Queen's University Belfast

// Background

As one of the leading Universities in Belfast, Queen’s University Belfast  are a highly prestigious University for undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications. When they needed help to increase registrations for their postgraduate programmes, they knew where to come – to Loud Mouth Media.

// The Challenge

With a wide catchment for postgraduate students, and an annual calendar of many different events and courses, it was essential we gain the attention of the most likely audience to convert into postgrad applications. With long lead times but high revenue, we needed a wide reach and a full funnel strategy to drive awareness of the different courses.

// Services Provided

• PPC: Paid Search, Display & Video
• Paid Social

// Our Approach

Our first port of call was ensuring we had all previous campaign data to date analysed, so we truly understood the audience that would convert and offer the best ROI for Queen’s. We started by analysing keywords and search terms that were driving the most traffic in general, and then the most conversions. We wanted to see what had worked, so we could optimise all activity for success, and put budget behind the right campaigns. We saw that postgrad students could come from both full-time undergraduate students, and also working professionals going back to Uni to upskill. With that in mind, we would run full funnel campaigns across both PPC and Paid Social, to ensure we got both passive and actively searching prospective students.

To drive both awareness for the different courses available, and awareness of Queen’s excellent standing in the education sector, we started with always on brand campaigns across Display and Youtube. This would ensure across the Google Display Network, we would capture their interest when researching current assignments, or when working, and be at the forefront of their mind. Video marketing on Youtube was also key, as we could target visitors to the website with targeted copy and CTAs to push them down the funnel. We would then supplement the PPC advertising activity with a Dynamic Search campaign, utilising keywords and search terms relating to the different seasonal events and courses available. For example, PGR – Postgraduate Research showcase events,  PG Open Days and late application campaigns around Summer Graduation.

Next up was Paid Social. To capture the right audience and to get the widest reach, we would combine both Facebook / Instagram advertising (for current students and passive searchers) and LinkedIn (for those professionals curious about upskilling). We would then ensure we drove traffic to the right landing pages on the Queen’s website, so they could have their questions answered, and let the content do the selling on WHY they should join Queen’s University.

// Results

Not only has the relationship with Queen’s seen huge success for the postgraduate registration drive, but it’s also created a hugely successful relationship with the University. We’re proud to see our paid advertising efforts making a significant difference to the objectives of the University, and all in the name of education. See some of our excellent results below…

• 99% Increase in View Rate on Youtube
• 300% Increase (YoY) in Leads from PPC activity
• 252% Increase (YoY) in Registrations from PPC activity
• 8,233% Increase (YoY) in Leads from Facebook