Audience Engagement

Situation

Throughout my career, I've helped organizations connect with the people they hoped to attract—from prospective employees and sales professionals to referral partners, customers, and internal teams. As the mortgage industry shifted from rapid growth to increased competition, recruiting became less about attracting more people and more about attracting the right people. Success depended on helping individuals determine whether the organization's culture, values, and vision aligned with what they were looking for.

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Problem

Organizations often default to talking about themselves. In recruiting, conversations frequently begin with compensation, rates, or incentives—areas where competitors can always claim to be better. The result is a transactional conversation built around features that are easy to compare rather than the qualities that create long-term alignment.

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The problem wasn't that these organizations lacked a compelling story.

The problem was they were leading with the wrong one.

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Thinking

The best audience engagement doesn't pressure people into a decision. It gives them the confidence to make the right one.

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Before developing messaging or creative, I want to understand what motivates an audience, what barriers they're facing, and what they need to feel confident moving forward. Those answers shape not only what we communicate, but how we communicate it.

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Every organization engages people differently because every audience makes decisions differently. My role is to understand that decision-making process, then create communications that reduce uncertainty, build trust, and help people determine whether the opportunity is right for them.

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Approach

Early in my career at PrimeLending, I was introduced to a disciplined approach to audience strategy that fundamentally changed how I think about marketing. Rather than treating every audience the same, we identified distinct audience segments, explored their motivations, barriers, and desired outcomes, and developed messaging that reflected what mattered most to each group.

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That philosophy shaped the recruiting campaigns I developed, driving prospective candidates to a recruiting microsite where they could explore the company, understand its culture, and determine whether Prime's corporate environment and commission model aligned with what they were looking for.

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At Supreme Lending, the business model was different. Recruiting was driven by regional and branch managers, each with their own style and relationships. Instead of creating a centralized recruiting experience, I developed a structured recruiting campaign and playbook that guided leaders through the candidate journey while giving them the flexibility to recruit authentically. The campaign provided the right information at the right time, culminating in a site visit where candidates met the corporate teams who would support them every day.

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Although the solutions were different, the strategy remained the same: understand how people make decisions, then create communications that help them move forward with confidence.

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Outcome

At PrimeLending, recruiting communications helped prospective candidates evaluate the organization on their own terms before engaging with a recruiter, creating more informed conversations and stronger alignment between the company and the people it hoped to attract.

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At Supreme Lending, eight to ten regional and branch leaders participated in the initial pilot. Approximately 60% consistently guided candidates through the complete campaign using the playbook, creating a more organized recruiting process while preserving each leader's personal recruiting style. More importantly, candidates responded positively because the campaign reduced the uncertainty and overwhelm that often accompany a career transition, allowing them to make informed decisions with greater confidence.

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Lessons

People make their best decisions when nothing feels forced.