Longmont EDP unveils social-media campaign to attract skilled workers

LONGMONT — With unemployment sitting at 2 percent in Boulder County, the Longmont Economic Development Partnership has launched a new national marketing campaign to help local employers attract workers.

The campaign will use social-media outlets such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram to present Longmont as an option for skilled workers around the country, presenting them with varying messages touting the city as a relocation option.

The marketing initiative was presented at the 2020 Advance Longmont Economic Forecast Thursday at The Wild Game Entertainment Experience as part of a “Surprise Launch Event.”

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Individuals who meet certain demographic characteristics — and with occupations desired by Longmont companies and target industries — will view ads promoting the city, as well as informing viewers of key attributes, including Longmont’s status as No. 1 Boomtown in America,” as ranked by SmartAsset.

Stacy Cornay, owner of Communication Concepts Public Relations & Advertising and chair of LEDP, said the initiative began as a traditional marketing campaign to recruit companies. While that will remain a focus of the effort, organizers realized that more was needed.

“I think that most people would expect an economic-development type of an organization to develop prospects [companies],” she said, noting that “some of that will be happening.”

But as conversations about the campaign continued, LEDP — working with Longmont marketing agency Avocet Communications — decided to target employees as well.

“We hear all of the time that one of the biggest challenges for employers is that talent, finding the type of workers that they need,” she said. “We started thinking about, ‘what would be most effective for our businesses?’ And that started the dialog of what could we do about talent. Is there anything we could do to bring talent to the area?”

Cornay said the campaign is made possible by data tools developed by LEDP vice president Morgan Smith. Organizers have identified two “audience personas” for the type of workers they will seek to attract. A third persona is focused on business leaders who might consider the city for relocation or expansion.

“A lot of it is made possible because of the data that EDP has,” Cornay said, crediting Smith’s data work, which helps identify what skills are most in demand by Longmont employers.

Smith said LEDP will “take the industries we know we want to target and reverse engineer what occupations work in those industries.”

Individuals who click on social-media ads will be taken to an LEDP website with additional information about the region, as well as job openings from Longmont companies.

Cornay noted that the program will be a long-term effort, both for employee and company recruitment.