Mount Saint Joseph University (MSJ), a private liberal arts university in Cincinnati, sought to increase awareness and drive prospective student engagement for its undergraduate degree programs — particularly its cITe Scholars program (Center for IT Engagement). The university needed a digital strategy that could reach highly specific student audiences in both traditional and non-traditional channels, while also building brand presence in the greater Ohio and Northern Kentucky region.
What The Client Requested From Our Team?
Our objective was to build a comprehensive, hyper-targeted digital campaign that would:
- Generate broad brand awareness
- Drive traffic to MSJ’s admissions and program pages
- Support on-site event attendance and application growth for niche programs like cITe Scholars
- Increase visibility among high school students and parents at key feeder institutions and events
Actual Tactics We Deployed
Over the course of a three-year partnership, Propellant Media designed and executed a full-funnel digital marketing strategy anchored in programmatic display advertising and geofencing. Our approach included:
- Event Targeting: We geofenced relevant community and educational events such as the Holy Cross Immaculate Mount Adams Festival, Archbishop Moeller High School events, Northern Kentucky University Latino College Fair, and regional science fair conferences to reach students and families already exploring college opportunities.
- Geofencing With High School Targeting: We identified and geofenced priority high schools, including Malton-Verina High School, to ensure persistent visibility among MSJ’s core enrollment audience.
- Addressable Geofencing: For highly specific outreach, we utilized addressable geofencing to promote MSJ’s cITe Scholars program, delivering targeted messaging directly to the homes of prospective students based on first-party data and modeled lists.
- Site Retargeting: We re-engaged visitors to MSJ’s website, reinforcing messaging and driving them back to relevant program pages to take the next step in their enrollment journey.
- Programmatic Display Advertising: Our campaign creative was tailored for multiple audience segments and served across premium inventory in mobile, tablet, desktop, and connected TV environments.
Results of the Campaign
The campaign delivered over 1.6 million impressions and generated more than 2,800 highly engaged clicks from prospective students and families. MSJ saw increased traffic to its admissions and cITe program pages, and the campaign contributed to sustained awareness and pipeline growth over multiple enrollment cycles.