An engaged talent community nurtures passive candidates and helps them interact with your brand, which can greatly improve your organization’s long-term recruitment strategy. However, a talent community won’t produce results unless you have a plan to regularly nurture and engage this group of potential, future employees. Follow these tips to create continual touch points with your talent community, to stay top-of-mind.

Create shareable content

Produce great content to keep your company top-of-mind with active and passive candidates. Avoid sending out job postings that may seem like spam, and when you do, send infrequently. Create communications like employee testimonials, messages from the CEO, industry trends and recent media coverage of your company for candidates to share with their networks and others who might be interested.

Emphasize one-on-one communication

If you have previously captured specific candidate information, create personalized content that relates to their particular job search. Send these candidates information relevant to their specialization or industry, location, and how to grow within their career. These candidates are already interested in your company, so take this opportunity to impress them with tailored messaging.

Highlight non-work attributes of your company

Build a brand identity by highlighting your company’s unique characteristics. Share additional benefits your company offers, such as remote working opportunities, sabbaticals, better health benefits or mentorship opportunities. Rather than sending job postings, highlight your culture or company mission to better attract long-term cultural fits. Highlighting those characteristics early will keep your organization top-of-mind when passive candidates become active.

Build in-person relationships

Build in-person relationships with passive candidates to convert them into applicants. When tasked to fill high-profile, senior-level positions, meet candidates for coffee or lunch to establish personal rapport. Even if the opportunity does not work out, make it a point to meet them a few times a year for coffee or lunch. Focus the meetings on your candidate, their goals, and personal updates rather than open positions with your company. It will establish a more authentic relationship, and may lead to referrals down the line.

Leverage the benefits of a TRM

Learn how a talent relationship management (TRM) system can help you create better ways to interact with your talent community. Track a candidate’s experience, qualifications, and information all in one area. Use a TRM to log all communication with a candidate, including any updates to the candidate’s career status. Use a TRM to keep your passive candidates engaged until an opportunity arises.