In early 2020, the Metro Vancouver YMCA was planning to run a recruitment campaign for staffing its Kids Clubs across Metro Vancouver. The Clubs, which offer before and after school care, were in need of additional Activity and Team Leaders to support their fall start-up.
And then the pandemic turned the world upside-down, putting a pause on Kids Clubs programs and on the campaign.
We were delighted to re-ignite the social media and paid ad campaign together in the spring of 2022, which ultimately engaged the right candidates, grew traffic and page reach substantially on the Y’s key social media channels, and drove quality candidates to a fresh landing page on the YMCA website.
The Challenge
Due to a need to hire people who were committed to working with kids and willing to do split shifts in the morning and afternoons, these positions had proved challenging to fill.
We conducted several in-person sessions to explore the YMCA’s goals, target audience and desired outcomes, then put together three target personas and a social media strategy designed to attract, engage and convert them.
But before we could implement the strategy, the pandemic hit and the project had to be paused… for two years.
In 2022, the YMCA was ready to start up again, so we dove back in with an online workshop to refresh their needs, targets and goals. With several tweaks and adjustments, we were ready to move into production.
The Work
First, we conducted employee interviews in order to create compelling personal stories about the benefits, joys and life-changing experiences current employees had experienced through their work with the Kids Club. The stories were truly compelling, and included not only factors such as skill-building, professional development and career satisfaction, but also heartwarming details about acceptance, identity building and impact on the kids over the long-term.
With the employee stories drafted, we created a landing page that included concrete details about the open positions, as well as highlights from the employee stories.
Finally, we developed a social promotion package with a series of organic posts designed for attraction and engagement, as well as paid posts directed to the landing page.
The Outcomes
Our #YWorkHere campaign ran for one month – from mid-August until mid-September – with both organic and paid social posts on Facebook and Instagram.
We adjusted the campaign throughout the month in order to amplify the best-performing ads to maximize impressions, engagement and clicks.
The campaign increased page visits to Facebook and Instagram by 144% and 80% respectively, month over month, and resulted in an increased page reach of 350% on both channels.
What’s more, half of the traffic that clicked through to the landing page went on to the Career Opportunities page on the YMCA website. All in all, it was a successful campaign.
Why We Love Them
As a purpose-driven agency, we love working with organizations that also have purpose at their core – and this non-profit is no exception, with its focus on advancing gender-equity and supporting well-being with impactful programs and services.
The Y’s impact was clearly revealed in the employee interviews, and we were moved by stories that ranged from supportive career and personal development, to personal memories of having influenced young lives – and the rippling impact that accumulated over many years of work. The Kids Club staff clearly love their work and working at the Y. And that made our #YWorkHere campaign all the more powerful.
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