Our client, an independent preparatory school, reached out for assistance in boosting their applications and admissions response. Their goal was as much a matter of generating quality leads as it was quantity. 

This case study tracks our process from integrating client values into our strategy to implementing practical steps toward our client’s goal.

Project

It is elementary knowledge that the formative years between Kindergarten and Grade 5 have as much to do with social development as they do education. A pillar of our client’s value structure is social aptitude, with the goal that students not only advance through an academic curriculum, but develop confidence in their own character and identity. We consider our client’s values to be an essential component in planning a campaign strategy. Working with the client, we identified an approach that would serve their overall dedication to students’ social development. We presented a plan to cultivate applicants from diverse communities and with unique experiences.

Execution

Our advertising process always begins with goals. We work our way from organizational goals all the way down to advertising and ad set goals, ensuring that our creative decisions are motivated by overarching organizational objectives. Once defined, we identify ideal audiences, taking previous advertising results and environmental factors into account. Those audiences are run through our in-house estimation software, Roadmap, to determine the most effective programmatic advertising strategy.

Having created a conceptual strategy in line with our client’s values, we moved on to its actionable components. We established a timeline for two distinct campaigns corresponding to existing phases of academic enrollment. These were an Open House Campaign and an Admissions Campaign. The direct goal of each campaign was to increase turnout or leads from target demographics at either stage. 

We then launched a series of ad sets and ads across multiple channels, with social media and Google Search receiving the majority of the ad spent. Each item received a specific budgetary allocation and project rationale related to target demographics and overall priority. These metrics are pre-determined in Roadmap simulations.

Our Open House ads were uniquely designed to effortlessly capture leads. We developed a custom landing page that allowed users to easily add the Open House to their calendar - after providing their name and email. This information allowed Admissions staff to quickly follow-up with potential leads and was a far reduced barrier to entry that a traditional "How to Apply" page.

The second phase, the Admissions Campaign, included actionable steps to convert leads. Having generated user interest, we tied value propositions to clear calls to action. Distinct landing pages and targeted emails finalized steps for admission.

Overall, the dual-part campaign proved successful in ensuring that the client was optimally prepared to reach their applications and admissions goals. Ultimately, we empowered our client to reach their target audience, with a direct impact on student enrichment.