Thanks to the Regional Workforce Impact Program (RWIP), a North Dakota State Grant, the Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corporation (GFMEDC) will launch a $600,000 campaign to attract talent to the region. It’s the most comprehensive regional talent recruitment plan to date.

The GFMEDC is receiving $450,000 from the state along with a $150,000 match from Fueling Our Future.

The marketing plan uses primary research to craft a targeted marketing plan aimed at specific occupations in healthcare and manufacturing. One of the critical steps in the process is to engage occupation focus groups so we can better understand their interests, thus creating marketing campaigns aligned with their needs and desires. We capture critical information on each prospect and build an email nurture campaign to communicate in an increasingly targeted way to build their trust and provide them with valuable information to support their decision to move to the region. 

Utilizing the GFMEDC developed websites and other collateral, we can garner their interest and share vital information on living, working and playing in our region. As individuals require more one-on-one concierge services, the GFMEDC will partner with Folkways, The Chamber and others to provide personal services to support attraction and retention efforts. 

The goal for 2023 is to fill an additional 300 open positions in the region, attracting up to 1,000 more people to our market.

And thanks to a successful awareness campaign targeting the Minneapolis Metro, we know that our outbound marketing campaigns get results.

MINNEAPOLIS AWARENESS CAMPAIGN SURPASSES EXPECTATIONS 

Geared to generate excitement for the FM Area, an awareness campaign targeting the Minneapolis Metro used social media and display advertising to drive traffic to the LiveinFMArea site. The four-month, $45,000 campaign was a collaboration among the GFMEDC, the Fargo Moorhead Convention & Visitors Bureau and The FMWF Chamber. Our goal was to increase traffic to the site by at least 50% compared to the previous period.

Live in FM Area Campaign highlights:

Facebook & Instagram Ads

• 813k Impressions
• 3.4k Clicks
• 214k Video Ad Impressions
• 138k Video Ad Thruplays (viewed for entire duration, or at least 15 seconds)

YouTube

• 179k Impressions
• 108k Video Views

Display In-Need & Retargeting

• 3.12M Impressions
• 16.4k Clicks

The LiveinFMArea site recorded more than 33,000 page views, a 537% increase over the previous period. The campaign produced 179,000 total impressions on YouTube, producing well over the expected 100,000 and more than 60% of the videos were played 100%. Finally, overall impressions were three million+ (well past our goal of 1.37M impressions) with a click through rate of .84%.