How the HIRE Vets Medallion Program grew its program applications by 127% with support of the Granicus Experience Group

In 2017, Congress passed The Honoring Investments in Recruiting and Employing American Military Veterans Act (HIRE Vets Act), which established the HIRE Vets Medallion Award program within the U.S. Department of Labor dedicated to recognizing employers that recruit, employ, and retain veterans.

To receive a HIRE Vets Medallion Award, employers must meet certain criteria including percentages around the hiring of veterans, provisions taken to enhance the skillsets of veteran employees, and more. There are different awards depending on the total employment size (large, medium or small employers), and include two award tiers: platinum and gold.

As the program was self-funded by application fees, the team needed to act quickly to build a sustainable model, and marketing the program effectively was the only way forward.

At this point, the program brought in the Granicus Experience Group (GXG) – Granicus’ in-house team of digital strategists, analysts, communicators, and Granicus technology experts – to design an audience capture strategy and an outreach program. The initial phase included campaigns to build general awareness among a broad audience through two messages sent monthly, followed by the introduction of a welcome campaign to orient new subscribers with the HVMP mission and values.

Next, the GXG team created a series of messaging campaigns that would build the program’s brand awareness and bring in new audience members. The desired impact in the first year (2017-2018) of the program was to get at least 300 no-cost accepted applications, which they successfully hit.

“We didn’t have the budget for a big advertising campaign with billboards or television spots,” said Smith, “We had an on-the-ground strategy in each state, and the Granicus Experience Group (GXG) was critical in helping us expand our audience and awareness at the level we needed.”

The second year of partnership with GXG (2018-2019) saw increased program sophistication including research on the program’s audience members and the further development of audience segmentation with tailored calls to action which more effectively drove applications.

By the third year of partnership (2019-2020) with GXG, the program saw a dramatic increase in audience members – from 450,000 to over 3.6 million email recipients. By connecting the HVMP program application system to govDelivery – Granicus’ email, text and social platform – the GXG team was able to create audience segments based on application status and other demographics (location, employer size, and more).

With more audience segments, the GXG team was able to set up more targeted and personalized email bulletins – driving more employers to apply for the program and increase paid applications as well. When the program reached its third year, it had 15 different audience segments (up from just one in the first year).

In the nearly four years since it started, the HIRE Vets program – in partnership with GXG – has continued to build on its marketing sophistication. With the dramatic increase in audience members, the team continues to send actionable, targeted messages to veterans, employers, and others to increase brand awareness and program applications.

The program experienced a 127% increase in applications from employers from its first year in 2017. This growth is critical for the self-funded program, whose continued sustainability relies on application fees. With an average application fee of $166.67 across small, medium, and large employers, the program’s estimated revenue increased from $72,000 in the second year to $114,000 in the third year.