We like to work in close partnership with our clients to deliver communications and marketing that makes a difference.

Here’s the approach we took to creating and delivering an integrated marketing and PR strategy with our client Skills Training UK, who are a leading national apprenticeships provider. This has achieved tangible outcomes by way of new business in their target markets of NHS, local authorities and advanced manufacturing:

Discover. Every client brief starts here. We researched Skills Training UK’s target NHS, local authority and advanced manufacturing markets to understand the media, the major exhibitions and conferences and the national awards which we could use to influence the decision makers.

Create. We developed the marketing strategy together, based on Skills Training UK’s deep knowledge and experience of apprenticeships and the target sectors and Genesis’ expertise in research and planning. The strategy focused on highlighting Skills Training UK’s proven track record in co-design and delivery of apprenticeship programmes to meet workforce goals and explaining their expertise in advising on the use of the Apprenticeship Levy to pay for training. We defined messages for each audience, integrating, exploiting and maximising all appropriate channels to impact, influence and inspire.

Activate. We interviewed employers and apprentices who had already benefited from Skills Training UK’s delivery and created case studies as well as bespoke introductory brochures and leaflets which showcased their track record in the target sectors.

• We worked with our film partner to create professional case study films with two NHS Trusts and promoted the films and case studies on bespoke website pages.
• PR included writing award entries, creating stories for national trade media and using Twitter and LinkedIn to increase national audience reach and engagement. We optimised the use of all the great content we had created.
• We secured speaking platforms at relevant conferences and events to increase leads and ran a specific marketing campaign for a ‘Bridging the Skills Gap’ Best Practice conference targeted at Advanced Manufacturers.
• Digital activity included increasing website visitor numbers through targeted paid search, display and LinkedIn advertising and we used wider search engine optimisation to maximise online visibility, user experience and conversion rates.

Evaluate. The multi-channel marketing approach has increased website traffic by 500% over two years – up from 3,100 to 18,600 monthly visits, driving direct enquiries.  Furthermore, the increase in understanding of what Skills Training UK can offer has supported them in winning contracts in their target NHS and local authority markets, as well as increasing their dominance in the specialist materials testing field of advanced manufacturing.

Numbers of apprentices have increased by 336% and numbers of employers by 221% over 2 years.

Skills Training UK is the 2019 Times Educational Supplement Training Provider of the Year and we are very proud to be their marketing partner. Find out more about our work with Skills Training UK.