Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
E-Verify Marketing and Advertising Campaign
Services
Industry
E-Verify Marketing and Advertising Campaign
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) selected Sensis to lead the national Marketing and Advertising Campaign (MAC) for E-Verify. This federal program helps employers confirm the employment eligibility of newly hired workers. Sensis was tasked with increasing awareness, enrollment, and voluntary participation while strengthening confidence in a legal, transparent, and efficient hiring process supporting the administration’s commitment to lawful employment and workforce integrity.
Goals and Objectives
- Increase awareness and voluntary use of E-Verify among employers, striking a balance between productivity and compliance obligations.
- Communicate the benefits of E-Verify as a tool for protecting U.S. jobs and upholding immigration laws.
Challenges
- Many employers viewed E-Verify as complicated or time-consuming, deterring voluntary enrollment.
- Some employers and worker groups associated E-Verify with immigration enforcement rather than workforce protection.
- Messaging had to reach both large corporations and small businesses, as well as industry associations, contractors, and HR decision-makers across diverse regions.
- E-Verify had minimal digital presence compared to private employment-verification tools, requiring aggressive awareness-building across multiple platforms.
How We Did It
Sensis worked with the DHS Verification Division to clarify objectives, define KPIs, and identify priority employer audiences using labor data and market analysis. We developed two integrated campaigns, one focused on HR professionals and business leaders, and another on trade groups, associations, and contractors.
Creative emphasized ease of use and compliance confidence, while our earned and social outreach expanded reach through 80+ Chambers of Commerce, media partnerships, and stakeholder engagement. All content highlighted E-Verify’s role in maintaining a fair, legal hiring process.
Results
- +42% increase in employer registrations within six months of campaign launch.
- Generated 38 million digital impressions and 240,000+ website visits to E-Verify.gov.
- Improved search visibility by 60%, making E-Verify.gov a top-ranked result for “employment eligibility” and “new hire verification.”
- Social campaign achieved an average engagement rate of 5.3%, exceeding federal benchmark averages by over 2x.
- Earned media coverage in national outlets such as USA Today and Business Insider, and regional business journals.
- Cost-per-click (CPC) reduced by 35% through continuous optimization and analytics-driven budget management.