year happy in their
role and content to stay with their employer.
Perhaps six months down the line they starts to
feel they’ve outgrown his role or needs a new
challenge. Toward the end of the year, they
begins to look for a new job. This individual is
a viable target for employers at any point on
this journey. The key is to engage with them
throughout his job-seeking progression so
when it comes time for they’re to make a career
change, you’re they’re top choice.
You must consider the entire population of
potential talent and where they may be in their
career cycle. That will guide you as to how to
build relationships.

3. In today’s socially connected, digital world, Branding and Sourcing should be a very happy marriage indeed. However,
they are so busy branding and sourcing that they often forget to talk to each other, leaving at different times in the
morning, eating dinner separately, and only catching up on the weekend to see how their respective weeks went.
We want to help this marriage be successful by outlining the steps and workload required, from pipelining to hiring,
from the perspective of both branding and sourcing practitioners.
A strong brand helps consumers make a decision about whether or not they want to have interaction with a company,
product or service. People complete around 60% of the decision making process prior to any direct interaction with a
brand. This is due to the level of AWARENESS* they have with your brand. A good branding strategy will widen the top
of the funnel, allowing a greater flow of talent through the funnel to ultimately increase the number of qualified
candidates at the bottom of the funnel.
A strong sourcing strategy ensures that you know exactly what talent your business needs to be successful. Where
they come from, what they do, what they need to do for you: branding will tell them what you will do for them
You may have a branding/marketing team and a sourcing/recruiting team, or you may be it. The lone superhero! This
playbook is not necessarily about who’s role and responsibility it is to do a particular task, but which hat you should
wear, while executing the task. Remember, the modern day recruiter thinks like a marketer. Whether you are a global
enterprise or a small business, the principles and thought processes remain the same.
This playbook is intended to give you a high level guide and tips for navigating the branding and sourcing relationship.
This playbook also references more in-depth content on a number of topics we discuss so that you can quickly dive
deeper into topics of interest. We aim to make your life easier!
How branding and sourcing work in tandem
Source: CEB The Digital Evolution
in B2B Marketing

4. Identify total addressable market and segment
Attract ideal audience and build brand
awareness
Engage and nurture talent
communities
Personal outreach
Convert or
pipeline
Attract
Convert
How to hire the right talent – not the most available
Engage
Identify
Continuous cycle of
engagement and
conversion - This is
where branding and
sourcing have the
closest synergy.
Candidates in your
pipeline move
seamlessly back and
forth through these
stages.

5. Identify Attract
Engage and
Nurture
Outreach
Convert or
Pipeline
Branding & Sourcing steps across the life-cycle
• Establish
workforce plan
• Identify total
addressable
market
• Analyse talent
gaps
• Develop talent
strategy
• Identify talent
segments
• Research
• Develop EVP
• Create Talent
Brand
• Create
channel plan
• Engage your
leadership
• Maximise your
presence,
involve your
entire
organisation
• Socialise
Talent Brand
internally
• Promote and
engage your
Talent Brand
• Target
messaging
• Create brand
guidelines*
• Develop talent
engagement
plan
• Develop
content
strategy
• Create talent
communities
• Amplify your
messaging
• Nurture talent
by sharing
content
• Revisit
sourcing
strategy
• Contact
relevant
candidates
• Assess
suitability for
hire or
pipeline

6. Identify

7. Identify Attract
Engage and
Nurture
Outreach
Convert or
Pipeline
Identify talent implications that will arise from your organisation's strategic objectives
Start with your organisation's strategy as this sets parameters for decision making and investments in
talent. Develop a workforce plan to identify current and future needs and gaps or risks. Then, prioritise
choices about people investments to enable the organisation to achieve its business goals.
Identify total addressable market
• Collect relevant workforce data to forecast supply and demand for your key talent areas (e.g.
internal and external talent data)
• Use LinkedIn Talent Pool reports to help you understand the current landscape
Analyse talent gaps
• Use workforce data to create workforce insights - Where are you gaining talent from and to which
companies are you losing talent?
• What are the workforce gaps and risks?
Develop talent strategy
• Transform workforce insights into business actions
• Identify and assess talent options available to best achieve business goals
• Build strategy (talent development)
• Buy strategy (talent acquisition and recruitment)
• Borrow strategy (outsourcing and contingent labor)
• Bind/boost strategy (talent retention and promotions)
• Bounce strategy (talent redeployment and restructures) Key resources:
LinkedIn Talent Pool reports
Talent Trend Reports
Data Driven recruiting playbook
Sourcing

8. Identify Attract
Engage and
Nurture
Outreach
Convert or
Pipeline
Sample Talent Pool Report – Sales Consultants in Australia

9. Identify Attract
Engage and
Nurture
Outreach
Convert or
Pipeline
Identify talent segments
Which talent segments do you have to develop an employer value proposition for?
Think about business units and job families. Then identify which would most likely have similar value propositions and group them into
talent segments.
Research You will need to conduct both qualitative and quantitative research to collate robust data. For both types of research you will
need to think about three key focal areas of discovery:
1. Who is your target audience (internal and external)?
2. What do you want to know (information required)?
3. Where & how will you engage your talent (surveys, focus groups, in-house, external etc.)?
Develop your employer value proposition (EVP)
What do you want to tell your audience? Make sure that it’s realistic based on the findings of your research. Be real, be brave, be
personal and be consistent. Create an overarching EVP as well as talent segment specific EVPs.
Create Talent Brand
Your Talent Brand is the social version of your employer brand - the messaging and conversation around your EVP that you can deliver
across all brand touch points. What does it look like? What’s the personality, tone and feel?
Create channel plan
Where does your audience go? Where do they spend time? What social media sites and job boards will you utilise as your messaging
will take on different forms to optimise these channels.
Branding
Key resources:
LinkedIn Employer Brand Playbook
Modern Recruiter’s Guide
Examples of effective qualitative research
• Focus groups: split into talent segments with various
lengths of tenure and same level of seniority within your
company
• One to one interviews: talk to senior leadership to identify
any gaps between reality and aspiration
Examples of effective quantitative research
• Data survey: reach out to your potential audience and ask
what they value and how they perceive your company
• Free tools: SurveyMonkey and Google Forms are easy
and cost effective

10. Identify Attract
Engage and
Nurture
Outreach
Convert or
Pipeline
Sourcing + Branding
Total Addressable Market
analysis identifies the size
and nature of your market
and approach for targeting
Over time, one-to-many
branding approach will help
move people into the priority,
“red carpet” quadrant where
they will receive direct
outreach.

11. Attract

12. Identify Attract
Engage and
Nurture
Outreach
Convert or
Pipeline
Engage your leadership
For successful change management, leadership engagement and buy in is critical. Develop a business
case outlining why you need to change as an organisation and embark on a cultural transformation to
find the best talent not just the most available talent
Maximise your presence, involve your entire organisation
Create a world of brand ambassadors. Your employees have invaluable networks and connections that
you want to tap into. The more you can show about who you are and what your company does, the
easier it is for candidates to engage with you and determine whether or not your company might be a
great fit for them. Start with polishing profiles for recruiters, hiring managers, your Senior Leadership
Team and your CEO in an ideal world!
Sourcing + Branding
Key resources:
LinkedIn Executive Playbook
The Age of Socially engaged leadership
Build Recruiter brand on LinkedIn
• Utilise insights gleaned from the workforce plan to drive
your case for change with leaders e.g. Future shortage
of employees with required skills
• Share research from talent trends data and reports
outlining current state talent landscape
• Outline competitors successes
• Show what you’re really spending
• Take advantage of your size

13. Identify Attract
Engage and
Nurture
Outreach
Convert or
Pipeline
Promote and engage your Talent Brand
It’s no use having a great Talent Brand if you don’t get it out there! Reaching your target audience will give you
the reward for all your hard effort. You can decide who you want to speak to and when, and start to really
influence the conversation outside of your four (or fifty!) company walls.
Target your messaging
This is definitely a case where one size does not fit all. When looking at your
identified talent segments, think about how you can reach them with their
relevant EVP messaging so that their engagement with you is highly targeted
and specific. What do they want to hear about being an engineer, a sales
professional, a java developer? Be personal.
Create brand guidelines
Brand guidelines really don’t have to resemble War & Peace, think easy to understand, not long and wordy.
The guidelines will help you and all your brand ambassadors be consistent in the messaging and delivery of
your talent
brand. Clarify your EVP statement/s, images of your organisation that reflect the culture, employee
testimonials, a copy library for job ads etc...
Branding
What internal and external channels will you use?
• Your corporate website
• Job boards
• Social media sites
• Recruitment partners
Key resources:
LinkedIn Employer Brand Playbook
5 Steps to Boosting your Talent Brand through Content

14. Engage & Nurture

15. Identify Attract
Engage and
Nurture
Outreach
Convert or
Pipeline
This is the marriage sweet spot. Where Sourcing and Brand work together in tandem
to develop a formal strategy which defines and outlines the various engagement and relationship
touch points with talent prospects. The focus here is to cultivate and nurture prospects interested
in working for your organisation.
The talent engagement plan is about building a long-term relationship with a candidate and not filling
the immediate vacancy today.
Talent Engagement Plan
Develop a communication strategy which addresses each talent segment. You might work with a
branding team to develop personas for each talent segment which will help you better craft your
communications so that they resonate with each respective segment. As part of the strategy include
timing of outreach by whom and how often.
• Social media
• CMS/ATS
• Hiring manager
• Recruiters
Manage expectations of your talent communities – once candidates are in the pipeline, outline the
process, share the expected timeframes and nature of communications and also share how they can opt
out, if their requirements change.
Sourcing
Key resources:
LinkedIn Talent Pool reports
Talent Trend Reports

16. Types of content
Don’t forget that not ALL of your content
needs to be created, or original. In fact,
about 50% of your content can be curated
from other sources! Use other thought
leaders like:
Google Alerts
Buzzsumo
Alltop
LinkedIn Pulse
These can all help you find great content
to share!
Identify Attract
Engage and
Nurture
Outreach
Convert or
Pipeline
Develop content strategy
A content strategy will allow you greater focus and
discipline in consistent messaging. It also means you
can identify partners for the cause. TA, marketing,
corporate comms, leadership, and employee brand
ambassadors all play a part in helping you curate,
and create a robust content strategy.
It’s important to go back to those people with whom
you’re trying to engage. After all, the content of
interest to someone in engineering is quite different
from someone in sales or finance, for the same
reason your value proposition may have been
different for each of those talent segments.
Content allows you to engage on an on-going basis
with your talent community, so that that they feel
connected with your brand, even if they’re not in a
current candidate cycle. You may want to hire them in
six, 12, 18 months (or they may be a silver medalist)
and in the meantime you can continue to remain top
of mind and keep in them in your warm candidate
pipeline.
Branding
Key resources:
5 Steps to Boosting your Talent Brand through Content

17. Identify Attract
Engage and
Nurture
Outreach
Convert or
Pipeline
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Status
Update
We couldn’t be
more excited to
announce …
HOT JOB: Do
you love to be
challenged by
your amazing
peers and clients
every day? Look
no further for the
perfect career
move!
Developing apps
without being
able to test
changes to your
code in real time
is painful. Check
out these tips on
how to alleviate
the pain: link
Our CEO talks
about his vision
for our industry
as we move into
a new age of…
Friday fun: insert
image of team
lunch OR any
catchy image
found online OR
interesting fun
fact.
Content
Type
Press release Job post link Blog post Thought
Leadership
Image
Target
Audience
Marketers UX designers Engineers Everybody Everybody
Publish
Where
LinkedIn,
Facebook
LinkedIn, Twitter LinkedIn, Twitter LinkedIn,
Facebook,
Twitter
LinkedIn,
Facebook,
Instagram,
Pinterest
Key resources:
5 Steps to Boosting your Talent Brand through Content
A simple content calendar can help you visualize what you plan to share and assign
team members to own certain days or channels.
Branding

18. Identify Attract
Engage and
Nurture
Outreach
Convert or
Pipeline
Create talent communities
To get the most out of professional networking and
social media, many companies create talent
communities on a diverse range of social networks.
Through these virtual communities, social media can be
leveraged for more than branding purposes –
essentially to create segmented pools of hard-to-fill and
other targeted hiring populations.
Amplify your messaging
Empower and engage your employees to share your
content. At LinkedIn, even though we are an extremely
social bunch we need some help sometimes. When
there is a piece of content they want us to share, we will
receive an email asking us to share with our networks,
with a introduction blurb to the post that we can edit to
suit our style if we wish, together with a link to the post.
Best in class content mix
Key resources:
4 Steps to Empowering Employees to Share Professional Content
5 Steps to Boosting your Talent Brand through Content
Branding
Nurture talent by sharing content
Keep building brand awareness now that you’ve cultivated a talent pool. Make sure you have fresh content (created
or curated) on a regular basis, whether that’s once a week or once a day as long as it’s consistent. Choose content
that will spark conversation. This will allow you to have an ongoing dialogue with your talent communities.

19. Outreach
19

20. Identify Attract
Engage and
Nurture
Outreach
Convert or
Pipeline
At this stage, you will be contacting a potential
candidate with the intent to take them through the
recruitment process. So be clear why you are
reaching out in your initial message.
This step in the process is one which has a
continuous loop back to engage and nurture.
Candidate experience is critical during these stages
– thinking about how you approach and follow up
with candidates will have a significant impact on
how they feel about your company’s brand and what
it might be like to work for the organisation.
Although they are likely already engaged with your
organisation, this conversation is your first personal,
one-to-one touch point, so be thoughtful in your
approach.
Sourcing
Key resources:
The Recruiter’s Guide to Writing Effective inMails

21. Convert or pipeline

22. Identify Attract
Engage and
Nurture
Outreach
Convert or
Pipeline
Assess suitability for hire or pipeline
If a candidate is unsuccessful for this specific role, determine if he or she may be a better match for a
future opening. This person may also be highly connected to your talent pool and a great asset to your
future hiring requirements. Managing unsuccessful candidates is equally important in today’s highly
networked and socially transparent age. Best in class organisations acknowledge that candidates are not
only future talent but could also be existing customers and community stakeholders who are pivotal your
business’ success.
Sourcing
Engage and nurture talent
communities
Personal outreach
Convert or
pipeline

23. 1. Identify roles & responsibilities. Invite key stakeholders and business partners to the table –
you are not a lone soldier.
2. Plan your strategy from beginning to end, even if you don’t need to implement all the steps
outlined in this eBook.
3. Identify exactly what talent your business needs to be successful. Align your plan to existing
business objectives.
4. Get to know your talent landscape - where they are, what they want and what they do.
5. Leverage branding to attract talent – your messaging should enlighten talent on what YOU
will do for THEM.
Key takeaways for a happy marriage
Remember step three to five is a continuous cycle.
Constantly build and engage your talent community as that’s where branding and sourcing
have the greatest synergy.

25. • CEB The Digital Evolution in B2B Marketing
• LinkedIn Talent Pool Reports
• LinkedIn Talent Trend Reports
• LinkedIn Data Driven Recruiting Playbook
• LinkedIn Employer Brand Playbook
• LinkedIn Executive Playbook
• LinkedIn The Age of Socially Engaged Leadership
• LinkedIn Modern Recruiters Guide
• LinkedIn Build Recruiter Brand on LinkedIn
• LinkedIn 5 Steps to Boosting Your Talent Brand Though Content
• LinkedIn The Recruiter’s Guide to Effective InMails
• 4 Steps to Empowering Employees to Share Professional Content
• The Quest to Quantify: Measuring the Impact of your Talent Brand
References and guides

26. About the authors
Elle Green
Talent Brand Consultant
Nayomi Alexander
Senior Customer Success Consultant
Edited by:
Rebecca Feldman
Global Marketing & Education Program Manager
Elle and Nayomi have a happy marriage working on LinkedIn’s global clients. They speak regularly, have lunch a lot and generally work well in tandem.
Elle has over 15 years experience working across most industries building brand strategies to provide robust talent outcomes for business objectives.
Her aim in life is to increase the synergies between HR and Marketing.
Nayomi has over 10 years experience in a variety of Human Resource roles and is passionate about driving improved talent outcomes for
organisations. She’s a self-confessed proactive sourcing geek.
They are planning to renew their vows shortly.

27. ©2014 LinkedIn Corporation. All Rights Reserved.