How can you use the power of the whole communication toolkit - also known as proper strategic communication - effectively? We talk a lot in the world of internal communication about working strategically. In fact episode one of season two of my Candid Comms podcast address this exact topic. It will be published tomorrow, Sunday 6 June 2021, via your favourite podcast player.

Gallagher's 2021 State of the Sector report paints a picture of a rapidly changing workplace—and the value of internal communications in navigating those changes.

Presentations by Benedict Evans: The Great Unbundling

Last year, I did a whole newsletter based on the various prediction stories people were writing (how'd that turn out?!) and this year it sure feels like no one's willing to put their head in the lion's mouth again. But I did find one brave soul willing to predict the future of EB for 2021. I could quibble about how "HR tech will focus more on candidates than recruiters" is a gimme as it is impossible for them to focus LESS on candidates, but it's a good read.

Last year taught us that the future is difficult to predict, but that didn't stop the plethora of webinars, articles, social posts and emails suggesting what to expect in 2021 from popping up at the end of last year. I find trends valuable to a degree, they suggest progress to be made and ways of do

Volume hiring will never be the same, get ready for 2021 and beyond with this list of trends backed up with real data from tens of millions of candidate interactions. What the hell just happened? I think we’re all ready to say goodbye to 2020.

No one saw 2020 coming. At the close of 2019, economists in the US talked about the prospect of full employment, we expected Brexit to dominate headlines in Europe and Japan was poised to open its doors to the world as host to the Summer Olympics.

The top 8 recruitment marketing trends for 2020 (oh look, employer brand as the core of all messages is #1).

As a bonus, here are predictions for social media for the coming year. What’s next for Facebook, TikTok, Slack, and more

Lots of great data points on Vox's wrap up of 2019 tech trends. The most interesting one is how tech talent is continuing to cluster around a handful of cities. This blows my mind. We all know how expensive it is to hire in the obvious cities, so you'd assume companies would look beyond those cities for talent (and a steep discount), but that's not happening. Might be a good chart to show the hiring manager who asks why it's so hard to hire in Boston, SF and Seattle

This one came out too late for my summery of brand trends, but here are five emerging brand trends for 2020. I heartily endorse their first trend that as more and more "authentic reviews" turn out to be fake, candidates will stop relying on review sites as much. At the very least, candidates will change how they interpret those reviews, which should impact your own review site strategy. (And here's early examples from the Washington Post: companies that sell fake people.) Also see the fifth prediction: People will pay more for brands with a human side. As the de facto owner of the human side of your corporate brand, this is where you can make a real impact.

Here's a nice write-up on what to expect in the next decade of marketing.

I had a fun conversation over at Chad & Cheese on employer branding in a post-COVID world that got some surprisingly positive mentions.

Last week I had some crazy technical issues. which is why the newsletter went out a day and a half late. In all the chaos, I didn't link to an article on how you can use the four drivers of your employer brand to better respond to the pandemic.

Predictions on how content marketing will likely change in the near term is a guidebook for all your employer brand tactics (what, did you not know you're a content marketer? Oh indeed you are). Example: social and video look to continue their rise, but now that most google searches are mobile, how are you going to react?

There's always a contingent looking "ahead" at cool marketing tactics. For them, I ask: are you thinking about interactive marketing yet? Be they games, AR/VR, even "choose your own adventure"-type story-telling, getting people to make choices within your marketing makes your messages more engaging and memorable. Okay, I scared you with the AR/VR thing, sorry. But quizzes count (sorta). And what if instead of "a day in the life" video, you let people choose what the employee was going to do? Get coffee or prep for the meeting? Research a client via Google or other channel? Make a series of options that people can choose and see the impact those choices make in their day. Maybe double down and work with your instruction-design people (assuming you have one of those) to show how each choice suggests that the candidate is or isn't a likely fit with your brand (without being ham-fisted about it).

PathMotion took a look at all the bot-driven conversations on its platforms to see what candidates wanted to know more about. This isn't what candidates said they wanted, it's what they asked for, so if you don't know what to add to your career site and social channels, this is a solid starting point for a content map. I will caution and say that Universum's data (day job alert!) agrees with a lot of these conclusions, they aren't equally true across the board for all audiences. Just keep that in mind.

This is a great article on the seven trends in ecommerce for 2020, which are all applicable to any employer brand pro: personalization, digital savvy, and developing a real candidate experience STRATEGY (remember: if you invert your "strategy" and it isn't a strategy, you didn't have a strategy in the first place).

What are people looking for in a video these days of indefinite uncertainty? Positivity, exploring new ideas and difficult issues, and simply engaging with things that feel timely, according to Google.

A global pandemic. Economic uncertainty. Political limbo. Racial inequality. To say 2020 is an “annus horribilis” unlike we’ve ever experienced would be an understatement.But in the words of our co-CEOs, we viewed these obstacles as a clarion call for simplicity. Our collective responsibility was to find new ways to remove the complexity from the challenges before us—both for our clients and colleagues. As we look to the year ahead, what’s top of mind for branding experts? Our practitioners weigh in on how companies can differentiate themselves in 2021.

Google’s Official Digital Marketing Publication. Industry leaders share year in review, 2021 marketing predictions, and strategy recommendations.