Boosting Apprenticeships & Business Growth: A Winning Telemarketing Strategy for Local Authorities

An ambitious local authority, our client, provides excellent and reliable services for its 300k plus residents. The council supports local businesses and education providers through its employment and skills academy, which offers apprenticeships, short courses, and the chance to gain new qualifications. In this campaign, Blueberry raised awareness and boosted engagement for Level 3 Business Administration, Level 3 Teaching Assistant, and other education related apprenticeships. Both the education market and private sector were key audiences they wanted to engage.

What They Needed

The council required a strategic outbound telemarketing campaign in a tight timeframe to ensure September apprenticeship starts for those in education settings. By engaging with businesses and education providers in the region,  we aimed to generate interest in apprenticeships, secure qualified appointments for their internal team, and build long-term relationships with potential employers. The campaign required a flexible approach to match different sector needs and boost conversions without missing opportunities.

Challenges & How We Overcame Them

Before making our first call, we conducted a comprehensive audit of the local authorities’ internal database. This involved consolidating data from multiple sources and formats into a single master database, which we then sorted and segmented based on priorities.

We also identified and resolved inconsistencies, filling in critical data gaps to ensure accuracy and completeness before campaign start. Given the internal database included previous interactions and historical relationships, this exercise was valuable and has meant the local authority now have a single and clean database to now work with moving forwards.

We also supplemented the internal database with GDPR-compliant data focused on those organisations that were most likely to engage with the apprenticeships, using the local authorities current customers as a starting point to mirror key characteristics in terms of business size and type when profiling new prospect data.

The campaign was structured with a 75% focus on the education market and 25% on the private sector, ensuring that call allocations and target databases aligned with the local authority’s priorities.

What We Did

Our skilled telemarketing team developed a highly targeted and customer-centric approach to the engagement, ensuring that every conversation with key contacts had, delivered value and positioned the local authority as a trusted and valued strategic partner.

To enhance data accuracy and improve outreach effectiveness, we first updated the council’s pre-engaged database of 294 education providers, refreshing contacts where necessary to reflect staffing changes.

For those scenarios whereby both Teaching Assistant and Business Administration apprenticeships for school office staff were relevant in the education sector, we were able to double up on appointments and engage more than one decision maker per opportunity so to maximise outputs. Additionally, we extended our outreach to nurseries within the pre-engaged database, offering Early Years and Business Administration apprenticeships.

In every case, we took time to understand each organisation’s unique skills gaps and challenges, positioning the council’s broader support services as a valuable resource to nurture long-term engagement. Recognising that not all schools and businesses were ready for apprenticeships, organisations or schools were ready for apprenticeships, we went beyond the brief by signposting them to other council initiatives, including useful skills resources, professional development courses, collaboration with local Universities and potential grant funding. This approach helped us maximise conversions while preserving future opportunities.

Throughout the campaign, Blueberry captured valuable insights on long-term prospects, warm leads, and key decision-maker details, strengthening the council’s future marketing capabilities.

What We Achieved

Our strategic approach led to outstanding results:

• We secured a 45.83% conversion rate from engaged decision-makers to booked appointments.
• We generated a strong warm lead pipeline of opportunities equating to 33.33% of conversations had with relevant key contacts.
• We enhanced the council’s database – records were cleaned, updated, and expanded, strengthening their outlook for future outreach.

The campaign was a resounding success, surpassing the council’s expectations. Our consultative and flexible approach ensured the council remained front-of-mind for future apprenticeship and skills training needs. By strategically engaging with decision-makers, cleansing and enhancing data, and signposting businesses’ to additional resources, we created a valuable pipeline for the council’s ongoing success.

Blueberry can help you drive engagement and foster long-lasting business relationships. With a data-driven, multi-channel approach tailored to your goals, we will help you boost sales, increase loyalty, and maximise ROI. Get in touch today. Email info@blueberryms.co.uk or call 0113 487 7013.

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