The Challenge
In 2006, San Jacinto College sought to increase class enrollment and leverage the web to connect with potential college students in the Houston area. San Jacinto partnered with Spur Digital to plan and manage a cost effective online recruitment campaign.
The Solution
Spur Digital set out to build brand awareness among target audiences with the specific objectives of generating leads from prospective students, which was measured by the number of completed contest registrants, expanding the San Jacinto College email marketing list, and developing insights that could be used to increase effectiveness of future campaigns.
Spur Digital planned and managed a cost effective online recruitment campaign. Duties included:
- Conducting media outlet research
- Designing new banner ads and dedicating emails to reach target audiences
- Executed online media buys
- Set up search engine marketing campaigns and served display ads on targeting sites
- Tracked and measured results from the campaign
- Optimized campaign by reallocating budget to top performing outlets
Campaign Overview
Spur Digital developed and managed an integrated 3-month online marketing campaign featuring an online contest that allowed potential students to enter to win 1 of 5 full tuition scholarships, while providing incentives to tell friends about the contest.
Spur Digital researched media outlets and developed an online media plan to reach target audiences that were residents of the greater Houston area and ages 18-35. Spur Digital also created designated landing pages on SanJac.com, designed new banner ads and dedicated emails to reach their target audiences.
Spur Digital executed online media buys, set up search engine marketing campaigns and served display ads on targeted sites. Processes were put in place to track and measure results from the campaign and provide graphical reports that showed reach, visits, registrations and viral email invitations.
Results
Spur Digital scored high marks as San Jac was able to achieve a very large regional reach and engage tens of thousands of prospective students at a very low cost. Key metrics over the 3 month campaign included:
- More than 20,000 visits to the campaign landing pages
- More than 1,680 contest entries
- A net cost per entry of less than $30
"We were extremely pleased with the success and cost effectiveness of Spur Digital’s campaign. Our results confirmed how powerful the web can be when combined with a well targeted and well executed strategy."
Terri Fowler, Vice President of Marketing