Higher education marketing can be challenging and complex. Today’s prospective students don’t decide which college to attend after seeing a single programmatic media ad. They require multiple touchpoints, clear value propositions, and tailored pathways to move from initial awareness to taking real action.
When Mohawk College, a leading post-secondary institution in Ontario, set out to boost enrollment and raise awareness for its Pathways initiative, they needed an advertising strategy that mirrored this multi-stage decision process.
Partnering with illumin, Mohawk College moved away from traditional, siloed ad campaigns and embraced connected programmatic media advertising. The result? Expanded access to education, higher engagement, and a blueprint for students seeking higher-education enrollment.
The challenge: navigating a fragmented programmatic media journey for students
Mohawk College’s Pathways program was created to show prospective students, ranging from high school graduates to adult learners looking to upskill, that higher education is flexible and accessible.
However, reaching these prospective students presented several challenges:
- Diverse Audiences: Reaching distinct student demographics required tailored messaging across different stages of consideration.
- Channel Fragmentation: Reaching prospects across video, display, and mobile required a unified cross-channel strategy rather than disconnected line-item campaigns.
- Conversion Friction: Getting a prospective student to click an ad is easy; getting them to explore degree transfer options or fill out an application requires sequential engagement.
The solution: visual campaign orchestration with illumin
Rather than launching disconnected display or video campaigns, Mohawk College used illumin’s Canvas to visually map out, execute, and monitor the entire recruitment strategy in one place.
1. Mapping Sequential Touchpoints
Using illumin, the recruitment team created a multi-step programmatic media strategy:
- Awareness Stage: High-impact video ads introduced the broad value of Mohawk College’s Pathways initiative to targeted demographics.
- Consideration Stage: Prospective students who engaged with initial ads were automatically guided to secondary touchpoints featuring tailored display ads detailing specific transfer credits and career outcomes.
- Action Stage: High-intent prospects were served targeted call-to-action (CTA) messaging encouraging them to explore credit transfer tools, attend virtual open houses, or submit applications.
2. Real-time programmatic media optimization across channels
With illumin’s real-time analytics, Mohawk College could track exactly where prospective students were dropping off or moving forward. If a specific ad format or channel delivered higher engagement, the budget was reallocated dynamically to reinforce the high-performing media paths.
Key takeaways for higher education marketers
Mohawk College’s campaign offers valuable lessons for continuing-education institutions looking to modernize their recruitment strategies:
- Stop Treating Ad Channels in Isolation: Connecting video, native, and display into a cohesive media strategy creates a narrative that guides prospects toward application deadlines.
- Measure What Matters: Instead of evaluating success solely on top-of-funnel impressions or surface-level clicks, evaluate how effectively your ads move prospective students from curiosity to intent.
- Respect the Consideration Cycle: Enrolling in a college program takes time. Sequential touchpoints ensure you stay top-of-mind without over-saturating your target audience with repetitive ads.
Ready to transform your student recruitment strategy?
Whether you’re looking to increase campus open house attendance, promote transfer pathways, or boost full-time enrollment, intelligent campaign orchestration puts your institution back in control of the candidate funnel.
Explore illumin’s Case Studies or Request a Demo to see how visual media planning can elevate your next campaign.
About illumin
illumin is redefining how marketers plan, execute and measure digital advertising, bringing every stage of the campaign lifecycle into one strategic platform. Through an intuitive drag-and-drop Canvas, marketers can visually connect strategy, activation and outcomes, and extend live audiences from programmatic advertising into social channels. Combining AI-powered intelligence with transparent insights, illumin gives brands and agencies the clarity to make better decisions, optimize with confidence and prove business impact. With offices in North America, Europe and South America, illumin supports brands and agencies across global markets. For more information, visit www.illumin.com.
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