While I did run a variety of online ads in my years with Pine Haven, the Sheboygan market is still very behind on technology, so online was mostly used for recruiting. We ran banner ads, geotargeted gifs, geotargeted video ads, target-generated site ads, and Facebook ads.

 

We were especially fond of the geotargeted ads, as we could fence them to run in areas where competitors' staff spent time - especially important due to the limited number of CNAs vs CNA open positions in our area - and at high schools and colleges to help encourage students to consider the field.

 

The best breakthrough results came from unpaid postings on Facebook that resonated with staff and families, who then shared them. We used not only ads, but content on Facebook, as that met the needs of our target. While we did have blog space on our website, our targets tended to view it as more a library to store information about past events and newsletters, so we met their desires and used the space as such.  Current information and content was launched through Facebook.

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Moving forward, I would focus more on content creation to assist those seeking solutions for their parents, as I believe that would generate a greater level of interest, and there is an unlimited supply of topics we could have covered.