How to Increase Awareness Through Paid Social Prospecting

A Capture Higher Ed partner in the Southeast recently wanted to increase awareness, inquiries and enrollments by highlighting its online and degree-completion programs. Through a Paid Social Prospecting (PSP) campaign, the private university ran ads on Facebook and Instagram for 42 days to a custom-built audience in different areas of Florida.

The ads encouraged users to learn more, apply or signup for information sessions related to its online programs and degree-completion programs that are geared for transfer and adult students. The ads then landed users on program-related pages on the university’s website where Capture’s marketing automation software — Capture Behavioral Engagement (CBE) — was present in addition to web retargeting, which served ads to users that didn’t take the desired action.

What were the results?

Capture Behavioral Engagement is able to tell us that this Paid Social Prospecting campaign contributed to the following:

  • 3,286 people clicked through ads
  • 351 people became identified
  • 50 inquired
  • 63 were admitted

About the Tech Behind Paid Social Prospecting

PSP is a powerful tool that allows universities to find and target new prospective students through custom-built audiences based on demographics such as location, interests, education level, degree type, behaviors and more. The customized ads (served on Facebook and Instagram) are highly engaging, native, and have higher click engagement than standard web ads.

Paid prospecting is highly effective when coupled with CBE, Capture’s marketing automation designed specifically for higher education. The software is an innovative tool that monitors visitor behavior on a partner’s website, so they can learn more about what prospective students are looking for and send them targeted messages in real time. The intelligence enables more intentional, real-time opportunities.

The PSP campaign outlined above also employed Web Retargeting, a form of online advertising that is designed to keep a university’s brand in front of bounced traffic. Retargeting allows colleges and universities to serve targeted ads on websites and social media platforms (Facebook and Instagram) they visit after leaving an edu site.

Contact us to learn more about combining digital tools to build brand awareness and recruit students.

By Todd Helm, Digital Product Manager, Capture Higher Ed