Client: Center for Social Impact Strategy, University of Pennsylvania

Project: Marketing Campaign for New Online Executive Program

In less than a year we managed to nearly 10x the performance of the platform's user acquisition while decreasing the cost of acquiring users by 90%.

The Challenge

The Center for Social Impact Strategy is a research and action center based in the University of Pennsylvania, dedicated to supporting innovative approaches to public problem-solving.In September of 2014, the center was gearing up to launch a brand-new executive program: designed specifically for experienced professionals interested in deepening their knowledge on social impact strategy, the vision was to offer an 8-month curriculum blending online learning with in-person training events at Penn.The program director was tasked with the challenge of marketing a new program with no prior track record, at a price point of $4,950. They needed at least 100 applicants, and a key requirement was to recruit a diverse pool of applicants from all over the world. With only 2 months before the application close date, I was brought on to develop a marketing campaign strategy from scratch, and manage the execution of the campaign from start to finish. 

The Result

I worked closely with the program director to define the program's market positioning, after surveying the landscape of executive programs offered by leading universities like Harvard, Columbia, and Stanford. We developed a user profile of our ideal applicant and honed in on the program's value propositions and key differentiators. I then developed a marketing funnel by working with the center's graphic designer and web developer to create a webpage to market the program and persuade visitors to apply. I wrote the website copy, set up an email opt-in, and developed a series of automated emails that followed up with potential applicants with more details of the program.I then coordinated with the team on a weekly basis to market the program, using a combination of email marketing, partnerships, and digital advertising.The launch was a huge success: we exceeded our goal of applicants by over 125%, and the program launched as planned in March of 2015 with a highly selective cohort of 35 professionals and entrepreneurs from all over the world.