Case Study: A traffic campaign to boost college enrolment
United Colleges Group
Meeting the diverse educational and skills needs of our students and the economy



Success Story
Key Stat
Facebook ad campaign generated on average 25% of total traffic to target websites across 6 weeks (peaking at 39%)
Key Stat
£0.42 per result at top of funnel
£0.69 per result at bottom of funnel
Key Stat
Targets met ahead of schedule and under-budget
Story
Colleges typically begin their September enrolment strategy in the Spring, but 2020’s Covid-19 pandemic disrupted everything: summer exams were cancelled and no one knew whether students would be permitted to return in the autumn.
Goal
United Colleges Group engaged Red Gem, in collaboration with long term associate Sarita Jairath Social, to execute an aggressive brand awareness campaign, with the aim of driving school leavers and adult learners to the enrolment pages for City of Westminster College and the College of North West London.
Solution
We ran a two-step traffic campaign:
- At ‘top of funnel’, general ads were targeted at broad audiences based on age and demographics.
- At ‘bottom of funnel’, subject-specific ads were targeted at users who had responded to top of funnel ads and / or engaged with subject related pages of the website
Success
Despite the late start and universal uncertainty due to Covid-19 and exam results, courses were filled and in some cases additional classes were created. As a result, the client requested that ads were switched off with only 65% of the budget spent



Products Used
Facebook Ads Management
Facebook Ad Strategy
Testimonial
“I had the pleasure of working with Emel and her long term collaborator, Sarita during a very busy period at the college group. What I really appreciated about working with them was that unlike some agencies, they were very honest and transparent about what could be realistically achieved within the timeframe and then delivering it.
Their knowledge of getting the most out of Facebook and Instagram’s algorithm and how best to monetise the campaign based on the college group’s requirements and budget were invaluable. I’m a data geek and it was great to have regular analytics and insights based on how well the adverts were performing – and most importantly – how the campaign should be tweaked based on these insights.
The added value gained from Emel and Sarita means I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them or work with them again.”