Graduate marketing
It’s the big day. There have been months of planning. You’ve arrived and set up your stand. Your shiny brochures are looking A-mazing and are neatly fanned across the standard folding table. Your roller banners are standing proud. “Today is the day we snare the best talent at the careers fair.”
Probably not.
Careers fairs are a staple of the graduate attraction calendar. They also represent a huge missed opportunity. You have two to three years before this final-stage event to build a relationship with your next generation of talent. Get this right and you’ll have a pipeline of intern conversions lined up for your graduate vacancies. Say goodbye to that naff folding table.
When we work with our clients we create bespoke strategies that involve branded events, sponsorships, lectures, competitions and experiences, all tailor-made to introduce your target market to your business. They’re authentic and they bring your employer brand to life over the course of several years. And they do it while keeping those truly interested in your organisation… well, interested in your organisation.
Year 1: Getting the tongues wagging
In the early stages, we look for volume brand exposure. First-year students need to be inspired by your brand, what you stand for – your vision, values and what’s exciting about your business (PS, we can help you with vision and values too).
A successful strategy at this stage could be delivering brand experiences or competitions. We want our first impression to be memorable because we’re planting the seed with future employees. Just as important, we’re kicking-off some early brand advocacy and social engagement. Organic marketing – student to student – is powerful stuff. Best of all, it’s free. Always a good thing.
Year 2: The process of distillation
With our first-year engagement strategy, we created lots of interest: everyone’s talking about us. Go us! Now it’s time to build relationships. This is a critical phase of the strategy. Through deepening the relationship with our audience, we’ll identify the high-potential people who we really want to join the team.
A successful tactic can be VIP events, where we take our fun relationship into the careers space. And after that? The path to internships, so top talent can feel what’s it’s like to work with you while gaining exposure them to your best and brightest. Show them your full employee experience and let their passion do the rest.
Get these two stages right, and when it comes to careers fairs the top talent won’t be visiting your stand. They’ll already be signed-up to join your organisation – did someone say campus advocates?
Want to talk graduate marketing, strategy and events that pack a punch? Drop us a line on hello@weareunity.com.
