Expanding Awareness Marketing
Growing a Geographic Footprint in a Crowded Marketplace
The university is an independent school with four campuses and one dedicated to nursing & health sciences, business, arts & sciences, and public services. The university offers online courses as well as a hybrid on-campus and online format to students. The school is recognized as a military-friendly top school and the graduate business and education programs are ranked among the best online options by the U.S. News & World Report. EDDY is a trusted higher education partner of the online University.
For over 5 years, EDDY’s team of marketing and enrollment experts has helped the school successfully grow its brand and program enrollments through paid digital, SEO, and organic social media.
EDDY’s approach to expanding the awareness of the online university immediately impacted the school’s reach. Over time, the strategy has established the school as a high-quality, low cost alternative to more prospective students across a wider geographic area. The result? A 25% increase in enrollments at a much lower cost per start.
- 16% Increase in site traffic within first month
- 20% increase of combined inquiries in first year
- 25% increase in Year-over-Year enrollments
The Challenge
As online education grew in popularity and competition for online students intensified in the northeast region, the online university wanted to ensure their low-cost enrollment and online programs stood out. The school needed to grow its online presence to successfully compete in the distance learning landscape. To be a part of the consideration mix, the school knew that it needed to increase awareness for their online education programs. To successfully compete in the competitive online landscape, the university needed advice on how it could expand its online programs to target a wider population.
The Objectives
- Grow awareness of the university and establish the school’s brand among the wider population
- Expand geographic footprint outside of 30-mile radius beyond the university campus
- Increase overall enrollment for online programs
The Solution
The online university leaned on its long-term partnership with EDDY to resolve its challenge. EDDY proposed and launched a geographically expanded awareness campaign. EDDY’s team of higher education marketing experts applied first-party data, integrated into streaming OTT platforms, to create targeted audiences. Targeting efforts were primarily focused on supporting key audiences such as undergraduate, graduate, military, and nursing students. To further increase the university’s geographic footprint and grow online enrollment, EDDY’s marketing strategy focused on advanced targeting tactics, look-alike targeting, and competitive conquesting on streaming audio and OTT platforms, with placements within a 65-mile radius around the campus. Through this strategic approach, EDDY was able to tap into new markets, reach a wider audience, and introduce the university’s accelerated and low-cost online programs to high-quality, high-intent prospective students beyond their traditional geographic market.
The Results
EDDY’s approach to expanding the awareness of the online university immediately impacted the school’s reach. Over time, the strategy has established the school as a high quality, low cost alternative to more prospective students across a wider geographic area. The result? A 25% increase in enrollments at a much lower cost per start.
The EDDY Difference
Growing Enrollments. Improving Awareness
EDDY’s comprehensive understanding of online and non-traditional higher education marketing and ability to merge data and strategy on emerging platforms allowed the university to reach more prospective students further away from campus. No other marketing agency is able to provide the combination of data and technology to successfully gain results. EDDY’s incredible blend of first and third-party data, technological capabilities, and emerging platforms makes their team a valuable partner for any university.