THE CLIENT
An in-person and online school offering software engineering and design classes to help students launch a technology-focused career.
THE CHALLENGE
Statwax was already executing a successful paid search campaign with some minor Facebook ad efforts for the client, generating quality student leads and helping drive down cost-per-enrollment. But with an increasingly crowded search space as more schools moved to promote online learning, the Statwax team knew that a more aggressive Facebook and Instagram strategy could help supplement efforts and grow volume. The client wanted a full-funnel approach on the social media channels, with a set of campaigns that could find new prospects, nurture interest, and provide conversion opportunities all from various ad formats.
THE STRATEGY
We planned a strategy to focus on specific audience traits including demographics, interests, and behaviors to deliver key message points, from awareness to conversion. Statwax mapped an approach that utilized a variety of Facebook advertising formats designed to engage users at every stage of the client’s normal prospective student research journey.
Using this roadmap, Statwax deployed campaigns specifically designed with each journey point in mind, utilizing ad formats best suited to them:
- Awareness-building leveraged audience targeting based on prior education experience as well as key interests. Lookalike audiences were created from the client’s past student database, and carousel ads were deployed to highlight multiple program offerings, outcomes, and selling points of the school.
- Remarketing campaigns helped nurture the awareness of anyone visiting the client’s website. Long-term and short-term nurturing audiences were built based on recency of the site visit, with unique ad messaging focusing on longer-term pain points versus short-term urgency.
- Lead-gen ads helped convert high-intent prospects without relying on a landing page visit. Statwax integrated Facebook lead forms with the client’s CRM system, ensuring that leads coming from the ads were seamlessly added into the client’s workflows and pipeline. Lead gen ads focused on the top-performing audiences from the higher-funnel efforts, as well as remarketing audiences.
With a full-funnel digital strategy in place, Statwax turned to the client’s business data to show proof the strategies were working. Automation was created between the client’s CRM system and Facebook’s ad platform. As student leads moved downstream toward enrollment, Facebook reporting was updated with new conversion data to show the true eventual enrollment impact of all campaigns. With this deeper level of insight in place, optimizations could be made based on eventual students and not just lead volume.
THE TAKEAWAY
The best-performing digital strategies can still have a shelf life if new tactics aren’t brought into the mix. But implementing a new digital channel requires careful planning and understanding – of who you want to reach, what you want them to do, and what nurturing is necessary before someone will take a life-changing step.
Statwax was able to use their client’s own business data to better understand the prospective student journey, mapping out an ideal campaign structure before a single penny had been spent. And by continuing to leverage business intelligence and pair it with marketing decisions, the team ensured the ads were reaching new users and generating fresh awareness without losing sight of the ultimate goal of cost-efficient enrollments.
Interested in increasing student lead quality and generating more enrollments from new digital strategies? Let’s start a conversation.
