Fall 2023 Recruitment Campaign:
Recruiting New Members Through Digital Engagement
Overview
Link to: Private: Stakeholder Relations
Campaign Management
Link to: Private: Stakeholder Relations
Marketing & Engagement
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA), Greater Colorado Council oversees the operations of all BSA programs (Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA, STEM Scouts) in Colorado. Pac/West Strategies was tasked with developing and executing a multi-channel marketing campaign aimed at recruiting new members to Scouts programs. Using a combination of social media, Google, streaming, and podcast advertising, we achieved high engagement with prospective member families, driving attendance to “Sign Up Night” orientation events. The campaign exceeded client expectations, as the Greater Colorado Council saw itself join the top 10% of councils nationally for year-over-year percentage growth in recruitment.
Our Work
This was a full-service marketing project which required our team to develop marketing infrastructure and ad content from scratch. Tools like Google Ads and Analytics were built out and integrated with other platforms for tracking purposes. Media was sourced from the Boy Scouts Brand Center and was edited to optimize ad content for channel-specific interfaces.
Ad Platforms and Channels
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Google (Display Network, Paid Search) |
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YouTube |
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Meta (Facebook, Instagram) |
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Hulu/Disney/ESPN+ |
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Spotify |
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iHeartRadio |
Message development in collaboration with the Greater Colorado Council board was ongoing during the early stages. These talks yielded an approach focused on branding Scouts programs as an opportunity to return the great outdoors and, for a generation socially impacted by the pandemic, to learn practical skills and social confidence.
Leveraging geographic targeting of social media ads was crucial to ensuring communities were receiving information about their local packs and troops. Targeting across all platforms was geared broadly to parents of young children, rather than just parents with interests in outdoor activities. This was largely due to new Scouts programs added in recent years like STEM Scouts, which have broader appeal to those who may prefer indoor activities.
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Largest Recruiting Class in Post-COVID Era
Total Cub Scouts Recruited: 1,615 (Up from 1,497 in 2022) |
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Growing Bigger & Faster than National Average
Ranked in top 10% for total number of members recruited in 2023 nationally. Ranked in top 10% of councils for year-over-year percentage growth in recruitment in 2023 nationally. |
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Significant Growth in Girl Enrollment Total Girls Recruited: 373 (Up from 314 in 2022) Total Girl Cub Scouts Recruited: 338 (Up from 239 in 2022; 41% Increase) |
Pac/West Strategies president & CEO Mark Truax serves on the Greater Colorado Council’s Board of Trustees.
