Outreach & Recruitment Strategies March 10 th, :00 – 2:30PM (EST)

Where are you? 2 # Enter your Grant name and location in the Chat window – lower left of screen

Submitting Questions: Open Chat Drop-Down Menu  To submit a question, type the question in the text field and press your Enter/Return key. ‒ Please enter the name to whom the question is directed.  To send questions only to the presenters, select Presenters from the drop-down menu before pressing your Enter/Return key.  Change Text Size and Chat Color… Text Field

“Raise Your Hand” to be called on! 4

Arnie Richter, Moderator, WIF Program Technical Assistance Team, Maher & Maher Denise Kennedy, Moderator, WIF Program Technical Assistance Team, Anthology Communications Karin Martinson, Subject Matter Expert, WIF National Evaluation Coordinator, Abt Associates YOU, WIF Grantees Panelists & Subject Matter Experts 5

6 Arnie Richter, Moderator, WIF Program Technical Assistance Team, Maher & Maher

7 Denise Kennedy, Moderator, WIF Program Technical Assistance Team, Anthology Communications

8 Karin Martinson, Subject Matter Expert, WIF National Evaluation Coordinator, Abt Associates Inc.

Recruitment Objective Attract a sufficient number of people who meet program eligibility requirements AND for whom the projected program benefits are attractive. Your recruits are therefore likely to: ▫Be enrolled, whatever that consists of; ▫Stick with the program at least long enough to see if it delivers what is promised and can solve the individual's problem; and ▫Have a reasonable chance of being successful.

There Is NO SINGLE Answer… All successful recruitment is situational. Begin with the End in Mind: WHAT you do WHEN you do it HOW you do it It all depends on WHO you want, and WHEN and WHY you want them!

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More to the Funnel

RECRUIT 5-Step Recruiting Process PLANNING for Recruitment Leads to SUCCESSFUL Recruitment 5 key steps to a successful recruitment process It’s not too late to reevaluate or look at different recruiting options! OUTREACH & MARKETING MESSAGE PLAN ANALYZE EVALUATE

MATCH: Your benefits can make their lives Better Services & Benefits Offered Appropriateness Characteristics Eligibility Characteristics Supports provided by you / partners STEP 1: ANALYSIS Match Program & Benefits to Audience ANALYSIS AUDIENCE What are the characteristics of your applicant pool?  Use data to ID eligibles Within the eligible group, what characteristics can you match to your benefits? How can you solve their problem? What’s the WIFM? Create a profile of your targets PROGRAM/BENEFITS What is the range of accessible services? What benefits are obtainable ? Who are your partners, and what supports can they provide? Does your program connect to other supports that help ensure retention?

Audience Example: Analysis To give us an example of what needs to happen in this Analysis step… What has come up in YOUR thinking about these issues that presents a challenge? What are you being challenged by now? How did you decide the kind of person you want to recruit?

# Needed to enroll STEP 2: PLANNING Matching Numbers to Your Process Think of your “funnel” What is your assessment process – from eligibility through enrollment? When do the steps occur? Identify Audience # Needed for study #Needed to participate Supports provided by you, partners PLANNING What do you want targeted to do? At what point are individuals “enrolled”? At what level of the funnel do you want to focus the recruitment message?

Audience Example: Planning # Assigned to study group Total Projected Eligible # Come to Office # Interested # Actually Eligible # Assessed as Appropriate # Enrolled for services

Use language that resonates STEP 3: MESSAGING Right Strategy = Right Message Ask yourself: ▫What motivates my audience? ▫How can I solve their problem? ▫What do I want them to do? ▫What’s in it for them? Avoid: ▫Jargon ▫Telling them too much about who you are, or your grant ▫Bogging them down in details (partners, how program is funded, etc.) ▫Having too many layers in your call to action Anticipate audience needs, reservations, & concerns Prioritize information Simplify your Call to Action Test w/ target audiences MESSAGING

Your Experience with Messaging Using the Chat feature, tell us what your messaging challenges have been. Possible challenges include: ▫How to Avoid Jargon? ▫Explaining why program or service is valuable? ▫Streamlining a call to action? ▫Others? 19

Sample Audience Tools

Sample Messaging Tools

Audience Example: Messaging What have been your biggest messaging challenges? ▫Is there a thought or theme that is hard to convey? ▫Have you had a problem developing your message map? If so, can you describe? ▫Anyone make any message adjustments that they have found effective?

STEP 4: OUTREACH & MARKETING Many Choices, Little Time/Money/Resources What do you see as your biggest marketing challenge? ▫Prioritize goals & audiences ▫Streamline review and clearance process Map needs to communications vehicles ▫Media, social media, in- person events, partners ▫Don’t focus on social media if it’s not germane to audience ▫Integrated communications (media, partner, digital) OUTREACH & MARKETING Identify your Goals Map strategies to audiences Develop Content Focus on what works (evaluate) Disseminate Information

Communications Planning Matrix Overall Communication Goal 1: AudienceObjectives Message Channel Timing

Poll Question: What outreach and communications channels have you had the most success with? ▫Social Media ▫Media Relations ▫Partner (using partner to disseminate information) ▫E-newsletters ▫ ▫Advertising ▫Other

Poll Question: What outreach and communications channels have been the most challenging?  Social Media  Media Relations  Partner (using partner to disseminate information)  E-newsletters   Advertising  Other

STEP 4: OUTREACH & MARKETING (cont.) Many Choices, Little Time/Money/Resources Dissemination: ▫Consider a different role for “partners” ▫Iron-out the how you do it organizationally Turn messages into content before marketing activities Evaluation ▫Landing pages for different calls to action ▫Asking during intake ▫Web and social metrics OUTREACH & MARKETING Identify your Goals Map strategies to audiences Develop Content Focus on what works (evaluate) Disseminate Information

Audience Example: Outreach & Marketing What major questions do you have regarding your marketing mix? ▫Any channels giving you problems with recruiting? Is there something in your marketing strategy that has worked well with recruitment? ▫Good uses of media, social media, etc.? ▫ Anything that’s not working specific to outreach and marketing?

Poll Question: What channels of social media are you most interested in?  Facebook  Twitter  YouTube  Instagram  Pinterest  Other 30

Poll Question: What are your biggest social media concerns?  How to get more followers?  Developing content for different channels?  How to choose the right channel for my audience?  Other? 31

Measure the quantitative results of your recruitment efforts  Track numbers as you analyze UP the funnel  Where are numerical deficiencies/disconnects/overages? Assess the Qualitative results  Are the people proceeding through the funnel the ones you expected? Examine your overall plan and implementation  Are your recruits achieving what you expected?  Is your assessment process going as planned and resulting in keeping your pipeline active? STEP 5: EVALUATION Evaluation Loop EVALUATION

Questions 33

Continue the Outreach & Recruitment Strategies Discussion Workforce Innovators LinkedIn Discussion Group: &trk=myg_ugrp_ovr &trk=myg_ugrp_ovr Workforce Innovation Fund Grantee Hub:

Workforce Innovation Fund Hub 35

Workforce Innovators Linkedin Group 36