George Washington School of Business
Media Planning and Buying
Challenge
In 2019, we partnered with the George Washington School of Business (GWSB) to support their MBA and MS Certificate (MSCERT) programs. Over time, our partnership expanded to include 12 individual programs through 2024.
Competitive Market: The DMV region has a high concentration of universities offering similar degrees, requiring us to position GW as a standout choice for prospective students. Following the pandemic, domestic enrollments declined nationally, intensifying competition among schools for a shrinking pool of qualified candidates.
Enrollment Gaps: While lead generation goals were consistently met, enrollment goals lagged due to deferred acceptances and students choosing other institutions. Our challenge was to boost lead volume while lowering cost per lead (CPL).
Expanding Program Support: Each year, additional programs were added without corresponding budget increases. This required a strategic allocation of media spend to ensure every program met its lead targets.
Objective
Our primary objective was to strengthen the George Washington School of Business’s position in a crowded higher education market while improving lead quality and driving enrollment growth across an expanding portfolio of programs.
Solution
LMO implemented a comprehensive, data-driven marketing strategy that aligned each program’s target audiences and behavioral insights into efficient campaign groupings. This approach provided a streamlined solution to managing the numerous programs, and demonstrated LMO’s ability to handle complex campaigns. The strategy allowed similar programs and certificates to share landing pages while giving users the option to select the path that best fits their career goals. Real-time reporting and bi-weekly meetings enabled dynamic budget shifts and strategy refinements toward programs with the greatest enrollment needs.
Upper-Funnel Units: We partnered with trusted media vendors to launch high-impact video and rich media units that told the GWSB story in an engaging way. These placements helped expand awareness across the competitive DMV market and strengthened consideration among prospective students exploring graduate business programs.
Application Waiver: To convert more prospective students, we developed a campaign and creative that promoted an application fee waiver. These ads were served to users who had completed a lead form but had not yet submitted an official application, reducing friction in the enrollment process.
Channel Optimizations: We continuously analyzed performance data to identify which channels and tactics were driving the highest-quality leads at the lowest cost-per-lead (CPL). Paid Social and Paid Search emerged as top performers, so we shifted budget accordingly while prioritizing programs with the most immediate enrollment needs.
Weekly Status Meetings & Reporting: Weekly status meetings and reporting ensured consistent collaboration with the GWSB team. These check-ins gave us visibility into post-lead activity and helped us adjust tactics based on real-time enrollment feedback.
List Purchase: To reach prospective students who were actively taking steps toward graduate study, we collaborated with GWSB to purchase a first-party list of individuals who had recently taken the GRE. This allowed us to target a highly qualified audience with messaging relevant to their academic goals.
Dashboard Visualizer: We also provided GWSB with a custom, real-time performance dashboard. This gave the client direct access to campaign metrics between meetings, promoting transparency and helping inform future strategy decisions.
8,521
leads were generated across 8 campaigns
9647
Generated Leads
69%
Increased Leads
$92
Cost Per Lead
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John Adams, GWU Marketing Director