2X’d their new enrollments by targeted reach
2,400+ new enrollement leads
Tripled their overall leads
Reduced enrollment lead costs by 66%
BACKGROUND
Limestone University is an accredited, independent, coeducational four-year liberal arts institution chartered by the State of South Carolina.
Limestone University is a Christian non-denominational institution. Its programs lead to the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Social Work, Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, and Master of Business Administration degree. By providing degree programs throughout South Carolina and by way of the Internet, Limestone offers opportunities for personal and professional growth to individuals who may find access to higher education difficult.
Challenges & Objectives
Grow Traditional Day, Online, Evening and MBA Programs
Attract New Traditional and Non-Traditional Day Students at a Regional Scale
Optimize Advertising Platforms for Elevate Brand Awareness & Course Offerings
Develop Strategies to Continue to Produce New Students Year-After-Year
Understanding Key Data & Creating a Clear Path to Success
- Our comprehensive strategy included a multi-channel approach, leveraging the power of SEO, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, Instagram Story Ads, and LinkedIn Ads (focusing on non-traditional campaigns), as well as Email Nurture Campaigns to optimize conversions for all form fills.
- For Google Ads, we executed search and display campaigns targeting Traditional, Online, and MBA Programs, enhancing brand awareness and utilizing display ads for both remarketing and the display ad network. Remarketing campaigns were specifically run for limestone.edu.
- On social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Instagram Story, we displayed ads targeting High School Seniors, Undergraduate students, and Graduate Students with a focus on Lead Ads, ensuring optimal ad performance. Instagram Story Ads were also employed to maximize reach.
- To further refine our targeting, we concentrated our efforts within a 150-mile radius around the University, ensuring maximum impact on the most relevant audience. This integrated approach enabled us to reach a broad range of potential students and significantly contributed to the exceptional results achieved.
Google Search and Google Display Ads for Driving Leads
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In order to generate more leads for their website, Limestone required a well-crafted strategy to effectively employ Google Search and Google Display ads.
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Greenstone skillfully incorporated target keywords and resonated with the target audience by crafting Search and Display ad content that attracted high-quality leads, resulting in nearly 150 conversions.
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To achieve a greater ROI, it was crucial to consider the locations, ages, occupations, and interests of Limestone's target audience in the marketing strategy.
Facebook and Instagram Ads for Driving Leads
- We developed a tailored strategy for Limestone to drive leads using Facebook and Instagram ads, focusing on engaging their target audience and achieving remarkable results. We employed a strategic targeting approach, concentrating on a 150-mile radius around the University to ensure maximum reach and impact on potential students. By running display ads and leveraging Lead Ads, we tailored Limestone's campaigns to specific target demographics, including High School Seniors, Undergraduate students, and Graduate students, effectively capturing their interest.
- Our Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns generated impressive results, particularly for Limestone's Online and Evening programs, which saw 405 lead form fills. The MBA program also experienced significant success, with 193 conversions through lead form fills. This outstanding performance demonstrates the effectiveness of our targeted marketing strategy and its ability to resonate with their audience.
- In addition to the display ads, we utilized Instagram Story Ads to further amplify Limestone's reach and engagement. By incorporating visually appealing content and clear calls-to-action, we were able to capture the attention of potential students and drive them to complete the lead form fills. This multi-faceted approach, combining Facebook, Instagram, and Instagram Story Ads, proved highly successful in generating leads and conversions for Limestone.
Optimizing On-Page SEO for Enhanced Organic Lead Generation
Proper HTML Header Tags were implemented
*HTML header tags differentiate between headings, subheadings and the rest of the content on the page. The Limestone website currently has 2 HTML header tags. Each page should have one, and only one, <H1> tag. Use keywords in your headings with your most important keywords in the top level, and be sure to maintain the <H1> to <H6>hierarchy. While it is important to ensure every page has an <H1> tag, only include more than one per page if you're using HTML5. Instead, use multiple <H2> - <H6> tags.
Underscores in URL’s removed
*Using underscores in your URL makes it hard for search engines to determine your site's relevance to a search. Google sees hyphens as word separators while underscores are ignored.
Desktop & Mobile Speed & Optimization by
- Optimizing site images
- Reduced server response time
- Leveraged browser caching
- Minified JavaScript
- Minified CSS
Backlink Optimization
Toxic backlinks were disavowed.
Goal Funnels Were Fixed and Setup in Google Analytics to ensure organic and paid conversions were tracked correctly.
New Blog Articles
New Blogs were created and published on the site for content curated around awareness and consideration from Google Search queries and topics commonly searched by their target audiences for Traditional, MBA, and Online and Evening programs.
Identifying Limestone's Target Audience
Traditional Day Program
Age Range: 15-18 years, 35-44 years
Gaffney, SC Area Residents
Competitor locations within 50-100 mile radius
Online & Evening Programs
Age Range: 25-34 years, 35+ years
Students within a 100 mi radius
Focus on competing areas and larger cities
MBA Program
Age Range: 27-34, 35+ years
Residents within 100 mi radius of main campus
Traditional Day Program
Target Audience
Age Range: 15-18 years, 35-44 years
Gaffney, SC Area Residents
Competitor locations within 50-100 mile radius
Advertising Platforms
Google Adwords
Email Marketing
Facebook
Instagram
Content Strategy
Focus on brand message terms that target high school students and GenX individuals seeking to attend a 4 year program on campus. By using high quality written content and effective images, these campaigns focused on topics relevant to these students, such as what careers align with specific majors, time management topics, best restaurants around campus, etc.
Online and Evening Programs
Target Audience
Age Range: 25-34 years, 35+ years
Targets students within a 100-mile radius
Focus on competing areas and cities larger than Gaffney, SC
Advertising Platforms
Google Adwords
Email Marketing
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
Content Strategy
Limestone's brand terms targeted topics relevant to the audience, such as the benefits of continuing ed, career advancement and how to balance school with a full-time job. These social platforms provided non-intrusive ad experiences and focused the messaging on career development, community engagement, brand development, and value-driven informational content.
MBA Program
Target Audience
Age Range: 27-34 years, 35+ years
Targets students within a 100-mile radius
Advertising Platforms
Google Adwords
Email Marketing
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
Content Strategy
These social platforms provided non-intrusive ad experiences and focused the messaging specifically toward topics relevant to MBA students such as MBA Benefits, career advancement, and business related information.
What Our Clients Are Saying
Does a word exist that means even better than fantastic? If not, we need to invent it and apply it to those conversion rates! Great news and loved the results!!
Charles Wyatt
Limestone University
