Challenge

The university was struggling to generate qualified leads while maintaining a sustainable CPL. With high competition in the education sector, their existing campaigns lacked precise targeting, and inefficient spend resulted in CPLs exceeding $130. A more data-driven, multi-channel approach was needed to improve lead quality and increase enrollments.

Solution

Starting with Search (Google & Bing) and Display on a limited budget, I worked alongside a cross-functional media team to build an optimized foundation that quickly proved successful. As performance data validated early wins, additional schools within the university onboarded, allowing us to scale media efforts across multiple channels:

✅ Search (Google & Bing) – Keyword-driven targeting for high-intent prospects
✅ Display (GDN & Programmatic) – Broad awareness & retargeting strategies
✅ Social (Meta & LinkedIn) – Interest, in-market, and career-based audience targeting
✅ Cross-Channel Remarketing – Nurturing potential students at every stage of the funnel

Through data-driven audience segmentation—tailoring campaigns to interests, demographics, education level, and career advancement signals—campaigns became highly efficient.

Result

📊 Impact Over the Last Year:

• 800% increase in lead volume (not including assisted leads)

• CPL reduced from $130+ to under $50 across all schools

• Expanded enrollment pipeline across multiple programs

For example, in the MBA program, campaigns used:
🎯 Search – MBA-related keywords across all search campaign types
📢 Display – In-market audiences for graduate-level education
👥 Social – A mix of interest, in-market, and career-based targeting