Provost Academy Personalized Enrollment Campaign - PODi Case Study

Vertical Market: Education
Business Application: Direct Marketing/Lead Generation

Business Objectives
Provost Academy is a network of state-of-the-art online public high schools serving grades 9 through 12 that uniquely address student needs on an individual basis. They are the only online high school backed by Edison Learning, one of the most experienced teams of educational innovators in the industry.

Prior direct marketing efforts were unsuccessful and could not be tracked to new enrollments. More recent direct marketing efforts aimed at increasing response rates included an iPad sweepstakes using Facebook as a platform and a text-for-more-information feature. Both elements were technologically relevant to a student audience, but the mail piece that contained the elements was addressed only to the student’s parent. There was a clear disconnect between the creative, offer and audience. The challenge was to align the message for both audiences, and address students and parents individually.

The goal was to increase new student enrollments by increasing the number of opportunities a parent and/or student had to respond. Specifically, the campaign needed to:

• Address dual audiences (students and parents) successfully
• Capture data about the high school students and/or parents who responded to make future communications more relevant
• Define similarities between students and/or parents who showed interest in Provost Academy for more effective marketing
• Be 100 percent trackable for clear ROI
• Incorporate a referral program to generate new leads

Results
Working with Barnett Murphy Direct Marketing (BMDM), a cross-media campaign was developed that addressed students and parents relevantly. The campaign was the most successful direct marketing effort in Provost Academy’s history.

• 1.15 percent response rate—visited campaign site and requested more information

  Method of response:

  • 60 percent Personalized URL
  • 37 percent QR Code
  • 3 percent Both
• 20 percent conversion—students enrolled in Provost Academy
• More than 700 percent ROI
• Data was captured about why respondents were interested in Provost Academy, which was used to tailor future marketing

Campaign Architecture
Prior to building the campaign, BMDM explored the possible concerns students and their parents might have regarding online high school. Social activities, quality of education and access to teachers and guidance counselors were among those concerns.

What set Provost Academy apart from traditional high schools and other online high schools? A competitive analysis revealed several selling points, including:

• Free tuition
• Free computer (if eligible)
• Flexible scheduling
• High quality curriculum
• Clubs and social activities
• Possible subsidy for internet costs

Since technology was important to the client and most likely to provide the best results, the online and mobile behaviors of students and parents were also researched.

The only communication information contained in the contact list was a mailing address, so the campaign needed to begin with a mail piece. To maximize results, Personalized URLs and QR Codes were used as response mechanisms. Both elements allowed for quick response and accurate tracking.

When the student entered the Personalized URL, they were personally addressed and given the opportunity to begin the enrollment process.

If they chose not to enroll in Provost Academy, they were able to confirm a pre-populated form to be entered into the iPad 2 sweepstakes. Students were given 10 choices as to why Provost Academy might be right for them. The choices helped collect information that determined the student’s level of interest in Provost Academy, so they could be properly qualified as a lead for Provost Academy’s post-response follow-up.

Beneath the choices were standard pre-populated contact fields about the individual visiting the Personalized URL. The form was used to verify that the information for the student was correct, and gave the student the opportunity to change it, if necessary.

When parents entered the Personalized URL, they saw almost identical information, however, they were addressed as parents of the student and asked to take action on behalf of their child. The parents were given a different set of choices to determine their level of interest in Provost Academy. Parents were also given the opportunity to submit a question or concern that was not addressed in their choices.

Once a student or parent submitted their form, a Thank You page appeared and they were informed that the iPad 2 sweepstakes winner would be selected on the first day of school. If they chose to make a referral on the Thank You page, a pop-up box thanked them for doing so. When a referral was submitted, an e-mail was automatically generated to the referral, which appeared to have come from the referring party. The e-mail contained a link to the General URL, which was identical to the Personalized URL that the referring party hit, except it did not contain any personal information. All referral data was uniquely tracked and personalized from the referring party.

Cookies were enabled so that a student or parent could visit the Personalized URL as often as they wanted in order to make referrals, but did not have additional opportunities to enter the iPad 2 sweepstakes. Response was tracked by gender, city and state, student or parent, response channel and referrals made.

Like the URLs, unique QR Codes were generated for every recipient. When scanned, the codes led to a mobile optimized version of the personalized landing page, which presented the survey in a condensed drop-down box for mobile compatibility.

The mobile user was also given the option to refer-a-friend after the Thank You page appeared. Assuming that a mobile responder would generate a mobile referral response, a general version of the mobile landing page was also created for maximum usability.

Target Audience & Messaging
For many students, a traditional high school is not the best learning environment. Whether they live in a rural setting where travel may be an issue, have a need for a more flexible schedule or need different types of classes, an online high school program may be a better solution for them.

Provost Academy purchased a list of current high school students, but unfortunately, it contained very little information.

The data provided was limited to:

• Student Name
• Parent Name
• Mailing Address (including City, State and Zip)
• Gender
• Forecasted High School Graduation Year

Due to the limited information, creative ways to use every piece of data available had to be devised. To improve connections with recipients, the list was segmented by gender and the direct mail and campaign site used gender-specific imagery to further personalize each element of the campaign.

Offer
The iPad sweepstakes was a compelling offer. To maximize response the process for entering the sweepstakes was simplified. Responders would simply go to their Personalized URL or scan the QR Code on their mail piece with a mobile device and be automatically directed to a mobile version of their personalized landing page. After confirming a short pre-populated form and clicking “submit,” responders were entered into the sweepstakes. The entire process could be completed in less than a couple of minutes.

Creative
The direct mail was an 8.5x11” gatefold addressed to both the student and parent(s) of the student. If a parent name was not available, the mailer was addressed to the student and his/her family.

Graphics of an iPad 2 and a personalized message to “win an iPad 2” on the mail panel generated interest in opening the piece. Gender-based personalization, which revealed either a male student or a female student, was also used on the mail panel and carried throughout the piece. The student’s Personalized URL and an invitation to “check it out” completed the personalization of the mail panel.

The billboard side of the mailer addressed both audiences and included two panels. One panel was personalized for the student, and the other was personalized for the student’s parents. To clearly identify the panels for our audiences, the background imagery for each panel was slightly different. The student’s panel showed a sheet of ruled, white paper and the parent’s panel showed a sheet of ruled, yellow paper. A personalized QR code was prominently featured on the student’s panel, so responders had an opportunity to enter the iPad 2 sweepstakes without opening the mail piece or typing their Personalized URL address into a Web browser. Additional personalization was added to the billboard side by incorporating doodles that a student might draw in class, including “(student’s initials) Rules.”

When the student opened the mail piece, it revealed a personalized headline and copy describing a student’s ideal school lifestyle. The student’s Personalized URL was featured at the end of the copy to reinforce the call-to-action.

When the parent opened the mail piece, the headline acknowledged a parent’s desire to give their child the best and utilized their student’s name. The copy acknowledged a parent’s concerns about giving their child the best education and assured them that Provost Academy could be the place their child thrived. The call-to-action, to visit the Personalized URL, was reinforced in the copy.

Both audiences were brought together on the inside, center panel. Gender-based, variable imagery and a personalized QR code were strategically placed to draw attention to the call-to-action.

The creative on the mail piece set the tone and theme for all other creative elements, which were essentially adaptations of the mailer. Creative design for the mail piece, Personalized URL pages, General URL pages, referral e-mail, and the mobile site was completed and approved over the course of two weeks.

Reasons for Success
The Provost Academy campaign was very successful because it was able to speak relevantly to both students and their parents. This combined with a strong offer and compelling creative helped drive responses. And what truly makes this campaign exemplary is the tracking of results which proves the value of the solution.

Source: PODi
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