Talent marketing: The catalyst in the next generation of talent acquisition

Five years later, researchers are still trying to unpack the effect of COVID-19 on the recruitment industry. But in early 2020, I remember the immediate impact it had on talent teams everywhere — including mine. While active hiring all but stopped, this was actually the perfect time to rethink our recruitment marketing strategy. Instead of focusing on “ready now” candidates, we could think proactively about “ready later” candidates, and create a thoughtful journey to stay connected.

While your current recruiting situation today may not be as dramatic, there’s still a need to build in a proactive strategy so you can adapt as the economic conditions change. That’s why it’s so critical to invest in your talent marketing function now. 

In 2017,I recognized an opportunity to shift my focus to talent marketing. At the time, I was making the transition from traditional B2B marketing into the talent space, looking for ways to bridge my experience with CRM, marketing automation, and content-driven engagement. Brett Coin and I crossed paths at Intuit, where he also saw talent marketing as a strategic advantage (at a critical time) for recruiting teams. 

The idea that you could apply growth marketing strategies to the world of recruiting clicked instantly with me. The goal was to proactively engage talent at the top of the funnel, nurture them through the hiring process, and build an engaged pipeline of ready-now or ready-later talent. This model worked in times of high-volume hiring or slowdowns. In fact, we implemented the approach and found that nearly 40% of our engineering hires came directly from our nurtured talent pools and communities.

Brett and I aren’t alone in our thinking. According to LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends report, 86% of HR professionals now agree that recruiting is becoming more like marketing. Even today, it’s clear that talent marketing represents a bridge between a strong employer brand, candidate engagement, and long-term hiring success. Here’s a few ways you can bring talent marketing practices to your team, and how you can transform your approach to modern talent acquisition.

Build an authentic employer brand

An authentic employer brand has always been at the heart of effective talent marketing. Throughout my career, I've seen how genuinely showcasing your company's values, culture, and employee experiences creates a powerful magnet for talent. Candidates crave authenticity, and a consistent, compelling narrative across social channels, career sites, and internal communications significantly impacts hiring outcomes.

Candidates seek authentic insights into company culture, growth opportunities, and values. Talent marketing brings these elements to life through employee stories, videos, and thought leadership content. In fact, 88% of job seekers consider a company’s employer brand before even applying, and 69% would reject an offer from a company with a bad reputation, even if they were unemployed.

Knowing and articulating your Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is crucial for building successful engagement campaigns. A consistent brand presence can make companies stand out, even in competitive talent markets. Organizations with strong employer brands are 3x more likely to make a quality hire, and employer branding can reduce cost-per-hire by up to 50% and time-to-fill by 50%, per LinkedIn's Global Talent Trends Report. This is why talent marketing should be a key focus for your team.

Engage passive talent with the right tools

Like many recruiters, I’ve unfortunately experienced the challenge of managing fragmented systems. In the past, I had to piece together systems — building talent pools within a CRM attached to an ATS while relying on separate marketing automation tools to nurture candidates. It was a fragmented, time-intensive process that required constant manual effort to keep profiles updated and engagement consistent.

When I discovered Findem, I saw the potential to finally bring all of these efforts under one platform. Findem’s Talent CRM not only integrates seamlessly with an ATS, but also leverages AI-powered 3D data-enriched profiles, ensuring candidate information stays up to date automatically.

What stood out to me was the ability to create automated nurture campaigns effortlessly, allowing recruiters to engage both "ready now" and "ready later" talent at scale. This level of automation and intelligence is what makes talent marketing truly effective, helping companies build lasting relationships with candidates instead of starting from scratch each time a role opens.

Passive job seekers make up 70% of the global workforce, yet many companies fail to nurture them effectively. Talent marketing ensures you maintain ongoing relationships with high-quality prospects, improving long-term hiring outcomes.

Talent pools vs. talent communities: Knowing the difference

One common misconception is that talent pools and talent communities are interchangeable. They aren't. Talent pools are curated, qualified lists of "ready now" and "ready later" candidates that recruiters can directly engage for specific roles. Talent communities, however, are broader networks of individuals who've opted-in for ongoing communications and employer updates. Both are critical to proactive recruiting, but they serve unique strategic purposes. I'll dive deeper into the similarities, differences, and effectively managing both in my next blog post.

Personalize your candidate engagement

Successful talent marketing hinges on personalization. From employee spotlights and career stories to event invitations and cultural highlights, personalized content resonates more deeply with candidates. To make this effective, segmentation is key. By grouping talent based on role, location, interests, or engagement level, you can tailor messages that are more relevant and impactful.

In my experience, the most effective campaigns were those that were segmented and personalized to the audience’s interests. These consistently led to stronger open rates, higher click-throughs, and better response rates.

By maintaining an engaged talent network, you ensure a pipeline of qualified candidates is always ready when roles open, reducing time-to-fill and improving hiring outcomes. A focused, segmented strategy makes this possible.

Bring a marketing mindset to your recruitment efforts

In today’s recruiting landscape, proactively nurturing talent isn't optional — it's essential. Talent marketing empowers you to strategically build authentic connections, streamline candidate engagement, and enhance your employer brand. 

My journey from traditional marketing into talent marketing has shown me the transformative potential of this approach. Whether your goal is reducing time-to-fill, elevating your employer brand, or preparing for future hiring needs, talent marketing offers a proven, scalable path forward.

I'm passionate about helping teams unlock this potential, and I’m excited to share more insights in this series. Stay tuned for my next post, where we'll explore how to effectively manage and differentiate your talent pools and talent communities.