Student@work is the official application of the Belgian National Social Security Office to check how many hours students are permitted to work under a reduced social contribution, but it is so much more than that. Student@work is a portal for students with part-time jobs and offers tonnes of information about working as a student, the salary conditions, contract and so on. Its main challenge is to be top of mind for all students who want to get a job. Government communication doesn't necessarily have the best reputation with young people, and we ourselves don't always know where young people hang out, so we went looking for them to familiarise ourselves with their world and devise a strategy to bring Student@work closer to its target audience.
Ambassadors who make student jobs work for students
The approach: being where they are
To clearly communicate administrative messages to a young target audience, we took a long hard look at all the digital channels young people are using. Facebook only? So past it. Enter TikTok and YouTube. We have established a permanent presence, constantly providing new content to introduce both entry-level (15 to 17 years old) and 18+ students to Student@work. We need to respond to their needs and we need to show flexibility and interaction at all times to do that.
Involving real students reveals many first-hand experiences, tips, interesting facts and answers to frequently asked questions. The student ambassadors’ motto is We work for students who work. They examine topics such as "What not to do at a job interview" or "Where is the best place to study?”. They literally bring Student@work to their fellow students in entertaining video sessions, interviews and vlogs.
So what are the channels to watch? Think Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok (coming soon) and Smartschool. And we are also using Google Adwords to give students some extra help to explore great content they can identify with.
We are also using a striking, new recognisable design for all content on those channels. And we are addressing both Dutch-speaking and French-speaking students. Pas de problème.
The result: recognisable content and rising figures
The figures for 2021 show that our approach has been well received. The number of followers of the Student@work Instagram account went up from 60 to 780 and we now have 227 subscribers closely following our ambassadors on YouTube.
As many as 600,000 unique profiles have come in contact with Student@work on Instagram and the content generated another 145,000 views on YouTube.
Boosted content received an average 15,000 likes and the average CTR for the SEA campaign clocked in at 35%.
