Smaller companies might feel at a disadvantage in attracting a talented, young workforce. But size isn’t everything. A clever campaign on the tightest of budgets that harnesses the potential of social media can be just as effective as any top-dollar marketing strategy.
Having a substantial marketing budget will, nine times out of 10, make it easier to increase brand awareness. But it’s only a part of it. In the increasingly crowded media space being filled by company advertisements, the originality and “shareability” of a message is key.
In the age of social media, in particular, the best ideas will spread regardless of how much money is spent. This is best illustrated through the example of YouTube videos – of cats dancing, babies talking like grown-ups or whatever – that cost next to nothing to make but go viral because their content captures the imagination of large numbers of people.
Largest intake
“This year saw our largest intake yet with a requirement of 40 graduates needed to meet demand,” explains Jarlath Dooley from IT services company Version 1, which took Bronze for “Best Student Marketing Campaign” at this year’s gradireland Graduate Recruitment Awards.
“In a tightening market with large, well-funded, multinational competitors, a campaign which would make Version 1 stand out from the crowd while portraying our unique personality was required. We wanted to be competing for the best graduates and that meant we needed a campaign which put us up there with the best.”
So how does an IT company connect with graduates? “The key to success was coming up with something which would not only connect with this demographic, but which they would also circulate with their peers via social media,” he says. “Our key words were ‘connection’ and ‘sharing’ in designing this campaign.”
With this in mind, the team designed a campaign based on the TV show, Breaking Bad, entitled "Breaking Grads".
Personality
“The messaging was tongue- in-cheek yet portrayed our personality – non-corporate, informal with a good sense of humour, while clearly delivering a message of being the best place to work in town where any career aspirations could be met,” says Dooley.
“All concept, design, artwork and copywriting were conducted in-house by existing graduates: even the photography and modelling were catered for by previous years’ graduates.”
The total cost, including production and advertising, came in at €8,000 and resulted in 6,500 new page views during the campaign, 1,250 applications and 40 hires.
It has also led to less tangible results, including an improved graduate employer brand and in some cases, instant brand recognition, as Version 1 has increasingly become known as the “Breaking Grads” guys among college circles.
“Overall, the ‘Breaking Grads’ campaign exceeded every objective the company set for it, including budget, number of applications and brand awareness,” says Dooley.
Great things
“Thanks to social media, any company can achieve great things in recruitment.
“The key is understanding your target audience and crafting a message which not only gets their attention, but is clever enough to prompt them to share it. If the social media generation will share a picture of a burger they are about to eat, they will certainly share a good recruitment ad. So it is worth investing the time in coming up with something worth sharing.”
