Group Effort with Gusto: First-Ever Statewide Campaign Builds “Big Futures”
Each year, about 278,000 students enroll in the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) 34-college system, fueling $20.5 billion in the state’s economy. Yet the disparate colleges, ranging from rural areas to metropolises, had difficulty coordinating and getting their message across.
The board started by investigating student demographics with Interact Communication’s unique Media Prefs research, where they discovered critical insights on how to reach their target audiences. That’s when they realized it was time to streamline and amplify their efforts in their very first statewide campaign.
To target prospective students who needed financial assistance the most, SBCTC enlisted Interact to help spread awareness of the colleges and services while driving lead generation.
With aligned messaging in a full creative suite and media buy, this combined effort is already creating a bigger profile and impact… including a staggering +3,222,700 impressions and 9,800+ clicks after just a few short weeks!
Ampfifying Awareness, Propelling Prospects – ASAP!
The monumental effort began with research, including 1000+ student survey responses from diverse demographics across the state who were similar
to the prospective students the colleges wanted to attract. The result was a new anthem: “Big Future, Small Price Tag.”
In just six weeks, a new SBCTC landing page and dynamic program sorter were built alongside creating and launching robust collaterals for Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, display, and radio.
This comprehensive strategy was aimed at 19- to 45-year-olds who made under a certain income and could benefit most from new grant assistance and financial aid services.
A launch guide with creative plug-and-play messaging and customizable templates were also shared. All 34 individual colleges became active participants in the coordinated campaign, capitalizing on the shared momentum to give enrollment a shot in the arm across the state.
“There’s never been a better time to bring the big picture into focus… Our grads are built for bigger futures, full of higher paychecks and next-level opportunities.”
One Landing Page to Connect Them All
The campaign’s core is a bold, dynamic landing page that showcases program options and college services, inspiring future students to apply.
Though each of the 34 colleges has different offerings and terminology, the team helped organize information across institutions so that students could easily target their interests and quickly connect with their local colleges.
Big Messaging, Bold Futures
The campaign took a confident multiplatform approach, including digital marketing with over-the-top streaming, retargeting, geofencing, and microtargeting based on demographics and interests.
As part of the larger project, Interact also helped align messaging between the colleges for Adult Basic Education and created a toolkit and comprehensive messaging system to promote displaced worker resources. The extensive strategy helped capture unemployed and underemployed adults, focusing on underrepresented populations.
Bigger Profiles, Boosting Enrollment
At the end of the campaign (9 months), the campaigns warranted over 35 million impressions and, more importantly, 215,432 website visits of which 163,167 can be attributed to digital campaigns (76% of web traffic). Not only were the web visits outstanding, but the conversions once people entered the site were even more telling to the results of the specific targeting, even across the entire state of WA with Program Clicks: 32,268 (14.9% CTR from web visits) and Apply Clicks: 4,346 (2.0% CTR from web visits).
Research
The project was sparked by Interact’s Media Prefs survey results when the SBCTC pinpointed helpful data on effectively reaching students. With new clarity and insights, the board and its colleges were empowered to do more.
A dynamic tagline was born through comprehensive surveys of PIOs, presidents, and students across the entire state, and a big- picture strategy became crystal clear.
Creative
From a dynamic, responsive landing page with lightning-fast search tools to bold digital advertisements, the call to bigger futures and better careers was loud and clear.
Writing
On top of a big tagline, bold calls to action and inspiring services were showcased on the landing page and a full spread of advertisements. Built with research-backed data, the messages resonated with students to drive engagement.
First Major Statewide Marketing Campaign
Campaign Creative Gallery
“Interact Communications has done terrific work on our community and technical college system’s first-ever statewide ad campaign.
“When we face a seemingly insurmountable challenge, Interact will often find a solution based on their vast experience with
other colleges and college systems around the nation. They also understand the importance of keeping all stakeholders engaged and informed in a campaign like this.“Interact staff members are listeners, mind-readers, experts, and creative wizards. Importantly, every person we have worked with has a genuine passion for the role community and technical colleges play in transforming lives.”
