How employee brand ambassadors reduce your cost per hire

Listen to this blog: How employee brand ambassadors reduce your cost per hire

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Recruitment is becoming more challenging and costly for employer branding professionals. Rising advertising costs and a growing emphasis on building a quality talent pipeline lead to one key question: how can I empower my employees to authentically showcase our culture, values and purpose to prospective candidates?

The importance of employee voices in the recruitment process is even more evident when looking at the statistics:

According to Postbeyond, 69% of applicants refuse job offers if the company has a bad reputation among employees.
78% of job applicants agree that employee ratings and reviews are essential.

At Tribal Impact, we’ve seen how employee brand ambassadors can transform recruitment strategies by driving authentic engagement and cutting costs, in return attracting top talent and retaining existing employees.

In this blog, we’ll explore practical ways to leverage this approach to create a cost-effective hiring strategy.

Why traditional recruitment methods are falling short

The days of simply placing job adverts and waiting for the right candidate to apply are long gone. While these methods still generate applications, the quality often doesn’t match the quantity. This mismatch wastes time and resources.

Paid media campaigns can help improve reach, but they come with high costs. Instead of relying solely on paid ads, companies can tap into their most trusted voices: employees.

Employee brand ambassadors share authentic insights into company culture, creating meaningful connections with potential candidates at no extra cost. It’s a win-win, you attract top talent while engaging your employees.

It also strengthens your brand against competitors, giving you an advantage of demonstrating your company culture and purpose first hand.

The role of employee brand ambassadors

Employee brand ambassadors are your secret weapon for social media recruitment. These advocates, typically existing employees, share company updates, job posts, and stories about workplace culture across their networks.

Their recommendations carry far more weight than branded content. In fact, employee-shared content generates eight times more engagement than posts shared through official channels (Speakap, 2024).

This trust factor is crucial. Research by Seenit in 2023 found that employees are three times more trusted than CEOs.

This credibility helps businesses connect with high-quality candidates who align with their values and culture. More importantly, it reduces recruitment costs by attracting the right applicants from the start.

Read the ultimate guide to brand ambassador programs for attracting and retaining top talent.

How employee brand ambassadors cut costs without compromising quality

Using employee brand ambassadors doesn’t just improve candidate quality, it also delivers measurable cost savings. This improves recruitment efforts and provides hard evidence to ensure leadership teams’ buy-in to ambassador programs.

Steven Brand from EY gave a great example of quality over quantity: if it costs £5 to screen an applicant, and EY receives 10,000 fewer applicants per year, they save £50,000. Applicants don’t feel disappointed because they haven’t been screened out. Read more about how social media enhances your employer brand.

This approach also frees up time for hiring managers, ensuring they can focus on engaging with the right candidates.

Additionally, strong employee advocacy programs can reduce the need for expensive paid campaigns. Social media for recruitment driven by employees offers organic reach that’s both cost-effective and impactful.

Companies with such programs report attracting 58% more top-tier talent, according to Speakap’s 2024 data. These results don’t just benefit the recruitment team; they’re felt across the entire business.

Practical tips for leveraging employee advocacy

Encouraging employees to share job posts

Providing employees with the graphics to share job opportunities makes advocacy easy and scalable. Pre-approved templates, like this one shared by Tribal Impact’s Lani Buckley, allow employees to customise branded posts.

Lani Tribal were hiring post

Sharing posts like this not only spreads the word but also builds trust. Adding incentives such as gamification rewards for referrals further motivates employees to get involved.

Optimising LinkedIn for recruitment

LinkedIn remains a vital platform for recruitment. Start by optimising your company page to reflect your employer brand and showcase current openings.

Beyond this, encourage employees to share posts and join LinkedIn groups relevant to your industry. These groups provide access to niche talent pools, expanding your reach without additional costs.

Using analytics to track cost-per-hire savings

Tracking metrics is essential for demonstrating the value of social media for recruitment. Use tools like LinkedIn Recruiter and Google Analytics to measure conversion rates, engagement levels, and cost savings.

Leading indicators such as employee engagement and lagging indicators like reduced cost-per-hire help build a compelling business case for continued investment in advocacy programs. Learn how to measure the effectiveness of your employer branding here.

Overcoming common challenges

While employee advocacy has clear benefits, some challenges need to be addressed:

Hesitancy to share job posts: Not all employees feel comfortable posting on social media. Providing training, pre-written templates, and recognition can ease this discomfort.
Measuring ROI: Some organisations struggle to demonstrate the return on investment for advocacy programs. Clear metrics such as EY’s savings of £50,000 can help prove the impact to leadership.

Overcoming these obstacles requires a combination of education, communication, and support from leadership. When businesses tackle these issues head-on, they can unlock the full potential of their advocacy programs.

Case studies: real-world impact

EY’s success is just one example of how employee advocacy can reduce costs. Many companies have seen similar results by leveraging social media for recruitment. For instance, LinkedIn job posts shared by employees achieve 30% higher engagement than traditional ads, according to GaggleAMP’s 2024 data.

At Tribal Impact, we’ve worked with organisations to bring employee stories to life, creating authentic content that resonates with candidates (read more on our blog here). Sharing these stories not only strengthens your employer brand but also builds trust with potential hires.

Building a cost-efficient recruitment strategy with brand ambassadors

Employee brand ambassadors offer a powerful way to reduce recruitment costs while attracting the right candidates. Their authentic voice cuts through the noise, driving engagement and saving businesses money on paid campaigns and screening processes.

Social media for recruitment, backed by employee advocacy, is no longer optional, it’s a must for businesses aiming to create a sustainable hiring strategy.

If you’re ready to build a cost-efficient recruitment strategy with employee advocacy at its core, get in touch. We’re here to help you unlock the full potential of your team’s voice.