The Drum Recommends: Commended - RH Advertising - Securing Open Day registrations in a competitive market
The Drum Recommends: Commended is highlighting RH Advertising who helped The University of Huddersfield secure Open Day registrations in a competitive market
In this series, we explore the finest work created by The Drum Recommended agencies. We will highlight top case studies to guide and inspire you in your journey to select a new agency relationship.
Last year the Recommended Agency Register (RAR) was rebranded as The Drum Recommends to bring it in line with owner The Drum. It remains committed to partnering brands with the correct agency using data and unique industry expertise.
This case study and other interesting content can be found on RH's profile on The Drum Recommends.
The University of Huddersfield is a TEF gold-rated university which is widely-recognised for its world-class teaching and its success in developing students as independent learners.
After a competitive pitch, RH was tasked by the University to increase the number of signups to their undergraduate open days and build brand awareness across their full range of degree programmes. They also asked us to harvest any valuable insights into their target audience which could then inform their ongoing student engagement strategy.
The campaign presented an opportunity to reach out to potential students who had yet to decide which University they were going to. So, as well as promoting Open Days and securing registrations, we used bespoke video content to share the achievements of current University students and offer a taste of student life before even arriving on campus.
We utilised the full range of digital media channels including paid search, social media, and remarketing for maximum visibility and to secure a dominant share of voice in a highly competitive market. To help us maximise results, we developed and embedded detailed audience personas within our targeting – giving us control over not just where advertising was seen, but who saw it too.
Working closely with the University of Huddersfield’s internal web and CRM teams meant we could optimise the performance of all aspects of the campaign on a constant basis. This ensured the best use of the budget and a sharp increase in high-quality responses from prospective students.
The campaign and RH’s ability to quickly adapt contributed to a highly successful Open Day cycle, with increasing levels of attendance throughout the year. Overall, we were able to attribute over 36% of Open Day registrations directly to RH’s campaign. Post-campaign analysis revealed that, as well as reaching over 1.2 million prospective students and generating nearly 200,000 additional website visits, people were engaging with the University earlier in their decision-making process earlier than ever before.
In addition to a successful campaign in terms of numbers, RH learned several important, but confidential, insights which will help shape campaigns in years to come.