How to Optimize Your Ads and Landing Page

   by Ben Oldale

- 4 min read -

Optimizing your Ads and Landing Page for Digital Campaign Success

As the consumer journey changes and each individual has access to many different digital channels to absorb information, so does the global spend on digital marketing.  

In 2018, 43.5% of media ad spend was attributed to digital advertising tactics. This number is expected to surpass 50% by 2020, clearly portraying the global shift from traditional forms of advertising to reach the desired target audience.

This trend continues to hold true in the world of higher education marketing. In a survey of close to 200 higher education marketers, 75% of those surveyed said digital marketing is a high priority and expect their digital marketing budget to continually increase.

If the entire higher education marketing world is shifting to digital marketing strategies, what can you do to make sure your campaign stands out? And what can you do to make sure your investment is being optimized?

How to Measure Success in your Digital Advertising Campaign

Before diving into the keys to a successful digital advertising campaign, we need to establish tracked metrics that will contribute to identifying success. After all, if you can’t measure it, how will you know if you succeeded? Some of these metrics include: click through rate percentage (CTR%), landing page visits, total clicks, and cost per click (CPC).

In the world of higher education the ultimate end goal is to increase the number of students attending your institution or at the very least, increase the number of students looking into what your institution has to offer. So, what does a successful digital advertising campaign specifically look like in higher education? In many cases, successful digital advertising means an increase in the number of students looking for or opting in to receive further information about your institution or a specific program at your institution.

Align Your Ads and Landing Page for Increased Conversions

Below are a few fundamentals to keep in mind when putting together your digital ads and landing pages:

1. Send your audience to a relevant and unique landing page. When designing your landing page make sure to consider the following: one clear goal, one clear message and one clear action. Sending your audience to a generic website that does not outline one clear action or message will ultimately lose the users.
2. Ensure the entire experience is consistent. From the time the user clicks on the ad through until the final call to action on the landing page, keep a nice consistent flow in the  messaging, design and tone. Consider the expectations the user had when they clicked on the ad, and make sure the landing page is designed to meet those expectations.
3. Make sure the ad gets right to the point and the landing page follows suit. If, for example, the user clicks on an ad to learn more about discounted tuition as advertised, do not bore them with a landing page that does not clearly provide further information about the discounted tuition. Be as helpful as you can. The user will appreciate it.

Considerations During Ad Creation Specifically for Higher Education Institutions

In a study that covered 119 higher education digital marketing initiatives delivering 1.3 billion impressions, five key features in the ad contributed to increased conversions:

1. Showing the institution’s campus in the ad resulted in a 33% higher conversion rate when compared to ads that did not show the campus. This reflects the audiences desire to attend classes in person rather than online.
2. Ads that contained a person or actual student in the ad resulted in a 64% higher conversion rate than those that did not.
3. Ads that did not contain the institutions logo but rather just the institution’s name in bold text obtained 52% more conversions.
4. Keep CTAs simple. Calls to action that suggested increased levels of commitment resulted in lower click through rates. A more simple call to action like, “Click Here”, obtained a higher click through rate but ultimately a lower conversion rate on the landing page (landing page completion).
5. Including established facts about the institution obtained 2.2x more conversions than those that did not. In this case, the ads the included the institutions national ranking out performed those that did not.

Final Takeaways

When building a digital campaign, make sure the creative speaks directly to the target audience with clear and relevant messaging. Not all institutions will see the same success displaying the same messaging in their creative, but make sure the unique selling point is clearly outlined and the landing page follows suit.

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