Using Google AdWords to drive new student applications to AECC

The brief

The Anglo European Chiropractic College (AECC) first approached Salad to do an audit of their digital marketing activities after seeking to improve the performance of their online marketing. They were running a number of Google Adwords and Facebook accounts across the different areas of the business to multiple websites. As a result of the digital marketing audit it became clear that the Google Adwords account for the college, which is aimed at driving enquiries from prospective students could be significantly improved to increase ROI.

The solution

We completely restructured AECC’s Google Adwords account to Google’s best practices to improve the quality of the account. Best performing phrases were expanded upon to grow the number of enquiries, and poor performing phrases were reduced to improve ROI. We also introduced a new set of ad creative based on the best performing messages, and set up ad extensions to encourage more people to click on the ads. We specifically introduced click-to-call mobile ads, which allow prospective students to talk to admissions at the touch of a button. We also saw an opportunity to grow the account further through creating international campaigns. Google Adwords it a great tool for testing out new markets at a low cost. We observed through Google Analytics that the college was getting an increased number of visitors from the Netherlands, Germany and Scandinavian countries. We saw the opportunity to promote the college in these countries through Google, and by targeting these countries we have been able to gain an additional source of international enquiries for the college.

The results

The restructure of AECC’s Google AdWords account was extremely positive. The account became far more efficient, generating an 18% increase in enquiries in the last four months for 37% less cost per enquiry. 18% increase in enquiries 37% decrease in the cost per enquiry 20% increase in conversion rate 16% increase in click-through rate Data comparison: 1st May – 31st August 2016 with 30th December 2015 – 30th April 2016.

The reaction

“We were really pleased to see such a great improvement in our AdWords performance. Increasing online enquiries contributed to exceeding our recruitment targets for the year; something I was delighted with in what is a continuously changing landscape for Higher Education.” Lisa King, Head of Marketing, AECC