CASE STUDY

Early Years and Childcare Recruitment

How PLMR Genesis helped boost recruitment and re-engage Level 2 and Level 3 practitioners, as well as recruit childminders, to address a critical need for early years professionals in Essex
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ECC

Client

Early Years and Childcare Recruitment

Sector

Social Care

Healthcare

Services provided

Digital Marketing

Graphic Design

EYCC

The Situation

Nationally, early years and childcare providers struggled to recruit and retain qualified staff, with Essex experiencing a net loss of 1,197 childcare places. Surveys revealed 48% of providers resorted to hiring less qualified staff to fill gaps. Furthermore, Essex saw a reduction of 121 registered childminders in one year, exacerbating service reductions for families. 

The campaign set out to raise awareness, drive applications, and inspire Essex residents to consider or return to early years careers. PLMR Genesis launched an omnichannel digital advertising campaign that targeted multiple audience segments, including already qualified professionals, career changers, students, and potential childminders. 

What we did

To meet these objectives, a highly targeted, multi-channel campaign was executed, leveraging Meta, Google Display, and LinkedIn. 

  1. Strategic Audience Segmentation: To ensure we delivered the right message to the right people, four distinct groups were targeted — Already Qualified/Returners, Career Change, Childminders, and Students. Advanced targeting ensured precision and minimised budget wastage. 
  2. Compelling Messaging and Seasonal Alignment: Informative and emotive ad copy highlighted key benefits such as work-life balance, creativity, and career progression. We also used seasonal messages to ensure messaging resonated with user behaviours throughout the year. For example, “New Year, New Career” messaging drove spikes in engagement during January. 
  3. Enhanced Visual Storytelling: Videos showcasing real-life stories of childcare professionals were introduced in January, deepening audience connections and increasing click throughs to the recruitment pages. Case studies demonstrated tangible career benefits and fostered trust. 
  4. Facebook Sub-Campaign: A dedicated push to increase the Essex County Council Early Years and Childcare Facebook page likes among practitioners, providers, and training partners built a stronger online community. 
  5. Performance Monitoring and Optimisation: With the campaigns longevity, performance was monitored and adjusted quarterly across all platforms and target audiences to ensure continuous improvement and alignment with the overall goals. 
EYCC

The Result

The campaign delivered outstanding results across all metrics, significantly outperforming industry standards. 

Throughout the duration of the campaign, the ads generated over 6.9 million impressions and 116,240 clicks across all platforms. 

We increased Facebook page likes by 526 within four months, putting Early Years and Childcare just 15% away from its target with seven months left. By the time the campaign finished, the Facebook page saw 1,040 new page likes, far exceeding the original target. 

The dedicated landing pages received 24,200 visitors, with an average session time of nearly two minutes, reflecting deep audience interest and engagement. We surpassed the 30% website traffic increase target with 25,201 pageviews by campaign end. 

Overall, the use of seasonal campaigns successfully attracted career changers, while real-life stories in videos inspired returning practitioners. The campaign fostered significant interest in early years careers, re-establishing Essex as a desirable sector for childcare professionals. 

This multi-channel, data-driven campaign demonstrated the council’s commitment to supporting early years providers and ensuring every child in Essex gets the best start in life. By pairing advanced targeting with authentic storytelling, we not only met but exceeded the objectives, creating a replicable blueprint for future recruitment efforts. 

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PLMR’s crisis communications experience is second to none, and includes pre-emptive and reactive work across traditional and social media channels. We work with a range of organisations to offer critical communication support when they are faced with difficult and challenging scenarios.

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