Employer Branding at universities!

Areti Karathanasi provides companies with a guide for successful employer campaigns on and off campus.

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Skilled labor shortage, growth plans, innovations: companies are looking for suitable personnel for a wide variety of reasons. In most cases, however, this search proves more difficult than hoped; the competition on the job applicant market is too strong and skilled workers are in too high demand. So what to do? Often it is a good step—and above all the right one for sustainable success—to train skilled workers in-house. Or to give young talents with a lot of theoretical specialist knowledge the opportunity to put this knowledge into practice within the company.

The strategies to retain students within the company already exist. The real art now lies in ensuring that these programs are also noticed by the skilled professionals of tomorrow.

Many customers therefore approach us and would like to address young talent directly at the university at an early stage and, ideally, win them over even during their studies.

79%

Companies use programs such as internships or practical semesters to be more successful in recruiting among the target group of students.

Guide to Successful Employer Branding at Universities!

Knowing your own goals

Many companies are looking for new staff. But that is often where the common ground ends, as the companies’ goals differ too much. While some are looking for young professionals, doctoral candidates, or graduates with relevant work experience for immediate entry into a management position, others may first want to get to know the candidates better through internships or thesis projects and further train them in their field. You need to define these goals for yourself, because depending on the objective, the marketing measures differ from one another.

Defining the right target group

If you are clear about your own goals, the next step is to define the target group. Here you can choose from many variables, such as the stage of study (first-year students, bachelor’s, master’s or graduates), the subject focus (such as mathematics, law or engineering) or the target region or university (greater Cologne area, Cologne universities, University of Cologne, A, B and C locations). I always advise my clients to think very carefully about their target group. Because if you have too vague an idea of whom you actually want to reach, you can quickly lose focus: In Germany, a total of just under 2.94 million students are enrolled at 423 universities in 263 university towns. They are spread across 83 departments, which in turn attend seminars and lectures in countless buildings on campus, study in libraries and study rooms, or eat lunch in one of the 958 canteens and cafeterias.

Gather knowledge about the target audience

With the defined target group and the universities where you want to reach them, the next step is to gather as much information as possible about the target group. How large is the target group that I can reach at all? Where exactly do the students spend time on campus? Which routes do they take to get to the university? Which cafeteria is closest to the right seminar buildings? With this knowledge, you can plan the campaign with the greatest possible success.

Plan the right campaign

There is no single suitable campaign, because the target group of students is far too heterogeneous. However, the great advantage of advertising at universities is that the affinity value is higher at no other touchpoint within the 14- to 29-year-old target group than on campus*, which minimizes wasted reach. The campaign on and, if applicable, next to campus should therefore be a mix of suitable marketing measures.

Background noise on campus

Students are on campus every day during the busiest phases of their studies. It is therefore not surprising that Employer Branding campaigns at universities and advertising measures on campus are particularly noticeable to them. According to a survey conducted as part of the Jobcampus MINT study in 2019, 83% of the students surveyed stated that they had noticed companies as employers on posters at the university. Notices on bulletin boards (77%), promotional activities (66%) and advertising on digital screens (55%) also achieved strong results.

Targeted campaigns at A-locations

Every company has target universities that it considers particularly prestigious or that are especially in focus due to their geographical proximity. At these so-called A locations, it is advisable not only to rely on a broad advertising presence within the target group, but also to take targeted action. Proven measures include, for example, promotions with direct added value, such as a coffee cart in front of the main building or an ice cream cart in front of the library. This is where you can strike up a conversation with your target group, and if you involve trained promoters and employees from your specialist departments, you can also engage directly with the talents on an equal footing.