This is big, folks! Workforce.Miami officially launched at the end of October and we wanted to share some of what we learned as a participant so you can replicate this formula in your community.
Workforce.Miami Mission
Miami-Dade County’s official press release states the county and local partners are launching “a comprehensive workforce development platform designed to connect Miami’s residents with high-quality job opportunities, upskilling programs, and essential services.”
For all of us in the registered apprenticeship community, this model makes all the sense in the world. You can read more about who the players are and how to replicate it in our article “A Partnership You Can Replicate: Workforce.Miami.”
But in this article, we wanted to dive into how this program was marketed, so you can see if the same tactics might be helpful for initiatives at pre-launch stage in your community.
Takeaway 1: Focus On the Ultimate Value, Not the Vehicle
There’s a well-known framework for creating positioning statements called a Storybrand. One key aspect is that great marketing speaks to the before and after or “transformative value” created.
At GoSprout, we build apprenticeship management software so the term “apprenticeship” is constantly on the tip of our tongues. But our Founder, Carlos Vazquez, didn’t start the company because he was in love with apprenticeships in a vacuum. Based on his own story, he could see how powerful they were for helping our nation’s youth find well-paid jobs and creating equity in underserved communities.
So you’ll find the official press release and actual press coverage of the launch like David Volz’s article for South Dade Newsleader aren’t about apprenticeships. They’re about the benefits of apprenticeships: workforce development, lowering unemployment, solving staffing problems for employers, creating equity, etc.
Could your initiatives be more compelling if you shifted the emphasis slightly from “growing apprenticeships” to “solving employment challenges” or similar?
Takeaway 2: Tap Into Government Initiatives
You’ll be hard-pressed to find government offices at any level that aren’t concerned with employment issues. Miami-Dade County is no different.
Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s Future Ready initiative is a great example. The stated goals include:
- Advance Workforce Talent
- Support Small Business
- Unleash Innovation
Is there a way you can help a government organization achieve it’s initiatives? Public-private partnerships are powerful!
Takeaway 3: Find Some “Anchor” Employers
Credibility is a big deal in marketing any initiative. You’ll often see smaller companies use a series of client logos on their website in order to show that they can support serious, well-known businesses.
You can apply this thinking to your local initiative as well. Smaller businesses with less resources may be less likely to engage with a program if they feel like it may not having staying power.
But if you are able to partner with huge employers and use their logos, your smaller participants will realize that the program will go the distance simply because the bigger employment players will keep it alive via their mass.
When strip malls are built, the “anchor” tenant is usually a big box retailer like a grocery store or Walmart. These are stores that people have to come to all the time and they cause people to pass the smaller shops with far less marketing pull and stop in to make purchases while on premise.
Workforce.Miami launched with a number of anchor employers including PortMiami, MIA Airport, and Seaboard Marine.
Are there big employers with staffing challenges in your community? Perhaps you can get them involved if you can solve some of those challenges and the positive PR can’t hurt either.
Takeaway 4: Audience Share
At GoSprout, some of our community members are multi-national companies with a huge reach and some of them are small non-profits, in part living off of apprenticeship grants and other funding sources.
Whether you look more like one or the other, you can borrow a term from social media and content marketers called “audience sharing.”
With true partnerships, there is no reason not to support the initiative collaboratively. And if you have a mix of large employers and government entities involved, you’re probably “newsworthy.” Lots of press releases never really generate interest from reporters. Yours will.
And then you get the added benefit of the personal followings of all the participants.
With Workforce.Miami, the Mayor gave a speech. William Porro of the Office of Innovation & Economic Development shared a post that already has 44 likes and it’s just getting started. It will continue to pick up steam on LinkedIn and get 1000s of views in his network and those of the people that commented on it, liked it, or shared it.
Hint: you should be one of them.
Talking about yourself on social media is powerful if your messaging is on point. What’s even more powerful is when other people talk about you.
Can you orchestrate audience sharing? Yes, you can participate, but gentle reminders to the folks who manage newsletters, social media, and other channels for your larger partners can go a long way.
Takeaway 5: Be a Team Player
At GoSprout, we’re powering the delivery of much of the benefits of the program, but we’re not even mentioned by name in a number of the press releases, and that’s okay.
The mission is what matters. If you can improve the local community via your efforts, don’t worry about whether or not someone else is the “star of the show.”
Can you be the glue that brings a program like this together in your community? You’ll unlock amazing benefits for everyone involved, whether they know you were a leader in the program or not.
Next Steps
If you’re struggling to bring an initiative together, reach out to us. Our Founder hosts office hours weekly. You can book him directly.
And if you’re looking for more formal help, we now offer consulting services to programs that are struggling to get from idea stage to execution stage. We’re happy to discuss the possibilities and hold your hand through bringing your programs to life via strategic guidance.
