Bringing Meaningful Care to Wisconsin
Situation
The Wisconsin Division of Care and Treatment Services (DCTS) faced more than 400 open clinical positions across its seven facilities and sought to recruit clinicians from out-of-state. A division of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, DCTS provides resources, such as mental health and substance use services, for individuals living with psychiatric disorders and intellectual disabilities. Its programs also support individuals in the criminal justice system and protect client rights for people receiving services for intellectual disabilities, mental health and substance use.
Opportunity
Previous recruitment efforts lacked a targeted approach to candidate profiles and did not sufficiently track campaign metrics. DCTS secured Kane to help; Kane created a targeted marketing campaign to attract talented healthcare professionals to Wisconsin and DCTS.
Action
First, Kane conducted research to craft a campaign that authentically reflected DCTS culture, included messaging that resonated with the target audience and effectively attracted qualified candidates. Kane partnered with DCTS to implement a digital recruitment campaign for three months to target nurses, social workers and psychologists in the following states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Kane’s paid media strategy included:
LinkedIn Advertising
Social Mirroring Ads (Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram Story)
Display Ads
Results
DCTS received 197 applications, 57 of whom were registered nurses.
Paid media efforts resulted in 2,832,422 impressions, 38,045 clicks and a click-through rate of 1.34% (19 times higher than the national average of 0.07%).
The campaign has received a 2025 Blue Pencil Award from the National Association of Government Communicators for excellence in government communications.