Generally, information about the Army leaves a negative impression. But when people participate in the Army, they take away a positive impression of the experience. Our team participated in a 3-day mini Basic Training in Ft. Jackson, SC. Through that experience, we realized sharing information about careers in the Army isn’t the same as experiencing the benefits of Army training for ourselves. To truly connect with the target, need to move from the Information Age to the Participation Age to allow Prospects to sample the self-discipline and physical challenge they’d experience in the Army in a relatable and non-threatening way.

US Army Drill Sergeant Self forever changed the Montour Spartans from the inside out. And in just 10 weeks, Drill Sergeant Self got 3,000 others across the country to request his Physical Training Handbook at GoArmy.com. Over 1,650 of those were qualified leads. These leads proved 62% more likely to convert to contracts than leads generated in general at GoArmy.com. We effectively transformed an impression-based medium into a participation-based medium. This was the most successful response to an online recruiting offer the US Army has ever had.