If you’re in recruitment marketing, you’ve probably heard the term “talent community” thrown around a lot. It sounds nice, sure, something about keeping a pool of people warm while you hire at lightning speed. But what really is a talent community? Why should you build one? And more importantly, how do you even start?
Let’s break it all down.
What Is a Talent Community?
Think of a talent community or talent network as your long game in hiring.
It’s a growing group of people who are interested in your company, curious about your brand, and open to working with you now, or maybe later. They’re not necessarily applying for a job today. But by nurturing relationships with them over time, you turn passive talent into future candidates.
A good talent community lets you:
- Engage with prospects before they’re ready to apply
- Shorten your hiring cycles when roles open up
- Keep your message alive in a competitive market
In other words, you move from reactive hiring to proactive recruiting.
Why Talent Communities Matter More Than Ever
Relying on job postings or talent sourcing leaves too many great candidates out of reach.
Here’s where a talent community flips the game.
Instead of hunting from scratch every time, you’re building connections continuously. This is especially important if you’re hiring for:
- High-volume roles that open regularly
- Niche or technical positions that require specialized skills
- Emerging talent segments like Gen Z or remote-first candidates
And here’s the big one, brand equity. Candidates want to feel something about your company before they apply. They want stories, values, authenticity. A talent community is where you share that with them.
So, Where Do You Start?
The good news is that you don’t need a fancy platform or a massive budget to build a talent community. You just need a plan.
Step 1: Define Your Audience
Not all hiring needs are alike, so start by identifying who you want to attract. Ask questions like:
- Are we focusing on early-career talent or experienced hires?
- Do we need local candidates, or are we open to remote?
- Are we re-engaging previous applicants or targeting new leads?
If you’re targeting passive candidates or niche talent segments, like engineers or healthcare workers, tailor your messaging and content to what they care about. Speaking their language builds trust.
Step 2: Choose Your Channels
Where are your people hanging out? That’s where you want to show up.
A few high-impact places to grow your community:
- Career sites : Offer a simple way to join your community by signing up for job alerts or newsletter updates.
- Email marketing : Build nurture workflows with useful content, not just job ads. Think career tips, job market trends, employee stories, or behind-the-scenes videos.
- Social media : Use platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok to share real moments from your employees, workplace initiatives, or upcoming hiring events.
- Recruitment events : Virtual career fairs and in-person meetups can drive high-quality leads to join your community.
You don’t have to be everywhere. Start small. Pick 2–3 channels based on where your target audience spends their time, and do those well.
Step 3: Offer Value, Not Just Jobs
Nobody joins a community to get spammed with job ads. Think about your own inbox, you unsubscribe fast if all you see is “Buy now.” The same is true for candidates.
If you want people to stick around, give them a reason. Share stories that spark curiosity, content that helps their career, or updates that make them proud to follow your company. It’s about building trust long before they’re ready to apply.
To build an engaged talent community, you have to offer something useful. Ask yourself:
- What will people get from joining my community?
- Are we telling stories that educate or inspire?
- Content aside, how does this make the candidate feel?
Here are a few content ideas to get your wheels turning:
- Day-in-the-life stories from your team
- Career development tips or webinars
- Updates on your mission, projects, or wins
- Articles about workplace culture, DEI, or flexibility
The ideal mix? About 70% nurture, 30% call to action. That earns you trust, and when the timing is right, people will apply.
Step 4: Use the Right Tech
Your ATS might get the job done for tracking applicants. But when building a talent community, you need tools designed for recruitment marketing and talent nurturing.
Look for solutions that allow you to:
- Tag and segment talent pipelines
- Automate email workflows
- Measure engagement with your content
- Integrate with your CRM or employer branding tools
Many companies use CRMs like Phenom, Beamery, or HiBob to manage their talent communities. But you don’t need to start there, community platforms such as Circle, collaboration tools like Slack, or even simple email tools like Customer.io, Brevo, or a website form integration can be effective entry points.
Step 5: Track and Evolve
Don’t just set it and forget it. Track the performance of your community and get smarter over time.
A few key metrics to watch:
- Click-through rates and time spent on your emails/ newsletters
- Growth rate of subscribers or sign-ups
- Conversion into active applicants
- Engagement with specific topics or content formats
- Re-engagement rate of passive candidates
Maybe you’ll find that your audience prefers short videos over long articles. Or that early-career talent clicks more on mentorship stories than job openings. Use those insights to improve your outreach.
Final Thought: Start Before You Need To
Here’s the truth most recruiters learn the hard way: you can’t build trust overnight.
If the only time you talk to talent is when you’re hiring, you’re already behind. A talent community is how you stay top of mind, so that when the right role opens up, the right people are already waiting.
Start small. Keep it human. And give people a reason to care.
Because recruitment success isn’t just about filling roles fast, it’s about building real relationships along the way.
Looking to launch your own talent community?
Check out our other resources on Recruitment Marketing and Resources, including playbooks and templates.
And if you’ve already built a community, we’d love to hear your story. Drop us a message or tag us in your next campaign highlight. Let’s learn from each other.
Need more help building a talent community ? Let’s talk.
