The trades have an image problem.
Skilled Trades College is an Ontario education provider for careers in the skilled trades. But the trades are often seen as dangerous or unstable work. The goal was to raise awareness, shift that perception among young adults, and broaden the audience to include groups underrepresented in the trades, including women, so the trades read as a viable, rewarding career path.
The best proof is real people.
Instead of polished brand messaging, we saw the chance to let real students, instructors, and day-to-day moments do the talking, through people-first storytelling, backed by a consistent brand system and real-time community feedback.
Organic Social Strategy
Content Production
Community Management
Performance Optimization
Real people. One system. Always on.
We built a people-first organic social program for Skilled Trades College, pairing always-on content across Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook with a unified brand system and partnerships with CIBC and UFC.
Analyzed a core 18 to 34 audience and widened representation to reach women
Built a unified voice and scalable creative templates with internal design teams
Produced high-volume, authentic content with real students and instructors
Amplified reach through partnerships with CIBC and UFC, including spin-off campaigns
People-Led Storytelling
We produced high-volume, authentic content featuring real students, instructors, and day-to-day life at the college, always on across Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.
Results:
Structured Content System
A unified voice and visual system, with scalable creative templates built alongside the college's internal design teams, kept output high and the brand consistent.
Highlights:
Partnerships & Amplification
Strategic partnerships with CIBC and UFC pushed the content past the college's own audience, with spin-off campaigns built around each.
The result: +15K followers in one year, a 1,876% jump year over year.
44%
increase in engagement (13K total)
150%
increase in impressions (17.5M total)
1,876%
follower growth (+15K followers), year over year
452%
increase in average video views (5.4K per video)
440K
organic impressions on one viral post
1,700+
organic engagements on that same post
01
Real people beat polish
Authentic content with real students and instructors lifted average video views 452%, to 5.4K per video.
02
A system makes volume possible
Scalable templates built with internal design teams kept high-volume output consistent while impressions grew 150% to 17.5M.
03
Community shapes the content
Real-time engagement showed us what to make next, and total engagements climbed 44% to 13K.
04
Partners widen the audience
Working with CIBC and UFC took the story beyond the college's core audience, and one viral post alone earned 440K organic impressions.
