The Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) is the only truly global membership body dedicated to representing the interests of the professional recruitment sector. It was formed to give all firms involved in the acquisition of professional talent, which have a commitment to excellence, the specialist support and distinctive voice they need to be successful.
It gives candidates and employers a trusted badge of quality while providing member firms with an innovative range of services designed for them by recruitment experts. These services, combined with its growing international profile, commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility and opportunities for professional networking give APSCo members a unique opportunity to develop their businesses and gain competitive advantage.
What we did
BlueSky PR is a long-standing PR partner of APSCo and this campaign represents just one strand of ongoing activity. With membership numbers growing rapidly outside of London and the South East – and member feedback suggesting that the association could do more to engage audiences outside of the Home Counties – APSCo was looking for an effective PR programme to supplement the creation of its hugely popular Regional Business Forums.
We achieved this by developing an ongoing news-led campaign harnessing robust data on regional job availability from APSCo Affiliate Member, Innovantage. Each month, the recruitment software company provides a detailed report on current vacancies which can be sliced and diced not only in terms of geography, but also by employment model and sector. As this data is essentially a by-product of everyday operations, it provides an accurate and detailed snapshot of regional employment markets - through which, hiring hotspots and areas where demand has dipped can be clearly identified.
These findings are then discussed with APSCo’s expert Membership Relations Managers, who are responsible for specific regions and able to add context to the hard data based on what members are seeing on the ground. As a result, we are able to draft regular, tailored press releases which offer unique and valuable insights on local markets.
The results
Through taking this approach, APSCo has enjoyed well over 100 pieces of coverage across 66 regional publications – including The Scotsman, Manchester Evening News, Bristol Post and Irish Times - over the past year. While the reach of this coverage is impressive in itself (the combined circulation is in excess of two million) this initiative has, most importantly, helped APSCo to raise its profile among potential clients and candidates in the areas where its members are operating.
What they say
“BlueSky PR has undoubtedly achieved its objective of building the APSCo brand and its reputation as a ‘badge of quality’ in key target markets, through turning data which we already had at our fingertips into valuable PR coverage. The traction this campaign has gained has exceeded all expectations, with an average of 10 plus pieces of coverage every month – and the activity has been incredibly well received by journalists, members and audiences alike.” - Moya Rylands, Commercial Director, APSCo
