Expanding Enrollment with Data-Driven Digital
Socrates once said: ‘Know Thyself’ — and for a community college looking for ways to connect with prospective students, it’s great advice.
The University of Hawaii community college system joined Interact’s Media Preferences Survey in 2012, seeking to identify the precise messages, media and platforms most effective in driving inquiry and enrollment. Seven years later, armed with more than a dozen semesters of collected data, it was time for the system to start turning prospects into college students.
Research
Paid Media in Paradise
An essential driver of opportunity and prosperity
in the state, the University of Hawaii Community Colleges enjoy a high-level of awareness among islanders. But with prospects getting younger and more web-savvy, it was important for the system to keep current with its evolving community.
Using data mined from seven years of Media Preference Survey results, Interact and the University of Hawaii Community Colleges hatched a digital marketing plan, including pay-per-click, YouTube, geofencing and social media — new territory for the system. The 11-month plan included more than 90 pieces of creative collateral, and sought to drive half a million total impressions, and between 25,000 and 30,000 completed video views per month.
Making Big Waves
The foray into digital marketing was a tremendous success, shattering expectations and industry standards on the way to 460,000+ impressions and 230,487 completed video views.
Among other benchmarks, the 11-month campaign notched a staggering 50 percent (as in: Hawaii five-oh!) completion rate on YouTube videos — compared to the industry average of 15 percent. The campaign also drove 20,687 website visits, for an average cost of $0.76 per visit — less than a quarter of the national average.
With the first successful year in the books, the University of Hawaii community colleges have embarked on a new era of digital-savvy enrollment marketing, and Interact is proud to be along for the ride.
Interact & Hawaii’s Community Colleges @ Work
- Research: Aggregated 13 semesters of media preferences data through seven years of work with the client, through the Interact Media Preferences Survey.
- Creative: Delivered a fast, focused creative campaign, including 90 total digital and video pieces.
- Social Media: Partnered with ReachLocal to plan a multi-platform digital campaign, leveraging YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook to exceed campaign goals.
