ODJFS_Concept_Paper_for_Nonparticipant_Pilot_5.5.25.pdf

May 2025

The Challenge and Opportunity

WITH MORE JOBS AVAILABLE THAN OHIOANS TO FILL THEM, WE CAN MAXIMIZE WORKFORCE

PARTICIPATION BY REACHING OUT TO POPULATIONS WE ALREADY SERVE ON THEIR PREFERRED

COMMUNICATION CHANNELS TO ACCELERATE THE PATH TO EMPLOYMENT

There are more jobs in Ohio than there are people looking for work, by a ratio of 8 unemployed individuals to 10 jobs available¹. With the surge in job growth across the Buckeye State, Ohio must find innovative solutions to reach talent via their preferred communications channels, specifically, labor force non-participants, to fill the gap. By developing a deeper understanding of the needs, motivations, and challenges facing differing groups of labor force non-participants, Ohio can more effectively reach, engage, and drive better outcomes for the businesses and citizens you serve.

In conversations with ODJFS leadership, we have discussed the art of the possible in how the department might use program specific data, such as those outlined below, to identify key pilot segments:

- SNAP Employment & Training: with 1,434,501 SNAP recipients and 9,222 SNAP E&T participants 2, work registrants will be the target population

- Unemployment Insurance: with an average weekly number of benefit recipients at 50,009 in January 2025 and 264,555 active employer accounts3

- Child Support: with 10,082 cases where the obligor was in default and had a current support obligation and were under a seek work order4

Amongst the above addressable market pilot segments of labor force non-participants can be targeted to generate awareness of ODJFS resources and open jobs to inspire them to seek employment in in-demand career pathways. For example, the Ohio Manufacturing Talent Partnership has identified a significant shortage in the manufacturing workforce – especially for Operator and Technician roles. As part of this pilot, ODJFS can gain insights as to the attractiveness of manufacturing career pathways relative to other in-demand jobs.

This concept note demonstrates how campaign outreach can be activated via a pilot program in partnership with ODJFS to test direct-to-job outreach.

Starting with a Pilot Program

To deliver a human-centered campaign that resonates with target audiences, Accenture will take a data-first approach to strategy and creative development, leveraging qualitative and quantitative research to inform actionable insights. We will look to understand pain points, needs and mindsets of our target personas; this understanding helps us meet individuals with the information they are looking for on their channel of choice.

The pilot approach will enable ODJFS and Accenture to generate insights and build customized creative, placing content in-market within 10 weeks (or sooner). Additionally, insights derived from the pilot can enable future-state optimization and scalability. Accenture can work with ODJFS to accelerate in-market timing as desired.

While content is live and in-market, our media team will monitor performance, gleaning insights that allow our creative teams to adjust planned content as-needed. Within a few weeks of being in-market, our teams will have initial data-driven insights with ongoing measurement and optimization throughout the campaign.

¹Ohio Labor Market Review (October 2024), Office of Workforce Development, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services 2 Department of Job and Family Services, Ohio Benefits Data Request 3 Ohio Labor Market Review (January 2025), Office of Workforce Development, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services 4 Department of Job and Family Services, Ohio Benefits Data Request as of FFY 2023 (September 2023)

Please find an overview of our proven Human Centered Design methodology below.

Pilot Campaign Overview

THE PILOT PROGRAM IS DESIGNED TO RAISE AWARENESS AND INSPIRE LABOR FORCE NON-

PARTICIPANTS TO ACCELERATE A PATH TO EMPLOYMENT

The goal of outreach and engagement is to increase labor force participation and fill open jobs across Ohio. While all communications will include calls-to-action designed to contribute to that goal, effectively driving widespread employment will require generating sustained awareness of ODJFS resources and available job opportunities. Additionally, content can support Ohioans in addressing blockers that currently prevent labor force participation such as childcare, transportation and caregiver challenges.

To that end, the purpose of this pilot is to generate key learnings to inform more effective communications in support of agency goals. Specifically, this pilot aims to:

1. Generate insights around priority audience segments, including mindsets, motivations, and needs, to identify relevant communications channels, and identify key trusted messengers and groups that resonate with each audience.

2. Test messaging and channel variants to understand what is most valued by target audiences by measuring content engagement and click-throughs to ODJFS resources from a custom job search-focused landing page.

3. Function as a proof-of-concept for a comprehensive statewide campaign to drive Labor Force non-participant awareness of ODJFS employment resources to simplify and accelerate the path to employment.

Our proposed Pilot Campaign is a 26-week effort that comes to life over three (3) phases inclusive of (1) Discovery Phase, (2) Creation Phase and (3) Execution Phase as follows.

Pilot Timeline

We propose a timeline of up to 26 weeks to gather the relevant data to assess performance and inform future-state campaign optimization and scale.

Program Investment: $600,000

Anticipated Value

This pilot will yield valuable insights to help ODJFS serve on its mission. The insights gained from the pilot will help ODJFS to shape and implement future strategies to promote:

- Shorter time to re-employment / fuller employment to increase labor market participation

- Deeper understanding of barriers to sustained employment

- Insight into job desirability for the pilot target audiences

- Enhanced collaboration and relationships between ODJFS and employers

Accenture and ODJFS will define success metrics for each pilot phase—such as impressions and tracking methods—to set short-term goals and inform a future, data-driven campaign at scale. Once we align on strategic guidelines, we will recommend Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), so that we can measure campaign performance against established benchmarks.

Example Key Performance Indicators Defined

Collaborating: Our Approach to Workshare and Knowledge Transfer

Accenture is eager to partner with ODJFS on this important project. To ensure seamless collaboration, the State will assign a Project Key Point of Contact to work closely with the Accenture lead. The State Project Lead will be available for weekly status meetings and daily for content approvals, helping to identify key stakeholders and facilitate all internal approvals across various departments. While all asset counts are placeholders until the strategy recommendations are complete, a final list will be established for review and approval by clients once the strategy is finalized. It is important to note media spend is not included in the budget and will be determined after the paid strategy is finalized. This scope does not include an Accenture media buyer, nor does it cover print production, storage, or mailing. We believe this collaboration will not only achieve the project's goals and deliver impactful results but also help ODJFS build knowledge throughout to sustain the work after the pilot.

County Director Campaign Briefing

To support ODJFS in briefing County Directors and JobsOhio regional network teams, Accenture will develop campaign briefing materials to provide an executive program summary including overall goals and objectives, strategy overview, campaign tactics, measurement plan and example deliverables. These materials can be presented via a webinar and/or via an in-person meeting hosted

Goal KPI KPI Definition

Increase Awareness

Ad Impressions Total views of ads (social, digital) by users

Ad Reach Unique number of users who viewed ads (social, digital)

Email Open Rate Percentage of email recipients who opened an email

Video View Rate Percentage of users who viewed a video for at least 3 seconds

Drive Audience Engagement

Click-to-Site Total number of clicks to campaign website content, from ads (social, digital, email, print/QR, SMS)

Click-through Rate Percentage of ad (social, digital, email, print/QR, SMS) recipients who clicked on a link to visit campaign website content

Engagement Rate Percentage of ad (social, digital) recipients who take an action (i.e. click, like, share, comment, view video)

Increase Consideration

Site Visits Total number of users who visit campaign website

Conversions Total number of users who complete a desired action such as sign ups or application starts

Ad ROI

Cost-per-Impression (CPM) Average advertising cost for ever 1,000 impressions generated

Cost-per-Click Average advertising cost for each click generated

Cost-per-Conversion Average advertising cost for each conversion generated

Cost-per-Video-View Average advertising cost for each video view generated by Accenture and/or ODJFS. Additionally, we can provide guidelines for leveraging ODJFS campaign content and/or resharing digital content to amplify reach.

Discovery Phase | Scope of Activities and Deliverables | Weeks 1 - 6

Accenture will conduct qualitative and quantitative research to inform actionable insights regarding key audience segments, channel mix, messaging variants, and media allocation.

Proposed Activities:

• Analyze existing ODJFS data and research on labor force non-participants as provided by ODJFS; for example, ODJFS to provide:

o Existing research from The Ohio State University on Able-bodied Adults Without Dependents o Relevant ODJFS-managed data on program participation

• Conduct two stakeholder focus group sessions with up to ten people per session to gather insights and learnings regarding current pain points and future-state goals

• Perform audience segmentation analysis, which identifies large, sub-segments of the main population, along with insights related to audience mindsets and relevant communications channels aligned to target audience preferences

• Execute social listening analysis of up to three priority audience segments to identify voice-of-the-customer trends to enable customized messaging and relevant media targeting parameters; this will be conducted examining a three-month time horizon of conversations

• Assess ODJFS’s available assets / paid media budget to inform pacing and channel recommendations and provide media recommendations, including channel / audience budget distribution and budget pacing over duration of pilot

• Socialization briefings for County Directors and JobsOhio regional network teams to inform key stakeholders on campaign pilot

Proposed Deliverables:

• Discovery Research Readout Report: Comprehensive summary of key insights detailing audience segments, recommended targeting parameters, comms channels, and messaging/content

• Creative Brief: Shares options for creative direction and messaging architecture by audience and communication platform

Creation Phase | Scope of Activities and Deliverables | Weeks 5 – 10

Accenture will develop creative concepts, assets, and a media plan—along with tactical recommendations on how, where, and when to deliver key messages to target audiences.

Proposed Activities:

• Develop creative concepts

• Develop assets for phase one once a creative concept has been selected by the state

• Design a careers and job openings landing page featuring 5–8 modules that guide users to relevant content within the ODJFS website and content related to in-demand career pathways and jobs. ODJFS will be responsible for coding the page; development is not included in this scope.

• Develop a messaging matrix with proposed messaging variants for up to three total audience segments, including content tagging strategy

• Create a QR code and brief descriptive text—either for existing materials or newly developed ones—to promote the campaign and drive traffic to the campaign landing page.

• Create a content calendar with post copy paired with creative, publishing date, relevant platform, URLs, and UTM tags, noting:

o Pilot will leverage the states existing communications channels across social and digital media o Pilot does not include the launch of net-new communications channels

• Plan A/B message testing—comparing two versions of a message to see which performs better—for up to three tests per audience segment, across a maximum of three audience segments.

• Provide a Media Brief outlining recommended activation parameters, including geographic targeting, budget allocation by audience and channel, and weekly pacing throughout the pilot period

• Develop measurement and optimization plan, including proposed Key Performance Indicators

Example Research Readout Report Example Creative Brief

• Campaign Creative, and Media Brief: Includes development for creative assets and message architecture, by audience and platform o Strategic recommendations for assets, media deployment, and budget pacing

• Up to three Creative Concepts for Client Selection o This will include the overall look and feel, tone of voice of the planned creative o Proposed Key Performance Metrics (KPIs)

• Design a landing page to drive users to careers and job openings within ODJFS

Example Creative Concept Deliverables

Example Content Calendar & Channel Distribution

Example Strategic Deliverables

Execution Phase | Scope of Activities and Deliverables | Weeks 10 - 26

During this Phase the campaign is live and in-market. The campaign will be executed in three phases for quicker deployment of assets starting at week 10. Target audiences are receiving content in accordance with the Campaign and Creative Brief. Accenture strategists are monitoring performance and making optimization recommendations based on performance results, allowing creative teams to adjust future content and maximize ROI.

Proposed Activities:

Develop creative assets

• Create social assets for LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram pending discovery findings.

• Includes 30-35 assets total delivered across channel mix - languages versioned by Spanish and

English

• Mix of content types from short video 8-10 seconds, carousels, gifs, and static. Creative asset types to be finalized once strategy recommendations are complete. All asset counts are placeholders until then

• Mix assets for social to include image/photo driven and type treatments and illustration

• Create 3 - 5 standalone print pieces. The deliverables can include posters, postcards, and flyers with Spanish and English translations

• Create 5 -7 email templates to be handed off to the state in the desired format

• Develop SMS/MMS content to include 10-15 messages targeting audiences. Short code and carrier usage costs are not included within this scope of work

• Purchase creative images, illustration or videos on behalf of the client via Getty Images, royalty-free, with North American rights, per client approval.

• Existing images or videos from the state can also be leveraged

• The state will own full rights to creative assets

• Provide direct mail and print collateral (postcards, flyer, poster) to the state digitally as a printable high-res PDF.

• Review creative assets up to two rounds

Deploy pilot:

• During the deployment phase, ODJFS will:

o Confirm that campaign recipients have opted in for communications from ODJFS o Publish social content, including paid media, in accordance with the approved content calendar by ODJFS o Deploy email content per agreed-upon content calendar by ODJFS o Deploy SMS/MMS messages per agreed-upon content calendar by ODJFS o Procure SMS/MMS carrier and short code by the state, noting that this scope of work excludes any messaging rates

• During the deployment phase, Accenture will:

o Montor content performance o Provide optimization recommendations

Provide reporting:

• ODJFS will provide Accenture with access to outreach performance data for each channel leveraged for the pilot by ODJFS. If direct access cannot be provided, ODJFS will provide data exports on paid post-performance to support reporting and assessment.

• Accenture will produce up to three total reports:

o Two reports to review Content Wave performance and may include up to ten slides each in PowerPoint format.

o The final report, which will be a campaign recap report of up to 25 slides in

PowerPoint format.

• Campaign creative assets by channel o 30-35 social assets mix across channels o 3-5 DM posters, DM and flyers o 5-7 email templates o 10-15 SMS/MMS messaging

• QR code to be integrated into existing print materials – i.e., UI USPS, promotional materials that can be distributed to benefits offices, Business Resource Partners, Community Based Organizations (e.g., food bank partners), and schools, as examples, to increase reach and deepen campaign penetration

• Custom designed landing page with compelling call to action and links to relevant resources

• Performance reports at monthly intervals inclusive of A/B testing results, final campaign report to share insights and learnings with optimization recommendations for larger scale initiative

• Executive Summery Research Report, sharing this project methods, key findings, summary of impacts and results to be shared with broader audiences

Please note that Accenture can be flexible regarding creative asset deliverables pending alignment on channels and target audiences during the Discovery Phase.

Direct Mail

Social

Landing Page

Poster

Example Creative Assets

Example Performance Reporting