Author: EuanC

Do you have a strong membership community, but are unsure how to keep your current audience engaged while attracting new members? 

We’ve worked with the International Institute of Risk & Safety Management (IIRSM), a UK-based professional membership organisation with a global footprint, since 2019. Their aim since then has been to further grow IIRSM’s engagement with its community while attracting new members.

Since February 2023, we have worked with IIRSM to ensure they achieve this with their social media platforms. LinkedIn, the organisation’s primary communication channel, has gained 5,000 new followers over the past year. Now sitting at more than 35,000 followers, that success is set to continue, with an estimated 300-500 followers gained every week, and page views and impressions increasing in double-figures. 

How was this achieved?

Social media is constantly evolving, so it’s important you keep up to date with the latest trends, audience feedback and analytics reporting to ensure your campaigns are as successful as they can be. 

For IIRSM, we performed a complete overhaul of their social channels, taking stock of what was working and what could be improved to keep their audience engaged and informed about the Institute’s important work and events. Incorporating a mixture of static graphics and video posts to their channels ensured the feed was eye-catching and fluid, and reducing their post frequency for a ‘quality over quantity’ approach proved successful for followers. 

Our challenge was to keep key membership messages and regular training and events interesting. Our design team achieved this with eye-catching visuals for IIRSM’s core priorities – including training courses, events, testimonials and professional development webinars. 

One such campaign involved using testimonials and course summaries to compare two IIRSM training courses, so potential attendees would know which was best for them and their professional development. For another, we used a Google search concept, and enhanced IIRSM’s list of membership benefits to produce an appealing FAQ video.

With a new Co-President, the annual Risk Excellence Awards, and a new podcast series, there is always plenty of activity at IIRSM and we work with the team to make each project engaging.  

Take your social media to the next level. Chat to our team today at +44(0) 141 561 0300 or email hello@connectmedia.cc

This week marks National Apprenticeship Week – and what better way to celebrate it than listening to Sparks’ Remarks, the new podcast all about the lives of electrical apprentices from SELECT.

We’ve worked with SELECT for a number of years on a variety of projects, including their award-winning magazine cabletalk. That’s why we were delighted to help them with their latest communication venture, a podcast for budding electricians, by budding electricians, explaining the realities of the trade by talking with apprentices, lecturers and employers. 

SELECT had three main aims in launching its podcast – to honestly portray the realities of life as an electrical apprentice, to encourage more people to consider it as a career path, and to show companies, parents and teachers the benefits of apprenticeships. 

We helped the SELECT team with its entire podcast journey, from the initial concept and design, to interviewing, producing, co-hosting and editing the podcast. 

Since we were working with young apprentices, we wanted to ensure they felt at ease as we recorded. We travelled on site to record in person, which not only gave us great sound effects but also allowed the apprentices to be more relaxed than if they were brought into a studio. We recorded using small lapel mics, which again made sure the apprentices were relaxed, and helped to structure the conversation so that each took it in turn to answer a question. It meant they had time to consider their answers and could joke together, which came across well in the finished edit as, after all, a podcast is a conversation!

Iain Mason, Director of Membership & Communications at SELECT, said: “With the transition to net zero and reliance on renewables technology such as solar panels, electric vehicles and battery storage, it is vital that Scotland recruits more apprentice electricians in the coming years. To do this, we want to promote the benefits of being an electrician, but also paint a realistic picture of what young learners can expect when they take their first steps on the career ladder. 

“The podcast has played a key role in this strategy, and has helped us successfully extend our reach and promote the Modern Apprenticeship to an even wider audience, targeting a specific demographic in a way we were not able to do before. Record numbers of apprentices have been recruited in Scotland for the past three years, with full classrooms across the country. The podcast is a key tool in helping to make it happen and we want to continue giving a voice to the electricians of tomorrow.”

The Sparks’ Remarks podcast is now available on all major streaming platforms, with three episodes released and five more in the works. You can listen to it here. 

If you think your business would benefit from starting a podcast, contact us! We will support you from the beginning to end of your podcast journey. But don’t just take our word for it, have a look through our podcast portfolio here.
Interested? Chat to our friendly team today at +44(0) 141 561 0300 or by emailing hello@connectmedia.cc