Lyon College Uses Cross-media to Drive New Applications - PODi Case Study
Vertical Market: Education
Business Application: Direct Marketing/Lead Generation
Business Objectives
Lyon College is a small, liberal arts college located in Batesville, AR. After a few years of repeating a similar recruitment campaign, the admissions department decided to implement a cross-media campaign geared toward their target market of high school seniors.
- During the first quarter of this campaign, Lyon College had anticipated/budgeted an 11 percent increase in responses over the previous year.
- The goal in terms of anticipated applications received was 655.
Results
Working with CustomXM, a cross-media campaign was developed that incorporated direct mail, personalized landing pages, e-mail and augmented reality. This campaign began in August 2012 and as of November 2012 had already achieved impressive results.
- 2.85 percent of recipients visited their Personalized URL.
- Of those that visited their Personalized URL, 70 percent of the respondents completed the online survey/entry form.
- 76 percent increase in applications received compared to the same time period of the previous year.
- 1,116 applications received. This represents a 70 percent increase over the goal.
- The total applications received as of November 2012 already exceeded the total number of applications received during the ENTIRE benchmark year of 2009, which was one of the best recruitment years on record.
- 50 percent increase in acceptances (applicants who have qualified for admission) compared to same time period of previous year.
- Deposits received for holding a place in the 2013 freshmen class, increased 18.6 percent as compared to previous year.
- Additionally, certain direct mail pieces sent in previous years were NOT sent this year, in favor of fewer, more personalized pieces. As a result, total direct marketing spend for this campaign as compared to 2011 decreased nearly 30 percent.
Campaign Architecture
The campaign began with a personalized direct mail postcard that enticed prospective students to provide information such as field of study and extracurricular interests in their response to a Personalized URL. Lyon College used this information to follow up with customized relevant marketing pieces, in an effort to maximize their college recruitment efforts.
A reminder e-mail was sent to students who did not visit their Personalized URL.
A subsequent direct mail piece was sent to those who completed the survey/entry form at their Personalized URL. This direct mail piece included information based on students’ responses to the online survey.
Additionally, the follow-up piece included an augmented reality “trigger.” Augmented reality is a live view of a physical, real-world environment or object whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. In the case of this campaign viewing the image on the direct mail piece with a smartphone launched a video of the college president screaming while taking part in the college's on-campus zip line. As of November 2012, 750 follow-up mailers had been sent and approximately 135 individuals viewed the video. The augmented reality component was a fun way to keep students engaged and show them part of Lyon’s campus and community.
Target Audience and Messaging
The target audience for this campaign was current high school seniors who scored a 24 or above on the ACT. Students in the database reside in many states, including Arkansas, Texas, Missouri, Tennessee, Oklahoma and others.
The message in all the touch points was crafted to highlight the key differentiators of Lyon College including a small student to faculty ratio, close proximity to the Ozark Mountains and numerous outdoor activities, availability of financial aid and recognition from publications such as U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review.
Offer
To encourage students to visit their Personalized URL and provide information about themselves, Lyon College offered the chance to win a new iPad.
Creative
The creative for the direct mail piece emphasized the iPad offer and interactivity of the campaign. The front of the initial postcard was designed to look like an iPad screen. First name personalization and a Personalized URL were featured on both the front and the back.
The follow-up mailer continued the iPad theme but also contained several variable fields and images based on the student’s interests.
Reasons for Success
This campaign won a PODi Best Practices Award, Direct Marketing category. The campaign had several elements that contributed to its success:
- A desirable offer.
- Engaging creative including attention gaining personalization.
- Messages and images that were relevant to the student.
- Channels for engaging the prospective student including a Personalized URL and augmented reality experience.
Source PODi
PODi is a global, member-supported not-for-profit organization. The PODi library consists of over 500 digital printing and marketing case studies from around the world.
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