Website
built
We built a brand new website for their college in MODX.
Google
remarketing
We helped set up Google remarketing to target potential students and parents.
Course cost calculator
We created a calculator to work out the costs of studying for potential students.
Higher education
updates
We revamped the whole higher education section of the website.
Summer marketing campaign
Course awareness campaign across social platforms, search and display targeting students, parents and teachers.
UX audit and
new website
We carried out a UX review and then created a brand new mobile-first design for their existing data structure of categories and courses.
Dynamic
applications
We helped design, test and develop a more user-friendly application process.
Accessibility
audit
We completed and actioned points to improve accessibility across the website.
Brand
refresh
We updated the website to match their brand refresh.
The Problem
Achieve more full-time applications by showcasing why students should choose Eastleigh College
In the local area Eastleigh College competes with other colleges, vying for the preference of school leavers to apply for their further education courses. Following a period of reduced marketing presence Eastleigh College was suffering from a downturn in interest for its full-time courses and needed a quick to market advertising approach to win back favour.
With open days looming and key application deadlines on the horizon, Eastleigh College was looking for a digital marketing plan which would generate awareness, trigger open day registrations and most importantly encourage applications from within a tight catchment area.
With an under 18 target consumer, this activity needed to reach adult-influencers (parents and teachers) as well as the students themselves.
The Solution
Generating awareness and harvesting interest in equal measure
Eastleigh College’s positioning in the market is all about the courses it offers students - they are the stepping stone into employment, connecting students to local employers and aligning practical skills to industry standards via its facilities and teaching staff. In any awareness driving activity this had to be at the heart of the execution.
Awareness activity for students and parents predominantly lived on Facebook and Instagram due to their targeting capabilities and creative options. We experimented with creative - editing imagery to suit placement norms and to meet the expectations of a digitally-native demographic. Instagram stories for example are more fun, raw and playful in their execution, whilst canvas ads offer the chance to condense a lot of website content into a continuous scrolling in-app experience.
Teachers were targeted via LinkedIn, with ads asking them to share the open event dates with their students and offering reasons why they should recommend Eastleigh College.
Overall, a combination of ads across social, display, search and Spotify advertising aimed to flood the local community with informative, inspiring messages about Eastleigh College whether it was to rally support or trigger application interest.
For those that showed interest by engaging with ads, browsing the website or registering for an open day, we initiated remarketing activity to reinforce the benefits of attending Eastleigh College and navigate the user to the apply form.
The Results
Coming top of the class
Our three main aims were to get maximum local reach for the lowest cost, increase the number of course page views and generate open evening registrations.
We concluded that at the end of this campaign every local 16-17 year old student should have seen/heard an Eastleigh College ad at least once.
To cover the variety of courses on offer, and to inspire the next generation, we were also responsible for creating and promoting over 160 different ads during the 18 week campaign period.
