Case Study: School Advertisements for Admissions

In the realm of digital marketing, crafting effective campaigns to attract potential students to educational institutions is a nuanced task. This case study delves into the experience of a marketer tasked with generating admission inquiries for a school in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and the unexpected outcome encountered during the process.

Issue: The primary challenge faced by the marketer was the influx of CVs from job-seeking teachers, despite the primary objective being to drive admission inquiries for the school.

Details: The marketer embarked on a campaign utilizing Google search ads to bolster the school's visibility and attract prospective students. Here's a breakdown of the strategies employed:

1. Campaign Creation: A meticulously crafted search campaign was developed, encompassing relevant settings tailored to the school's target audience.
2. Audience Targeting: The audience selection focused on individuals actively seeking primary schools, elementary schools, and pre-kindergarten education.
3. Keyword Strategy: A combination of phrase match and exact match keywords were incorporated to ensure alignment with users' search queries.
4. Negative Keywords: A comprehensive list of negative keywords was compiled to filter out irrelevant search queries and streamline the campaign's focus.
5. Ad Copy: Engaging and conversion-oriented ad copies were created to entice users to inquire about admission.

Results: Despite the strategic implementation of the campaign, the predominant response was an inundation of CVs from teachers seeking employment opportunities, overshadowing the desired outcome of admission inquiries.

Analysis: Upon closer examination of the search queries driving traffic to the campaign, an intriguing revelation emerged. Rather than conventional search terms related to school admissions or education, the predominant queries pertained to:

• "Best schools in Dubai"
• "Admission open Dubai schools"
• "Best schools near me"

This unexpected trend highlighted a shift in behavior among job seekers, as they demonstrated awareness that top-tier schools might not advertise teaching positions using generic terms like "jobs in schools" or "teaching jobs."

Conclusion: This case study underscores the evolving landscape of digital marketing and the importance of adaptability in response to shifting consumer behavior. While the initial focus was on attracting student inquiries, the campaign inadvertently tapped into a market of job-seeking educators, shedding light on the nuanced dynamics at play in online advertising. Moving forward, a recalibration of the campaign strategy, including refined keyword targeting and messaging, may be warranted to align with the evolving search behavior observed in this case.