Inside WCS. Top tips on marketing to employers

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Emory Norris
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1 Inside WCS Top tips on marketing to employers

2 THIS DOCUMENT IS FOR EXTERNAL USE This document is intended to be used as an article for inclusion within the hard copy World Class Skills (WCS) newsletter, Inside WCS. The timing of publication is intended to be March OVERVIEW The article is a tips-based advice piece providing a best practice checklist for providers on a key issue relating to employer responsiveness. USES This piece is intended to give providers practical tips that they can easily and quickly implement within their organisations to improve employer responsiveness and maintain the key principles of the WCS programme. Inside WCS regarding marketing tips resulting from the WCS programme. 2

3 Top tips for marketing to employers Although the World Class Skills (WCS) programme will formally draw to a close later this month, the drive to improve employer responsiveness across the further education sector is far from over. Critical to the ongoing success of employer-led provision is providers ability to engage and inform employers both now and in the long term. Marketing is a fundamental part of attracting income from employers and maintaining meaningful, long-term local relationships. Many larger providers work nationally. Building on the advice and guidance provided by WCS events, consultancies and workshops, here are some of the top tips from the programme experts on how to ensure your marketing efforts are hitting the mark with the employers. Identify your customers Analyse your current employer customer base and look at trends in the sector, size and type of organisation from which they are drawn and their core skills needs Use sector-specific local, regional and national Labour Market Information to identify the employers you want to reach and their key decision makers and influencers Specify a list of existing and prospective customers who fit your strategic direction and with whom you want to deepen your relationships Understand their needs Use direct or existing research such as that undertaken to inform the TQS framework to really understand employers priorities: do they rate value for money over a sector-specific approach? An employer will always require value for money? May need to re-visit this sentence Conduct an Organisation Needs Analysis (ONA) and Training Needs Analysis (TNA) to understand employers market, cost and staff pressures as well as employee, departmental and organisational training requirements these can be conducted through a combination of questionnaires, focus groups and desktop reviews or using existing Train to Gain templates Do your homework around the employer review their recent news and announcements, company information and reports, new product developments and services as well as any recent recruitment, clients or business developments Inside WCS regarding marketing tips resulting from the WCS programme. 3

4 Create a clear plan of attack Clarify your key messages and selling points and map the best channels for communicating them and the budget required for each Plot activity over time to maintain momentum and build dialogue marketing is not a onetime event, but a conversation so spread activity throughout the year Set measurable and deliverable targets and SMART objectives from the outset e.g. sales lead volumes, conversion rates, account growth Please review use of acronyms in the article against the LSIS style guide. Map the exact tools, timescales and actions need to achieve each objective and ensure roles and responsibilities are clearly allocated and factored into personal development programmes as needed Customise your outreach Consider developing industry-specific materials tailored towards employers of certain sizes and sectors or to learners with specific needs and working patterns Try to match all communications to the different levels of the organisation you are contacting e.g. CEO versus HR staff As above please see note on LSIS style guide. Maximise the use of automated systems automating some marketing can save money and need not be impersonal. They also have the advantage of creating databases of prequalified prospects and enables you to populate your CRM (customer relationship management) systems, send out newsletters, conduct research, etc Less can be more Keep all messages as simple and jargon-free as possible and use the language employers use themselves Think beyond a formal prospectus or brochure could a booklet that details limited information and simply references your website be more appropriate? Clearly detail how your services meet employers business requirements and benefit their organisation or sector Don t bombard employers be persistent, but timely and avoid unsolicited contact But don t rely on one channel Recognise that no single method will be effective and use a range of techniques online and hard copy, written and face-to-face Maximise every contact point with employers use correspondence as a chance to promote events, courses and wider support As well as traditional marketing, consider engaging local media through press releases and articles, book exhibition appearances, utilise paid-for advertising or Search Engine Marketing (SEM) etc but in all instances make sure you measure the ROI and review response effectiveness to refine the best mix of channels use of accronyms Inside WCS regarding marketing tips resulting from the WCS programme. 4

5 Ensure you collect case studies and testimonials of satisfied employer customers and use these to inform marketing materials and to post online consider producing video and audiocasts where possible Ensure your website is relevant, useful and user-friendly make use of web traffic and user data (Google AdWords as well as your internal site statistics) to understand how its being accessed, conversion rates and click-through trends Be inclusive Involve employers as stakeholders across the spectrum of your activities, and don t just see them as sales leads consider opportunities for joint-working, co-branding, shared events etc. Think laterally about what existing facilities or expertise your organisation could offer employers research support, events venues, accommodation Stage interactive forums and events for instance, curriculum and employer groups can provide an invaluable link with employers and can be a key forum for developing a more responsive and employer-led way of working Consider social media blogs or messageboards as a channel for providing insight and interacting with employers Keep in touch. Ring your clients and attend networking events, not only to talk business but also to maintain the relationship Add value Don t be self-serving when talking to employers communicate regularly in an interesting and influential way Can we reflect this more positively perhaps Support employers core objectives, such as increased profitability and productivity. Offer them benefits such as briefings about changes in legislation that will affect them or generic issues such as employment law or exploit other Information Marketing techniques such as giving free advice or Top Tips on an area of expertise Use automated systems to distribute your content, but in a personal manner for example an auto-responder can be used to respond to requests for a brochure or your Top Tips and can be programmed to address the recipient by name If you are working with a large employer, suggest that one of your staff works permanently on that employer s premises or try to introduce regular hot-desking Inside WCS regarding marketing tips resulting from the WCS programme. 5

6 Don t let the plan gather dust Regularly review communication channels and methods to check what has worked, what hasn t, and why look at common sources of referral, sales volumes and take up of provision over time to identify any trends or hotspots of interest Test, measure and improve marketing ongoing measure response rates regularly and thoroughly: this can be as simple as measuring a Call to Action such as a telephone number, address or other response mechanism Many tools such as Website Optimiser and Hypertracker are also available to help you accurately measure and improve response rates knowing what marketing is working means you can better predict, and ultimately improve, response rates Good marketing communications should: be to the right people be by the right people be at the right level be in the right format be at the appropriate frequency facilitate two-way communication deliver a clear message use the appropriate communication channels be open and honest Inside WCS regarding marketing tips resulting from the WCS programme. 6

POSITION DESCRIPTION Team Lead, Marketing

POSITION DESCRIPTION Team Lead, Marketing Position Title: Team Lead, Marketing FTE: 0.8 (negotiable), permanent Department: Customer Experience Reports to: General Manager, Customer Experience and Brand Australian HR Institute The Australian HR