How to Create Content with Character: Authentic Employer Branding in the Age of AI
I was invited by Tatiana Koval on to their Happy@Work podcast, so here are my reflections on building content with character in the age of AI. It's packed full of tips for you.
I had the pleasure of joining Tatiana Koval for her “Content with character: Building an authentic employer brand in the age of AI” episode on the Happy@Work LinkedIn Live recently.
Our conversation was all about how companies can create compelling, consistent, and truly authentic content to grow their employer brand, and it got me reflecting on the fundamental shifts happening in this space.
Content isn’t just king - As Tatiana put it, “it’s your brand’s voice, heart, and handshake” - absolutely right!
And after 135+ episodes of my own Employer Content Marketing podcast and 20+ years in this space, I’ve seen what it takes to build authentic employer brand content.
Here’s an view into what I shared with Tatiana:
Stop Making Everything About You
This was probably my biggest point during our conversation. I see too many organisations treating every piece of content like a sales pitch for their company culture or EVP. But if you’re talking about yourself all the time, people will switch off.
No one cares as much about your organisation as you do…until they care about your organisation!
Instead, I’m a big believer in a value-first approach: Create content that genuinely helps your target audience in their daily work and career progression.
This might mean sharing industry insights, offering practical workplace advice, or providing thought leadership on trends affecting their field.
When you lead with value, you build trust and credibility. People begin to see your organisation as a helpful resource, not just another employer trying to recruit them.
Your Brand’s Voice: Employees Are Characters, Not Caricatures
During our chat, I emphasised one of my core beliefs about building authentic employer brand content: employees should be real characters in your content story, not caricatures delivering predetermined messages.
I’ve seen too many campaigns that treat people as human billboards, asking them to share company talking points or regurgitate EVP statements.
The magic happens when you tap into what employees actually know and care about - their expertise, their stories, their professional insights.
I told Tatiana about a documentary we created with psychiatrists for a client. The CEO loved it not just because it helped recruit other psychiatrists, but because it showcased the calibre of professionals at their organisation. The value goes beyond talent attraction!
Position your employees as industry experts, not just company advocates. Let them share the groundbreaking work and way of thinking. Help raise the profile of their departments and expertise within your organisation and industry.
Scale Through Authentic Volume
One challenge I discussed with Tatiana is the white noise of content we’re all swimming in, especially with AI making content creation so accessible.
Your one blog post or hero video? It isn’t enough anymore.
You need consistent, scalable content production that allows for experimentation and iteration. But this doesn’t mean you need blockbusting budgets. Some of my most successful client work started small.
That documentary with Psychiatrists? It sits on on a YouTube Channel with 200+ videos. When I look back at the beginning, it was employees doing their own videos on mobile phones and conversations on Zoom. We built confidence through volume, which eventually led to more polished productions like documentaries.
AI as Your Brand’s Handshake: Strategy First, Technology Second
Tatiana and I spent time discussing AI’s role in employer branding content. I’m a big believer that AI is a multiplier - if you have bad content and bad strategy in the first place, AI will only multiply that mediocrity.
I use AI in three specific ways:
Audience Intelligence: Upload data about target candidates and ask AI to identify their biggest challenges and motivations. Research that used to take weeks now takes a fraction of the time.
Content Enhancement: Use AI to polish real conversations and interviews, turning authentic dialogue into polished articles or social posts based on actual human experiences.
Content Multiplication: AI editing tools help us create multiple formats from single pieces of content—one interview becomes video clips, articles, quotes, and social media posts.
The key is using AI around solid strategy, not as a replacement for human insight and authentic stories.
Embrace Experimentation Over Perfection
When Tatiana asked about mistakes, I just had to pause.
I don’t really see them as mistakes - they’re learning opportunities.
If I took a “get it right first time” attitude with my podcast, I never would have started. I wouldn’t be talking to amazing people like Tatiana or working with incredible clients.
Perfection often becomes procrastination. That’s where testing approaches through lo-fi content helps.
Those remote conversations we had before creating the psychiatrist documentary? They were a great way to build understanding and rapport - see it has part of the pre-production phase of future productions.
Test ideas with accessible formats first. Build confidence through volume. Then scale what works.
Connect Content to Personal Branding
Another thing I shared with Tatiana is framing employee content participation as personal brand building. Instead of asking people to promote your company, position it as an opportunity for them to showcase their expertise.
I told her about a conversation I had on stage at the Empple Employer Branding Festival, where my podcast guest mentioned the challenge of getting tech people involved in employee advocacy.
Jelena’s solution? Create events where employees share their expertise, not just their employment experience. It’s great for their personal brand, great for the company’s profile, and positions them as experts in their field.
When employees see content creation as beneficial to their own careers, they become genuine advocates rather than reluctant participants.
Start Where You Are
Tatiana asked about advice for companies just getting started. My answer was simple: you don’t need a formal EVP or massive budget to begin or level up. Every organisation has culture, expertise, and stories worth sharing.
My recommendations for getting started:
Run discovery workshops with employees to understand their expertise and challenges
Find your most stressed hiring manager and create content that helps them recruit
Start recording conversations - even simple phone recordings can become valuable content
Use AI to understand your target audience and multiply your existing content
I always tell people to have a conversation with the most stressed recruiter in their building and say, “I want to do things that are going to help you hire.” Then record that conversation and turn it into multiple content formats.
The Bigger Picture
What I really wanted to convey during our conversation is that effective employer branding content isn’t always about big production budgets - although there’s certainly a place for that.
It’s about consistently creating valuable, authentic content that showcases your people’s expertise while helping your target audience succeed in their careers.
When you embrace a value-first, employee-centric, experimental approach, you attract not just more candidates, but better candidates who are genuinely excited about working with teams that clearly know their stuff.
As I told Tatiana: just start creating something. You’ll get some great content, no doubt. And then scale from there.
Looking Forward
Thanks to Tatiana for inviting me! Here’s the LinkedIn Live recording [WATCH HERE]
For those of you in talent acquisition, culture, internal communications, and employer branding - I hope these insights spark some ideas for your own content strategies.
The organisations that get this right will have a significant advantage in attracting and retaining talent.
Content with character - content that truly serves as your brand’s voice, heart, and handshake - creates connections that generic recruitment marketing simply can’t match.
Need help with your employer content set up, strategy or productions? Let’s talk.