Beyond Enrollment: how marketing drives impact

02 November 2024

For many years, CarringtonCrisp has worked with Firebrand, a digital agency based in New Zealand, primarily helping us to create and support our website.  Firebrand is now using some of its marketing magic to help two different New Zealand colleges, creating insights for higher education everywhere.

Knox College and Salmond College, historic institutions in Dunedin, New Zealand had found themselves struggling with numbers and needing to increase bed use occupancy, elevate the quality of applications and reinforce the college brands, driving income growth and a sustainable future for both of them.  For Firebrand, a deep-dive understanding of the new era of student journeys was the starting point for the project, supported by surveys, focus groups and interviews.

Firebrand began by unpacking the prospective university student journey, identifying the emotive drivers linked to the pre-application process, feelings of self-doubt mixed with excitement and looking to whanau (family) and other tauira (students) initially for reassurance. This outlined the need for marketing to become the reinforcer; to provide support, inspiration and further excitement via informative content sharing and insights into ‘real’ college life to let students know that they’ve made the right choice in college.

Alignment of research into the student journey alongside key residential college dates & deadlines was imperative, looking to where students are in their decision-making process - what they are doing, how they are feeling, and taking this into deep consideration for what Firebrand’s marketing role would be to add value to their journey but more importantly, to keep Knox & Salmond Colleges at the top of their selection from application, acceptance to their first day on campus.

Inevitably, the campaign strategically positioned the colleges as top choices for prospective students, but to do so it had to appeal to the emotional and practical priorities of prospective students, attracting applicants who were the right fit for each unique college environment.

Tailored messaging and visual redesigns for each college’s identity sought to reflect their values and heritage, but also, and importantly, a future focus.  However, the strategy was about more than brands, marketing and design. 

A key component was active engagement with students post-application, ensuring they felt confident in their choice and connected to the college community even before arriving.  By unpacking the emotional drivers of students throughout their application processes, the campaign created more resonant and engaging content.

On the marketing side, inevitably digital assets were a key component of the turnaround.  The introduction of platforms like TikTok allowed the colleges to engage with over 300,000 potential new students within just the first month of the campaign launching, dramatically increasing their digital footprint.  The use of data analytics then helped refine marketing tactics and understand student engagement better, leading to more effective targeting and resource allocation.

The marketing leant into trending music / audio on key platforms to further increase visibility. Using current sound effects or music on TikTok boosted engagement by aligning content with popular trends, making it more discoverable to a wider audience and increasing the likelihood of being featured on the "For You" page.

The strategic inclusion of new social media platforms saw hundreds of thousands of new engagements, crucial for building an online community and fostering a sense of belonging among potential students.

For all the invention of the campaign, its success is measured in impact and, more importantly, outcomes.  Both colleges surpassed their targets, achieving 100% occupancy, reflecting the effective appeal and overall success of the campaign.

For a sneak peek at the winning strategies, take a look here.  For more insights about Firebrand’s work, reach out to Bex Twemlow, the founder of Firebrand via email bex@firebrand.nz or via her LinkedIn Profile.