Discover the secrets to elevating your agency’s impact with our insightful webinar, “The Power of Branding in Travel Healthcare,” now streaming on our YouTube channel.
This engaging session features top marketing minds Janelle Thompson, Andrew Wettengel, Cassie Viau-Li, and Rich Smith as they dissect the crucial elements of effective healthcare branding.
Competition in travel healthcare is fierce, and understanding how to forge a standout brand identity is more vital than ever.
Our panelists deliver actionable strategies on digital marketing, brand consistency, and compelling storytelling to keep your agency ahead.
Dive into the full transcript below to harness these expert insights and fuel your branding efforts with innovative approaches tailored for success in the evolving landscape of travel healthcare.
Carly Miller
Hi, and welcome everyone. Thanks for joining us for today’s webinar all about the power of branding and travel healthcare. I’m Carly Miller from TrackFive. I’ll be hosting today’s event.
But I can’t keep going without starting off by saying how excited I am to be joined by such an incredible lineup of guest speakers.
We really have such a great panel today of marketing directors who are behind some of the biggest brands in travel healthcare and they’ll be sharing their experiences and insights with us to discuss how a powerful brand can really make an impact in this industry.
As someone who works in marketing, I can’t wait to hear all of their tips and tricks. And I have no doubt that all of you in the audience are going to take away some valuable knowledge from this chat as well.
Before we get into our discussion today, I just wanted to quickly cover some logistical details if you’re new to webinars with us.
First off, this webinar is being recorded and each of you will receive a video replay of the webinar after it’s over. Plus, we’ll be posting the full video on our YouTube channel. So you’ll have plenty of opportunities to check back in and watch anything you might have missed.
We also have a live chat going. So please feel free to make the most of that. We’re open to questions, ideas, and everything in between, so don’t be shy. One of our awesome team members is keeping an eye on the chat, and she’ll be sending questions over to us for our speakers to answer at the end of the session.
Finally, before we kick things off, just a little background on TrackFive. We are a recruitment marketing agency, and we own several healthcare career platforms, including TravelNurseSource, AlliedTravelCareers, and LocumJobsOnline.
Our platforms make it easier than ever to secure placements and get connected with active candidates who are ready to fill your open positions. We’re stoked to have four of our awesome clients represented today on our panel and many joining us in the audience. And if there’s anyone out there who wants to learn more or talk about exploring a partnership with us, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
And now that I’ve talked your ear off, I’m going to pass the baton over to our panelists to introduce themselves and their companies before we dive into these questions.
So, Cassie, you’re first on my screen. Do you want to get us started?
Cassie Viau-Li
Sure. Hi, I’m Cassie Viau-Li. I’m the Director of Marketing at CoreMedical Group. We are based in New Hampshire, but we staff all across the country, primarily travel nursing and allied, but we also work in permanent placement, locum tenens, and interim.
Carly Miller
Perfect! Thanks, Cassie. Andrew, you’re next to her. You want to go?
Andrew Wettengel
Andrew Wettengel, Director of Marketing with OneStaff Medical. I’ve been here since 2017. We’ve been around since 2010. We hire nursing, allied, and recently got into locum. So pretty much using TrackFive – everything that you guys provide. I come from more of an ad agency, digital agency background, and most recently, I have worked in Chicago and Kansas City, so definitely more of the creative mind, and yeah, enjoy working here.
Carly Miller
Great, thanks! Janelle, do you want to go next?
Janelle Thompson
Absolutely! Hi everyone. My name is Janelle with Premier Medical Staffing Services. I’ve been working with them for about 10 years, a little over 20 in marketing.
And Premier Medical Staffing Services, we’re based in Wisconsin. I know you’re going to love the Midwestern accent today. Go Packers!
Essentially what I do is I have an awesome team. We’re an awesome team at marketing. Awesome team at Premier, and just very excited to be on this panel today to answer any questions we have about marketing because some days, I don’t even know.
But, very fortunate to be representing Premier Medical Staffing Services today just because the company, it’s been around for over 20 years, but every day, we’re learning something new and doing something awesome for our clinicians, so thank you!
Carly Miller
Thank you, Janelle. Rich, take us away.
Rich Smith
Alright. Rich Smith, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Atlas MedStaff. I started Atlas 12 years ago. Branding and marketing has always been a cornerstone for us. And I could talk your ear off about this stuff. So, I will try to let everyone else talk. How about that?
Carly Miller
Awesome. Thank you all so much again for being here. I don’t want to keep everybody waiting, so we’ll just get things started. Kicking things off right off the bat, you may have heard the expression, ‘you can’t build a great building on a weak foundation.’ And the same goes for building a brand.
So, I’m curious to hear what each of you considers to be the foundation of a strong brand. What are the key elements of a strong brand in the travel healthcare sector? And taking it a step further, how can agencies identify and leverage these elements?
Rich Smith
Are we just gonna jump in?
Janelle Thompson
That’s what we do! Marketers. We just go. Talk their ear off. Rich, go for it.
Rich Smith
Well, I’ll keep mine super easy. Authenticity. Right? You are who you are. And just being authentic online or being authentic through your marketing will get you more than any amount of green screen, and you know, or whatever or marketing emails or texts or whatever that is. Being who you are will get you more than any of that.
Janelle Thompson
Mhm. Agreed.
Andrew Wettengel
I would definitely piggyback on what Rich is saying. I think we all would agree with that. I mean, if you look at the industry – I always use this analogy and some people think it’s weird, but how else can you describe what we do with travel nursing?
I mean, it’s like dating. So, if you come off very genuine and just are your authentic self, you’re literally going to attract the travelers that are the perfect fit for your agency.
And I mean, we’re all competitors, yes, but at the end of the day, there’s plenty of travelers to go around. We’re in the business to make money. So yes, we want to be competitive. But, it’s – Nebraska has a state logo. I don’t even know, do they still use this, Rich? “It’s not for everyone.”
Rich Smith
It’s not for everyone. Yeah.
Andrew Wettengel
Literally, that’s what we do. I mean, every agency has its own niche and travelers have their own personalities and I think if you run with that, like, everyone can be successful.
Rich Smith
In every training class that we have with recruiters, I say the same thing. You are who you recruit. And that is an absolute truism. And as marketers, too, we are who we market to. So that’s exactly it. Nebraska may not be for everyone, but… I mean, that’s a truism, though.
Janelle Thompson
And I think too, also, so we’re talking about authenticity and then we’re talking about the next level. So what’s been really neat, and I’ve just been like, just geeking over this for the past year is definitely seeing brands who are really utilizing the five senses.
Remember that thing we learned about as kids: where’s your nose, and then afterwards you’re like, draw pictures of what you hear. Brands now, and we can do this in our travel healthcare industry, is being able to really figure out how your brand is utilizing all the things.
Like even for fun, you’re trying to figure out, well, how can I do that? You know, what is smell? Do I want smell? Now I’m thinking of weird ER things. But if you like Google like, audio branding awards. It’s this international thing. What brands are doing and what we can do is really capitalizing how we have consistency. We’re genuine. Yes, we can all toot the same thing about what we have. After a while, it kind of gets blurred.
But if you’re really trying to know your audience, be your audience, and really try to create a foundation, being able to look at those five senses and how that’s connecting with your brand. And you can do that with a brand level. Then you bring it down to the next level in your management, and you bring it down to that same level with recruiters. You would really just see a tenfold on that one. So think about it. And then let me know, too, how you incorporate smell on that, too, besides sending chocolate chip cookies. If you do, I’m a guinea pig on that one too, so.
Cassie Viau-Li
Yeah, I completely agree. You know, like who are you as a company? You have to start there. What are your company values? What do you believe in and live day in and day out? Amongst your staff, and then roll that out to your brand. You can’t make your brand be something that’s not who you are in the office itself, you know, whether that’s at home or in a real office, but you know, who you are as people.
Janelle Thompson
Yeah, Cassie, we’ve seen consistency as well with that. Because I mean, we’ve all been there. We’ve talked with people and go, this is who we are, this is what we should be. And then it’s like, wait a minute, that’s not what I said a month ago. I think we got confused. Check my deck! You know? If we can get consistency as well for people to see it, that would be great.
Andrew Wettengel
I love that you mentioned values, too, Cassie because, like, that’s been a big shift in just personalizing who we are as companies. Of looking at the values of the company itself versus the old school ‘90s mission statements, which are such blanketed, generic statements that, you know, you have external employees that look at mission statements and they’re like, yeah, I can’t really get into that, whereas the value is really, truly about being personable and conversational and approachable to those customers that are out there, so I love that you guys talk about that too.
Carly Miller
Okay, first off, I love the dating analogy. I think that’s great. Also, I knew that you guys were going to be a good group, but you are just proving it to me. I see that we’re shifting a little bit into the next question, so thanks for doing that. But, moving on, we all know that branding is not static. It’s constantly evolving. And agencies have to find ways to keep up with those shifts while still maintaining their brand integrity and authenticity, like we talked about. So, I’m eager to know from your perspective, how has the perception of branding in the healthcare industry evolved over the past few years?
Cassie Viau-Li
I think it’s become an actual focus. You know? When I first started, I’ve been here about nine years. You know, when I first started, it was just… these are the jobs. We got ‘em. Apply, you know, and I think there’s been a major shift in actually having a brand and having that voice and developing that personality for your agency so that people can find the one that they match up with the most, right?
Like it’s the dating app, you know, and you’ve got to find the agency that matches. It’s not just about putting the jobs out there and calling it a day. I think it’s really shifted how we all look at things.
Rich Smith
Well, I think Andrew kind of alluded to it on his last answer there. The new world is eating the old world. Like, the old world that we knew before is completely gone now, and whoever’s closest to that end user is gonna win right now, and how do you do that? And it goes back to the authenticity piece. It goes back to, you know, who you truly are.
Janelle Thompson
Also, too, what I love is that you notice how comfortable we all are saying like, staffing agency, healthcare staffing agency. Years ago in that old world, it was kind of like, so, remember with training, you’re like, okay, so there’s a different way I want you to say it when you make this call. Don’t tell them who we are. Just don’t, you know, let’s just find something else to do that one , where now it is, I mean, there’s studies and press releases and conferences, and we’ve just embraced it, the good, bad, and ugly for it, and people are seeing what the benefit and how we keep growing. There’s actually partnership and capabilities for that. So I think that’s definitely evolved to where I think it’s making marketing a little easier where I can really say this is who we are and I don’t have to hide behind it. I’m not ashamed of it.
Andrew Wettengel
Yeah. Yeah, I would agree with that. I think in the 8 years that I’ve been here with OneStaff, you’ve seen a total shift from that very corporate, cold kind of atmosphere in the industry in general to everyone just finding what their values are and who they are and kind of making sure that that message is coming across to the travelers that are out there. I think it’s been a cool thing to see. I mean, it’s weird that the industry took that long. I mean, we’re talking 27 individuals to really be like, “eh, we got to switch it up?” But, I mean, it’s the creative people out there like us that are like – the big brands are doing it, and they do it well. Why did our industry takes so long to get there?
Rich Smith
I don’t know if anybody else – I’m influenced by other brands too online. I saw Momofuku had an ad not too long ago that said, and if you look at it, it says “our noodles aren’t cheap.” And that’s the biggest font they have in their ad. I’m like, that is genius. Like, that is, that’s absolutely genius, because when you think about ramen, you think about the cheap cup, you know, of crappy ramen that you get or whatever.
And then they have taken it to a different level and I think, Andrew, you’re 100% right like, we couldn’t talk about that back in the day. Like it was, we were an afterthought. We were. We were a necessary evil in some cases. And now, and now we’re absolutely part of every one of those conversations when it comes to staffing either large systems or facilities or, you know, or wherever.
Carly Miller
Hey, I like the visual, and now I’m hungry for ramen, so –
Rich Smith
There you go.
Carly Miller
Thanks for those thoughts, everyone. Now, I want to move on to storytelling. There’s been a lot of industry buzz lately around the concept of storytelling in modern marketing. And that’s because everyone loves a good story. It draws you in, it keeps you interested, and it usually leaves you with a happy ending of some sort.
So, what role does storytelling play in building a compelling brand in travel healthcare? And how can it be effectively integrated into your marketing strategy?
Rich Smith
Does anybody want to go first? I will totally go first.
Janelle Thompson
No, go for it. Take the energy, go. Tell your story.
Rich Smith
Our story is our people. It’s 100% our travelers. It’s the ones that travel with the dog, or in an RV, or with their retired husband, or whatever. That’s the story right there. I can tell my story all day long. I got fired from MedicalSolutions eight years after I helped them get going. My story’s irrelevant. It’s their story. It’s the people that they’re working next to that is completely relevant to them, and that’s what they want to hear. So, I am happy to tell those stories all day long.
Cassie Viau-Li
Yeah, completely agree. Like, that’s how you show the authenticity, right? You tell the stories of the people that are out there doing the work and treating the patients, and living that day-to-day traveler life where, you know, we’re the background, we’re there just to support them, and we need to highlight their stories and lift them up. More than what’s happening here in the office.
Janelle Thompson
I think, too, where I love seeing how it’s evolving is that – remember years ago, the story was about like, okay, let me hear about a traveler who’s standing at the edge of the cliff, and they just love traveling and that’s really what we were all just focusing on. You know, one more backpack, and let’s go. Now what we’ve done is that we’ve gone internal and also expanded that external.
So internally, if you’re looking at your brand, a lot of people ask, who are your storytellers? And they go to marketing, which, you know, I get it, we’re cool. But everyone at your company is your brand storyteller. That person who leads the presentation. The one who ends up organizing the event. The one who was the loudest in the meeting, you know, they’re all talking about your brand. So if you could find a way to get them to do that, because that’s where it represents.
And externally, I think all of us here on the call are just doing an even more elevated job of going beyond who it is, that why is it they want that career? How is it impacting them? How’s it making them feel? Tell me a little bit more. And sometimes it’s not always pretty. You know, in fact, I don’t always want the happy ending. Because there was a struggle that got to that point where we had to shift careers, we had to move, we had to then maybe work the recruiter, we had to leave a recruiter, you know? So you want to talk about that because that’s where people are going now. That’s where we’re asking our questions and trying to build that new community because we all just feel kind of isolated in some weird way. So how do we make that feel that connection? So I think definitely that next level is what’s really cool that I love seeing that brands are doing is like really just peeling it back in how to be real even more while still respecting privacy and still respecting who you are.
Andrew Wettengel
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I mean, at the end of the day, if you think about it, the whole industry was built on the idea of adventure, which is what we go see movies for, what we read great books about, and I think Rich touched on this already that the people, whether it’s our external employees or internal employees, like creating that – what they call in storytelling – the character arc, and helping them get from that point where they started through the struggle to the end goal, that dream location or that, for us as marketers, truly creating that ultimate sense of loyalty to you as an agency. Yeah, it’s storytelling.
Rich Smith
Yeah. Has anyone else, this is super crazy, but has anyone else, like, you talked about the character development, that type of thing because we may never meet our travelers in person. We may meet them at TravCon or if we do a meet and greet or something like that, but that is a small fraction of the actual, you know, the travelers out there that we may interact with over a year’s time or whatever.
Have you created internal characters for your people? Like, we’ve done that with some of ours. Like, our CFO, Monte, he’s, every time we use him, we have a little animated guy that’s always, he’s always mad at me because I’m always spending money, right? And so, and our travelers know that, and so now they’re communicating that back to us and I’m like something’s working there like, we’re making that connection that we otherwise wouldn’t.
Carly Miller
Great, I love all of those answers. Thank you all so much. Okay, so, I want to dig a little deeper into social media just because, obviously, that’s a huge part of branding
So we’d like to know, how do you see the impact of digital marketing and social media on branding in this industry?
Andrew Wettengel
I can hit that one. So, for me coming from places like Yahoo, and just digital agency background like, I love it. And, to be honest, since I’ve been here, we’ve never really done a whole lot of print. I love digital because you can track everything and as marketers in 2024, if you’re not tracking, constantly analyzing and changing, optimizing, you’re literally, you’re going to get left in the dust so, I think the digital space, social media, Google, all of those have truly helped us be able to see that stuff in black and white.
I know that there’s something when you’re talking with C-suite, where you’re talking about engagement and number of likes, that they don’t care about that at the end of the day. But we as marketers – that’s fine – we as marketers know when that’s helping push levers and getting us to that end goal of more placements so I love the fact that you can track everything with digital and I think it’s just going to keep expanding in that realm.
Rich Smith
I think my favorite part is, there are so many different options out there. Maybe Facebook isn’t for you but LinkedIn is. And maybe LinkedIn isn’t for you and Facebook is too old, but TikTok is. And no matter what, you can find an avenue for your message. And maybe it doesn’t work on each one of them or whatever, or you tailor your message, however, you know, for each one of those, but there are so many different good options out there. There has to be one that’s specific for you.
Cassie Viau-Li
I also think, I mean, from our perspective, social media just makes it fun, right? Like that’s where, we don’t get to meet these people in person, we’re not seeing the nurses every day, but on social media, it feels like we are and we get to have those conversations, share photos, chat with them, interact, and get that kind of substitute for the in-person interactions that we don’t usually get to have with them.
Janelle Thompson
Mhm. Yeah,I think if you’re really, if you have the opportunity, you know, there’s the idea but if you have the energy and you just also love tracking that data and really personalizing, if you’re embracing digital marketing, you know that it’s not only one social media channel. And you’re not just taking that same message, that voice, and that same goal across all of it.
You also know that there’s more than one way to really, in this day and age, personalize it. How am I doing digital marketing? Whether it is, you know, it could be digital advertising. It could be how are you creating some video content? You know, even too, how are you like being able to look at different things with the email and how are you pairing that all together? Versus someone who’s just starting their travel journey or maybe someone who’s trying to get back in, someone who works nights, someone who’s on the East Coast to do that one.
So it’s just really neat how it’s – and it also allows us to pivot. So I think that’s still a word. I don’t know if we’ve gotten over that and kind of bored with that. But you can be like, oh, whatever I thought was yesterday, change the whole content calendar for this week, something else came up. Or someone walked into a meeting who’s been on vacation forever and came in and go, we need it all.
We’ll change it. That’s fine. We’re good. So yes, I think it allows you to pivot. It still allows you, you can still be personalized. So like, you know, Rich, what you’re saying, you’re not gonna be able to meet them. But you can meet them. We’re just meeting them on a different playing field. And if you’re listening to your audience on their needs, if you’re seeing travel healthcare workers that are doing a really good job on social especially, indicating their interests, indicating their challenges, their kind of like no-thank-yous – how cool it is if we’re on that same to do that one.
So, but yeah, it’s neat. I love digital marketing because of how much it changes every day. Also, it’s kind of a pain how it changes every day, but it keeps me employed.
Andrew Wettengel
Well, and you touched on that perfectly, Janelle, with just the fact that with social media, you can literally change things overnight. I mean, when, back in the days of print, imagine all of the costs that you spent on brochures and whatnot and you’re stuck with them until you get rid of them.
Janelle Thompson
You’re giving me hives on this one, Andrew. Bringing back some feels.
Andrew Wettengel
You can’t switch it up. That’s why I was so happy when you’re like, oh yeah, we don’t do a whole lot of print, I’m like good, because I don’t want to be stuck with that inventory. But yeah like you said, you can pivot on a dime, like literally, oh, that didn’t work, I’m going to test something else.
Janelle Thompson
Love.
Carly Miller
Cool. We have a cool question in the chat that relates to social media, so I want to pop that in.
Tyler asked, how can travel healthcare professionals like us leverage social media and online platforms to build their brand and attract better opportunities?
Janelle Thompson
Ooh, good question.
Rich Smith
It’s a good question. Alright, if I had to answer – Tyler, be yourself. Right? I mean, just be yourself. Don’t be afraid to, you know, turn the camera on and turn it on yourself and be yourself because we’re doing the exact same thing here and we want those stories. And as soon as you start doing something like that, those interactions are going to come.
Andrew Wettengel
Rich, you already touched on this, which, talking about how you train newbies. If you look at it again, the dating analogy, if you’re putting yourself out there in what you really love, I mean, think about that. When a traveler that’s out there, I don’t know if you’re a dog person or you love baseball, so you like to travel and watch professional baseball in different cities. Whatever that is, if you’re putting content like that out there, some of the best recruiters that I’ve worked with in my eight years are doing stuff like that and they attract the right traveler that they build a true relationship with. It’s not based on highest paying job. It’s based on, dude, we have this one thing in common and we can talk about it and you can give me pointers on where to go next because of this.
It just, it goes back to that, what we first talked about, just being genuine. People can smell that out if you’re not doing that so it’s your best bet. You may not get massive amounts of volume but you’re going to build loyalty with that.
Cassie Viau-Li
Yeah, I think look at it as the quality over quantity play. Build those deep relationships, go deep with people rather than trying to just touch you know, every agency and every platform out there.
Janelle Thompson
Agreed, agreed. And you know, a lot of times it’s scary. Like, you know, even me, I can, I’ll sit here with 10 ideas and tips and whatnot. Now ask me if I’m going to do it. Just give me a minute. You know, phone a friend maybe. This is a good time to like have someone be your outside conscious and go, you can do this, but we’re going to take steps. Tomorrow is not the day you start your blog. We’re just – first let’s figure out who you are and what your comfort zone is.
Maybe find some other people online that you want to follow to be like, I like what they’re doing, oh wait a minute, that’s all they’re doing? That’s cool, I talk about that all the time. Now I can have someone who listens to me about it, you know? So maybe follow someone. Find out what you want to do and also take on what you think you can handle and what you want to be. Stay true to yourself but also don’t think like, I’m now dedicating a half job to just being able to be able to do this one. Start small. Got that one. But yeah, sometimes you need inspiration. Find a friend, see what you got to do or find a recruiter. Be able to do that one and go, where should I start?
But sometimes we overthink it. And we are our worst critics. So, hopefully – I’m wishing you luck, Tyler, with that one. Keep us posted how that’s going. I know all of us here would say if you need someone to review it, we would help.
Carly Miller
Oh, great. Thank you guys so much. I love those answers. I’m really excited for this next question because I think while it’s helpful to know the dos of branding, it’s also really important to know what the don’ts of branding are.
So with that wealth of experience you all have, I’m curious, what common branding mistakes should agencies avoid?
Andrew Wettengel
That’s an easy one.
Cassie Viau-Li
I mean, I think it’s like the inverse of what we’ve been talking about, right? Don’t be fake.
Rich Smith
Yeah, yeah!
Andrew Wettengel
Yes, 100%. Period. End of story.
Janelle Thompson
I think, too, we have a habit of just like – so I’m going to be real and definitely and I have to remember who’s all in it from my company, hopefully, so don’t drill me on this one. We all start as marketers. We all have that description. We’re joint commission certified. Let’s all raise our hands who are, yes, mhm. So are the rest of us, right? We are this. We are that. So are the rest of us, right? And really especially depending on who you talk to, if you’re talking to clients or if you’re talking to clinicians, know your audience.
So let’s avoid walking in there being that egotistical and saying, I am awesome. Be real. You are awesome but we’re real with the facts and what’s actually going to matter to the audience. So if you walk in there with your message and say here’s what we do, we are cool. I, I, we, we. You’ve already lost. So what is it in for them? And that phrase has been around for forever. So I think that’s a big thing to avoid. We have a hard time. We just want to walk in with our elevator pitch. We haven’t even paused and listened to be able to just be like, get into it and go so how are you? You know?
But also not spending that 20 minutes of doing the fluff story like, I can find that online. I get it. Yes, yes, you got all the boxes. That’s why I reached out to you. Tell me again why. How are you going to solve my problem? Are you going to meet like my gap? And I think as agencies, sometimes we forget that we – we’re unique and sometimes we’re not. So, and that’s okay.
Rich Smith
Well, at the same time, like, it’s our responsibility as marketers to create value for them.
Janelle Thompson
And we do that, we do that by telling their stories to, you know, so it creates value for others, but you have to, you have to keep that at the front of your mind. If what you’re doing right now isn’t creating value, why are you doing it?
Andrew Wettengel
It goes back to that last question, too, of, with digital, social media, it’s a two-way conversation now. It’s not just, put that print ad in front of them. They can talk back to you and you respond to it,
Cassie Viau-Li
Yeah, and not responding would be the big don’t. You can’t just put your head in the sand and, you know, post stuff and walk away and not respond to what people are saying. You have to have that two-way street.
Carly Miller
Awesome! Okay, our next question, Andrew had touched on this earlier, which was about tracking your success. And this kind of goes along with the dos and don’ts of branding as well, like knowing how to measure what’s working and what’s not when it comes to your brand.
So what are some specific ways that marketers can measure the effectiveness of their branding efforts in an industry as dynamic as travel healthcare?
Rich Smith
Andrew seems way more like data-driven than the rest of us. I don’t know. I just think I’m way more emotional on some of this stuff.
Janelle Thompson
Andrew, we’re saying you go first. Go for it.
Andrew Wettengel
Oh, oh, oh. You want me to go first? I mean, I feel like I kind of went into that already. I mean, it’s the fact that anything can be tracked these days. There’s so many analytics. Almost overwhelming. I mean, it literally could be a full-time job to have somebody just sitting there doing data analytics. I, here, don’t have the luxury of that. So, I, despite seeming like I kind of geek out on numbers, because I do sometime, like I have that polar opposite, just that emotional, and just very creative attitude as well.
But I mean, at the end of the day, the brand part of it, even for me still after eight years, that’s the hard part to really track. You lliterally – I mean it goes back to what you said, Rich, when it comes to brand awareness over lead gen. Lead gen is easy to track. You can see that stuff. When we’re talking brand awareness, you have to go back to that emotional mindset and when you see a traveler at TravCon to be like, oh, I saw that thing that you guys did. You did this. That little pat on the back is success to me.
It sucks ‘cause you can’t explain that or show that in any true data to the C-suite but if you’re talking brand awareness, that’s it, man. It’s the emotions that you provoke in those travelers. For sure.
Rich Smith
Isn’t it weird how it crosses back over into the emotional side, right? Because all of us have our own ways of consuming information. And, you’re right. Like I was on stage at SIA a couple of years ago, and afterwards I was talking to people or whatever, and one of the guys came up to me, owned a smaller agency, and he’s like, you’re the beer podcast guy.
And I’m like, well, I mean, I own Atlas, right? But yes, you’re right. I do have a beer podcast that we do at Atlas that our travelers supply all of the beer for it while they’re on a contract. But that’s how he knew me. I’m like, okay though. Something’s working here.
Cassie Viau-Li
I think, too, when you’re starting out with your reporting, figure out what questions you’re trying to answer because otherwise you’re just going to end up with the analysis paralysis, like figure out, what do you want to look at? And then backtrack to find the data and build your reports around that because if you just open up Google Analytics and you open up your Meta Business Suite and all, I mean you’re there for a life, you know there’s no way to get out of it.
Rich Smith
Overwhelming.
Janelle Thompson
Yes! Oh, yeah. You know, the data is there, but you’re also like it’s talking to you. But what are you listening for and what you’re listening to do that one? And it’s okay if you start with the basics just so you don’t feel overwhelmed. Because, you know, in the beginning of my marketing, I was excited about the impressions and the likes on the social and I’m like, oh, look at this open rate, yes! The bounce rate’s under average. Cool. And now if i look back and I go, if I put that in one report to anything, I don’t think so.
We are beyond, now we’re like looking at engagement, you know? What’s the engagement? What’s the response? Yes, of course, yes, I’ll put a net promoter score and all that other stuff. But you know, we’re talking more these days, more than just MQLs and SQLs. You know, how do I be holistic? But also too what everyone’s saying too, it depends on the goals.And I think also too, it depends on the audience and also platform.
So what I’m measuring on our website, it’s going to be a little bit different if i’m having a customer campaign, you know, versus seasons, things like that. So I definitely do that one, but I think, I would say overall, we’ve definitely – because of how our storytelling has changed, we have really taken a look to see about, how are we showing being genuine? How are we showing that engagement? How are we showing that we’re showing up and walking the talk? And then also too, how are we showing that we are there where the audiences are and we’re not just doing it because I don’t know, it sounded good yesterday, you know?
Let’s see if we can actually create it, but also not get excited. We’ve had data where like, oh my gosh, the past hour, no one has clicked on anything. No one went anywhere. It’s only been an hour. I know we’re in a world where if someone doesn’t respond to our text in five minutes, they don’t like me. You know? Nope, it’s okay. Something else has happened, so I think that’s the hard part too.
Cassie Viau-Li
And keep in mind too, branding is not the lead gen piece, right? Like we kind of touched on that before, like don’t get stressed if your branding campaign didn’t generate a lead because that wasn’t the point of it.
Each campaign has its own goal and its own point. So make sure that you’re tracking to that and you’re not holding everything to the same standard because then you’re just going to make yourself crazy.
Janelle Thompson
We’re just here to keep the front porch and the garden looking nice sometimes with a brand new campaign. The recruiters and the compliance are in the house, you know, I invited the caterers. But that’s it, you know?
Carly Miller
Oh, that was great. Side note, I can tell that we’re all marketers by the cringes at the words Meta Business Suite, so that one made me laugh. But now I want to touch on allied versus nursing. All of you have experience in both the allied and nursing sides of healthcare, so I’m eager to hear your perspectives on this next question. But how do you approach branding for allied health versus nursing, and are there any key differences or similarities?
Rich Smith
We don’t differentiate. People are people quite honestly, and what they’re doing, they’re doing for very similar reasons. A nurse’s why is the same as maybe a rad tech’s why and so I don’t,I don’t necessarily differentiate at all.
Cassie Viau-Li
I think with our overall company branding, it’s not like we have a different brand for our allied branch and a different brand for our travel. We are CoreMedical Group.Our brand is our brand, we are who we are. But, you know, when we’re drilling down into different campaigns, we might be talking to different things that appeal to different audiences whether they’re nurses or allied or, you know, different locations. It doesn’t even have to be just the two. Job titles and specialties. You know, it depends on the person. But our brand overall doesn’t change. Core is who Core is at the end of the day.
Janelle Thompson
Mhm, yeah. Cassie, I think you said it best.
Andrew Wettengel
You may hit different departments or I guess disciplines up different ways but for the most part, 100% agree with you guys, the brand is the brand. You’re not changing that. You may change how you get a hold of those people. But yeah.
Carly Miller
Thank you. I’m glad we’re all aligned on the answer to that question. Also, we were talking about this before we started about how the year is just flying by and it feels crazy to say this, but 2025 is right around the corner, and as we think about the future, I’m interested to know, in your opinion,what are some emerging trends or strategies and branding that agencies should keep an eye on in the new year?
Rich Smith
I think one of the things we saw this year that we have to always keep our eye on is where the attention goes. Like no one could have predicted that TikTok took off like it did, right? And who knows why or whatever. But Vine was virtually the same as TikTok, you know. A couple – right? You remember what that was. In a much shorter form and not necessarily for business but TikTok took it a step further.
I think you can’t get too romantic about where you are right or where we are right now with marketing. And understand, be open to other avenues, no matter what that might be.
Cassie Viau-Li
Yeah, I think the emerging strategy is be on top of what’s new, right? Like that’s inherently what we do in marketing. You know, it’s hard to have a crystal ball and say, you know, in Q2, this is going to be the thing you need to harness because who knows, there could be three more social media sites and 10 different websites by then.
Janelle Thompson
I have seen though, for us, which I’m excited because it’s one of those things that I, you know, as marketers, we’ve been saying for a long time, but I think we now have more of a yeah, you’re right. It’s the personalization. So all the changes that have been made this year by Google, Yahoo, and now we see even Apple’s gonna when it comes to email and then also too, remember like Google Analytics, was that a year ago? But like, how tracking and everything, and so now it’s forced us, even though we said it for a while, like hey, we need clean data. We actually need to be personalized. We can’t do this blanket mask of like, we have an RN job, and do you want to work for us, you know? Remember, you, back in the day, you would like buy that thousands upon lists. You’d blast everyone and go, wow, we got, two people answered. Yeah, don’t do that anymore. You will never be able to work in this industry again, you know?
So it’s really neat for me because those companies have helped even everyone shift the mindset on top of also too, if you see what AI is doing, then also what you see all of the platforms that we’re working with, they’re really saying, no, we have the tools now. And we have the support to take that audience data that you’ve been collecting or you want to collect more of and really personalize it because again you just, people are watching. I mean, as a consumer, yeah, definitely, thank you for protecting me. But as a marketer, I’m like, oh, I gotta find another way to get to you people! Okay. We can do this. I’m rolling up the sleeves now. We got this.
So, I think it’s not new. I think it’s now just being elevated and heard more on how you really need to be more effective and more authentic and conscious about the outreach of, you know, what your, what you have to offer and how you want to connect with that audience.
Cassie Viau-Li
Yeah, the travelers are savvy, right? Our candidates are very savvy. They know what’s up. And so you have to take your game to the next level and be more sophisticated in how you’re using automation, how you’re using AI, how you’re using all that data that Janelle talked about, because if you’re just, you know, automating for the sake of automating, it’s not gonna give you what you need.
Janelle Thompson
Yep.
Rich Smith
Isn’t it – it’s interesting how like we all lived through like the email revolution when everyone was marching through email, right? Or whatever and we were all just like super open to it or whatever and now we’re talking about AI. With email like our bullshit meter was here, and now it’s like here when it comes to AI, right? Like every one of those, we’re like, wait a minute, you know? And I know, like you said, our travelers are like that too. They’re absolutely that smart.
Andrew Wettengel
Yeah, I mean talking about cringeworthy mediums that we’ve all experienced in the recent past, like with us in, I mean Facebook. Facebook was free. You could get out there to the masses. And now, when was that? Three years ago. When they changed how we as the industry can really market anything out because of “staffing” and job opportunities. And so you can’t really target the way that we used to. I mean, you could get so granular with targeting like you could geek out on that for days with the audience that you could build.
They took all of that away from us. And like, mind-blowing to me because I’m like we would keep dumping money if you’d let us target the right people, but as smart marketers, like you just said, we don’t do broad net anymore. Nobody does that. That’s a horrible strategy these days so if you can’t dwindle down who you’re targeting, why would we use you? I just, blows my mind. I would love to know how much money Facebook lost over agencies in the healthcare industry.
Gosh, politicians right now would be going nuts on there. But, all of those specific sectors were – you can no longer target them the way that you used to be able to. It’s nuts. And have all the data on the people in there, the users so it was like, it was gold. It was a gold mine.
Rich Smith
Oliver’s trying to bury Facebook here. He and I have had this conversation. Don’t bury it yet. Organic still exists on Facebook. I promise you. It still exists. You have got to work your – you’ve got to work hard to get there but it still exists.
Janelle Thompson
Oh! I think that’s going to be our next, when we get us together and get other people, I’m like, we’ll do that remember when? And go, let’s pause. Let’s remember those things. Just to kind of remember where we came from. You know? Because all of us who were trying, with attempting marketing someday, remember back?
Cassie Viau-Li
It’s like that way back machine, you know, with your website.
Janelle Thompson
We’re gonna do a way back machine. If we have to go back, remember AOL dial-up?
Rich Smith
Oh, God.
Janelle Thompson
And we had the patience then. Nowadays, what do you mean you didn’t engage with someone and you didn’t tell me, you know, your new information? How are you not looking for a job anymore? I just talked to you a minute ago. So, yeah, we’ll do a way back. That’ll be next one on that one. We’ll bring in some music in the background too.
Rich Smith
We can talk about how awesome the Delphi forums were back in the day, oh my gosh.
Janelle Thompson
Oh my goodness. We’ve lost some audience, I think, Carly, on that one. We’ve gotta bring it back to 2024.
Carly Miller
No, we are all good. Oliver, no profanities in the chat even if you star out the letters. I also just wanted to touch on, I’m seeing a lot of audience questions come in and I really appreciate you guys sending them in. We’ll be answering those at the end, so please keep them coming.
And now moving on to our next question. Andrew had kind of touched on this topic a little earlier, which was about competition. And obviously there’s a lot of competition in here because there’s so many incredible agencies all battling for kind of that big, broader talent pool.
So there’s bound to be competition. And while everybody loves an underdog story, it can be difficult for those smaller agencies to stand out against the big names in the business. So from your perspective, how can small to medium-sized agencies compete against those larger brands with bigger budgets in terms of branding?
Rich Smith
I don’t think it honestly, I talked about it a little bit there that organic still exists and it exists on LinkedIn for sure, or it’s still there. And it goes back to the authenticity. Just turn your camera on and your message will get out. I promise you it will. Oliver or Andrew, I saw your company do it because we, we grew up with this, you know, our two companies grew up at the same time.
I watched you. I watched your people do it at the same time that I was doing it. And I would absolutely bleed to beat you guys. And that was my, that was what I did every single day. Like, I would just, I would, what are they doing now? What is that company doing now? Okay, I’m going to do that much better. But I’m going to be that much more authentic about it.
And I think in the end, in the end, karma is a great business strategy. And that will get your message across too. And if you tell those stories, you’ll be just fine. No amount of budget can make up for that.
Andrew Wettengel
I 100% agree with what Rich is saying there. I mean literally, eight years ago when I started here, our company was, I mean, probably a fourth of the size that we are. And I never had huge budgets. I made the most of what I could with, I’m going to say it again, Oliver – Facebook. And blew us up on Facebook to like having one of the largest audiences. I mean, beating MedSol and AYA and ther ones. Just by doing organic stuff that stood out and being genuine so I 100%, like our team here is super lean and mean for the size that we are now.
But, if you’re really smart and strategic about what you’re doing, the budget doesn’t matter. We’re never going to, none of us on on this panel are ever going to be able to compete with MedSol and AYA and the rates that they can give travelers. You know what? We’re all still successful in one way or the other. And why is that? Because it still boils down to just being genuine.
Cassie Viau-Li
And consistent. It’s a grind, but you got to just keep it consistent and keep, you know, posting and sharing and building that authentic content all the time. And it definitely can feel like a grind when you have a lot of things going on. But if you can dedicate your resources to that, it will pay off.
Janelle Thompson
Mhm, and you know, we’ve been there too, where you’ve, you’ve probably had some meeting or someone’s come by and they say, hey, I got this idea. So did you see what so-and-so did? Why aren’t we doing that?
You know, I guess there’s a, there was that Simon Sinek one where he compares like the Microsoft and the, you know, where they’re looking at Apple and Android. And it depends what you want to be. If you want to be like, good for them, you know? Because you, I’m not saying we’re ignoring it. I’m saying, like, I’m inspired. I’m going to grab what I can, but I still need to figure out what are my brand, what are my goals? And what is it we want to do?
So tap into your network. We all have influencers, you know, internally and externally, whether you realize it or not. And marketing – our budgets always get cut, you know? They’re always cut. Whatever you thought you had planned, yeah, just push the cushion, it’s going to get cut twice, you know?
And then you sit there and you talk to some vendor who tells you about the five other competitors who didn’t blink when they spent this one. Good for them, you know? I just – I’m not into this. My space is in it for why we got into this space over 20 years ago, you know? Did we get into it just to do what we have to help, not only the healthcare industry to create a better patient experience, help people find jobs. Yeah. I’m gonna work with what we have. And yes, I’m still always going to ask for a little bit more money. That’s what I do. But that’s what I use the data to support it.
But, start with your consistency like what Cass was saying, start with what all of us are saying, and then work from there. But also try not to spread that budget to everything. Don’t try to be somebody to everyone. And try to sit there because you’re just following the coattails of someone else and now that’s all they’re going to think about. They’re going to think about your brand’s trying to be like that brand. That’s not the reputation you want so good for everyone else, but I’m going to be confident and hold my own and we’re going to be just as awesome, if not better in what we want to be strong in.
Andrew Wettengel
Yes. Janelle talked about – you touched on it too. Influencers. And I see that Oliver was asking about that in the chat.
Janelle Thompson
Oh, of course.
Andrew Wettengel
That was a great thing once upon a time, but it’s starting to get to the point where even that – can you afford it as a marketing team? Nobody’s doing it for free. So, it can be a very sensitive topic. I 100% agree. I think, going back to one of the last questions, I think that’s still going to be a big realm to explore in 2025.
But it’s starting to be like college athletes where it’s NIL, and influencers are getting that money, that media spend that we used to have as marketers is going towards people, influencers, which is, I mean, it’s great if it’s a great fit, but you know, at the same time, you also have to look at it as, do they align with our values as a company?
And it’s an individual. Like what happens if that influencer somehow goes off the rails and doesn’t align with the values you have as a company? And you push so hard as the director of marketing that, oh, this is a perfect influencer for us. There’s a lot of risk there too when you think about that. It’s a little more dangerous than spending some money on Google.
Carly Miller
Yeah, Oliver added another little follow up to that. He said, wouldn’t you rather invest that influencer money into having your travelers be the show, which we had talked about earlier, featuring your traveler stories and those authentic stories from them.
Cassie Viau-Li
Absolutely. That user-generated content, oh my gosh, I’m sorry. My lights keep motion detecting on and off.
Janelle Thompson
You’re so focused on marketing. You’re just like sitting there. There’s no other energy left. We’re not moving in this room. We’re staying.
Rich Smith
You got to get up and walk around. Get up and walk around.
Cassie Viau-Li
Spin around a couple of times.
Janelle Thompson
If you want, we’ll all stand with you. Just get that energy. Stretch time. We can do that one.
Cassie Viau-Li
But yeah, so user generated content is right. Those are your influencers. Those are your people that are working for you day to day. What are their photos? What are their stories? You don’t have to spend the big bucks on the really famous influencers. Build your own.
Janelle Thompson
Mhm.
Andrew Wettengel
Yeah.
Carly Miller
Perfect. Alright, our last question was about consistency, but I feel like we honestly really hit on consistency a lot, so thank you. And I do want to have time to get to those audience questions. So, we’re going to turn over there now.
The first question is from Oliver. How do you approach ROI and budgets toward branding in the face of digital and cost per app, etc.?
Rich Smith
He knows as well as we do that it – ROI is so amazingly hard to track in what we do. It is. And ROA is so much more – easier is not the right word. But more attractive for us, right? And I think that’s where I start. Like, that’s where I start right there and I can draw dotted lines back from there.
Carly Miller
Great. Anyone else want to hop in on that one? Or we can move on.
Janelle Thompson
No. You can tell like marketers, like you see where when some of these questions, we’re pausing because of suddenly all our minds link and we go, yup, yup. We just Jedi mind.
Cassie Viau-Li
Been in that meeting, yeah.
Janelle Thompson
Been in that meeting, definitely. So these are good. I, the people who are attending this are also with us. We’re all just sponging for that information, but we’ve also all been there.
Cassie Viau-Li
Yeah, I think it goes back to what I said before, just know what question you’re trying to answer, right? The branding is not answering the cost per app question, you know? Like those are two different stories that you’re trying to get across.
Carly Miller
I was going to say, I feel like we’ve never had a more aligned panel, so you’re right about that, Janelle. Next, Brad asked, in a crowded noisy media landscape, how do you target your audience?
Janelle Thompson
Ooo.
Rich Smith
Somebody else want to go?
Andrew Wettengel
Have at it, Rich. He’s got one.
Rich Smith
I’m going to go right back to authenticity. No, mine is easy. It’s authenticity. That’s really it. It’s how do you target those people, you, that’s 100% it. And like we talked about before, where’s that meter at, right? You guys, they understand just like every other consumer out there, you know, where they fall within that meter. And you can see it coming from a mile away.
Andrew Wettengel
I think we all touched on it is you’re not going to get every fish in the sea. So just be your genuine self as a company and you’ll attract the right ones.
Cassie Viau-Li
Absolutely.
Janelle Thompson
And I think, too, we’ve seen it. So this question has been posed and, you know, we’ve even had it. There’s been a couple late nights, especially right before that presentation I have to give, some quarterly meeting. It’s like, you know, how are we doing this, you know? And it is. It’s noisy. So think about when you’re about to walk into a room that’s just – it’s crowded. You don’t even know what kind of food there is. Do I want to be there? And first of all, don’t be afraid. You’re going to go ahead and open those doors and walk in. But you’re obviously not walking – . you probably can’t get through the whole room. Find your corner first. And if it’s, you’re not sure, because you’re like, if I do that one post, if I do that one email, is that going to work? No, it takes more than one.
Then two, find your community, you know, so especially too, if you’re talking about that small budget, you’re like, well, I can’t boost this. I want it to be organic. I want it to be real. I want to be able to represent. Good. Go with that route and then find your community to be able to like reach out, you know? A couple times, I posted in the beginning and then I went over to a couple of recruiters, I go, if you like this and this works, can you just like comment on it? That’d be great. Possibly let me know just to help build it.
It built my confidence. It kind of helped, you know, kind of increase that so we did some little legwork that way too. But yeah, do what you can and know too that, you know, I hope, whatever you try, I do hope there’s a challenge. I hope there’s one time there’s a fail, not like a legal fail, you know, but otherwise, I don’t know how you’re going to learn and find out what works for you. So I hope there is at least one time a week that whatever you’re doing in branding, marketing, there’s one time like, I could have done this better. So that way, then you can for the next week.
Carly Miller
Great. Our next question is throwing it back to 2020 a little. The travel healthcare industry has changed so much after the pandemic due to the decrease in rates and fewer travel jobs. I know travel agencies that closed and many agencies closed their travel division. Have you had to change your marketing and branding efforts after the pandemic?
Rich Smith
I don’t know if – we didn’t necessarily change. We got more focused with what we were doing. Like we learned, we learned a lot from that time. Good, bad, otherwise. We learned a lot. And so then we modified it and we focused in. Change, no, change is arbitrary. I think we evolved.
Andrew Wettengel
Yeah, I think during that time, it was a great time for the industry in general. It was – the leads were coming to you. So like Rich said, we all had to get that much smarter and wiser about like how we’re attracting the right people.
Cassie Viau-Li
Yeah, and I think, you know, for us now, it’s all about retaining those people. We got all those leads and now, how do we use our branding and marketing to show that we are the right community for them and this is where they belong and they want to stay with us. I think that’s been a big shift.
Janelle Thompson
Yeah. Just kind of changing – what does it mean to brand loyalty? And too, so the industry, great. But at the same time now, that data’s not helping me at all. There’s like about two years of like, that was great, but we’re gonna forget it. I just went to a birthday party with two cakes. And now we’re back to one. But it’s now, maybe it’s more focused, you know? We kind of thought about the decorations are going to be a little bit better. You know, kind of talking more to people, so I think it is.
It’s still – I think it’s really cool too of all of us – I love that we said evolved. Because what it meant is is that we had a strong brand. That we had faith and confidence we were on the right path so we didn’t have to go in and now totally change our look. We didn’t need a makeover. We just needed a touch-up. And then trying to be a little bit better at connecting with those audiences – clinicians, clients, community, all that you have to do. And that’s us as humans. You know, you want to evolve anyway each time. You’re always learning and growing on that one.
So, I agree. We didn’t do – we didn’t like all of a sudden just do one of those dramatic movie things and go, this is all done. Well, never mind. We’re doing that. No, instead we just want to go, let’s change this a little bit here. And let’s pause and actually let’s pay attention a little bit more. And it’s getting fun. It’s fun. I like it.
Rich Smith
Yeah.
Carly Miller
Alright, our next audience question is, how can we effectively encourage healthcare recruiters, especially those who are more hesitant, to leverage social media for branding and building their book of business? I definitely agree that doing so promotes authenticity for your brand but what strategies would you recommend to help recruiters feel more confident using this tool?
Cassie Viau-Li
Yeah, so we really try to make it not so scary for them by giving them the content. And you know we’re – my team is here as the resource for them where we’re not saying you have to go out and make a brand new page and you have to run your own account and you have to do all of this from the ground up. We’re saying, Core is doing it. Just go share it. And then your community is going to grow.
Rich Smith
Yeah.
Cassie Viau-Li
Like, we’ve got you. We are creating it. We’re doing all the heavy lifting. We might ask you to be in a picture. We’re probably gonna snag you for a video at some point.
Janelle Thompson
Please.
Cassie Viau-Li
But then all you have to do is go share it.
Rich Smith
We make it like barrier to entry is, you know, as small as possible for us, because you’re right. Like share the rest of our content, but then we like to – I love eating like goofy food on camera or something like that. Come on, you can come eat these weird Oreos with me. You’re going to do it with me and that’s okay. And then you can show your travelers that you’re going to do this. And then we’ll get serious after that. But it shows a human side of you. Step out of your comfort zone a little bit. When was the last time you did something for the first time? Do that with me. Do that with me on camera to show who you are and then that’ll take you into other types of content.
Janelle Thompson
I think that starts too where, so first of all, I hope, I hope that you’re a part of an agency that has a good, strong support system for your awesome recruiting team. You know, you have a good marketing, compliance, accounting, all that being said. So that way, too, you’re walking in and not having to feel like you’re doing it all on your shoulders.
Two, we’ve seen successes if you have marketing a part of that onboarding. So that way too, with the recruiter training in the very beginning, go, we’re going to help you not only for your personal brand and company brand. And we’re here for you. Like Cassie, what you were saying with the resources.
And then Rich, where you were talking about, like, here’s the goofy stuff. If you can have marketing be a part of onboarding in the beginning to find out who that person is and what their strengths are or what they’ve always wanted to do.They just didn’t know who to tell that to. That’s really cool because then you can keep like a list or a sheet so when you are trying to run that campaign or try to tell that story, there’s your go-to because some people want to do it. They just don’t want to do it on their own, which is fine.
Just how can you incorporate it, so if you can do that in the beginning, have a great marketing team who is now respected and seen as part of that even beginning steps of onboarding to be like, here’s what we do. Here’s what we’re awesome at. Here’s how we’re going to help you. It builds a personal brand which builds your company brand as well to kind of keep that going so I think that’s huge and that’ll help anything with the recruiter.
Start from the beginning and then know that you have the resources so that way the recruiters don’t feel like they’re having to create it all. And it just runs with it, no matter how big or small, what they do.
Cassie Viau-Li
And patience. I think that’s a big thing we teach our recruiters. It’s a slow burn. This is not an overnight thing and, you know, I think that’s hard for a lot of them like they want it to impact their desk immediately. And that’s not what this is. You have to just commit and be in it for the long haul.
Andrew Wettengel
Yeah. I go back to the data part of it too, of course. I have to go back to the data part. But helping recruiters see that and kind of start watching that because then they themselves – you empower them to – whoa. You went dark again, Cassie.
Cassie Viau-Li
I’m so sorry.
Andrew Wettengel
It helps them see where they’re having those successes, which is a cool thing to see. It almost opens up a completely new realm to them of not just posting, here’s a job, here’s the pay. But again, using their personality and their values in whatever they’re posting and really attracting that right person. But if you’re looking at the data and the engagement that you’re getting, it helps you say, okay, this is working over here when I make these kind of posts. I’m going to do that. And then again, keep evolving what you’re doing. So it just continues to get better.
Janelle Thompson
Once you show them that with the engagement – it’s a huge kudos if all of a sudden someone leaves a review like on your Google Business Profile. And not only do they reference the company, they reference that recruiter. And then you sit there in the marketing – I don’t know about you, but we get excited. We share it and go “look!”
Rich Smith
I love it. Love it.
Janelle Thompson
You know? We celebrate it and they get it and they go, look, people are referencing you because you’re doing so good, because you’re also listening to marketing, side point on that one too. So, you know, it’s a huge thing, and we have to talk about it more. We have to talk about the kudos. For recruiters, it’s more than the fact of, yes, you placed someone, yes, thank you, I like having a job, but also too, it’s showing all their other efforts that they’re doing and it’s making a difference. We got that feedback on this in different ways. And there’s your engagement data right there. And it means so much, especially on some days where it’s tough.
Andrew Wettengel
I say that all the time. For a recruiter to get called out on a Google ad is like the ultimate compliment to them and they need to realize that. Like that, we as marketers could spend all the money in the world, but that one Google review for somebody that’s thinking about getting into traveling and they call out a specific recruiter, that’s the ultimate free advertising. Like, it’s such a big deal. Yeah.
Carly Miller
Great. Alright, we’re going to wrap it up with one last audience question since we’re a little overtime here. But I wanted to answer this question of Tyler’s. He asked, travel therapy seems to be booming. How can we put travel therapy at the forefront but keep allied and local within our marketing strategy?
Rich Smith
I’ll answer that question with a question. Like, and this is something that comes from my personal life too. I love what I do every day. I love our travelers and what we do here. But when I go home, I want to…I want to disconnect from that. And I listen to podcasts about fantasy football. And, you know, those types of things. So, would you listen to a podcast or would you would you watch content about what you do every single day in travel therapy?
Or would you do something that’s – would you listen to something adjacent? And I think that’s what some of us are doing or trying to do with that is connect with you not as a travel therapist, but as a traveler that has different interests too.
Maybe you like golf and maybe you’re going to find an agency that also likes golf that has, you know, that produces content similar or adjacent to that or whatever that might be. That’s where like the Beer with Atlas podcast came from. That’s where our Wine on Wednesday came from because our travelers love to go to wineries and try different kinds of wines. That’s where all of that came from. I don’t want to necessarily talk about that when I get home or listen to that. But I want to consume adjacent things like that.
Carly Miller
Awesome. Alright, I don’t want to take us too over time, so we will wrap up here. Just going to share my little – there we go.
Alright. I just want to, again, thank you all for being here today. This was such a great conversation. I really appreciate all of your insights and you sharing your time with us. And I also want to give a big thank you to all of you in the audience for joining us. Be sure to check out the recording once it’s available and stay tuned for more webinars with us.
If you’re interested in learning more about TrackFive, TravelNurseSource, or AlliedTravelCareers, please feel free to get in touch with Nora. Her info is here on the screen, and she’d love to chat more with you about what our platforms have to offer.
So thank you all so much again and I hope you all have a great weekend!
Janelle Thompson
Wonderful, thank you, everyone!
Cassie Viau-Li
Thank you!
Rich Smith
Thank you, guys!
Andrew Wettengel
Thank you! Appreciate you.
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