Literacy Basics - Employment Ontario

A New Marketing Environment

As we begin an exploration of the Employment Ontario environment, it is only a matter of time before reflections on our own place within this varied collection of programs and services becomes apparent. While literacy agencies in Ontario have years of practice, experience and success to bring to Employment Ontario, we may be encountering different services we have never partnered with before; some of them in turn may never have worked with a literacy agency or understand the basic foundation that literacy skills provide to those seeking employment. As well, many clients who are accessing the services within Employment Ontario may not make the link between our literacy agencies and employment and training. How do we bridge these gaps in understanding? The answer, of course, is marketing. Effective marketing can strengthen our role as effective and necessary partners in client success. Effective marketing also educates our communities both about our programs and services generally, and that we are an important part of the Employment Ontario delivery network.

If you have scrolled through CLO's Literacy Basics Marketing module, or if you have read CLO's Marketing Ourselves: A Resource Guide for Ontario's Community Literacy Agencies, you will know that marketing is much more than just advertising. Good marketing effectively tells our target markets who we are and what services we have for them in ways that are accessible and engaging. In this section of the training module we will be highlighting some marketing tools and approaches that will work especially well within Employment Ontario.

Entrepreneurs starting new businesses are always encouraged to analyse the marketing environment. Essentially, this is the world in which entrepreneurs and their new businesses are going to participate. Although literacy agencies are not entrepreneurs, nor are we starting a new business, the same principle applies to our participation in Employment Ontario. Our first step is to understand what is different about the Employment Ontario environment and how that difference will affect our overall marketing and outreach.

As you can see from the diagram, the whole literacy marketing environment (the larger circle) includes both the broader community (other social service agencies, community groups, service clubs, etc.) as well the Employment Ontario environment. For example, some literacy agencies, in addition to delivering Literacy and Basics Skills programming, also offer additional programming such as family literacy programs, homework clubs and programs with local elementary and secondary schools. All of these programs require intensive marketing. As well, literacy agencies, typically engage in marketing with the broader community (for example, making presentations about literacy issues to service clubs and local schools, holding literacy events, and participating in community events and fairs).

Within Employment Ontario (the smaller circle) literacy agencies will be marketing both to adults who would benefit from the Literacy and Basic Skills program and to other programs and services in the Employment Ontario service delivery network.

So when we speak about a new marketing environment in Employment Ontario, we are focusing on the smaller circle (marketing within Employment Ontario) which is the focus of this section. However, it is important to remember that the broader community (the large circle; or the whole literacy marketing environment) is still a critical part of marketing for literacy agencies.

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