New Academic Programs Campaign

The Challenge

The goal of this project was to promote Peninsula College’s new programs for Fall 2023. The five new programs included Natural Resources, Automotive Services Technician, Media Technician, Virtual Office Assistant, and management specializations in the college’s bachelor of management program. The college had recently started using a CRM tool, so the campaign had a secondary goal of collecting contact information into the CRM. The Marketing Department was instructed to develop a campaign that was “edgy,” showed the community that the college was relatable, and to create something different than the college’s previous, more traditional campaigns.


The Scope

The Marketing Department decided to make an online quiz be the main focus of the campaign. This was done to incorporate the five varied programs into one campaign. Feedback showed that people enjoyed quick, online quizzes that claimed to discover some quirky personality trait. Even those who said they “hated” quizzes still admitted to taking them. This quiz was based on the idea that it would answer how you were “programmed,” and then lead you to a landing page about which new program would fit your interests based on the quiz results.

Fall Campaign website mockups

The Project

Campaign Landing Page: The key element of the campaign was an 11-page microsite. The Marketing Manager and I developed the quiz flow, and I created the website mockups and quiz graphics. We decided to make a “microsite” that incorporated the quiz, information about the new programs, and a form to get more information. We worked with a web development vendor to create the pages. I ensured the pages maintained Peninsula College branding so people could recognize they were on a page associated with the college and that it was “safe” to submit their information. Submissions populated into our customer relationship management (CRM) tool.

“How Are You Programmed?” Quiz: The resounding phrase repeated in our campaign was “How Are you Programmed?” People were encouraged to visit our campaign microsite to take a short, 3-question quiz. The resulting answer would
tell you how you were “programmed” plus suggest which of our new programs fit that label. The decision
to use a quiz was based on information showing the popularity of online quizzes, especially ones that
answered a question about your personality.

Quiz Flow

Digital Advertising: I designed two styles of digital display ads. Both were animated and directed people to take the quiz. The ads were displayed on the websites of local news media.

fall campaign animated ad quiz
fall campaign animated ad traditional

Social Media Videos: I edited these videos in-house for a social media campaign. The videos were shared as stories, reels, and later boosted on Facebook and Instagram, and they were also posted on Tiktok. These videos received some of the highest shares, comments and click-through rates compared with Peninsula College’s other boosted or sponsored posts. Three sample ads are below. (Click thumbnails to watch videos.)

Videos: Videos highlighting the new programs ran on streaming channels and YouTube. I created the digital assets for the video, which were filmed and edited by a vendor videographer. (Click thumbnails to watch videos.)

Traditional Advertising: A radio ad that focused on the new programs and quiz ran regularly on the local radio station. Print ads ran monthly in the two main newspapers.

fall campaign newspaper ad

Billboard: A billboard was placed on a main thoroughfare between Sequim and Port Angeles
from June through August.

how are you programmed billboard

Follow Up Materials: The number of contacts collected during this campaign was higher than any previous year recorded. For those who clicked on an ad and submitted a form on a program or quiz-result campaign landing page, the Marketing Department sent an auto reply email as well as a customized printed letter, rack card for the program they selected, and a
sticker for their quiz result.

stickers
Rack Cards
letter

The Tactics

Campaign tactics were developed by the Marketing Manager. They included:

  • Digital ads were delivered using list-based tactics, geofencing tactics, and demographic tactics.
  • Facebook/Instagram ads, Snapchat ads, OTT ads, and YouTube in-stream ads limited to high students/recent graduates, and working adults within our service district.

The Outcome

There were many noteworthy improvements for the 2023 fall campaign compared with the 2022 campaign:

  • Landing page collection of new contacts increased from 5 to 71.
  • Pencol.edu domain contact collection increased by 12.5%.
  • “Book a Get Started Appointment” clicks totaled 132, 98% percent of which were unique.
  • Return on investment for list-based ads increased by 491%.
  • Ad spend was 33% less.
  • Overall cost per click for digital ads was 56% percent less.
  • The number of Facebook fan during the campaign increased 3.25%, compared with 3.09% the previous campaign. Our engagement for this same time period increased by 37%, compared with the same period last year.
  • The overall cost per click for digital ads was $2.43 per click. This rate is a 56 percent improvement over the 2022 campaign’s cost per click.
  • The social media sideshow had significantly the lowest cost per click at $0.44 per click.
  • The number of contacts collected during this campaign was higher than any previous year recorded.