While certain high-profile business owners continue to pour scorn on the idea of remote working — with one prominent tech CEO in particular dubbing it “morally wrong” — statistics highlight that not only is remote work here to stay, it’s also key to attracting top talent: in a recent survey, 84% of professionals cited remote work options as the most important factor they consider when evaluating job opportunities.
This demonstrates how important it is not just to offer remote work, but to promote your business as one that embraces a remote working culture. Whether your company is 100% remote — as almost a quarter of global businesses now reportedly are — or it offers a discretionary mix of remote and in-person working, there are multiple ways to market yourself as a remote work endorser and enhance your attractiveness to candidates.
In this blog, we’ll explore 6 marketing strategies you can use to convince those outside your business that you’re an advocate of a remote-first approach. Let’s dive in.
Create culture-focused content
Remote work isn’t simply about letting your employees work from home from time to time; it’s also about fostering a positive and empowering company culture. Your culture encompasses many things, of course — from your core values to your shared standards, objectives, and attitudes — and is fundamental to creating a thriving, engaged, diverse workplace. It’s also essential for attracting and, most significantly, retaining great talent.
As a remote-first business, you can give prospective employees, clients, and investors an insight into your company’s culture through your content — from your social posts to your blog content, lean into your innermost values. Explain what makes your business tick, and how it fosters a productive, progressive remote work environment. It’s all well and good talking about it in a job ad, but you should live your culture through the content you create.
Be a thought leader
Thought-leadership content is a powerful way to establish your business as an authority within its industry. It’s a great marketing tool because it convinces potential leads, investors, and job candidates of your expertise — after all, these groups are far more likely to trust a business that positions itself as an industry leader with boundary-pushing, forward-looking ideas and perspectives.
As a business that embraces a remote working culture, you can leverage thought-leadership content — through your own blog, or by adding to industry-related discussions through podcasts, webinars, or guest speaking gigs — to position yourself as an ardent remote work advocate. Don’t be afraid to take a strong stance or offer radical new perspectives, either — it’ll boost your credibility as a business and show your support for a remote-first model.
Share your insights and success stories
While culture-focused and thought-leadership content can be highly-effective ways of upholding your commitment to remote work, it’s important to anchor this with tangible, evidence-based insights. Leveraging data and employee feedback is important not only because it can help you spot opportunities to improve, but it’s also a powerful way to promote the success of remote working in your business.
For example, by seeking continuous employee feedback, you can share insights that paint a picture of a harmonious remote working culture — perhaps your employees have indicated that remote work makes them feel trusted, or that working asynchronously (something the global expansion partner Remote is an advocate of) is better for productivity. Of course, if the results uncover gripes or concerns, you can take the opportunity to address them.
Utilize remote job boards:
Leverage dedicated remote job boards to enhance your visibility among job seekers specifically looking for remote opportunities. By partnering with platforms like Remotewokr, you can tap into a targeted audience actively seeking remote work positions. This allows you to connect with highly motivated and qualified candidates who are specifically interested in remote work. Post your job openings on Remotewokr and take advantage of its reach and specialized features to attract top talent. By utilizing remote job boards, you demonstrate your commitment to remote work and increase your chances of finding the right candidates for your remote-first business.
Leverage personal stories
Personal accounts from people within your organization — the real cog-turners, that is, rather than those at boardroom-level — can be extremely compelling. After all, these are the people that will most acutely feel the effects of your company’s culture (whether good or bad) and so their thoughts and views about remote working hold a lot of value.
For instance, you could conduct a Q&A session with a different employee (or department) each month, encouraging them to share their feelings about remote work and the general workplace culture. You could then transcribe the conversation (using a transcription tool such as Descript) and turn it into a blog post, or alternatively upload it as a video interview via one or more of your social media channels.
Share behind-the-scenes content
Brands (especially the big ones) can sometimes come across as a little guarded, preserving company intel behind veils of secrecy. And while we’re not suggesting you start broadcasting your trade secrets to the wider world, you can display your commitment to a remote-first culture by allowing people to peep ‘behind the curtain’, giving insights into what your workplace is actually like.
Sharing behind-the-scenes content shows you have nothing to hide — and that you’re proud to show off your in-house culture. How about sharing a video that tells the story of a “day in the life” working at your company, for example, or creating a blog post covering your latest social escapades? This type of honest, open content is great for attracting prospective employees — as well as making your business seem more accessible to consumers.
Collaborate with other remote work advocates
There’s strength in numbers, and you can solidify your authority as a remote-first business by identifying, reaching out to, and collaborating with others who also advocate remote work. That could mean anything from partnering with influencers in your industry, to co-hosting events with other remote-first businesses, to creating co-branding partnerships.
On the one hand, this collaborative approach may help to significantly extend your marketing reach — you may grab the attention of a social media influencer’s existing followers, for example, or increase brand awareness by tapping into new customer segments — while on the other, the additional support and sway can also help establish your position as one of the industry’s leaders when it comes to remote work.
Whether you’re looking to attract better quality job applicants, appeal to investors, or boost your reputation in the eyes of consumers, displaying your commitment to a positive company culture through your marketing can be highly-effective. If you’re a remote-first business (or if you’re taking your first steps to implementing a remote work culture), don’t be afraid to promote the fact you’re embracing the remote revolution.