Building Success for Skilled Trades: A Robust Digital Campaign

4x MarCom Award Winner

The Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Michigan represents construction professionals in our state, working together to support the industry. Collectively, members were all struggling with the same major issue: attracting and retaining talent. Initially, AGC contacted King Media to pitch an outdoor advertising campaign promoting a career in the skilled trades. We had something else in mind.

Knowing the target demographic was high school students and young jobseekers, an outdoor campaign would have been like building the campaign on shaky ground. A robust digital campaign that reached and resonated with our target was the way to go. For the foundation, we crafted a dynamic video to tell the story of construction careers. From there, we built a solid multi-pronged strategy for a three-month campaign, including interactive display ads, YouTube pre-rolls, Google AdWords and sponsored Facebook posts.

AGC - 195% Overdelivery, 88,439 YouTube Pre-roll Views

While we expected the campaign to deliver excellent results, those results exceeded our expectations right out of the gate. Only a month into the campaign, most tactics had well outperformed expectations for the entire run of the campaign. And at the campaign’s close, the results were staggering: almost 3,000% over delivery on the AdWords and Facebook campaigns, a 30% view-through rate on YouTube and more than 1.5 million display impressions. Website traffic increased almost 1,000%, and the campaign even had a huge impact on AGC’s organic search traffic. Most compelling, though, was the exponential increase in direct inquiries – up 10,400% in just three months. It’s clear the combination of dynamic creative and excellent strategy is turning the tide on the perception of construction careers in Michigan.

AGC - 2,295% Overdelivery, 336,409 Sponsored Facebook Post Impressions

AGC - 2017 Marcom Awards