University of East Anglia

How Universities Are Converting More Applicants with Personalised Video Marketing

Challenge

The University of East Anglia had a large pool of applicants who had expressed interest in joining them. But the university needed these prospective students to commit. We were tasked with getting these ‘almost there’ applicants over the line.

Solution

Our solution was to use personalised video marketing — a more engaging medium than direct mail, especially for teenagers. Tapping into the university’s applicant data, we produced literally thousands of powerful personalised video assets for applicants around the globe. The content of each video was directly relevant to each applicant receiving it. Time and budget were relatively limited, and the university was keen to leverage existing assets wherever possible. We worked closely with our client and their partners to drive new value from existing video resources, taking elements that had been created for a mass audience and reworking them to be ready for data-driven automated personalisation, right down to the individual level.

Outcome

The university had so much success with personalised video marketing, they ran the same campaign the following year and were able to eliminate the direct mail element of their outreach altogether.

THE NUMBERS

Across the 388 contacts in the UK-based audience, CTRs also rose above 21% and, more importantly, 29% of the international group went Firm/Insurance, while a full 52% of the UK group did so.

800+ % ROI
24% CTR
68% conversion rate

Overall, this represented an 800% Return on Investment for UEA, and made it clear that personalised video is something they will continue to take full advantage of!

Your applicants are choosing someone else.
It doesn't have to be that way.

Student recruitment has never been more competitive. You're fighting for the same pool of prospects as every other institution — with the same emails, the same prospectuses, the same direct mail that costs a fortune and lands in the bin.

Meanwhile, your budget is being squeezed, your team is stretched, and conversion rates aren't moving. You need to do more with less.

The University of East Anglia faced exactly this problem — thousands of 'almost there' applicants who'd shown interest but gone quiet. Instead of spending more on traditional outreach, they used personalised video marketing to make every communication feel written for each individual student. Here's what happened.

800%Return on Investment

68%Conversion Rate

24%Click-Through Rate

2×Campaign repeated the following year

Interested in what personalised video
could do for your institution?

No pitch, no pressure — just an honest 20-minute conversation about whether personalised video could work for your student recruitment goals. If it's not the right fit, we'll tell you.

Book a 20-Minute Call

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