The document summarizes an online marketing campaign conducted by Merc Strategy Group to educate Wisconsin citizens about recent budget reforms and their positive impact on schools. The campaign delivered its message over 3.1 million times through display ads, emails, and Facebook posts, garnering over 124,000 engagements from citizens. The campaign was successful at cost-effectively delivering its message and generating substantial citizen engagement through various online channels.

1. July 2011 CASE STUDY: Budget Reform = Better Schools

2. Overview The State Government Leadership Foundation hired us to engage in an integrated online marketing campaign designed to educate Wisconsin citizens on the positive impacts of the recently-enacted budget reforms on the state’s schools.

3. The Bottom Line We delivered the “Budget Reform = Better Schools” message over 3.1 million times and garnered more than 124,000 engagements by Wisconsin citizens.

4. Delivering the Message We Delivered Our Message Over 3.1 Million Times to Wisconsin Voters/Consumers 2.082 Million Display Ad Impressions 609,371 Facebook Post Views 408,983 Emails Successfully Delivered

5. Engaging Voters We Garnered a Total of 124,102 Engagements from Wisconsin Voters/Consumers: 83,338 Display Ad Engagements 21,985 Emails Opened 3,800 Clicks on Our Emails 722 Forwards-to-Friends of Our Emails 7,114 People have “Liked” the Facebook Page 6,271 Interactions on Facebook Page 425 views of “Waiting for Superman” trailer 140 “listens” to conference call with Sen. Fitzgerald 307 Entries to win Free DVD

6. BetterSchoolsWisconsin.com From June 13, 2011 - July 21, 2011: 3,697 total visits to our site. 5,664 page views (not bad for a limited microsite). 3,248 unique visitors. Site Traffic Sources: 27% from email program. 41% from Facebook campaign. 32% from online display ads.

7. BetterSchoolsWisconsin.com Specific Web Site Actions: 425 views of the “Waiting for Superman” movie trailer. 307 people entered to win DVD. 33 people shared their reviews of “Waiting for Superman.” 30 people submitted questions for Senator Fitzgerald. 13 people shared their views on what’s wrong with WI schools.

8. Online Display Ads Mixture of expandable ads and static. We delivered our message 2.082 million times in the key State Senate districts in the State of Wisconsin. We know — beyond doubt — that our ads were interacted with 83,338 times. This is an astounding interaction rate of 30 cents per interaction. Compare: Utilizing direct mail to deliver your message 2.082 million times (@ 50 cents per) would cost more than $1 million (with no way to track how many times people actually read the piece.)

9. Online Display Ads Interaction rate = 4.78% (industry average is 4%). Created 282 total hours of “brand time” in which people interacted with our message. Good placements: Average exposure time (how long the unexpanded was visible on page) = 116 seconds We also generated 1,159 click thrus to the Web site (although the expandable ads we used provide benefit without ever clicking through.)

10. Screen Shot: Expandable Ad, Opening Panel 10

11. Screen Shot: Expandable Ad, Expanded View 11

12. Email Campaign 408,983 total emails successfully delivered to Wisconsin voters. 21,985 emails opened from 16,640 unique openers. 3,800 click-thrus on our emails. 722 forward-to-friends.

13. Facebook Campaign From June 13, 2011 — July 21, 2011 An impressive 7,114 Facebook fans: 5,604 from our Facebook Ads 890 from viral/social growth 28 through our Web site

14. Facebook Campaign Content Driving Message Delivery: 609,371 post views (the number of times fans and non-fans viewed our Facebook news feed content.) Content Driving Engagement: Our content received 6,721 interactions (times people “liked” our content, shared our content, commented on our content, or posted on our wall). 140 people listened to our Facebook “conference call” with WI Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald.

15. Conclusions This campaign was successful, and not just because of the sheer amount (over 3.1 million) of messages we were able to cost-effectively deliver in a short period of time. The fact that we were able to garner more than 124,000 actual, trackable engagements is key. The 84,000 engagements we received from our 2 million impressions of display ads is proof positive that our message resonated and spurred people to engage. We also were able to build an ongoing two-way dialogue and relationship via the Facebook page. Garnering “likes” through Facebook ads is only the first step — providing a steady stream of engaging content was key to getting over 6,700 interactions and more than 600,000 post views.

16. Contact Information Curt Mercadante Merc Strategy Group, LLC Principal 312-985-6372 [email_address] 16