March 13 2024 at 11:09 PM | Council news

Digital Marketing Services for the New Jersey Manufacturing Skills Initiative

Request for Proposal (RFP)

From the New Jersey Community College Consortium for Workforce and Economic Development

For Digital Marketing Services for the New Jersey Manufacturing Skills Initiative

RFP Open March 13, 2024, to March 25, 2024 (5:00 pm)

Nonprofit Background

Governed by the presidents and trustees of the state’s 18 community colleges and enshrined in state law, the New Jersey Council of County Colleges (NJCCC) supports New Jersey’s community colleges and the more than 230,000 students they serve annually across 49 locations by fostering collaboration and developing solutions that expand access to college, promote equity and student success, and create a skilled workforce to drive economic growth. The New Jersey Community College Consortium for Workforce and Economic Development (Consortium) is a subsidiary of NJCCC. The Consortium brings together the Community Colleges as a collective to provide workforce development training statewide.

NJCCC brings together the state’s community colleges to build a world-class, flexible higher education and workforce development system that can respond to the needs of local communities and employers while having statewide reach and impact. NJCCC promotes innovation and policy changes to help New Jersey’s community colleges in their efforts to achieve academic, social, and economic mobility for all residents. The Consortium builds statewide industry, education, and labor partnerships that align education and training with the needs of a changing economy.

Project Overview

The New Jersey Manufacturing Skills Initiative (administered by the Consortium) was created to establish a comprehensively structured approach to manufacturing workforce development that responds to the complexities of New Jersey’s manufacturers and at the same time provides education, training, and career opportunities that benefit all New Jersey residents.

This initiative is funded by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development and provides $2,000,000 for education and workforce training of 250 participants. Of those educated and trained, 125 of them must be hired by participating manufacturing employer partners. The initiative provides each student up to $5,000 in tuition costs for designated manufacturing courses.

The Consortium is leading the marketing campaign to ensure the initiative is successful and is seeking a digital marketing firm to create and implement a comprehensive digital marketing plan across digital channels to maximize student/adult learner enrollment into the NJ Manufacturing Skills Initiative for all participating NJ Community Colleges, as well as encourage and harness manufacturing employer engagement in the Initiative. The chosen digital marketing firm will include Google ad management, SEO, PPC, social media advertising with geotargeting, and analytics/measurement in their proposal, and work closely with the NJCCC and Consortium’s Communications Consultant.

Project Goals/KPIs:

Project goals (KPIs) to enroll 250 students in various manufacturing classes that are part of the NJ Manufacturing Skills Initiative in participating NJ Community Colleges and harness manufacturing employers’ engagement across the state, as seen through the quantifiable measurement of digital ad click rates for colleges to gain leads on both participants and manufacturing employers. Additionally, project must show a quantifiable improvement on visibility as seen with impressions.

Agency Proposal Requirements:

Each agency proposal should include:

  1. A multi-faceted, comprehensive digital marketing strategy to gain course enrollment and manufacturing employer engagement, with multiple stages of implementation during the campaign which will run through June 30, 2025 (subject to change). Details of each stage must be included.
  2. Plan must include tactics to narrow audience on the web and social media platforms.
  3. A plan to work in conjunction with NJCCC and the Consortium’s Communications Consultant.
  4. A research period, with detailed methodology on what insights you will be exploring.
  5. A proposed budget for digital media ad spend and search engine spend, incorporating any nonprofit programs that exist.
  6. Identification of PPC tools that you will use to generate your comprehensive data driven report at the conclusion of the campaign.

Critical Requirements:

  1. Name of company, address, website, and EIN number, list staff member(s) who will be the direct contact.
  2. A company “About” statement.
  3. Example of past traffic to a website through a clickable feature.
  4. Multiple examples of high engagement on social media ad or social media post, high conversion rate a plus.

Required Professional Credentials:

  1. Google certification or similar certification.
  2. Proof of other digital marketing certifications a plus.

Due Date and Question Period:

  1. All proposals are due via email by 5 pm on March 25, 2024, and should be emailed to Ms. Lauren Purnell, NJCCC Project Manager, with the subject line, “RFP Response” at lpurnell@njccc.org. Please copy info@thinkmedianj.com. Proposals could also be mailed (two copies required) to Ms. Lauren Purnell, Project Manager, NJCCC, Mill One, Building A, 1 North Johnston Avenue, Hamilton Township, NJ, 08609.
  2. Questions via email will be accepted on March 18, 2024, 8 am until 5 pm and will be answered in the order they are received. Questions can be emailed to lpurnell@njccc.org, subject should read, “Consortium RFP Questions”. Please copy info@thinkmedianj.com.
  3. NO FURTHER EMAILS OR CALLS WILL BE ACCEPTED. The selected vendor will be notified directly.