Digital Marketing Strategy:
WPI’s Summer Academic Programs

Client: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Project: Marketing Strategy, Planning, and Execution; Creative Direction
Collateral: Digital Advertising (Google Adwords, Google Responsive Ads, Facebook Ads), Email Campaign, Landing Pages, Digital Signage, Mobile App
Platforms: Google, Facebook, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Drupal, Modo Labs

In 2019, I was given the opportunity to lead the digital marketing strategy, planning, and execution for Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s undergraduate summer academic programs. Summer Session at WPI, or “E-Term” as it is known to current students due to its being the 5th alphabetically-named term of WPI’s academic year, consists of two sessions of STEM-related course offerings running from May to June, and July to August. Both current WPI students and those from other learning institutions may receive tuition discounts and transferable college credits by completing courses either on campus or online.

After taking the lead, I began building my strategy by reading through focus group feedback from previous participants and performing a user experience analysis of the enrollment funnel. The main challenges were that students didn’t feel they learned about the opportunities until it was too late for them to change their summer plans, and calls to action and registration were unclear or cumbersome.

For the first time in the history of the program, I implemented an email drip campaign, mobile app push notifications, and digital signage, all driving to UX-optimized landing pages and a streamlined registration process. The email campaign for external inquiries and previous attendees generated a 50% open rate with a 50% CTA engagement rate, and the marketing program netted 3 times more applications during the first week of registration than the last 3 years combined.

We also implemented new Google Responsive Ads for our search engine marketing as opposed to the traditional banner ads. By using this new platform, we were able to have Google’s algorithms play with different messaging and images to find our most successful combinations for click-through. Utilizing this new platform allowed us to cut our production time for display ad design by 75% as well as be more agile and data-driven in our digital advertising.

Download a PDF PowerPoint Presentation outlining the Marketing Program’s strategy, planning, and execution.

Marketing Strategy and Execution, Creative Direction, UX Landing Page Design, Email Design and Development: AnnMarie Nichols Burtt
Branding: Lynn Saunders
Content Writing: Allison Racicot
Photography: Matthew Burgos