Social Workers Recruitment Campaign

Background

The Children’s Workforce Development Council aims to improve the lives of children and their families by ensuring that those who work with them and for them have the best possible training, qualifications and support.

Currently there’s a shortage of people going into a career in social work so as part of a new recruitment push,  31,000 targeted emails were sent out to those considering a career in social work.

One problem is that public opinion of social workers is at an all-time low following a number of damning reports in the press so the task was to find those with a real desire to make a difference.

The aim of the communication was to inspire people to consider social work and to get them to register with CWDC for more information and ongoing support.

Idea

Social workers often face silence or bad attitude from the children they deal with. It can take months to make a breakthrough with a child but when they do it’s one of the most rewarding moments they experience.

The campaign set out to get prospects to take a fresh look at social work, and to build a new understanding that this is a career based on understanding. Understanding terrible situations and why they might occur. Understanding how best to deal with them. Understanding how to get the truth out of a situation. Understanding how to give children and young people a better future.

The email opens with the line ‘Can you understand what children really mean?’ alongside a static image from a video clip showing a child looking aggressive and the line ‘I’ve been let down by everyone.’  The email encourages people to click through to a landing page where there are a series of videos to watch

Each film is designed to show that a social worker needs to understand the real meaning behind the behaviour and body language of the young people they work with. The children may seem fine, declaring ‘I can take care of myself’ and ‘Look I told you I’m ok’. However the subtitles reveal that the child is in desperate need of help.

The videos cover a range of issues and attitudes making it clear this is a job that takes a high level of commitment and emotional intelligence. The campaign is designed to challenge viewers to see if they’re ‘up to it’ and to invigorate and motivate those that are.

Results

The email campaign achieved 263 new registrations, 612% up on the original target of 43 job applications. What's more, the average time spent on the site was 3:37mins, suggesting that the prospects were so engaged with the films that they watched them all, resulting in 50.4% conversion of clicks to registrations.

Our Thoughts

There is an above-the-line campaign running at the moment which is trying to do the same job – but doing it in an altogether blunter sort of way. With more budget, the production of these videos could have been better – filmed on location, perhaps, for greater authenticity – and it isn’t the most original idea in the world. Barnardo’s won a Gold at Cannes for an online film using the same technique.

Nevertheless, this is a smart way of targeting an audience disenfranchised from TV and talking to them in a way that is arresting and involving.