According to Chris Murphy at Glassdoor, the NFL made an estimated $12 billion, making it the top gross earning sports league in the world. One of the reasons is the way that the NFL builds up the lives of the star players, not just focusing on the sports stats but also bringing in the human aspect. Remember our blog a short time ago about personal branding and humanizing your company trademark? Here’s another layer to that argument, brought to you by the most popular sport in America in February.

According to the producer of Sunday Night Football, the show does not focus solely on the plays. We get a glimpse into the players’ personal lives, backstage pass to the locker room interviews, and a video of each player introducing himself. When we live in a world where roughly 40% of the population identifies with visual images over plain text content, it is critical for companies to promote themselves in a way (social media, anyone?) that will hit the mark for these audiences. Visual images and company trademarks and graphics (the world-famous Nike symbol and that gorgeous Carl’s Jr. model chomping down on a juicy burger) strike a chord with the audience, especially in today’s world of instant gratification and an overwhelming amount of information thrown at us from all avenues throughout the day.

So we’ve already touched on how you as a company can make use of this visual imagery in your company branding. But how can recruiters in your organization learn something from the NFL? Here are a few ideas on how to attract stars for your company in the recruitment process.

1. Recruit with a smile – do you recruit on social media platforms such as LinkedIn? Make sure your recruiters have a profile with a real personal feel, pictures help!

2. Online interviews via Skype or other platforms such as Spark Hire are another option for face-to-face even when the interviews are being done remotely.

3. Create stories that will attract top talent.

4. Share your brand and the face of your team on social media. People want to make connections with other people!

5. Fan identification is big in the NFL – why not stretch this across to your organization and develop your own fan base on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn?

For more on this topic, check out Glassdoor for Employers on Instagram @gdforemployers.