How do you promote awareness of training courses to upskill people to become entrepreneurs across West Yorkshire?

Getting budding entrepreneurs to build their confidence and achieve their dream of setting up their own business was the focus of a initiative from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. A fully-funded course equipping people to start their own companies. With access to webinars, business advising support and resources on topics such as marketing and bookkeeping with opportunities for networking, the course is perfect for those considering starting a business or have recently launched one and need additional support and advice.

The £6 million programme, launched by the Mayor of West Yorkshire, was designed to encourage entrepreneurship and provide support to people starting their 'Be the Boss' journey. The initiative was a response to the fact many people find setting up their own business too daunting a challenge, with 70% of those surveyed unsure of where to start.

Having had initial success with the launch of the campaign, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority were looking at an advertising campaign to build on this positivity and ensure as many prospective business owners got involved. The campaign was focused on creating an uplift in engagement amongst deprived and under-represented communities. 

Objectives

The Ark Media was asked to build on the momentum generated since the programme's launch and ensure those in underrepresented communities were aware of the availability of the training courses and support. 

The primary objectives of this campaign were to:

-Raise awareness of the Be the Boss programme and encourage people to sign up

-Target a number of underrepresented demographics to encourage participation in the course, namely women, those with disabilities and ethnic minorities.

-Drive momentum for the campaign

Strategy and Execution

Our strategy was a digital campaign, using Meta, TikTok and Google Ads to specifically target those considering being their own boss. By using Meta, TikTok and Google Ads data, we were able to apply multiple variables to narrow down the target audience. Initially doing so by age and geography, we added those whose search behaviours suggested an interest in running small businesses, start ups or being self-employed. Another additional profile we added were people with similar characteristics to those who had already visited the landing page. 

Content deployed across the digital campaign focused on real life case studies. These case studies provided an authentic perspective on the training courses and demonstrated how 'people like them' were already on the course. These videos told stories which would resonate with the audience and would then lead to sign ups. By providing relatable stories, it would help give people the confidence to embark on their entrepreneurial journey. Survey data demonstrates that many people are held back from starting their own business due to a lack of confidence, so the campaign was structured to prove that this course could help that.

Our strategy included:

-Creating the video and static assets to accompany the campaign, we were able to create tailored content to represent the target audiences

-Using a digital campaign for direct communication with the target audiences.

Connecting People to Business Opportunities

This campaign was focused on ensuring existing West Yorkshire small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs in the region were aware of the opportunities for education and training provided by the West Yorkshire Local Authorities and People Plus. Offering free and impartial advice, this service is a great resource for the people of West Yorkshire to access during the exciting but challenging period of launching a business venture.

Using a combination of platform data, the campaigns data and audience data, we devised and executed a strategic digital campaign to ensure the right audiences were reached. Digital tracking metrics helped us understand which assets performed best helping us to optimise the campaign's performance.