Ask most people about “branding,” and they’ll usually start talking about products and services.

But in recent years, companies have begun branding themselves as employers, too, betting that if they can convey to the world why their workplace is appealing and unique, they will have an easier time attracting good workers.

In fact, for many companies, employer branding has become a critical management tool, as the emergence of China, India and Brazil as economic powers and aging work forces in the U.S., European Union and Japan have increased the competition for skilled workers. More recently, the current economic slowdown—and the pressure to cut costs and increase productivity—has made the need to get the best people in the right jobs even more crucial.

But how should a company brand itself as an employer? The key is to align the brand with the company's business plan, meaning the brand is designed to attract and retain the kinds of workers the company needs most—those who can help it increase sales, profits and market share. And the key to doing that is to borrow a tool from the product-marketing toolbox.

Marketers have long divided consumers into groups based on things like their demographics, buying behavior and lifestyle, and then tailored product offerings and advertising messages specifically for them in the belief that it is more profitable to treat certain groups of people differently than to treat them all the same. A movie studio puts out some movies for kids, some for teens, some for women, and so on. Each product has its own marketing and advertising message. This is known as segmentation, and it lies at the heart of brand marketing.

We argue the same principle applies in employer branding—that it is more profitable to treat certain groups of current and potential employees differently than to treat them all the same. Employers who use segmentation to pinpoint who they need to attract and what they