Increased Leads by 142 Percent for a University

Lack of Channel Diversification is Hurting Brand and Enrollment

During the discovery phase, primary research indicated a lack of diversity in Regent’s existing marketing campaigns. This created a domino effect of almost no leads from organic web traffic and a high dependency on paid leads. Unfortunately this also contributed to less visibility for the school’s brand and as a result, enrollments had declined significantly.

The agency decided to rebuild the marketing funnel from top to bottom to diversify campaign channels with the following goals.

1. Improve organic leads to increase awareness and strengthen the brand
2. Redesign landing pages with a focus on user experience and responsive design

Humans are Outnumbered by Devices, No Seriously

The discovery phase research also revealed a 60% bounce rate for the existing enrollment page. Despite spending significant time on the site, most users were simply not converting. As the previous design was not responsive, mobile users showed the lowest engagement.

Secondary research indicated mobile users make up more than 58% of internet traffic. These findings clearly showed the need for a responsive design to support all devices.

Another issue that was contributing to poor lead quality, was due to the form flow. Without conditional logic, users were able to select any area of study before committing to online or on campus attendance, thereby disqualifying the lead when these choices did not align with the university’s offerings.

Uncertainty Contributes to Increased Bounce Rate

From research, we know that our users are time-poor and are often quick to abandon a page if they are not able to able to complete a task or feel uncertain about the process.

We learned the biggest pain point with the previous design was that users were uncertain where to being the enrollment process. Contributing to this issue were two CTAs competing for attention.

But there was an important takeaway; more than 50% of users favored the “Request Information” CTA, stating that it felt more clear compared with “Apply Now” felt unclear or ambiguous.

(Better) Support for the User and the Business Strategy

With our research findings clear, we began the design process. Our goal was to create a responsive landing page focused on enrolling students and help improve organic search thereby reduce dependency on paid leads. We began by simplifying the content with the user journey in mind.

Form Validation and Conditional Logic

Since our focus was converting users the sign up form was placed prominently in the hero with a clear call to action, using the results form our user tests. By requiring users to first select courses offered ‘online’ or ‘on campus’ we eliminate the risk of an unqualified lead completing the form.

Clear and specific error messages with validation guide users, improve information accuracy and lead quality.

Improved Leads + Reduced CPL = 35% Increase for on Campus Enrollment

By focusing on data from research, user testing and best practices for conversion rate optimization, the new landing pages were responsible for a 142% increase in lead flow over 12 months, as well as a 50% decrease in cost per lead and 43% decrease in bounce rate.

Diversifying the campaign channels and improving the user experience with the landing page redesign improved organic search by 60% thereby reducing the dependency on paid leads. The improved user experience also improved brand growth through visibility, helping build trust with new students.

These leads were responsible most notably for driving growth of the on campus programs, increasing the student population by over 35% over two years. This growth allowed Regent University to make a contribution to the endowment for the first time in 10 years.

Final Design