INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF BEIJING
How the power of storytelling resulted in 95% more requests than anticipated.
THE CHALLENGE
A Global Shortage of Qualified Expat Teachers
Schools face an unprecedented shortage of qualified expat teachers due to lower incoming prospects, increasing retirements and departures from the profession, and the impact of the global pandemic. This has resulted in intense competition among schools for highly qualified expat teachers.
The International School of Beijing
(ISB) faced an even more significant obstacle because China was one of the most challenging countries to weather the pandemic. Border closures, travel restrictions, and safety measures continued long after most of the world opened back up. And, when things in China started to improve, many long-time expat employees chose to return home.
THE STRATEGY
ISB needed to approach faculty recruitment for the 2023/24 school year in a very different way.
The school engaged IMPACT Marketing International to help them develop a content campaign to attract and engage potential candidates by showcasing the benefits and lifestyle opportunities for teaching families at ISB.
IMPACT led team members from ISB’s Marketing and HR departments through two collaborative sessions: an in-depth persona development workshop and a Bundlestorm™, or content brainstorming workshop.
The outcomes from those sessions informed the Momentum Strategy that IMPACT created to inform prospective faculty of the opportunities available to them, inspire them to engage with the ISB brand and ignite them to register to attend a virtual Coffee Chat.
THE RESULTS
After identifying the target audience and setting campaign goals, the team at IMPACT created a valuable and generous staff recruitment content campaign consisting of gated and non-gated offers, a downloadable ebook, the opportunity to chat with current employees, and an expanded employment website page that all focused on highlighting:
- Current faculty experiences.
- The many benefits of being a part of the ISB culture, with a particular focus on professional development opportunities and compensation.
- The abundant lifestyle available to families that live in Beijing.
As a result of the targeted campaign, ISB received an overwhelming response.
95%
Oversubscribed
for requests to attend
the virtual faculty coffee mornings.
101
Prospective faculty leads generated.
528
Story views
(blog posts).
70%
Email open rate.
19,000
Page views of the
Employment section on ISB's website.
14%
The *conversion rate on the downloadable eBook offer.
*The global average is 4%
THE FEEDBACK
One unexpected outcome of the campaign was the active participation of existing staff. Not just that they participated, but they enjoyed engaging in the process either through a blog posting or as part of a coffee morning. Not only was the campaign a new way to reach potential candidates, but it turned into a good retention tool too! It was a refreshing reminder of why staff come and then stay at ISB.
Jenny Whitaker
Human Resources Director at ISB
We have worked with IMPACT for over 7 years and have always focused on Admissions campaigns, so this was the first time to develop a Recruitment campaign. It was fun to work on this new topic and
the ideas from IMPACT inspired us and got us excited to develop new content and ways of using it.
Joanna Cole
Director of Marketing and Communications at ISB
