It's time to nail your youth marketing campaign

The intense Autumn Graduate and Apprentice milkround period is finally over. National Apprenticeship week has been and gone. You can take a nice deep breath and relax…

If only! It’s now all systems go on planning for next year. High-fliers reports are being issued, research reports are being shared and you’re evaluating this season’s attraction and recruitment activities. So, how do you use all this to make sure next season is your best yet? Take a step back. And really think if what you’re doing is right – for your audience, and you.

Performance matters

What worked well and what didn’t, from in-school and on-campus engagement, branding, and creative and media campaigns, to assessment formats and candidate journeys? Be honest. Could you have done things better? Almost definitely.

Use your insight to really understand what went on. Explore. Challenge. Benchmark. And pinpoint what you can change to make an impact. Whether it’s making media work harder, adapting your university strategy, or enhancing the candidate experience at every stage.

Target correctly

Understanding early who you need to look for, what skills they need, the composition you need to achieve and how many people you need to attract is imperative to building an effective campaign. It determines what you need to dial up, dial down or do differently.

Know your audience

Do you know your target audience well enough? Really? There’s plenty of research out there on Gen Z, this current cohort of grads. But who are YOU attracting? How are they converting? And what variables determine someone’s success through YOUR process?

By applying data science techniques, you can segment your audience based on their demographics and behaviours. It will help you identify who’s likely to become a successful hire, who’ll stay and be successful, and where they come from. It all feeds into focusing your attraction activity in the right places. Interesting, right?

Give a great experience

Do you know what experience your candidates have throughout your application and selection process? Are the moments that matter positive or negative? Are application forms off-putting? Is there enough role detail online to make an informed decision? Could parts of your selection process be daunting for certain applicants?

Understanding the barriers people face means you can evolve your process to support and nurture them throughout it. Don’t assume you know. Ask your applicants how they feel.

Integrate your campaign

Consider the purpose of each channel in your media strategy. Do you want to increase brand awareness, or convert candidates to application – or both? Will your chosen channels reach your target audiences? Is the budget allocated correctly? Make sure your planned media supports struggling pipelines and uses your social media channels in the right way. For more on creating a solid media plan and social strategy, read our helpful blogs here and here.

Communicate your offer

Last but not least, make sure you’re pushing out the right messages – ones that align to your future talent brand, enhance your reputation and give your audiences what they want and need at that stage.

Do you know what they find appealing about you? What motivates them? Their aspirations? When and what they should hear from you? Segment your audience and create behavioural-led personas. They’ll help you to support people better, and create tailored communications that really, truly speak to them as individuals.

It’s something we’ve done for clients who are already seeing some fantastic results. For a chat about how we could help, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.