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Building a Digital Marketing Strategy
For a New, Niche Program
Michel Frendian and Jay Kelly
About Michel & Jay
Michel Frendian: Erikson Institute is the nation’s only independent institution of higher education committed to ensuring that all children have equitable opportunities to realize their potential. We prepare child development, education, and social work leaders to improve the lives of children and their families.
Jay Kelly: Converge is a full-service digital agency for education. We are distinct in our ability to develop sound strategy and translate it into enrollment campaigns that deliver ROI in a crowded marketplace.
Overview
Our Story: Erikson & Converge
Finding the Right Fit Students
Building Brand Awareness
Measuring & Sustaining Budget
Getting Buy-In for Ongoing Efforts
OUR STORY: ERIKSON + CONVERGE
History
2014
Erikson Institute brings a new Master of Social Work program to market
Converge + Erikson launch digital advertising strategy to support enrollment
2016 Analysis of data from advertising informs ongoing digital recruitment strategy
2017 Enrollment goals exceeded by 40% with 15% of class from digital
Target Audience Research
ENROLLMENT PROJECTIONS: Start with 15 in entering cohort and increase entering student cohort by 5 each year until year 5, then ramp up IPEDS
Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE)
Council on Social Work Education (CSWE)
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
Faculty concerns
DEMOGRAPHICS Improve upon diversity of previous dual degree program
Desire to enroll students with supervised experience
Digital Enrollment Journey
BUILDING BRAND AWARENESS
Hyper-Competitive Market: Chicago
Niche Audiences & Target Messaging
Developing Your Digital Strategy
Build a media mix that includes brand awareness, lead generation and remarketing elements
Develop social media audiences with relevant educational and professional backgrounds
Determine keywords for your program and target via Search Engine Marketing
Measuring & Sustaining Your Budget
Develop a startup budget (plan ahead and make the case financially for this kind of investment)
# Desired Students from Digital Advertising Lead-to-Enrollment Rate
=
# Leads Required to Meet Goal
X
$150-300 CPL
=
Recommended Budget
Search 55%
Remarketing 10%
Social 30%
Display 5%
Percentage of Digital Ad Spend
Facebook Advertising
Target ads to your target audience based on key demographic and behavioral characteristics:
Age
Education level
Field of study
School
Job Title
Industry
Employer
Interests
Facebook Messenger Ads
Reach engage prospects via email list targeting or remarketing with an opportunity to chat directly
Ad Clicks open chat with Institution page
Institution only notified if Facebook user responds
LinkedIn Advertising
Serve ads to LinkedIn users via demographic, educational and professional background
Search and Remarketing
Identify keywords related to your program, serve highly tailored ads based on theme:
‘Master of Social Work’ ‘MSW Programs’ ‘School of Social Work’ ‘Become a Social Worker’
Leverage remarketing to
keep top-of-mind awareness and provide opportunity for conversion
Gmail Advertising
Targeting users based on publications they follow (keyword in inbox)
ymcachicago.org
teachforamerica.org
inccrra.org
Event Ads, Facebook Messenger Ads
Target email and remarketing list with middle-of-funnel CTA, such as event sign-ups
Landing Pages
Where the conversion takes place!
Conversion-centric design with good balance of information
Constant A/B testing to optimize conversion
Communications Workflow
Mix of communication channels:
Phone calls – admission team coordinator (at inquiry)
Mail/print
Email drip campaigns
Text messaging (purely transactional)
Phone calls - faculty program director (once an application has been started)
Direct Outreach
Local organizations and social service agencies
Idealist.org graduate school fairs
Targeted college/university graduate school fairs with compatible profile of academic offerings
Social work/social service focused professional conferences
City Year and Teach For America
RESULTS & LESSONS LEARNED
Results
Class profile
52% students of color
Average 3.75 years of professional experience
Average age = 31.5
73% Illinois residents
ROI of digital spend from the program
3.53 ‘Short Term’ ROI on Ad Spend ($512k - $113k / $113k)
Look inside consumer behavior
Lessons Learned
Examine and understand the functionalities of existing applications, software, communication touch-points (UTM parameters)
Have a robust creative library - do your homework on the types of collateral you’re going to need!
Educate yourself as much as possible - AMA webinars and trainings (focused, small bits) are a great way to become more familiar with the language and best practices
Lessons Learned
Arrive at consensus for balance between visibility and lead generation
Digital doesn’t replace events and personal outreach
Research events that social work (insert your own program) students are likely to attend
Engage your community of faculty and staff
