School of Engineering & Applied Science

The George Washington University

Media Planning and Buying

Challenge

In 2021, the George Washington University School of Engineering & Applied Science (SEAS) engaged LMO to boost recruitment for three niche Doctoral programs: Engineering Management, Cybersecurity Analytics, and AI/ML. The primary challenges were low program awareness and a lack of qualified leads, specifically, master's-level professionals seeking career advancement. SEAS also needed LMO to establish data transparency and lead attribution, and to help move qualified leads efficiently through the funnel.

Objective

Increase qualified leads for key doctoral programs while driving measurable growth in enrollments. Additionally, the school wanted to improve data transparency and lead attribution to better understand the student journey and strengthen engagement from inquiry through enrollment.  

  • Generate awareness and drive qualified leads to a dedicated school landing page where potential students can request additional program information and attend information sessions.  

  • Implement strategies, such as frequent information sessions, to further qualify lead attribution while measuring which applicants are reaching the enrollment stage by channel.  

  • Provide the school’s stakeholders with a real-time performance dashboard, which gave them actional insights to help inform future marketing decisions.

Solution

To help the George Washington University School of Engineering & Applied Science increase enrollments, LMO implemented comprehensive marketing strategies focused on audience behavior habits. Niche targeting was supported with real-time reporting and qualified application data to help optimize campaigns to not only increase qualified leads but support enrollment engagement.  

Strategic Media Planning & Audience Segmentation: LMO identified and segmented niche audiences of working professionals with master’s degrees or technical backgrounds in fields such as IT, computer science, and engineering. Campaigns were tailored to align messaging and creative with each audience segment’s motivations and career aspirations.

Digital & Social Media Optimization: We used programmatic advertising and social media promotions to build awareness of the key doctoral programs and utilized paid search to drive qualified leads for each program.

Performance Monitoring & Optimization: Ongoing campaign analysis, bi-weekly performance check-ins, and real-time optimizations ensured that campaigns remained efficient in reaching their goals. The anticipatory approach allowed LMO to remain flexible in allocating budget to channels driving enrollment results while increasing qualified leads for each program.

Dashboard Visualizer: The school was provided a custom real-time dashboard visualizer that included performance key metrics by program and channel. The tool provided the school with data transparency to understand what was driving campaign success while streamlining communication between all stakeholders.

Info Session Promotion & Attribution Tracking: LMO boosted engagement by promoting the school's information sessions via paid media and tracking attributed leads who registered or attended. This process provided the school with crucial data by linking session attendance to lead quality and enrollment outcomes, offering greater insight into the conversion funnel and identifying the most effective touchpoints.

LMO ran campaigns for three doctoral programs throughout the three-year relationship with the George Washington University School of Engineering & Applied Science. 

Results:

$2M

Return on Investment Based on Enrolled Students

2.6K

Qualified Leads Throughout the Three-Year Engagement

$57

Cost Per Lead