An online higher education powerhouse
UMass Lowell Increases Conversions while Driving Down Costs with Paid Digital Media Strategy
Scope
Overview
The University of Massachusetts at Lowell is a well-known university offering undergraduate and graduate degrees both in person and online. As a nationally ranked public research university with over 100 years of history in traditional in-person degrees, they came to Vital with a need to ensure their success for the next hundred years — and increasing enrollment in their online programs is a big part of that goal.
Goals:
- Attract more students likely to enroll in an online degree program
- Improve Google Search Ad campaign (PPC) performance
- Establish PPC strategy, reporting, and analytics to drive insights and continuous improvement
Challenges
Before working with Vital, UMass Lowell was unable to closely monitor the performance of their Google Search Ad campaigns and therefore had no way to measure or improve results.
Additionally, keywords for online degree programs are incredibly expensive; some paid clicks cost almost $200 (and that’s before the conversion). Each year, more universities enter the online degree world, which drives up an already expensive cost per click. Navigating this environment requires a nimble strategy to drive down cost per lead while standing out amid a saturated market.
Vital’s Strategic Approach
Our team of higher education PPC experts took a comprehensive approach to addressing the client’s challenges.
Geotargeting
We analyzed UMass Lowell’s geographic data and pulled out of states with no traction. Then, we reallocated that spend to better-performing New England states, which drove a higher click-through rate, and ultimately, achieved a much lower cost per lead. Geographic areas with higher brand recognition result in higher click-through rates and conversion rates, the need for more brand recognition advertising was outlined for target states that had poor performance.
Bid adjustments
We consistently measured keyword performance across mobile and web, then applied bid modifiers so ads showed more frequently on the best-performing device.
Custom intent audience targeting
Google analyzes the pages Chromes users and assigns them to different in-market segments, determining which products or services they’re likely to purchase. We analyzed these insights to discover patterns in the in-market segments, then removed those segments less likely to convert in order to avoid applying budget to the wrong target audience.
Results
We’ve steadily decreased UMass Lowell’s cost per conversion on the same set of keywords over time, despite the rising competition for those same keywords.
Vital achieved:
Spring Semester Campaigns YOY: 110% Increase in Conversions, 52% Decrease in Cost Per Conversions
Summer Semester Campaigns YOY: 41% Increase in Conversions, 28% Decrease in Cost Per Conversion
Fall Semester Campaigns YOY: 120% Increase in Conversions,
53% Decrease in Cost Per Conversion
In addition to better visibility and reporting, we’ve brought invaluable digital marketing strategy and knowledge to the table, using a combination of best practices while leveraging the latest technologies to produce consistent results.
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