How Taylor Swift and the NFL Can Help Your Police Recruiting!

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Anyone know what channel Taylor Swift is on this weekend?  Whether you loved seeing her in the luxury suites at Chiefs games or absolutely loathed it, despised it, and never want to see her there again, here’s what you can learn from Taylor Swift and the NFL to help your police recruiting....keep reading! 👀

Hey everyone, it’s Tom Sye your Police Marketing FTO and this week...just when you thought it was over and the Swifties meet football was out of your life, I’m bringing you right back in because there’s a really important lesson you can learn here. 👨‍🏫 

Even if you couldn’t care less about football or Taylor Swift for that matter, it was impossible not to see or hear about her attending football games, even the Super Bowl over the past few months.  Talk of it was literally everywhere. 🗣🎙🏈

Now...I personally loved the story and enjoyed seeing her and Travis Kelce falling in love week after week, but I get the sentiment of it was all staged and doesn’t belong on a sports broadcast too.  But whatever side of the story you’re on...you can’t argue with this... 👇

Apex Marketing, a renowned branding and consulting service estimates that the NFL gained an incredible 331 million dollars in brand value by having her at games.  NFL viewership amongst teenage girls is up 53% percent and women aged 18-24 is up 24% since her arrival.  This years Super Bowl, the one that showed her for a total of 58 seconds, became the most watched television event since the moon landing in 1969!  That’s a massive effect. 🤯

So...I know what you’re thinking...that’s great Tom...but what does this have to do with helping my police recruiting? I’m glad you asked...here’s how... 😎

To experience the growth the NFL did in the past few months, they had to do something different...they had to reach a new audience.  The same goes for your police recruiting!  You have to change things up and reach new people that you currently aren’t reaching. 👋

Just like how the NFL showing game after game after game didn’t do it...you showing recruiting videos with slow motion drone footage, swat teams, feel good community events, and all the other ‘cool’ things we think candidates are interested in, won’t do it either. 🤷‍♂️

For a lot of agencies...this is a hard concept to grasp...after all...we’re paramilitary, we’re super professional, there’s tradition, we’ve got to be the elite and the best of the best, and all the other things that are...quite frankly...holding you back. 🛑

If you want to be successful in recruiting like it’s 2024, you have to change things up, try new things out and go for it! 🚀

Here’s three areas, that won’t cost you anything but taking a chance, to help get you started. 🤞

1.  Try new platforms 

It seems like everyone has a Facebook page...maybe Instagram and perhaps an old X account from back when it was Twitter that you have long since abandoned.  👻🏙

Well, from LinkedIn to TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat and even Threads...there’s a whole new audience out there just waiting for you to discover them.  It doesn’t take dance routine videos, jumping on trends, or being funny to do it either...just use the same posts you’ve been using and see where it takes you. 🚢

Look, it’s not 2014 anymore...you’ve got to meet your applicants where they’re at and trust me...they’re on social media.  Try out a new platform or two and see what happens. 🗺

2.  Try new Verbiage

How’s all the ‘answer the call’, ‘join the elite’, and ‘come see if you have what it takes’ type posts working out for ya? 😳

Probably not very well, otherwise, you wouldn’t be here...and that’s ok. 🙏

If you want to reach a new audience, you have to talk to them differently.  Be more relatable, down to earth, and solve their problems in your captions.  Talk to them like a normal person...not a cop.  👨👩

Really want to get crazy in trying new things...throw some emoji’s in the caption...from sirens, police cars, rocket ships, whatever fits what you’re trying to say.  Just be careful not to overdo it...there is such a thing. 🚨🚔👮‍♂️👮‍♀‍🌟

3.  Try new formats

This may shock you...but you don’t have to put the same now hiring post out over and over and over again during your recruitment period.  In fact, you should never use the same design more than once a month or so and even then, it gets boring after a few months. 😴 

Don’t be afraid to change things up.  Try using different photos and designs.  Make a short video.  Make a long video.  Use a gif, a meme, or even throw a poll up on your feed.  There are so many things you can do to spice things up...some will work, some won’t...you just have to give them a try. 🌶  

OK, so where you at? 🤔

Ready to get out of here and give these suggestions a try or are you still a little skeptical because your audience, or staff, or whoever won’t like it?  Before you go, here’s the biggest lesson from Taylor Swift and the NFL. 👇

Despite all of the griping, complaints, ‘this is not football’ cries, and whatever else NFL fans came up with during the season of Swift...they didn’t go anywhere, and neither will your audience.  🤵👰

For every person who says the police department should be more serious, or strait laced or whatever comment they make, there are ten new people now checking you out because you’re finally reaching them. 👥👥👥👥👥

If you want more applicants, you need more people.  New people.  Now get out there and try some new things to find them. 🎣

Need more police recruiting and marketing tips like the ones you just read?

Check out my Road to Better Recruiting online super course and start winning with recruiting! www.forcopstraining.com/rtbr

Have questions about police recruiting, marketing or anything else you're struggling with? Don't hesitate to reach out...I’m always here to help. ⛑

Until next week my Police Marketing Squad, happy recruiting! 😃

Tom

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👋 I’m Tom Sye, your Police Marketing FTO. I founded ‘For Cops’ Training to teach Police Departments how to attract more qualified candidates through the same tried and tested methods I’ve used for the past ten years at my own department to keep up with turnover and stay ahead of vacancies.

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