The Secret to Content That Converts
As companies try to stay relevant in an ever-changing business landscape, HR professionals are turning to AI-powered solutions to future-proof their operations. They’re also leveraging AI to streamline content creation and the content management process.
AI can generate targeted content that meets the needs and interests of external and internal candidates, positively impacting recruiting and creating a stronger talent pipeline.
Kelly Estrada, Head of Customer Success & Strategy at The Martec, joined us on Talent Experience Live to explore the important role AI can play in candidate content creation.
Read on for key points, or watch the full episode below.
How is the Martec platform different from other generative AI tools?
According to Estrada, The Martec’s AI-powered content marketing platform helps TA teams create personalized, employee-generated content that compels candidates to act.
“AI is really hot right now, but we built our AI specifically around the key responsibilities of an employer brand manager,” Estrada explained. “A lot of that process is really manual — reaching out to find the right employee advocates, and activating the brand across different touchpoints.”
The Martec platform’s AI assists with:
Selecting the most relevant topics for an audience segment
Identifying employee advocates to tap into based on role, interest, social media presence
Helping advocates create high-quality content with speed
As free generative AI tools like ChatGPT are more widely adopted, organizations run the risk of producing sound-alike content that fails to differentiate their employer value proposition (EVP) from the competition, Estrada said.
To avoid falling into a dull void of homogenous content, it’s becoming critical to find trustworthy tools that have a layer of AI built in to preserve an organization’s unique voice and EVP.
“It’s not really about doing things as fast and as easy as possible. It’s really [about] ensuring that as we’re implementing AI, specifically in HR and TA, that we’re keeping the company’s data, employee information, EVP pillars, brand guidelines — all of that good content — safe,” Estrada said.
How is AI-generated content cost-effective?
Before smartphone video capabilities evolved, creating video content meant hiring an outside production company — a significant investment of both money and time.
Thenemployee-generated content entered the scene. Now, companies are putting employees in the director’s chair to self-record authentic testimonials and day-in-the-life videos on their mobile devices. “AI is really the next evolution of content creation,” Estrada said.
With AI to help guide content topic selection and accelerate its creation, companies save on production costs and time. Estrada pointed out that companies who leverage AI for content creation end up with content that performs better at attracting, converting, and retaining top talent for hard-to-fill roles.
How does AI help organizations personalize content?
Tools like the Martec’s platform assist with audience research, gathering data on key talent segments’ interests and trending topics. This saves time on manual research and takes the guesswork out of selecting content topics that will resonate with targeted candidates, especially for teams that need to fill very technical roles.
On the other side of the equation, the tool gathers data to help the organization leverage “people intelligence,” Estrada explained. This involves collecting employee information on job roles, interests, and levels of social media activity to identify best-fit advocates for specific topics.
Once an advocate is ready, AI helps them generate effective content in less time. “We want to make sure that the people recording have the tools they need to feel confident and empowered to write a really good story or record a really nice video,” Estrada said. “AI directly impacts every stage of content creation.”
What impacts have you seen in terms of TA metrics?
AI-generated content has made a positive impact for The Martec’s clients in several measurable ways, including SEO rankings, conversion rates, and campaign results, according to Estrada.
Many benefits trace back to AI-guided topic selection. “The more relevant the content is, the better the SEO rankings, reducing the need for paid media dollars. You’re overall achieving better results — driving more traffic to your career site, getting better click-through rates and conversion for top talent,” Estrada said.
Google also prioritizes video content, she added, which means ranking higher on search results pages for faster candidate discovery of your career site.
Finally, the platform helps recruitment marketing teams create highly personalized, useful content like videos with interview tips and next steps, or that showcase company culture. They capture a candidate’s attention much more effectively than a generic email, driving higher open rates, response rates, and click-through rates.
How can AI help employees become thought leaders?
Employee development and career pathing are key to engagement and retention. Giving employees AI-generated content tools can help them develop as thought leaders in their field — a way to help them boost their personal branding.
AI not only helps employees identify topics with relevance and speed, but it can also assist with generating content, questions to pose, social media copy, and hashtags to include.
“[AI] is really giving you all of the tools you need to allow employees to feel more confident in their writing or recording of video on topics that they’re actually passionate about,” Estrada said — and that also makes for compelling, exciting candidate content.
How does AI-generated content help increase applicant quality?
Employee-generated content created with the help of AI gives candidates the most authentic view possible of a company, Estrada pointed out. Then — by giving candidates the choice to opt-in to learn more — you’re reducing the volume of unqualified applicants, and saving time and effort for recruiters and hiring managers.
What are some key strategies for implementing an effective AI-powered solution?
“It really comes down to the specific goals and KPIs of the organization,” Estrada said. Think about goals for both candidate and employee content, she recommended, and how the tool can help make the biggest impact in those areas.
Securing leadership buy-in is critical, especially in helping them see the benefit of asking employees to divert work time to creating content — and how AI helps make that effort easier and more impactful.
Visible leadership involvement in the tool’s launch is important for employees, Estrada noted.
“It shows that they really care about their employees, they care about employee engagement. They want employees to have a say or make an impact on the future of their workforce.”
Final Thoughts: Stay Human!
“There’s a lot of controversy around AI right now,” Estrada acknowledged. Some of the most highly debated issues (e.g., that AI will replace employees, that AI leads to dull, lackluster content) can be offset by committing to maintaining authenticity and human touch in communications.
“It always comes back to authenticity, hand in hand with the technology,” Estrada concluded. “Remember that we’re all humans. And human touch can go a long way, whether that’s an email, a call, an interview, or talking with a candidate or mentor.”
See how the biggest brands are using AI to attract, engage, and convert talent in our upcoming webinar, Candidate Experience Secrets of the Fortune 500 with Regions Bank.
And don’t forget to catch TXL every Thursday at noon ET. Get notified of all upcoming TXL episodes here.
Kasey is a content marketing writer, focused on highlighting the importance of positive experiences. She's passionate about SEO strategy, collaboration, and data analytics. In her free time, she enjoys camping, cooking, exercising, and spending time with her loved ones — including her dog, Rocky.
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