It was clear that a new messaging strategy was needed. Instead of focusing on the skills prospects could attain, I shifted focus on the ROI of the specific master’s degree program.

I wanted to convey how this program was career-focused and made prospects more attractive to employers. I also pulled key statistics to validate these claims and used them on ad networks with higher character counts in the creative, such as Facebook newsfeed and LinkedIn sponsored update ad units.

I then setup A/B tests of the creative on each channel and tested the old ads versus the new ads. I decided to run these tests for one lower performing program as a starting point.

The success would be measured by the click-through rates on the ads and the number of inquiries received. I launched the ads and set a window of four weeks to review the performance data.

When I first looked at the data, it was clear that the landing page needed to be revamped. I discovered numerous factors that could be causing the landing pages to underperform.

The first element was the load time of the page. The page itself was bloated with extra code that was used on other pages throughout the site, which affected overall page speed.

In addition, there were a lot of options for users to click on. The main navigation on the page was enabled, and there were numerous links on the page, which users were clicking on according to heatmap data collected. All of this distracted the user from the main goal the landing page, which was to generate leads through a request for information form.

I decided it would be best to completely revamp the landing page with a brand new template, but wanted to test it first to validate the results before widespread adoption.

I purchased a minimal-style template and customized the HTML, CSS and PHP on the landing page to make it a little more user-friendly. I removed all other navigation to make it a single page landing page so that users could contact the sales team quicker. In addition, I chose short, digestible content that would pique the user's interest enough to request information and speak with someone on the sales team.

In addition, I used CrazyEgg to track user activity via heatmaps and scrollmaps to see how users were interacting with the page.

I tested this new landing page against the old landing page for a period of six weeks to get accurate and meaningful performance data.

Luckily there were some early stage tests that had showed promise. In the previous two case studies (Online University #1 and #2) the messaging and the landing pages were tweaked for two separate programs, which resulted in a positive impact on conversions and cost-per-acquisition.

Given the success of those two tests, I decided to roll out the changes to all online degree programs. Doing this took a month of preparation to create all new creative and landing pages while ensuring the messaging was consistent on each.

In order to get this project done on-time, I broke up each piece of the project and allocated it to the three marketers I had on staff (one full-time, two part-time). I broke each piece down into channel targeting, ad copy creation, image sourcing and landing pages.

We were all able to get the work done on-time and rolled out all of the revamped campaigns and landing pages in time for the March launch date.

I met with the client to understand their audience better as well as their successes and failures. Based on their feedback, I started to build a foundation for a digital marketing strategy.

Given the demographics, I decided that display campaigns on Google Adwords would be the best fit for this audience. I wanted to reach teachers on sites that they frequently visited and show them an ad with a special offer/coupon to entice them to sign up for the promotional email list.

I researched hundreds of sites that had targeted teacher audiences while also being relatively inexpensive from a CPM standpoint. I then I put together the media plan for the client to review which quickly gained their approval.

Next came the landing page. I built out a page to test with in HTML, CSS and ASP.Net to prominently display the special offer while also making sure that all of the pertinent contact information was collected.

Finally the messaging. I wrote copy for the landing page and ads that were consistent across the board. Then I worked with the designers to create the ads needed for the campaigns. After getting the client’s approval on the complete campaign, it was time to launch.

Since data was already presented and rejected, the best way to convince the client would be for them to hear directly from the users of the site themselves. With the client’s approval, I put together a strategy to conduct a usability study consisting of a series of questions that engaged the users in site and shopping cart functionality.

I conducted the study on-site at the mountain and was able to find 30 participants during a busy day in the heart of ski season. Each participant was offered a gift card to the pro shop as incentive. To record each session, I was sure to use screen capturing software and a microphone to make sure the client both saw the user's actions and heard their comments.

During each session, I observed how each user purchased ski passes based on the questions that I had asked. Once the sessions concluded, I packaged all of the material up for presentation to the client.