Shifting From Print to Digital Helps University Program Reach Students

The Challenge

Not wanting to waste time or resources by targeting the wrong audience, the University of Toronto at Mississauga’s Master of Management and Professional Accounting program contacted us for help. They knew they wanted to reach domestic, undergraduate students before, during and after campus career fairs and wanted to use more of a direct digital advertising style rather than an indirect style of advertising in student newspapers. We have worked with this program since 2013. During the first couple of years we placed print ads for them in student newspapers encouraging visits to the MMPA booth at upcoming career fairs. Over the past few years the client has become interested in taking a different approach to student marketing by focusing on the digital targeting of each campus where they participate in career fairs. The goal is to inform domestic, undergrad students about the MMPA program by driving attendance at recruitment visits and webinars through the use of digital ads. Since its beginning in 1988, the MMPA program has been unique in Canada. It offers a special blend of academic and professional training in a co-operative format and is the only program dedicated to developing both MBA and MMPA knowledge and skills in an integrated framework.

The Approach

At the start of each term (most recently in fall 2017 and winter 2018) we targeted domestic undergrads on their devices both inside and outside of campus the week before and after each recruitment visit. We were able to capture their devices on campus and retargeted them when they returned to their homes or otherwise left campus. We applied our innovative Hyper approach to advertising that allows us to target only devices whose owners have a set of qualities the client is looking for. In this case it was domestic male and female students between the ages of 18 – 24 who had been researching masters programs or visiting student utility and education services websites.

We were able to determine the geolocation, demographic profile and online behaviours and actions of students. We expanded the campaign to include Facebook and website retargeting and blanketed ads over the entire campus. This meant that anyone on campus checking Facebook, playing a mobile game or reading campus news could see the ads. We then retargeted those who visited the MMPA website or clicked on the ads. Retargeting reminded visitors to return to the MMPA website, thereby increasing conversions. The ads ran continuously until February. The graphs below show how Facebook visits spiked during the length of the campaign.

The Results

Figure 1: Visibility of the U of T MMPA Facebook posts increased through the use of paid advertising

Figure 2: Visibility of the U of T MMPA content increased dramatically through the use of paid advertising

The Conclusion

Having worked with the University of Toronto’s MMPA program since 2013, we know them very well and were happy to help them with the transition from print to digital. During the campaign, the program saw spikes in its Facebook page, beat the industry CTR standard by five and displayed 3.26 million impressions across 70 campuses. Our holistic approach ensures the greatest level of awareness among students. The university has commented about a noticeable boost to student awareness and website visits. In fact, we’re already planning next year’s campaign.