Independent Living West Country
"Building from the ground up, they have acted as our outsourced PR and marketing department. From a standing start Absolute built our identity, key messaging and even took over our website, populating it with rich content that explains our services, who we are and how we work. In less than twelve months they’ve helped to build our profile digitally, in print and secured prominent pieces for us on both the BBC and ITV as well as on the radio. With their help and their keen eye for a story, they have highlighted the positive, life changing impact that our service provides for those coping with acute mental health conditions. They’ve also managed our social media platforms, running many successful campaigns including recruitment posts that have enabled us to double our headcount in less than a year. Just as Tom recommended Team Absolute to us, I would have no hesitation in recommending them to others. They are creative, well connected, on hand whenever we need them and always deliver on their promises. Working with Absolute has been a joy.
Independent Living West Country
Marie Tolly, Founder and Director
The Process
What
Our task was to raise the profile of Independent Living West Country, driving demand for support services provided to individuals suffering with acute mental health conditions.
How
We delivered this through media relations, strategic advice, SEO, website content, marketing collateral, award entries, social media strategy and fulfilment, issues management support.
Where
Regional
When
2020 – 2021
The Challenge
Independent Living West Country was set up to ensure that individuals suffering with acute mental health conditions weren’t left without support when MIND closed its doors in the region in 2018.
When we came on board in 2020, Independent Living West Country had no marketing material, just a website landing page. The business needed to rapidly establish itself as a professional operation.
Our challenge was to:
- build Independent Living West Country’s brand from the ground up, raising its profile with referrers as a leading mental health support provider for individuals coping with life away from the formal care system
- build awareness of its range of services and support across Devon
- help to recruit staff
Our Solution
With an increasing number of vulnerable individuals suffering from acute mental conditions in lockdown, and a very real need to raise the profile of its services, Absolute was brought on board to provide a total, outsourced marketing resource for Independent Living West Country.
Starting from the foundations, Absolute developed Independent Living West Country’s key messaging, visions, and values, giving direction to all subsequent marketing material, ensuring consistency of messaging, both internally and externally.
With these firm roots in place, we rapidly developed content for the entirety of the website, covering everything from the creation of new landing pages to the development of About Us sections, services, biographies, blogs, news, case studies and helpful information on understanding mental health conditions.
Overseeing the smooth running of the website, Absolute put into place a schedule of regular content development including SEO-optimised case studies, profiles and blogs based on interviews with clients and staff. This not only helped to provide fresh content, but it also provided a suite of uplifting stories highlighting Independent Living West Country’s life-changing support service. Using our nose for a media story, these were turned into human interest pieces both for the site and for the local media.
To further boost brand awareness, Absolute set up and managed Independent Living West Country’s Twitter and Facebook accounts, implementing a strategy to drive engagement and enhance traffic to the website. As part of our role, we also implemented targeted social media recruitment campaigns, successfully reaching individuals looking for roles in the sector.
Absolute also led the design and development of leaflets, brochures and adverts, building broader awareness of Independent Living West Country both as a service provider and as an employer of choice.
What We Achieved
Absolute created a website that successfully engaged with decision makers in Devon County Council as well as individuals suffering from acute mental health conditions, their families and referrers.
We secured coverage for Independent Living West Country with prominent pieces on BBC Spotlight and ITV Westcountry, as well as on BBC Radio Devon and DevonLive. These stories focussed on the positive, life-changing impact of Independent Living West Country’s mental health service on individuals across Devon, generating direct enquiries. We also successfully positioned the business as a much needed solution, responding to huge growth in demand for mental health services caused by isolation during the pandemic.
Focussing on the vital role played by Independent Living West Country, Absolute leveraged its success as ‘Best Start Up Business’ at the Regional 373 Group Business Awards 2020, and developed the award entry that resulted in the business being named ‘Best Mental Health Service’ at Global Health and Pharma (GHP) Social Care Awards 2021.
We also ran successful social media campaigns, driving direct enquiries and helping Independent Living West Country fill positions to meet demand.
Through a bespoke multi-channel PR and marketing approach, Absolute successfully built awareness of Independent Living West Country, aiding staff recruitment and client growth, enabling the business to double its team and triple their number of clients in less than twelve months.