University Increases Brand Awareness and Site Traffic with Strategus

A state university aimed to increase its brand awareness and website traffic among high school juniors and seniors, as well as their parents and influencers. To achieve this, the university partnered with Strategus for a CTV campaign targeting out-of-state markets in northern California.

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Objective

The primary goal was to build brand awareness and drive website visits, particularly among qualified high school juniors and seniors, as well as their parents and influencers.

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Strategy

The strategy involved a 10-week flight using a combination of CTV ads, retargeting, and Full Episode Player (FEP). Different tactics were employed to reach parents and influencers compared to prospective students. Parents and influencers were targeted via CTV, focusing on the largest screen in the home, while prospective students were targeted using FEP with increased bid frequency on devices they commonly use for streaming. Targeting criteria included households with children ages 16-19, interest in college, and households expecting a high school graduate in the next 12 months. Display Encore Retargeting and Website Retargeting were also employed to retarget users who previously viewed the client's CTV ad or visited the university's website. Geotargeting was narrowed down to the Northern California region.

Within the 10-week campaign period, Strategus tracked 5,536 post-view website visits and 1,395 clicks. The CTV campaign achieved a 97% View Completion Rate (VCR), and the FEP campaign achieved a 1.63% Click-Through Rate (CTR). Notably, After Ad Influence (AAI) generated 1,238 attributions using keywords related to college and student visitation, indicating strong engagement and interest following exposure to the university's ads. As a result of this success, the university renewed its campaign with Strategus and expanded targeting to include in-state prospective students.