Knowing how to design ads that attract top talent can set your company apart from the competition. This is because attracting the right candidate should start long before the interview.
Employer branding in job ads shows what your workplace stands for and why people would want to be part of it. The words, visuals, and tone of your ads can communicate your workplace culture faster than any website or brochure.
Today, I’ll show you practical ways to create attractive job ads that draw attention from top performers. If you’re hunting for new employees, then this is the right place for you.
What is Employer Branding?
Employer branding is how a company presents itself as a place to work. It’s the image that shapes how current and future employees see the workplace.
A 2024 Universum report showed that employer branding was a top priority, standing at 68% for both small and large companies when it comes to hiring. It ranked higher than redesigning work for AI and automation.
Image via Universum
So why is employer branding a big deal in the job market?
A strong employer brand attracts people who care about more than a paycheck. It draws candidates who connect with your values and culture.
Brands like Google, Patagonia, and Netflix are great examples. They’ve built reputations that make skilled professionals want to join them.
Their public image matches the real employee experience. This builds trust and keeps top performers interested in joining.
How to Design Ads That Attract Top Talent: Key Elements
Now to the main part. How do you ensure you come up with well-designed ads that make a potential employee consider you?
Here’s how to design ads that attract top talent.
1. Use Clear and Authentic Messaging
Clear and authentic messaging is the core of how to design ads that attract top talent. It shows candidates who you are and what your company stands for.
Therefore, your words should match your brand and your actions. This is recruitment authenticity, and it inspires trust in the people you hope to bring under your organization.
The best part is you don’t need fancy language or exaggerated claims.
Simply talk about what truly matters to your team. Touch on things like your mission, values, and the kind of impact your employees make each day.
2. Utilize Visual Identity and Design
Visual identity and design are the first things your target audience sees. They speak before your words do and shape how candidates feel about your company.
Additionally, visual elements add personality to your employer branding profile. This is why you need to incorporate brand colors, fonts, and imagery with the company’s culture.
These small choices tell your story before anyone reads the text. That instant recognition can turn curiosity into action and make your brand unforgettable.
Make it interesting enough, and you will make candidates even go a step further to research your brand so they can come prepared. Tools like Adobe Ads Creator help you create and optimize ads for your campaigns. You just add the right prompts, and these tools will generate highly quality ads promptly.
3. Write Compelling Job Descriptions
A job description is your first chance to go into detail about what your company stands for and why candidates should care. Writing compelling job descriptions gives your employer branding a stronger voice.
Here’s an example.
Image via Michael Page
For better results, keep your job descriptions concise but with valuable information. Avoid long paragraphs filled with jargon and focus on what matters.
Tell candidates what success looks like in the role. Describe what kind of people thrive there, the onboarding process, working hours, and more.
People are drawn to growth, impact, and purpose. That’s what makes learning how to design ads that attract top talent so important.
If your descriptions make readers feel they can grow and make a difference, they’ll want to be part of your team.
4. Use of Employee Testimonials and Stories
Using employee testimonials and stories gives your ads a human touch that makes people believe in your brand. This is because real stories are more convincing than slogans and mission statements.
Hearing from real people builds credibility because candidates trust peers more than company statements. Sharing what your team loves about their work or how they’ve grown is proof of what you stand for.
This could be in the form of video or photo stories. They let candidates see real faces and hear authentic voices. Here’s an example of an employee testimonial page from Nike.
Image via Nike
5. Showcase Career Growth Opportunities
Career growth is one of the strongest motivators for talented people looking for their next opportunity. Showing clear paths for career advancement in your ads signals that your company invests in people, not just positions.
This is a major part of how to design ads that attract top talent because it connects ambition with opportunity.
Showing real examples of employee growth or product roadmaps can make your message more believable. You can feature stories of people who started in entry roles and climbed into leadership positions.
Showcasing career growth opportunities also gives your brand long-term appeal. You become the company that top performers want on their resumes.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
You can have a great working environment that values the well-being of every employee. However, if your ads send the wrong message, the best candidates will look elsewhere.
Knowing what to avoid the mistakes below is just as important as knowing how to design ads that attract top talent.
- Overhyping the Work Culture: Making your company sound perfect might grab attention quickly, but it can leave people disappointed later. Be real about what life at your company is like. When people join and realize the job or culture isn’t what they expected, they lose trust and leave.
- Using Generic Templates: Generic templates make your brand look dull, lazy, and forgettable. Candidates notice visual effort, and lazy design suggests lazy management. Design your own visuals that reflect your company’s personality, rather than copying what everyone else is doing.
- Ignoring Diversity and Inclusion: 2026 is around the corner, and you simply can’t ignore diversity in today’s society. Leaving out diversity makes your company seem out of touch. Include different faces, voices, and stories to send a clear message that everyone’s welcome.
- Writing Vague Job Descriptions: Whether you want to hire a personal assistant or an overall manager, you need to describe these roles very well. Be clear about responsibilities, growth opportunities, and what success looks like. The goal is to attract the right people, not just more applicants.
- Focusing Only on Perks: Free lunches and fun Fridays might sound nice, but candidates want to know why their work matters. Therefore, share the real purpose behind the role and the difference they’ll make.
- Ignoring Employee Feedback: The teams already working under you see what outsiders can’t. If your employees won’t share your hiring post, it’s a red flag. Ask for their feedback to make sure the ad reflects reality. Internal approval adds credibility that no marketing tweak can fake.
Get Your Employer Branding Right
Designing ads that attract top talent involves an honest image of what your company stands for. From clear messaging and strong visuals to real employee stories, every detail matters.
These elements help candidates connect emotionally with your brand before they even apply.
As you learn how to design ads that attract top talent, don’t exaggerate your culture, copy generic templates, or ignore diversity. Candidates are people who want to belong to a safe working environment. So show them that.
Guest writer
