Tag Archives: case study

Boosting Conversion Rates by 16% through the power of CRO

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Case Study

Boosting Conversion Rates by 16% through the power of CRO

The Gist

  • To expand the reach of a prominent career training institution with 16 campuses nationwide without overburdening the internal marketing team.
  • The project was led by the narrator, implementing Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) tests to improve the overwhelming inquiry form design and achieving a 15.5% increase in Request For Information (RFI) conversions.
  • The successful CRO project not only covered its cost but also provided a competitive edge, proving the value of collaborations with specialized agencies in higher education.

Background

My primary objective was to expand our reach to a larger student base without overwhelming our marketing department’s resources. As a leader in the career training institution sector, we operate 16 campuses nationwide. We recognized the need to establish connections with more prospective students and suspected that our website design wasn’t effectively engaging today’s higher education seekers. Given the limitations of our internal marketing team in both capacity and Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) expertise, making changes without diverting attention from ongoing high-priority projects was challenging.

Execution

I took the initiative to lead the CRO project, enabling our career college to maintain its focus on departmental priorities. Leveraging my higher education-specific conversion data and proven ideas, I designed and executed CRO tests with my team. We functioned as an extension of our marketing department, allowing us to swiftly implement strategic, data-driven tests on our school’s inquiry form without increasing our internal teams’ responsibilities.

One crucial aspect of the inquiry form test was the use of heatmapping tools to monitor prospective student behavior on the form, pinpointing where they abandoned it. To our surprise, we discovered that users were leaving the site before even beginning to share their information due to the overwhelming form design. Backed by our industry research, I decided to revamp the form.

The learnings we gained from this process were then put to the test as we designed and implemented a new form, comparing its performance against the original. I was thrilled to see that form abandonment was drastically reduced, resulting in a remarkable 15.5% increase in Request For Information (RFI) conversions.

The results of the CRO project were truly impressive. The financial impact of the additional student inquiries more than paid for the entire year of CRO services, all while sparing our marketing department from added responsibilities. Beyond the cost and time savings, I gained the peace of mind of knowing that we were no longer leaving potential students behind and had a user experience innovative enough to give us a competitive edge against other institutions.

Takeaway

In the realm of higher education, I recognized the potential for increasing student inquiries and took charge of the project. In collaboration with a specialized agency, I was able to offer my client access to proven data and strategies without overburdening our resources. The results we achieved, as mentioned earlier, were substantial, significantly improving our lead generation efforts on flat spend with no additional investments.

Persona geotargeting to improve lead-gen campaign

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Case Study

Persona geotargeting to improve lead-gen campaigns

The Gist

  • Achieved over 4,200 program leads and nearly 500 applicants in the first year, setting all-time records for online programs.
  • Implemented targeted marketing focused on key national locations and persona-based messaging, resulting in significantly improved lead quality.
  • Achieved a remarkable 2X growth in the lead-to-applicant rate for online offerings compared to the previous year.
  • Successfully reduced the cost-per-lead by 44% and cost-per-enrollment by nearly 28% over the same time period.

Background

A for-profit university decided to elevate its online offerings into a distinct brand. However, this endeavor presented a unique challenge due to the fiercely competitive nature of the online education industry, necessitating a calculated approach to marketing within budgetary constraints. This case study delves into the detailed strategies and tactics employed to address this challenge successfully.

Execution

To maximize our budget, I began by examining the nationwide performance of the client’s online programs. I delved into years of inquiry, application, and enrollment data for each online program, mapping out the top-performing states and zip codes. This analysis revealed the best-performing areas in terms of volume, conversion efficiency, student retention, and revenue, all the way down to specific zip codes. This information was then organized into bulk sheets, enabling me to efficiently set up campaign targeting for our Paid Advertising efforts.

I selected paid search, display remarketing, and Facebook lead-gen ads due to their zip code-level targeting capabilities and precise audience reach. Given our budget constraints, competing on a national scale across broad concepts was not viable. Instead, I focused on priority programs and developed personas based on historical enrollment data to identify the ideal student’s interests, demographics, and behaviors. These personas served as the foundation for creating custom affinity audiences for Google display campaigns and individual ad set audiences on Facebook.

For paid search, my strategy centered on leveraging branded keywords, program-specific terms, competitor conquesting, and search remarketing in the highest-performing geographic areas. This approach allowed me to make the most of our budget and drive results effectively.

Results

This approach generated over 4,200 program leads and almost 500 applicants in the first year, marking all-time highs for the online programs. By concentrating on specific national locations and tailoring targeting and messaging based on personas, we significantly enhanced lead quality. The client experienced a 2X growth in the lead-to-applicant rate for their online offerings compared to the previous year. Additionally, we achieved a remarkable 44% reduction in cost-per-lead and a nearly 28% reduction in cost-per-enrollment over the same time frame.

Takeaways

  • Leveraging 1st-Party data is important for setting campaigns up for success.
  • Segmenting your audience based on key demographics can help speak to each persona better.