DSU

🎯 Primary Goals

  • Increase qualified leads for UG & PG admissions.
  • Reduce CPL across platforms while improving lead quality.
  • Increase completed applications & campus visit conversions.
  • Strengthen DSU’s digital brand position among top Indian private universities.

📈 KPI Targets

🎯 Primary Personas

  • UG Aspirants (17–20 yrs): 12th-pass students preparing for engineering, management, biosciences, arts.
  • PG Aspirants (21–25 yrs): Working professionals / fresh graduates exploring MBA, M.Tech, M.Sc, etc.
  • Parents: Decision influencers for UG admissions.
  • International Students: NRIs/foreign students looking for Indian universities.

A. Google Ads Strategy

Campaign Types

1. Search Ads

High-intent keywords:
  • “best engineering colleges Bangalore”
  • “top universities for MBA in Karnataka”
  • “BCA admission 2026”
  • “DSU admissions” (brand keywords)
Goal: Capture active search demand.
Bid: Maximize Conversions → Target CPA.

2. Performance Max
  • Covers Search + Display + YouTube + Gmail.
  • Granular asset groups per course cluster (Engineering, Management, Health Sciences, etc.).
3. YouTube TrueView
  • Awareness & remarketing.
  • Videos: campus tour, student testimonials, placement highlights.
4. Remarketing (GDN + YouTube)
  • For website visitors, abandoned forms, landing page browsers.
Tracking Set-up
  • GA4 + GTM + conversion tagging.
  • Offline conversion imports (admissions CRM integration).

B. Meta Ads (Facebook + Instagram)

Campaign Types

1. Lead Generation (Instant Forms + Website Forms)
  • Separate campaigns for UG & PG.
  • Optimized for higher-intent forms.
2. Engagement + Video View Ads
  • Promote campus life, facilities, research, placements.
3. Retargeting

Lookalike audiences from:
  • Past enrolled students
  • Form leads
  • Website engagement
  • Viewers 75%+ video
4. Special Category: Education Compliance
  • Use age-based segmentation (17–25 focus).

C. LinkedIn Ads (For PG Programs)

Ideal for: MBA, M.Tech, Executive Courses
  • Sponsored content, message ads, conversation ads.
  • Targeting: Job titles, years of experience, industries.

D. Additional Channels

1. Quora Ads
  • Target intent-based questions → “best university for BTech”.
2. OTT Advertising (Programmatic)
  • Platforms: Hotstar, JioCinema, SonyLiv
  • Use during admission peak months (Mar–Aug).
3. SEO + Content Marketing
  • 30–40% of leads can be organic if optimized.
  • Articles: “How to choose the right university”, “Career after BTech CS”, etc.

LANDING PAGE OPTIMIZATION PLAN

  • Key Improvements
  • Separate landing pages for each school/department.
  • Above-the-fold CTAs → “Apply Now”, “Download Brochure”.
  • Faster loading (<2.5s).
Add:
✓ Placement stats
✓ Program structure
✓ Faculty
✓ Fees + scholarships
✓ Testimonials
  • A/B test pages weekly.

✅ 1. Walk me through your approach to planning a performance marketing campaign for student admissions.

Answer:

“My approach begins with understanding the admissions calendar, priority programs, and target markets. I then define the campaign objective—usually leads or completed applications—and map the audience segments (UG/PG, domestic/international).
I build a channel strategy based on intent: Google Search for high-intent leads, Meta for scale and storytelling, and PMax for multi-channel coverage.
I set up granular ad groups by program, create message-aligned creatives, and build dedicated landing pages with strong CTAs.
Once live, I monitor daily performance—CPL, CTR, CVR, lead quality—and adjust bids, audiences, and creatives. I also sync with admissions to ensure the leads are converting well and optimize based on their feedback.”

✅ 2. How do you identify and fix a drop in CTR?

Answer:

“I follow a diagnostic checklist:

  1. Creative fatigue – check frequency and quality ranking.

  2. Audience saturation – ensure the targeting isn't stale.

  3. Placement performance – some placements may be dragging CTR down.

  4. Relevance issues – messaging might no longer match audience intent.

  5. Competitive pressure – CPM increases could indicate the season is crowded.

To fix it, I refresh creatives, update hooks, expand/redefine audiences, remove low-performing placements, and test new formats like reels, video testimonials, and campus tours.”

✅ 3. How do you run A/B tests for international student recruitment campaigns?

Answer:

“I test only one variable at a time—creative, messaging, CTA, or audience. For international markets, I segment tests by region because motivations differ.
I use clean test setups: same budget, same audience, same placements—only the test variable changes.
I run tests for 7–14 days and evaluate CTR, CPL, engagement, and lead quality from the CRM.
I include cultural nuance—students from Africa may respond to scholarships and safety while Southeast Asia responds more to affordability and campus life.
I scale the winning variation and move to the next test.”

✅ 4. How would you collaborate with admissions teams?

Answer:

“I sync weekly to review lead quality, conversion rates, program-wise demand, and counseling schedules.
I adjust campaigns based on their insights—for example, increase budgets for programs with lower application numbers or pause programs where seats are filling.
I also create remarketing flows for application nudges and coordinate deadlines, open houses, and scholarship dates to align our messaging.
It’s a continuous feedback loop: Ads → CRM → Admissions → Optimization.”

✅ 5. How do you ensure alignment with branding?

Answer:

“I work closely with the branding team to ensure every creative reflects the university’s tone, visual identity, and messaging pillars.
Branding shares assets—photos, videos, testimonials—while I tailor those into performance-optimized creatives for each program.
We first freeze the content calendar for the month, then map brand events (rankings, research wins, placements) to digital campaigns.
This ensures the performance ads feel authentic and consistent.”

✅ 6. How do you measure lead quality?

Answer:

“I use a combination of:

  • Lead → Application conversion rate

  • Lead → Counseling attended rate

  • Program interest relevance

  • Region-wise conversion trends

  • CRM scoring (if available)

I also import offline conversions from the CRM into Google Ads to let the algorithm optimize for leads that actually convert—not just cheap ones.”

✅ 7. How do you manage budgets across channels?

Answer:

“I allocate budgets based on funnel intent:

  • Google Search → high-intent leads (45–50%)

  • Meta (FB/IG) → scale + mid-funnel (30–35%)

  • Performance Max → omnichannel incremental reach

  • Remarketing → 10%

  • LinkedIn for PG programs → 10–15%

I shift budgets weekly based on CPL, lead quality, program demand, and application trends.”

✅ 8. How do you optimize a Google Ads campaign for better CPL?

Answer:

“I refine keywords by removing high-cost low-performing terms, focus on exact and phrase match, and optimize negative keywords.
I tighten location targeting, improve ad relevance through better headlines & RSA combinations, and optimize landing pages using A/B testing.
I switch to Target CPA bidding once enough conversions accumulate.
I also review search terms daily, adjust device bidding, and expand high-intent long-tail keywords.”

✅ 9. What’s your approach when an ad set is generating a lot of leads but low-quality ones?

Answer:

“First, I analyze the audience source—broad or lookalikes may cause low quality.
I then refine the targeting, adjust messaging, improve the filters in the lead form, and add qualifying questions.
I check creative—they may be too generic or ‘clickbaity’.
Then I review the landing page or form copy to better align expectations.
Finally, I sync with admissions to understand the nature of the low-quality leads and adjust campaigns accordingly.”

✅ 10. Can you give an example of a successful campaign you managed?” (Customize before interview)

Answer (Template):

“In my previous role, I executed a lead-generation campaign targeting students for a new BTech specialization.
I structured the campaign with program-specific ad groups, created video testimonials, and built a high-performing landing page.
Within the first month, we reduced CPL by 30% and increased the application conversion rate by 40% through keyword refinement, A/B testing creatives, and close collaboration with admissions.
This helped fill the program’s seats ahead of schedule.”

✅11. You are getting a lot of leads, but very few applications — what do you do?

  • Review lead quality with admissions

  • Adjust audiences (too broad?)

  • Improve landing page clarity

  • Check for mismatch in ad expectations

  • Use retargeting to push applications

  • Create drip communication (WhatsApp/SMS/email)

✅12. If one region is giving high CPL but high-quality students, what will you do?

Answer:
“I prioritize quality over volume in education marketing.
If the region yields strong conversions, I justify the higher CPL by optimizing bidding or creatives rather than cutting it.”

✅13. How would you handle a tight admissions deadline (last 10 days)?

  • Increase budget on high-intent search

  • Launch urgency ads

  • Implement remarketing to all visitors

  • Activate WhatsApp remind campaigns

  • Create “last date” creatives

  • Coordinate with admissions for quick follow-ups

Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)