The document outlines a digital marketing campaign implemented for the Center for Adult and Graduate Studies (CAGS) at Aurora University. It includes research conducted on target audiences for various graduate programs, as well as objectives, strategies, and implementation plans for paid, social media, and email marketing. Key parts of the campaign included creating paid ads on Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter; launching social media pages and posting regularly; and implementing a multi-part email campaign targeted at current students. Data analysis found the paid search campaign spent $2,338.06 with varying results across programs.

1. Center for Adult and
Graduate Studies
Digital Marketing Project
MKT 6510 – Advanced Internet Marketing
December 16, 2015
Dr. Leila Samii

2. Agenda
 Introduction
 Presenters
 Digital Marketing Project
 Research on MBA, MSA, MSDMA
 Objectives and Goals
 Strategy and Implementation
 Paid, Social Media and Email
 Analysis of Data
 Paid, Social Media and Email
 Final Analysis and Recommendations
2

3. Introduction
AU CAGS Digital Marketing Campaign
3

4. Introduction
 Center for Adult and Graduate Studies had
limited digital presence
 “Discover what matters and build your life
around it.”
 Adhere to AU’s core values:
 Integrity
 Citizenship
 Continuous Learning
 Excellence
4

5. Introduction
 Tasked to implement a full digital marketing
campaign
 Budget of $3,000 for paid ads, social media and
email
 Focus on graduate business programs – MBA,
MSA and MSDMA
 Created strategy for paid ads, new social media
accounts and email campaign
 Implementation of campaign
 Analysis of data from paid, social and email
5

6. AU CAGS Positioning Statement
“The AU Graduate Business Programs will prepare graduates for advanced
careers in their industry of choice. Our programs are cutting-edge and
constantly evolving to provide students with current, real-world
experience.
Students have the opportunity to learn from award winning faculty and
practitioners in their field of study. The collaborative learning
environment allows students to gain new network connections and build
their life around what matters most.”

7. Research
General, MBA, MSA & MSDMA
7

8. General
Research
8

9. Target Audience Analysis
 Working Professional
 Male or Female
 Ages 25 to 44
 Full-time Job
 Interested in going back to school to develop their
skills to better run their business
 To receive promotions, pay raises and/or new
career opportunities
 Location (surrounding suburbs-Aurora)
9

10. Customer Personas
10
Undergraduate Working Professional Entrepreneur
22 years old 25 to 44 years old 25 to 44 years old
Finishing school Working full or part
time
Owns their own
business
Continue education Advance in career Grow Knowledge base
to improve business
Completed
internship
Have a family at home Have a family at home

11. Stakeholder Analysis
11
Category Stakeholder Interest Influence Weighted Importance
Employees CAGS 5 5 10
Employees Senior Staff 5 4 9
Citizens Prospective Students 3 1 4
Employees Faculty 5 4 9
Citizens Undergraduate Students 2 1 3
Citizens
Current Graduate
Students
3 4 7
Employees Enrollment 5 4 9
Employees
University Staff –
Admission & UC
4 4
8
Employees
Current /Future Employers 4 3
7

12. Influencers & Competitors
 Benedictine University
 Northern Illinois University
 North Central College
 DePaul University
 Elmhurst College
 University of Illinois Chicago
 Roosevelt University
 Loyola University
12

13. AU CAGS SWOC
Strengths Opportunities
 Multitude of resources to run social media
 AU Pulse Blog and Podcasts
 Aurora University brand
 Current Aurora University social media accounts
 Opportunity to get the Center for Adult and Graduate
Studies on the Internet (SEO)
 Chance to establish new platforms and messages
 Chance to give prospective graduate students
information about program
 Chance to focus solely on graduate students
 Creating content people will want (to gain followers, it is
important to determine what the target audience is
interested in learning about before starting)
 Reaching the right target audience (research needs to be
done to determine that the content will be focused on the
appropriate target audience)
Weaknesses Challenges
 Social media for the Center for Adult and Graduate
Studies does not exist
 It will take time to see results to see if the campaign is
successful
 It will take time to create meaningful content that will
attract followers
 Lack of awareness surrounding the Center for Adult and
Graduate Studies as well as their digital channels
 Lack of awareness surrounding the Center for Adult and
Graduate Studies as well as their digital channels
 Current Digital channels are focused on undergraduates
13

14. MBA
Research
14

15. Target Audience Analysis
 Current Business Professionals
 Received Undergraduate Degree
 Consulting/Strategy Professionals
 Human/Organizational Performance
Professionals
 Business Entrepreneurs
 Advancement in Business Career
15

16. Influencers & Competitors
 National Business Association
 Business Professionals of America
 University of IL Chicago
 DePaul University
 University of IL Urbana-Champaign
 Saint Xavier University
 Roosevelt University
 Northern IL University
 Northwestern University
 Benedictine University
16

17. SWOC
17
Strengths Opportunities
 AU has a great reputation in the local
community
 Affordability
 Classes are offered in the evening for
working professionals
• Opportunity to get the Center for Adult and
Graduate Studies increase Social Media
Presence
• Chance to establish content using video,
podcasts, and graphics
• Chance to give prospective graduate students
information about program
• Build lead capture forms that capture data from
SM
Weaknesses Challenges
• Social media for the Center for Adult and
Graduate Studies does not exist
• It takes time to build an online community
• It will take time to create meaningful content
that will attract followers
• Lack of awareness surrounding the Center
for Adult and Graduate studies as well as
their digital channels
• Lots of competition in the area
 Staff to manage the social media account
 Staff to create relevant content for the social
media channels
 Lack of Funds – Small Budget

18. Keywords
 MBA Degree Program
 Business Degree
 Business Management
Degree
 Business Administration
Masters
 Master of Business
Administration
 MBA
 Business Masters Degree
18
 MBA Management
 Business Program
 MBA in Chicago
 MBA in Chicago Suburbs
 MBA no GMAT Required
 MBA no Work Experience
Required
 MBA Requirements

19. MSA
Research
19

20. Target Audience Analysis
 Working accountants
 Non CPAs, bookkeepers
 Undergrad studying accounting
 AU students, other university students
 Career changers
 Seeking Master’s in accounting
20

21. Influencers & Competitors
 Illinois Board of Examiners
 Illinois CPA Society
 AICPA
 University of Chicago IL
 University of IL Urbana-Champaign
 Roosevelt University
 Loyola University
 Western Illinois University
 Northwestern University
21

22. SWOC
22
Strengths Opportunities
 Affordability
 Location
 Limited options
 Small class size
 Increase awareness
 No emphasis on paid-search
Weaknesses Challenges
 Limited budget
 Limited awareness
 Smaller program
 Tax season
 Changing the conversion from
MBA
 Difficult to find on-line
 very specific content and
audience

23. Keywords
 CPA Exam
 CPA Program
 Masters Degree in Accounting
 Graduate Degree in Accounting
 CPA
 Accounting
 Masters in Accounting in Chicago
 Graduate Degree in Accounting in Northern Illinois
23

24. MSDMA
Research
24

25. Target Audience Analysis
 Business and Digital Leaders
 Social Media Enthusiasts
 Analytical Professionals
 Data Driven Individuals
 Customer Experience Seekers
 Internet Marketing Professionals
 Marketing Managers
 Operations Managers
 Individuals in learning more about digital and
analytics
25

26. Influencers & Competitors
 American Marketing Association
 Business Marketing Association
 Society for Marketing Professional Services
 Marketing Research Association
 Northwestern University
 DePaul University
 Benedictine University
 Lewis University
 Elmhurst College
 Loyola University Chicago
26

27. SWOC
27
Strengths Opportunities
 Digital Marketing is Trending
 Geographical Location
 Cost of Program
 Awareness on Classes/Program
 Convert Leads
 Increase Inquiries
 Graduate collaboration on social media
Weaknesses Challenges
 Small Budget
 Keyword Competition
 Geographical Location
 Competing Against other Universities in IL
 Not having online courses/options
 New Program at AU

28. Keywords
 Digital Marketing Degree
 Masters in Digital Marketing
 Digital Marketing Chicago
 Analytics Degree
 Marketing Masters Degree
 Marketing Management
 Data Mining Degree
 Internet Marketing
 Operations Management
 Data Analysis
 Marketing Strategy
 Business Marketing Graduate School
 Marketing Masters
28

29. Objectives
Digital Marketing Campaign
29

30. Goals and Objectives
Goals
 To increase Awareness of AU CAGS
 To increase Enrollment in AU CAGS Programs
 To drive traffic to the AU website
 To increase social media engagement and community size
3 Week Objectives
 To increase landing page visits by 10%
 To increase program inquiries by 10%
 To build a social media community of 375 users
 To earn 7,500 organic impressions
 FB Reach: 5,000
 Twitter impressions: 2,500
Scope

31. AU CAGS Digital Marketing System

32. AU CAGS
Revised Digital Marketing System

33. Strategy & Implementation
Paid, Social & Email
33

34. Customer Lifecycle Journey
34Paid
Email
Social
0

35. Paid
Strategy & Implementation
35

36. Customer Lifecycle Journey
36
Paid
Target Audience: Potential Students

37. Paid: Budget
 Determine channels and budget
 Total Budget: $3,000
Google AdWords LinkedIn Facebook Twitter
MSA: $250 MSA: $250 Promo 1: $375 Promo Post: $500
MBA: $250 MBA: $250 Promo 2: $375
MSDMA: $250 MSDMA: $250
General: $250
Total: $1,000 Total: $750 Total: $750 Total: $500
37

38. Paid: Target Audience
38
 Google AdWords
 Location
 Keywords
 Facebook
 Gender / Age
 Location
 Keywords
 LinkedIn
 Location
 Industry
 Twitter
 Gender
 Location
 Keywords / Interests

39. Paid: Keywords
 Research keywords
 Google AdWords
 MBA
 MSA
 MSDMA
 General
 All platforms based on Google AdWords
39

40. Paid: General Keywords
 Masters Degrees
 Graduate Program
 Masters Program
 Business Masters Degree
 Graduate Degree
 Best Business Programs
40

41. Paid: MBA Keywords
 Business Administration Degree
 Business Degree
 Business Management Degree
 Masters of Business Administration
 MBA
 MBA in Chicago
 MBA Management
 MBA Requirements
41

42. Paid: MSA Keywords
 CPA
 CPA Chicago
 CPA Exam
 Accounting Degree Requirements
 Graduate Degree Accounting
 Masters in Accounting
 Masters in Finance
42

43. Paid: MSDMA Keywords
 Digital Marketing
 Digital Marketing Chicago
 Marketing Degree
 Marketing Masters
 Master Degree in Marketing
 Social Media
 Social Media Sites
 What is Social Media
 Web Analytics
 Webmaster
43

44. Paid: Ad Content
 Created and scheduled ad content
 Google AdWords (Search & Display)
 LinkedIn
 Twitter
 Facebook
 Ads created to:
 Raise brand awareness
 Increase traffic to site
 Increase # of inquiries
44

45. Paid: Google Ads Content
45

46. Paid: LinkedIn Ad Content
MSA Text Ad MSA Sponsored Ad
46

47. Paid: Twitter Ad Content
Hands on Business
Training Listen to Podcast
47

48. Paid: Facebook Ad Content
Listen to AU’s
Podcast
Learn about Grad
Business Programs
48

49. Social Media
Strategy & Implementation
49

50. Customer Lifecycle Journey
50
Social
0
Target Audience: Potential Students, Current Students, Alumni

51. Social Media Channels
Targeted interests in 3 majors and
digital marketing, business-centric
subjects (only promoted to Aurora area
residents) – New AUCAGS Page
Keywords/interests subject of targeting;
took advantage of ‘pinned’ tweets –
@AUCAGS
Industry and program targeted, greater
Chicago area residents (existing
LinkedIn page)

52. Social Media Content
Promoted posts to landing page (with
all 3 majors) and ‘Graduate School 411’
podcast on AU Pulse; industry-relevant
articles, links to individual major landing
pages
Short messages; incorporated
hashtags, links, and why they should
click; links to AU pages and industry-
related content
Short messages; links to individual
program landing pages

53. Facebook Page
53

54. Facebook Post Examples

55. Twitter Page
55

56. Twitter Post Examples

57. Social Media Timing
Multiple times per day; method up for
improvement (2-3 times per day is
recommended)
Frequent posts  10+ per day;
Recommended to ‘cluster’ tweet (5
tweets in a row, 2-3 times per day);
utilized SM tool HootSuite
5 day LinkedIn ad targeting industries
in greater Chicago area

58. Email
Strategy & Implementation
58

59. Customer Lifecycle Journey
59
Email
Target Audience: Current Students

60. Email Campaign Strategy
3 Week SMART Objectives
To obtain 75 new social media members
To obtain a 35% email open rate
To obtain a 10% email click through rate (CTR)
Target Audience
Current MBA, MSA, and MSDMA students within the AU CAGS
Customer Lifecycle

61. Email Campaign Round 1
Subject:
Stuart, tell us why you are proud to be an
AU Grad Student
Sent:
Sunday, December 6, 2015 5:58:15 PM
Target:
All Current AU CAGS Graduate Students

62. Email Campaign Round 2
GROUP 1
Subject:
Cheryl, Join our social community and
become part of the conversation
Sent:
Friday, December 11, 2015 4:29:50 PM
Target:
Current students that did not open
first email
GROUP 2
Subject:
Let's get social Lisseth, we are ready to
connect with YOU!
Sent:
Friday, December 11, 2015 4:27:59 PM
Target:
Current students that opened first email

63. Email Campaign Round 2
GROUP 3
Subject:
6 Life Hacks that Will Help You During
Finals Week
Sent:
Friday, December 11, 2015 4:28:07 PM
Target:
Current Students who opened and clicked the
first email

64. Analysis
Paid, Social & Email
64

65. Paid
Analysis
65

66. Paid: Analysis
 Total Spend: $2,338.06
 Determined baseline from prior AU Grad
campaigns
 No baseline for LinkedIn Sponsored Ads
 Higher Google AdWords baseline
66

67. Paid: Google AdWords Analysis
 Total Spend:
 Google AdWords Total: $674.93
 Search: $151.74
 Display: $523.19
67
Ad Name Clicks Impression
s
CTR Avg. CPC Cost Avg.
Position
MBA 88 6,131 1.44% $1.56 $137.26 1.4
Baseline 328 18,691 1.75% $1.39 $155.38 1.4
Comparison -240 -12,560 -0.31% $0.17 $317.22 0.0
MSA 88 22,033 0.40% $2.73 $240.41 1.9
Baseline 132 7,174 1.84% $1.18 $155.38 1.4
Comparison -44 +14,859 -1.44% +$1.55 +$85.03 -0.5

68. Paid: Google AdWords Analysis
Continued
68
Program Clicks Impression
s
CTR Avg. CPC Cost Avg.
Position
MSDMA 75 15,194 0.49% $1.92 $143.80 1.3
Baseline 30 2,073 1.45% $1.65 $49.58 1.8
Comparison +45 +13,121 -0.96% +$0.27 +$94.22 +0.5
General 95 8,559 1.11% $1.62 $153.46 1.9
Baseline 238 26,919 0.88% $2.38 $565.91 2.3
Comparison -143 -18,360 +0.23% -$0.76 -$412.45 +0.4

69. Paid: LinkedIn Analysis
 Total Spend: $419.95
 Text Ads: $129.57
 Sponsored Ads: $290.38
69
Text Ads CTR Avg. CPC Avg. CPM Total Spent
Baseline 0.009% $8.39 $0.77 $503.14
MBA 0.010% $6.53 $0.62 $58.74
Comparison +0.001% -$1.86 -$0.15 -$444.40
MSA 0.012% $5.73 $0.67 $63.00
Comparison +0.003% -$2.66 -$0.10 -$440.14
MSDMA 0.000% $7.83 $0.35 $7.83
Comparison -0.009% -$0.56 -$0.42 -$495.31

70. Paid: LinkedIn
Analysis
Continued
70
Sponsored Ads CTR Avg. CPC Avg. CPM Total Spent
Baseline (Text) 0.009% $8.39 $0.77 $503.14
MBA 0.198% $7.24 $14.31 $115.76
Comparison +0.189% -$1.15 +$13.54 -$387.38
MSA 0.220% $6.33 $13.92 $75.92
Comparison +0.211% -$2.06 +$13.15 -$427.22
MSDMA 0.211% $8.97 $18.95 $98.70
Comparison +0.202% +$0.58 +$18.18 -$404.44

71. Paid: Twitter Analysis
 Total Spend: $493.43
71
Ad Name Impressions Engagements Engagement
Rate
Cost per
Engagement
Amount
Spent
Baseline - - 1.0-2.0% - -
Business
Training
13,693 534 3.90% $0.83 $444.95
Comparison - - +1.9% - 2.9% - -
Podcast 3,184 47 1.48% $1.03 $48.48
Comparison - - -0.52% - +0.48% - -

72. Paid: Facebook
Analysis
 Total Spend: $749.75
72
Ad Name Reach Results Result Rate Cost per
Result
Amount Spent
Baseline - - 2.00-2.45% - -
Podcast 27,256 239 0.88% $1.57 $374.75
Comparison - - -1.57% to -1.12% - -
Grad Business
Programs
24,419 243 1.00% $.154 $375.00
Comparison - - -1.45% to –1.0% - -

73. Paid: Recommendations
 Longer campaign time
 Tracking beyond clicks
 Google AdWords Search vs. Display
 Retargeting campaign
 Continue use of LinkedIn Sponsored Ads
 Continue use of Promoted Tweets
73

74. Social Media
Analysis
74

75. Social Media Analysis
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Hootsuite
75

76. Facebook Business Page
Top Reach and Engagement
76

77. Facebook Business Page
12/04/2015 to 12/12/2015 Total
Page Likes 141
Weekly Reach 284,706
Weekly Organic Reach 15,768
Weekly Reach 284,706
Consumption 2,394
Negative Feedback 84 77
 Page Launched December 2nd, 2015

78. Facebook Business Page
12/04/2015 to 12/12/2015
Engagement 4,290
Paid Reach 268,938
Organic Reach 20,665
Total Reach 293,774
Organic Impressions 77,161
Paid Impressions 387,687
Total Impressions 464,848
78

79. Facebook Business Page
Dec 4 Dec 5 Dec 6 Dec 7 Dec 8 Dec 9 Dec 10 Dec 11 Dec 12
Organic LIKES 40
ADS LIKES 9 7 14 10 3
On The Page 2 3 4 3 4 5
Page
Suggestions
5 1 2
Uncategorized
Desktop
5 1
Uncategorized
Mobile
3 1 1 1
UnLIKES 2 1
NET LIKES 53 14 11 17 16 6 5 5 3
79

80. Facebook Business Page
Likes By Top Cities
Total Cities with LIKES (59) – NOT page LIKES
City LIKES
Oswego 9
Romeoville 10
Champaign 12
Woodstock 12
Elgin 13
Joliet 14
West Chicago 15
Naperville 27
Bolingbrook 34
Chicago 81
Aurora 198
Total Lifetime
LIKES By City
635
80

81. Facebook Business Page
Top Posts - Reach and Engagement
81

82. Facebook – Hootsuite Snapshot
82

83. Twitter Overview
83

84. Twitter – Most Popular Posts
SAS – Digital Marketing
The Future of Digital Marketing –
How It’s Changing in 2016
Aurora – Grad School 411
Apple is already planning the
next version of its TV
How to Create a Digital
Marketing Measurement Strategy 84

85. Twitter
85

86. Today’s Situation
As of December 12th, 2015
86

87. Facebook, Twitter, & LinkedIn
Facebook
Encourage
Involvement
Provide
useful
content
Twitter
Consider
using a
specific #
Engage with
followers
LinkedIn
Create page
for AU
CAGS
Continue
text ads
87

88. Social Media: Recommendations
88
 Engage with followers and provide relevant, helpful
content in order to increase the following
 This will show us as an authority in our fields and drive
inquiries to our website
 Focus on organic reach
 Get the students, alumni and faculty involved in sharing
and engaging
 This will increase the number of impressions
 Social Media isn’t a “one way” tool
 It takes a community
 Everyone must take ownership to make this successful

89. Email
Analysis
89

90. 1st Email
“(First Name), tell us why you
are proud to be an AU Grad
Student”
(Only top shown)

91. 2nd Email Group
6 Life Hacks that
Will Help You During
Finals Week

92. 2nd Email Group
Let's get social (First
Name), we are ready to
connect with YOU!

93. 2nd Email Group
(First Name), Join our social
community and become part of
the conversation
(Bottom Portion. Header not displayed.)

94. Email: Recommendations
 Discover the best email frequency to maximize student
response
 A way to measure is to look at the average of number of emails
Aurora University and competitors send to subscribers per week,
month or year.
 Stay on top of the inbox
 All the segmentation and strategy in the world won’t help if you’re
not winning at the point of attack: the inbox.
 Remain Flexible
 Never forget that email, or any marketing tool, is just that: a tool
that’s meant to serve business goals. When a situation changes,
there might be a need to include a few new tools.
94

95. Final Analysis &
Recommendations
Paid, Social & Email
95

96. Goals and Objectives
Goals
 To increase Awareness of AU CAGS
 To increase Enrollment in AU CAGS Programs
 To drive traffic to the AU website
 To increase social media engagement and community size
3 Week Objectives
 To increase landing page visits by 10% (505 UPV = 28% increase)
 To increase program inquiries by 10% (9 Inquiries in 1st week = 50% increase)
 To build a social media community of 375 users (171 members)
 To earn 7,500 organic impressions
 FB Reach: 5,000 (20,665 earned reach)
 Twitter impressions: 2,500 (4,512 earned impressions)

97. Final Recommendations
 Dedicated staff to sustain newly created
channels
 Content calendar
 Make all clicks trackable
 Longer campaign time
 Make it a school-wide initiative
 Utilize other methods to increase social
following
 Automation
97

98. Contributors
 Vasiliki Barakos
 Carrie Bey-Little
 Cori Cameron
 Dan Creviston
 Cynthia Gonzalez
 Stuart Hacker
 Scott Hardesty
 Angelina Lampkin
 Sara Meers
 Renee Yadav
98