Key PR and marketing tactics for HR brands in 2022
When tailoring your HR brand’s PR, marketing and comms tactics in 2022, there are specific things that HR are looking for from suppliers.
Importantly, the support they’re seeking is not about finding out the latest products and services. In fact, across 5 HR priorities in 2022 (Talent, Organisational Design, Future of Work, DEI, and Employee Experience) just 14% of HR managers say they want to hear about products or services that can support their needs in these areas.
Instead of product promotion, suppliers want actionable support from brands to help them overcome barriers.
Across the 5 HR priorities, the HR Strategies and Buying Decisions Report reveals that …
Half (50%) of HR managers say they want practical advice from subject matter experts
Half (50%) also say they want information on other companies’ issues and how they overcame them
Forty-nine percent state that they want insights on the latest market trends and how they impact their organisation.
What does this mean for HR brand’s PR and marketing tactics?
HR preferences are a key indicator of the types of promotional content suppliers should be creating in 2022. Adjusting tactics to ensure your PR and marketing responds directly to these needs is pivotal in presenting a brand that truly understands HR needs.
So what are some key PR and marketing tactics HR brands should be using in 2022?
Thought leadership content
Client Case Studies
Market research
HR thought leadership content
Since 50% of HR managers want more practical advice from subject matter experts across HR priorities in 2022, putting an emphasis on thought leadership content is essential for HR brands.
Promoting key spokespeople with valuable insights not only demonstrates brand authority and experience, it puts a face and personality to your services. In particular, use your brand's experiences and subject authority to add new takes to old or current conversations and have subject matter experts discuss trends and challenges surrounding key HR topics.
Remember too, thought leadership content is not only essential for HR buyers, but journalists too. They need expertise and context from brands in order to add value to their stories. Without this, gaining media coverage in key HR publications will be far harder, making this a truly essential tactic in PR toolkits in 2022.
Thought leadership for HR Tech
Getting thought leadership right is especially important for HR tech products. While tech can be fundamental for HR strategies, to get HR managers on board with your offerings, they want to know there’s subject expertise behind the product and that the teams creating the tech truly understand their issues.
Some HR tech brands can struggle in this area - after all, having tech experts within your organisation does not guarantee having HR expertise. Getting HR and workplace subject matter experts on board and promoting guidance can really set your brand apart.
Client Case Studies
Since 50% of HR managers want information on how other companies overcome their issues across the 5 HR priority areas, HR brands that can supply client case studies will be perfectly on track to make useful PR and marketing content.
With this in mind, it’s important not to centre the narrative of your case studies on your own brand. Instead, set the scene with the key issues a client is facing and the exact steps they took to succeed.
Don’t skimp on details either - data makes a successful case study; where possible, demonstrate how your support has impacted employee productivity, engagement, retention, etc. Show impacts on broader business objectives and ROI too to provide insight that’s needed by HR and business execs approving investments.
Weave your support and advice throughout to showcase how you enabled your client’s wins - and inadvertently show off how you can help others too.
A good case study can then provide substance and even hooks for your next news story or article pitch.
Market Research
Forty-nine percent of HR managers want insights on market trends across the 5 priority areas - in particular, they want to know how these trends will impact their organisation.
HR brands that can supply data and real-time insights on the latest market events and HR concerns will not only prove their expertise but will provide the context HR needs to understand and overcome the top issues of the moment.
Where can brands find data to produce market research?
Some HR tech companies have a leg up here - with many already able to access data from their own systems that they can use across PR and marketing channels. If your organisation has access to engagement, absence, performance data etc. - see if this can be used to showcase trends or tell stories of the latest occurrences faced by HR. Equally, brands without this capability can still do this, capturing primary data by creating their own HR market research and surveys.
Whichever options HR brands have to utilise primary data, there are some simple steps they should take to use it in their PR and marketing.
Firstly, do your homework - the HR space is brimming with research and studies because they're such a powerful promotional tool. Don't double up on research that's already out there. Find a unique focus for your study so you can support HR with detail, deep insight and subject mastery.
Once your research ideas are ready to go, ask questions that show the extent of the issues at hand and resonate with HR on a practical and emotional level. Not only will this capture HR’s attention, but give journalists a thought provoking story too.
For more HR buying preferences and trends in 2022, download our latest report now.