Fresh off a rebranding in May, job search company Workopolis is trying to gather support for a national Work From Home Day through its first large-scale Facebook initiative.
In May, Peter Harris, a content manager and one of Workopolis’ most active social media voices, kicked off the program by asking “Should there not be at least one day a year that you can work from home?” on the company’s Facebook page.
A poll was subsequently launched at Workopolis.com asking if visitors would support such a government-recognized holiday. Of the approximately 20,000 people who took part, the vast majority unsurprisingly said yes.
On June 15, a new “Work From Home Day” Facebook group was launched under the Workopolis brand. Visitors are asked to sign a French- or English-language petition the company plans to take to the federal government. The petition Facebook application was designed by digital agency 58Ninety.
To garner mass-media attention for the effort, online ads are being place through Olive Media. A print ad from agency of record Zulu Alpha Kilo ran in the Toronto Star on Canada Day and during the G20 summit in Toronto–a time when many who worked downtown probably wished they could work from home to avoid the ongoing demonstrations. (Torstar, which owns the Toronto Star, also has ownership stakes in Workopolis and Olive Media).
Facebook ads have so far created 6.4 million impressions, and the new Facebook page is earning an average of 3,400 views per week, according to Workopolis.
The campaign has no set closing date as the company plans to deliver its petition whenever it accumulates sufficient signatures.
Since launch, 3,700 people have clicked the group’s “like” button, and nearly 1,400 have signed the petition. Jennifer Posnikoff, group manager of marketing and communication, said the company is considering both “likes” and petition signatures equal in terms of assessing support.
“We want to get up to 100,000 people supporting the initiative with an overarching objective to [build] brand awareness and drive traffic to Workopolis.com,” Posnikoff said. That 100,000 number is a soft target, however, as the brand will proceed as soon as it feels it has sufficient support.
