George Mason University (GMU) recognized the significant role transfer students play in building a diverse and dynamic campus community. With nearly 3,000 students transferring from Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) each year, GMU sought to streamline the transfer process and enhance student success. To achieve this, the ADVANCE program was established. By providing clear transfer pathways, dedicated advisors, co-enrollment opportunities, and academic support, ADVANCE aims to facilitate a seamless transition for students while enriching GMU’s campus culture.
Mapping the Student Journey
Going into this project, we knew we would be helping build awareness as well as generating leads through paid search and social media advertising. But our discovery process revealed glaring gaps in GMU’s lower-funnel marketing strategy and communication infrastructure that also required our attention.
VisionPoint started by helping GMU map out the student journey, looking at everything from the first point of awareness to acceptance into the program. In mapping this journey, we were able to simplify and refine several key touchpoints, ultimately creating a cleaner, more concise communication flow. Included in this process was the creation of one responsive landing page that helped clarify the program requirements and provided a cleaner and clearer application process for any interested students. To this end, VisionPoint worked with GMU to air out their needs and take stock of their communication avenues.
Reaching Best-Fit Audiences
Based on the data we gathered in our discovery process, we prioritized GMU’s best-fit, post-admission audiences (i.e., students with the highest likelihood of qualifying for the program), which included traditional high school students, high school counselors, parents/guardians, adult learners, students with fewer than 30 credit hours at NOVA, and students who previously indicated interest in the program. Current high school students whose distance learning situations made them great candidates for GMU’s ADVANCE program were also included, along with parents/guardians and influencers whose input is crucial to the enrollment decision.
As part of our evolving strategy for reaching best-fit audiences, our data insights, along with a deep understanding of GMU’s goals, revealed clear communication priorities for their enrollment marketing strategy. Ad campaigns that focused on the value of enrolling at GMU were built and deployed across several strategically selected paid media channels tailored to the goals of increased awareness and impressions. All of which led back to the newly transformed application landing page – that now clearly communicated the requirements of the program.
Delivering Exceptional Results
The ADVANCE program campaign demonstrated significant success in driving awareness, generating leads, and ultimately converting prospective students into enrolled students, and after a few years of successful campaigns, the ADVANCE partnership expanded to Germanna Community College, Tidewater Community College, Piedmont Community College, Virginia Peninsula Community College, and Brightpoint Community College.
The Responsive Display campaign delivered exceptional performance, generating 1,258,262 impressions, 15,247 clicks, and a 2.00% conversion rate on the platform. This conversion rate was four times the industry average (0.50%), accompanied by a cost-per-acquisition (CPA) 73% more efficient than the industry benchmark. Meanwhile, Meta emerged as the dominant platform for conversions, achieving a conversion rate of 5.28% and a CPA of $88.23.
By strategically allocating budget and optimizing campaign targeting, we were able to achieve substantial growth in impressions, clicks, and conversions across all channels. This data-driven approach has positioned the ADVANCE program for continued success in the years to come.
