B 08 - RFP Responses to Questions Final.docx

NATIONAL GUARD BUREAU

office of the united states property and fiscal officer for minnesota

15000 HWY 115, CAMP RIPLEY

LITTLE FALLS, MN 56345-4173

NGMN-USP 17 JAN 2020

SUBJECT: Online Adverstersing Campaign:W912LM-20-R-0008 Responses to Questions Final

8. In paragraph 5.1.4 a daily minimum of $80 per day will be spent on Pay Per Click, is that the same Pay Per Click as number 4 (Pay Per Click) in paragraph 5.1.2?

Yes, both paragraphs referencing Pay Per Click is regarding the same PPC requirement for the contract.

9. Is the interactive video provided or would the video need to be created by our graphics team? If it needs to be provided could you give us an example of the interaction.

The content of the video would be provided by our RRB Marketing department.

However, some work would have to be done by the contractor to format the video for placement; we would provide the message and the graphic for the contractor to format into the correct size format. The interactive video would need to contain links to nationalguard.com. The interaction we would require would be to generate a like, a share, or a click.

10. Does the contracting officer has any preference in working with a Minnesota based advertising agency?

No Preference.

12. Does the estimated award amount including the media placement fee as well as production?

Yes.

13. Is there a page limit or format required for the proposal submission?

There is no page limit. Reference the Combined/Synopsis 52.212-2 and Addendum to FAR 52.212-2 for proposal submission requirements.

14. Regarding the past performance evaluation, will it be acceptable for us to submit references that include projects we have delivered with similar scope of work other than the FAPIIS and/or SPRS evaluation?

Reference the Combined/Synopsis 52.212-2 and Addendum to FAR 52.212-2 for proposal submission requirements. The Government check FAPIIS and/or SPRS on all proposals received.

15. Will the contracting officer prefers to award the contract to a vendor that holds a GSA schedule?

No Preference.

16. What has been the biggest challenge for the recruitment efforts in the past and is there any specific target recruiting and retention numbers the contract would like to achieve other than the click through rate?

The biggest challenge is maximizing the lead generation of our market. As defined in the PWS, the target market for this contract is personnel in Minnesota between the ages of 17-24. We further define this group as HighSchool and post-secondary (or grad) personnel, because a lot changes in a person's interests, goals and incentives between these two periods of time. So, our challenge is marketing to both of those levels of interest and maximizing our lead generation.

There are specific impression rates (as defined in the PWS) and further, we will look at engagements and leads (during the execution of the contract) that are important to us. For the purposes of the evaluation criteria for award, access to the specified Ad servers and advertising platforms as well as the ability to achieve the specified impression rate will be looked at.

However, engagements and leads is really what turns into enlistments. So, the click through rate is important for this reason (engagements). We take all three of these metrics together to measure the success of the contract during the execution of the contract, and will look to these metrics as part of the monthly ROI reporting.

17. Previous campaign performance, Can you share previous campaign reporting so that we understand how these minimums around performance expectations were established?

Previous campaign reporting (monthly ROI reporting) included a break-down of impressions, engagements (click thru rate) and/or leads (if traceable) by advertising platform. This helped us to evaluate if the current concentration of advertising across all platforms and methods were meeting our desired impressions; and, helped us to determine if we needed to adjust focus on a particular platform/service.

18. Lead Capture, Are we to assume "lead capture" per gov't requirements will happen on the MN National Guard site? What are the lead capture goals per month, per campaign, per year?

Lead capture will be conducted via the contractor furbished 'customizable Facebook and Twitter linking and analytics report' (para 5.1.7) or "ROI Analytics". This report will show analytics on the clicks from those platforms to the nationalguard.com site. This report will also need to be formatted into a .csv file and provided to our Marketing Department where they will be able to upload it into our lead capture system (ARISS). The lead capture goals are intentionally not specified because they will vary from platform to platform. For the purposes of this contract, we focus on impression rate. And, as we review monthly ROI reports during the contract (to include impressions, engagements and leads by platform), the engagement and lead rates may trigger us to adjust the campaign focus to the platforms/services that are performing well in those areas.

19. Recruitment, Are there recruitment goals on the type of candidate? Are that types of candidates you want more of?

The recruitment goals will focus on our target market of 17-24 year olds residing in MN. However, we may add elements of advertising focused on diversity marketing; and, may include Ads that target High School students and Post-secondary students separately. Ideally, all marketing appeals to all of these segments. But, we do adjust our marketing to appeal to different segments. As far as specific goals, we aim for a 50/50 split of the HS vs. Post-secondary segments. And, as far as diversity, we are missioned to achieve 25% diverse (Race, Ethnic, and Gender).

20. Are there existing challenges in recruiting or the candidate pool you can share?

Some of the challenges in recruiting include maximizing our post-secondary (grad) market potential alongside our high school market potential. We traditionally do very well in High Schools as far and dominating the market share. In post-secondary markets we are about equivalent (numerically), but believe there is more untapped potential here.

Diverse marketing we do fairly well (around or above the required 25%), but are always looking for ways to tap more of the diverse markets, as this could only improve our overall success. The last challenge, is getting quality candidates, those that are medically, physically and mentally fit.

This is something that is hard to affect from a marketing perspective. But, we do look at marketing to athletes and fitness-minded markets as well as academic institutions to ensure we are attracting the right pool.

21. Competitive Environment, Locally, who do you compete with? Local Police, other military outfits, etc?

We compete with other military service branches. Specifically those that offer a similar experience/lifestyle. So, our biggest competitor would be the Army Reserves, followed by the Active Army, then other military service components. These two components offer a similar experience and may be hard for the potential applicant to know the difference between them.

Therefore, we try to highlight the advantages of our incentives, benefits, and the lifestyle we offer; and, try to make this stand out from the rest---we highlight what makes us uniquely Minnesotan and appeal to those that want to stay and live/work in Minnesota.

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