3 Steps to Creating a Killer Open Day Using Programmatic Advertising

3 Steps to Creating a Killer Open Day Using Programmatic Advertising

As a marketer working for a university, you face a daunting challenge. Tasked with improving important high level key indicators such as equivalent full time student load & university ranking you only have several intakes a year to influence a decision that may have been up to 5 years in the making.

Fortunately programmatic advertising can help. Programmatic is a shift from focusing on which billboards, radio stations, websites or TV shows your audience might be looking at to who your audience actually is. It allows you to create a tailored, tiered and consistent journey for potential students. Ensuring the right message is put in front of the right audience at the right time.

Let’s take a look at how that might look through a three step process leading up to the most important day of the year for student acquisition. Open day.

Step 1 – Generating Awareness Programmatically (At least 4 months before the big day)

First impressions are everything. They set the ground work for all future communication with potential applicants. Some students are thinking about which university they like as early as the first year of high school. For this reason, it is critical that you extend your target audience to not only include the current year 12 cohort, but also those in the younger grades. Although this won’t have a huge impact on your attendance numbers this year, it will pay big dividends in future years.

Programmatic gives you a wide range of targeting options to build this audience. It also allows you to reinforce positive preconceptions and break down negative ones amongst the graduating class, ensuring that you are top of mind during the last year of their studies.

One of the best channels for generating awareness is video. Awareness is most effective when run in an “always on” fashion.

To ensure that your audience is receiving your message it is important to measure the impact of your awareness campaign with a metric such as cost per completed view rather than simply measuring views, impressions or reach & frequency.

Step 2 – Building Engagement Programmatically (2-3 months before)

Now that you have caught the eye of your target audience it is important to get them to engage with your brand. One of the most effective ways to do this is through the production of original content. This can take the form of helpful advice in choosing the right degree, case studies built around current students/alumni or other useful information for students.

Programmatic gives you the ability to syndicate this content across multiple channels including social media & native. This strategy is best deployed in the few months leading up to your open day.

One of the best ways to measure engagement is to look at how your audience is interacting with your content. Rather than optimising towards clicks through to your site, look at dwell time and/or bounce rate to produce a cost per engaged visitor.

Step 3 – Securing Leads Programmatically (1 month before or month leading up)

You now have a strong following amongst prospective applicants. Diligent programmatic advertising gives you the ability to re-market to these students. The power of this technique can be seen when August rolls around.

While your competitors are promoting their open day as a first touch with their audience, you now have the chance to tighten your focus a little bit and look towards those that are soon to graduate. You can target your highly engaged audience, while the competition is busy looking for anyone between the ages of 16 and 18.

In addition, you can ask your audience to register for the upcoming open day in exchange for entry into a competition or exclusive access to an event on the day. This allows you to collect email addresses, phone numbers and other important information from potential students. This information is critical to effective marketing in the period after your open day is over and before preferences are due.

The best way to measure the success of this campaign is to look towards a cost per leads metric.

Funnel Approach

By taking a funnel approach as outlined in the 3 steps above, you can ensure that you are creating a tailored, tiered and consistent journey for potential students. This allows you to influence a decision that is years in the making and often affected by input from parents, teachers and potential employers.

Marketing Amplification

For many universities, programmatic is still only a small fraction of the overall marketing budget. One of the biggest indirect benefits of programmatic advertising is that it allows you to collect insights on your target audience which you can then use to better inform your offline campaigns.

Timing is Critical

Are you currently using programmatic advertising? If so, it is critical that you are in the midst of learning, generating insights and building up your audiences for each stage of your marketing strategy. If not, although time is against you there is still time to put such a strategy in place.

 

Written by Mike McGarry 

 

2500 1180 Shai Luft

Shai Luft

Shai Luft brings over 25 years of diverse marketing experience to the table, with a focus on fostering growth by leveraging data led marketing strategies. His journey began with roles in senior marketing positions within leading telecommunication companies including TPG, Optus, and Telstra, where he gained valuable insights and honed his strategic thinking. In 2012, Shai co-founded Bench, a digital agency that quickly gained recognition for its quality services. Serving a broad range of clients such as Epson, Nestle, and Panasonic, Bench became known for its digital expertise and global media buying capabilities. Shai holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from UNSW, with a specialisation in Marketing and International Business.

All stories by : Shai Luft
SHAI LUFT - CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Meet Shai Luft, a senior marketing executive with a proven track record of delivering results for Australia’s largest ASX200-listed companies

Chief Operating Officer

Shai Luft

Meet Shai Luft, a senior marketing executive with a proven track record of delivering results for Australia’s largest ASX200-listed companies. Despite his success, Shai was frustrated by the amount of red tape and bureaucracy that held back marketing innovation. That’s why he co-founded Bench in 2012. As the driving force behind Bench’s operations, Shai is committed to empower marketers with the agility and control they need to achieve their best results.

ORI GOLD - CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER An ad tech and martech expert. Driven by the frustration of everyday marketers facing a lack of control and accessibility, Ori co-founded Bench in 2012 to revolutionise the digital advertising landscape.

Chief Executive Officer

Ori Gold

Meet Ori Gold, an ad tech and martech expert. Driven by the frustration of everyday marketers facing a lack of control and accessibility, Ori co-founded Bench in 2012 to revolutionise the digital advertising landscape. Heading the talented and forward-thinking team at Bench, Ori is the driving force behind the company’s strategic and product vision. Thanks to Ori’s leadership, Bench has become one of the most respected and successful digital agencies in Australia.

GENERAL MANAGER LIAM GARRATT Meet Liam Garratt, the creative mind behind Bench’s top-notch products and services. With a career in digital media spanning over a decade, Liam has made a name for himself as a leader in the industry.

General Manager

Liam Garratt

Meet Liam Garratt, the creative mind behind Bench’s top-notch products and services. With a career in digital media spanning over a decade, Liam has made a name for himself as a leader in the industry. He got his start in 2011 working for UK-based programmatic platform Crimtan, where he played a key role in launching the company’s Australian office. In 2017, Liam brought his expertise to Bench, where he now leads the Product & Services functions. Liam is passionate about delivering only the highest quality products and services to Bench’s clients. His commitment to excellence is the foundation of Bench’s stellar reputation.

VP OF GROWTH ANTHONY FARGEOT Meet Anthony Fargeot, the pioneer behind Bench’s growth and success. Joining Bench in its infancy in 2013, Anthony’s experience with high-growth start-ups gave him the skills to help Bench become one of the most successful digital agencies in Australia.

VP of Growth

Anthony Fargeot

Meet Anthony Fargeot, the pioneer behind Bench’s growth and success. Joining Bench in its infancy in 2013, Anthony’s experience with high-growth start-ups gave him the skills to help Bench become one of the most successful digital agencies in Australia. As Head of Client Services and then Director of Operations, Anthony led Bench through its highest growth period. Today, as VP of Growth, Anthony uses his creative thinking and strategic insights to always look for new and innovative ways to help Bench stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly changing digital landscape.