Surrey Fostering Campaign Case Study

Surrey County Council used LIQUONA’s ‘Make your Ordinary Extraordinary‘ campaign materials in May 2022 to equip their annual #FosterCareFortnight campaign.

Here’s how they got on!

Surrey focused their campaign activity around the emotive 30 second animation, along with a range of supporting collateral for use on a host of channels and activity.

CAMPAIGN AUDIENCE & PERIOD:

Primarily Surrey residents aged 25-50.
Audiences varied slightly across activation and included: empty nesters, volunteers, dog-owners/lovers, females aged 30-50, households with 2 or more spare bedrooms and households of mid affluence.

Activity launched with the national ‘Foster Care Fortnight’ activities in May, and ran until end July ’22, with ongoing use of the materials continuing throughout the year.

CAMPAIGN ACTIVITY:

Direct
• Sky AdSmart TV adverts using the TV pack.
• Radio adverts on Heart Radio Surrey and Sussex using the radio pack.
• Half page adverts in local magazines delivered through doors, using the free image pack.
• Surrey Matters Newsletter with the animation embedded from youtube.

Digital
• Social media adverts and boosted posts using the social pack and stills from the free image pack.
• Re-marketing
• Google search ads

Out of Home
• Digital billboards outside supermarkets, in shopping centres and on roadsides, with a bespoke design made by LIQUONA.

CALL TO ACTION:

For all campaigns the CTA was to visit the fostering website or call the fostering enquiry line.

RESULTS:

In May ’22 Surrey received 16 enquiries, which is 19% more enquiries compared to the same period in 2021. This positive result comes at a time when nationally enquiries, assessments and approvals of foster carers are in decline, with most local authorities feeling this is due to the cost of living crisis.

WEB TRAFFIC SOURCES:

The web page received 1.7k unique visitors in May. Direct traffic (50% of all visitors) and social media (18% of all visitors) accounted for 68% of website traffic sources. Search engines accounted for 15% of traffic to the website. This shows that digital campaigns are achieving click-throughs to the website. However, when we compare this with the enquiries marketing sources, it shows that those who are actively searching for fostering are more likely to make an enquiry with the fostering service.

TV & RADIO:

The TV, radio and social ads formed part of a brand awareness exercise. Fostering is not an ‘impulse buy’, and it is usual for carers to spend some time considering the idea; revisiting it when personal circumstances allow, possibly across months and years. This awareness activity is therefore sowing seeds for the future.

The TV ad aired on SKY TV during May and June ’22. The audience types targeted were Alpha Families, or Bank of Mum and Dad, or Premium Fortunes, and in the LA of Elmbridge or Epsom and Ewell or Guildford or Mole Valley or Reigate and Banstead or Runnymede or Spelthorne or Surrey Heath or Tandridge or Waverley or Woking, and with the Youngest Adult is 25-34, or Youngest Adult is 35-44 or Youngest Adult is 45-54, and
AFFLUENCE is High or Mid or Mid High or Very High.

The TV ad had 149,095 impressions, reaching 70% of the 24,416 segment, with 8.6 plays of the ad being the average number of impressions per unique household.

The website saw an increase in visitors during the TV and radio campaigns, and this uplift has continued beyond foster care fortnight, suggesting people are visiting the site to find out more, and therefore considering the idea of fostering, whilst not yet applying, in keeping with the customer journey.

Most direct responses were attributed to web searches. Web searches happen because someone’s interest has been triggered. Anecdotal evidence shows that a few web searchers had seen the adverts on social media, prompting them to search online about fostering in Surrey.

Accounting for 12.5% of enquiries, the most successful single direct response activity was using the video in the Surrey Matters Newsletter which prominently featured the recruitment animation, hosted on youtube.