The Royal Navy has spent more than £123,000 on third-party independent content creators since July 2024 as part of efforts to reach new audiences, improve perceptions of the service and support recruitment, the Ministry of Defence has said.
The figure was disclosed by Veterans and People Minister Calvin Bailey in response to a written parliamentary question from Conservative MP Charlie Dewhirst, who asked how much the MOD had spent on social media influencers since July 2024.
Bailey said: “Since July 2024, the Ministry of Defence has spent £123,173 on third-party independent content creators. This figure includes all costs, such as agency fees.”
The minister confirmed that the expenditure related entirely to the Royal Navy rather than campaigns conducted by the Army, Royal Air Force or the wider department.
The MOD also sees social media campaigns as having a role beyond attracting new personnel. According to the answer, direct communications can support retention by reaching people around serving personnel as well as those considering joining. Bailey added: “Direct messaging also supports retention by recognising the influence of families, friends and veterans.”
The Royal Navy’s recruitment and attraction team is responsible for leading recruitment activity, with communications personnel supporting campaigns intended to shape awareness and perceptions of the Naval Service among selected audiences.
The use of independent creators is becoming common and reflects the increasing importance of social media in Armed Forces recruitment, particularly when attempting to reach younger audiences who may be less likely to encounter conventional advertising or traditional military recruitment material. The MOD said campaigns involving creators are subject to the same requirement for planning and evaluation as other communications spending.
The £123,173 figure represents spending specifically on third-party independent content creators used by the Royal Navy rather than the MOD’s wider expenditure on social media advertising, communications or recruitment campaigns.
Not a lot of point to any of this really – the legacy political parties have decimated the Royal Navy – the Labour Party since taking office have decommissioned about ten major Royal Navy/RFA assets and replaced them with the grand total of zero – the U.K was a laughing stock when we couldn’t deploy a single ship to Cyprus to protect British military personnel and our interests – it was embarrassing and pathetic and it’s all down to the legacy political parties.
Labour haven’t yet finished destroying the British military with their horrendous underfunding and cuts there is more destruction to come.
Well that was a nice little story…
Glad you liked it little one
The money should be used to support localised recruitment – nothing works better than a faceless social media post or 2.
Utter waste of money. Instead focus on funding the military properly so it can look after its people better and also Recruiting from the Sea Cadets.