In uncertain times, helpful content can bring companies and consumers closer together. Learn how to build a content marketing strategy to best address your audience's needs in times of crisis.

Yes, you should actively be sharing your stories right now. Right now! Lauryn Sargent, who knows a thing or two about employee stories, makes a solid case for telling more stories now, not less. Whether the news is good or bad, telling stories turns anything into a more human experience, one that gets more eyeballs and sticks in the brain longer.

Are you taking advantage of the fact that candidates might hit your career site multiple times to learn more about your company and validate your claims? For example, do you have dynamic content that reflects the fact that this is a returning visitor, or someone who has watched your whole video all the way through? Or are you treating all your candidates the same?

Normally, in difficult times, our instinct is to reach out, literally. Human touch and physical expression—a hug, a hand on a shoulder, a quiet look of concern, sitting next to someone and not saying anything—are powerful ways to show people we’re here for them. But what do we do when all that’s left is our voice?Let's remember that the words we choose, on our career sites, on our job posts, on our outreach, on our emails, are the cheapest, most effective way we have to set frames and shape perceptions. We need to remember how important words are, especially when we are coping (and helping others cope) with... everything.

This is interesting because we may have entered "Covid fatigue," where we're all sick of getting those emails on how that company you bought a puzzle from three years ago is changing because of the pandemic. My take away? Less talk, more showing. Nike doesn't talk about design as much as it shows it, which is why people see it as authentically design-focused.

Adding pictures of staff wearing masks increases applications as much as 46%. Huh. It;'s almost like SHOWING how well you protect your staff encourages people to join. Weird.

And here's a creative example of how to show your product off during lockdown.

This is how you can get your customers to do your job for you.

Usually when we think about employee-generated content, we assume employees should talk about work. As much as I love work, theres more to live and what your company supports than just "work." Take some cues from these companies who are asking their customers to tell stories during lockdown, and how it can dramatically extend your reach and humanize the brand.

Do companies still balk at letting employees build content? I know for a long time it felt like there were companies who just couldn't let their staffs have that kind of freedom to talk (as if they need permission). If that's you and you need some ammo to make their case? Here are some stats on the power of leveraging user-generated content.

Still on the content marketing side, have you given any thought at all to building episodic content?

Here's a nice juicy article on how to write short stories in your posts to create more clicks and engagement. This article didn't feel at all like the usual run-of-the-mill listicle, but had some great new ideas that get your readers to really chew over your ideas.

"Learn more about how to shift and evolve your content marketing during and after a crisis, to speak to your community, get connected, and stay relevant."

Let's talk Tik Tok! Or maybe we shouldn't! Just as the all-dancing, all-singing social platform starts to gain traction as a legitimate branding platform, it gets branded as a state agency intelligence operation. But when has a little espionage stopped "the kids" from singing? (That's the entire plot of Val Kilmer's Top Secret, btw.) So if you're ready to ignore potential Trump/Bezos bans of the social channel, here are so suggestions on how to do it right. My favorite? Think of it as an education platform first.

Allison Kruse has really carved out her own space on how to effectively use content marketing in employer brand communications. So when she writes a big ol' article on how to use content marketing thinking to address and overcome employee advocacy challenges, I have to share it.

Hung Lee dug up this oldish article about better job postings, but I’d never seen it and I thought it was amazing. Remember: job postings are your #1 channel for creating first impressions (and they are all but free). Doing them right really makes a difference in setting the frame on your employer brand. What’s the secret? The article suggests it’s the word “if.” I’d suggest the real change agent here is knowing what a good job posting even looks like.

Further evidence that you and your marketing team should be spending more time together and occasionally taking long walks on the beach: employee advocates are the new “influencer.” In a lot of ways, influencers made a kind of sense in a world with a million options (or products, services, lifestyles, etc) because they acted as a kind of “native guide” to these things. A Kardashian can point to weight loss products and fashion because it’s something they know about. But as influencers as a celebrity become stale, the new advocate is the insider, someone with the inside view on things. They have a more credible voice and are seen as more real than marketing and can change people’s minds about your company (both as an employer, and as a vendor).

Instagram’s “Tik Tok-inspired” Reels might be the Gen Z content tool compromise you were waiting for: Tik Tok content, Instagram Reach and Facebook ad infrastructure. Here’s what you need to know now.

Call me old fashioned, but I still love a good blog. And is there a cheaper way to manage a platform on which you can tell deep sharable stories that support your employer brand? I didn’t think so. Here are 5 brand-driven to make sure your blog isn’t boring.

On the recruitment marketing side of things, we are faced with a slew of cool tools to help us place our message in front of people who just visited our career site, or are a lot like people who follow our Facebook page. There are two issues with that. One, most of us are just pushing out lame job ads to these people, as if applying for a job is the same as downloading a whitepaper (it’s not). Two, we don’t spend time thinking about how or why the tools are designed to work. We just get thrilled by the “extra clicks” or “deeper awareness” rather than thinking through how to use the tools properly. So here’s a Hubspot article on how to approach your behavior-targeted ad (I bet you didn’t even know that that was what that was called).

Let’s talk about influencers. Not the Fyre Festival type, but the people in your ecosystem who are creating content to connect with internal and external audiences. The people who influence others to consider working here. This is more than simple “advocacy,” or even tactical referrals, this is about helping your own influencers these people build emotional connections, which is what sparks longer-term relationships.

Hubspot has a list of 14 different blog formats. This is great when you’re out of ideas and need to think of what kind of content you could build.

Many businesses are redirecting their strategy to focus more on customer value and experience, from both a proactive standpoint and a reactive one.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned brand tone much in this newsletter, but that’s because there isn’t much written about it more than anything. Your tone expresses a great deal about your employer brand, so getting that tone right matters. Except it seems like most employer brand tones are either “stiffly professional” or “your wry friend,” as if there’s a singe spectrum between formal and informal. Where’s the introspective tone? Where’s the cheerleader? Or the bureaucrat? Where’s the professorial tone or the underdog? If our brands are complex, why are the tones so simple?

My feeling on over-indexing on candidate experience are well known (your CX should reflect your brand and work reality, not just “white glove”), but there are still great online ways to engage talent online outside of tests and (god help us all) the ATS. Here are some examples from the consumer world we could all steal ideas from.

Pop quiz: what’s the one thing that adds authenticity to your brand claims? When actual employers align to those claims. Even more so when they can internalize those ideas and even talk about the less-attractive aspects of the brand (all traits have good and bad features, and every strength becomes a weakness if taken too far). Charlotte Marshal breaks it down.

William Shakespeare was a remarkable poet, actor and playwright, but let’s be real – the guy lived and died over 400 years ago – what on earth can he teach us about employer branding 2020? Turns out – quite a lot. See, Shakespeare had a knack for understanding what makes people tick. His greatest achievements weren’t necessarily the plot lines, but the unique and dynamic characters he created – their personalities, their strengths, their weaknesses, their desires, their motivations. These characters have endured through four centuries, they’re continually reincarnated on stage and screen, t...

Who’s in charge of your company’s employee activation? Chances are, it’s no one. So I guess it’s up to you. But here’s an idea. Rather than think about employee activation as the best way to get your most authentic and credible employer brand narrative out into the world (which it most certainly is), what if you were to think about the rest of the organization first? Who are all the departments who would love to tap into that resources? If you want to make yourself invaluable, manage this ideas for them first (and your outcomes will come all by themselves).

There’s no shortage of lessons communicators can extract from the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, but one really stands out. Simple communication wins the days. The underlying principles that guide effective communications in times of great urgency apply in more ordinary times as well.

Speaking of community, we’re not the only ones struggling with the idea that we want to get people excited to learn more about us before we have the right role open. Turns out, consumer brands are trying to figure out the same puzzle. The first question you should ask is: what can I help my community members do?