Through its more than 30-year history, Dice has evolved from a tech job board to a true career marketplace, with a vision to be the single most important platform for every tech professional throughout their career. It is a place where they can find their next (and every subsequent next) tech job; but more than that, it’s where tech professionals build the career they want and deserve.
Dice’s challenge has been in attracting the newest generation of tech talent to become aware of the platform, learn more about it, and begin to use Dice as a career-building tool. The objective of the Keys to Tech campaign was to engage these audiences, specifically what the organization terms the “Go-Getter” persona. “Go-Getters” have 0-3 years of experience in tech, a growing skill base and willingness to learn, and a vested interest in finding the first tech jobs that will launch great careers. While they have been the most difficult to attract to the platform, they also represent the greatest opportunity for long-term relationships, loyalty and growth.
The goals of the integrated Keys to Tech campaign were:
Increase engagement with Go Getter tech professionals in a more relevant way than ever before.
Increase aided awareness, consideration and usage via Dice’s brand health tracker.
Achieve the above results given an intentionally modest production budget.
Technology professionals speak a different language — literally. From Python to SQL, C++ to JavaScript, the tech world is filled with people who speak in…code. It was critically important in the Keys to Tech campaign that we speak authentically to this audience who consider themselves unique in the marketplace because of the higher skills required to do their jobs.
Dice Benefits
-100% tech-focused, with more active tech professionals than any other platform
-Offers tech professionals:
The ability to showcase their specific tech skills / experience
The most tech-specific opportunities
Easy ways to search and sort roles that best match their skills
A breadth of tools and resources to help them progress in their careers
We focused our campaign on these benefits to clearly communicate what sets us apart from generalist job sites like LinkedIn and Indeed. Dice is Where Tech Connects®, and that drove the idea behind using computer keyboard keys as center of this campaign. We spoke to tech professionals in an authentic way using visual cues that emphasized Dice’s singular focus on tech (versus other career marketplaces) and, based on our research of what resonates with tech professionals, we used a humorous tone to help Dice stand out.
The computer keyboard is not only a tool that every tech professional relies upon but is also something that’s a point of pride for so many in tech (seriously!). They make them their own with custom configurations, another reflection of the uniqueness that many bring to the table and show in their work.
Using “command”, “delete”, “fn” and other keyboard keys as language components, each ad in the Keys to Tech campaign zeroed in on a specific benefit in a humorous, direct and often edgy way. Who can resist an ad that touts “The best “fn” jobs in tech,” highlighting the quantity and quality of jobs available on Dice? Nobody.
Another example invited “Go-Getters” to “Shift” your tech career into high gear by joining nearly 5 million technologists on Dice. Each execution used a visual of a designated keyboard key as the copy was revealed, as if being typed. Details were critically important for authenticity, including using a mix of different keys common to a PC keyboard given more programming is done on PCs vs Macs.
The campaign was primarily delivered through digital ads and paid social (LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram) that all drove to a landing page on Dice’s website with the proposition to “esc your dead-end tech job.” Additionally, our highly effective micro-influencer campaign partnered with career motivators on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok who are actively inspiring their communities to advance their careers and #LevelUpWithDice. They shared #WhereTechConnects messaging, including “Where tech connects you with a career that matters.”
Both the digital and micro-influencer campaigns ran in multiple phases throughout 2022. Whether agency-created ads or influencer-directed messaging, every component of this campaign tied back to the key strategic pillar for Dice being the #1 technology career marketplace and the place Where Tech Connects®.
The impact of this campaign was immediate and significant at levels not seen before. Key success metrics:
Overall
+3% new unique visitors
Surpassed 5M registered technologists
Over 440K job listings from participating companies
Digital campaign results:
134,658,796 total impressions
92% video completion rate (vs. 80% industry average)
Increase with Go Getters (1-3 years tech experience)
+35% in consideration (top 2 box)
+100% in usage (site registration)
Influencer Campaign:
Over 6.1M impressions (+436% vs. goal)
30.1% engagement rate (+624% vs. goal)
Delivered over 100,000 visits to Dice.Com.
+15% social followers on Instagram
Anecdotally, we also significantly increased positive sentiment based on comments related to Influencer contents including:
“Saving this in my job hunt folder”
“Just signed up and started applying on Dice.com”
“I love Dice, stumbled on their job board and love it”
