MEDIA
An A+ media strategy that boosted attendance by 150%.
The ask.
Mercy High School is a private, all-girls Catholic school in Omaha, Nebraska, with a well-established legacy. In recent years, however, freshman class sizes have been decreasing. To get enrollment numbers back up, Mercy needed help boosting attendance at their fall recruitment events and placement exam.
The truth.
While Mercy is known in the community and achieves consistently remarkable results in both college scholarships and test scores, it’s not the only private school in the area for girls to choose from, and Mercy had, over the years, failed to consistently market the school. The low number of incoming freshmen demonstrated that Mercy was no longer a top consideration for area students.
The solution.
To boost attendance by fall, the client needed a quick-turn campaign that could increase overall brand awareness among prospective students and their parents. Our solution focused on media channels that would effectively reach both target audiences, including many new families who otherwise may not have considered Mercy. Tactics included:
- Event-focused and brand campaigns on Facebook and Instagram
- Event-focused targeted email with a re-drop and follow-up LocaliQ display ads for the open house
- Brand awareness campaigns through Google search, responsive display ads and YouTube
Because we needed to get into market quickly, our best option for dynamic campaign creative was to use Mercy’s existing student photography and b-roll video clips. By adding benefit-driven copy and distinguishing graphic elements, we were able to create and publish cohesive, impactful and flexible brand assets versioned for use across all campaign channels.
The impact.
Within two and a half months, the campaign showed significant results:
- More than 1.8 million impressions to the website (an 80% increase in traffic)
- Responsible for 30% of the website inquiries and 45% of first-time site visitors
- 150% increase in open house attendance compared with 2022
- 47.6% increase in attendance at the freshman placement exam compared with 2022 – even after having to postpone for a snowstorm
Campaign creative customized for each channel.
