CASE STUDY

iup

ITERATIVE TESTING AND OPTIMIZATION MAXIMIZES ROI FOR INDIANA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a public school north of Pittsburgh, was seeking to generate more in-state students for specific programs and overall.

751%

Projected increase in revenue generated from online advertising​

100%

Increase in SEM clickthrough rates​

59%

Increase Lift in conversions​

CHALLENGE

​IUP needed a digital marketing strategy to push the message that an IUP education enables professional success. The school’s target audience was broad; traditional university-bound students who just completed, or are about to complete, high school. To differentiate from other state schools, IUP required a clear communication of their unique benefits in direct-response ads and landing pages designed for those making the college decision. We implemented a strategy of continuous iterative testing on various channels to find the most effective means of communicating to potential IUP students.​

STRATEGY

​Several underlying factors contributed to the success of this initiative:​

​Social message testing.​

​Capitalizing on the change in the Facebook algorithm that puts an emphasis on engagement, we developed creative advertising that sparks a conversation. Directing potential students to a campus visit and messaging about scholarships proved effective in generating inquiries and increasing relevancy in the Facebook Newsfeed. We duplicated successful campaigns for Instagram, seeing increases in the primarily image-driven platform.​

Search copy and targeting experiments. ​

​Iterative testing yielded a formula that generated an 11.5% lift. Using this successful strategy across other ad groups enabled a 100% increase in clickthrough rate over a six-month period. ​

​Landing page optimization. ​

Iterative testing has enabled us to measure multiple variables of each landing page individually for continuous improvement. Eliminating steps and minimizing private information collection in the form generated 59% lift in conversion over an otherwise identical landing page. Other tests have included hero images and calls to action. ​​

VIEW THE WORK

RESULTS

​Based on our campaign results, the revenue generated from online advertising is projected to increase by 751%. Through continuous optimization of the entire customer journey, we have helped potential students take the first steps in selecting IUP for their education while maximizing ROI for our client. Our average costs in the campaign are far lower than industry benchmarks for the following metrics: cost per click by $1.35, form fill cost by $44, and form and phone inquiry by $28.​