Building a Digital Foundation for a Purpose-Driven School: Strategic Niche Program Promotion

C A S E S T U D Y

A NICHE FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES | CANADA

Overview

A faculty of social sciences at an Ontario university offers graduate programs for action-driven individuals who want to become social change agents. With a unique focus on eco-social justice and hands-on experience, the school aims to empower students to tackle complex issues like sustainability and social equity.

As a newer school with purpose-driven, niche programs, they needed a digital marketing partner who could understand their unique, non-corporate ethos. They sought to build brand awareness and generate qualified leads for two key programs.

Project scope.

Goal

To build and execute a bilingual, full-funnel digital advertising strategy to increase program visibility, generate a target number of qualified leads, and drive enrollment for two specialized programs.

Timeline

October 2024 - March 2025

Location

Ontario, Canada

Industry

Education

Services

Messaging and budget allocation strategy, paid social and search advertising, landing page development, funnel strategy, ad creative and copywriting, A/B testing, analytics and reporting.

The challenge.

The faculty needed to build a digital presence from the ground up for its two new, highly specialized programs. After a previous campaign with another agency failed to capture the faculty's unique ethos, the primary challenge was to launch a new strategy that could authentically connect with a purpose-driven audience, build awareness for niche programs, and generate qualified leads on a limited budget.

01

Marketing a mission, not just a program

The school’s core identity is rooted in social and ecological justice, not traditional business outcomes. The central challenge was to craft a marketing message that was hopeful, inclusive, and action-oriented, avoiding the corporate-style language that had failed in the past and resonating with individuals driven by purpose rather than profit.

02

Reaching niche, abstract audiences

The programs attract a diverse mix of candidates—from recent graduates passionate about activism to mid-career professionals in NGOs, healthcare, and the public sector. The master’s in particular has two distinct specializations, making it difficult to find a single target audience. The challenge was to effectively reach these varied segments without a clear pre-existing market to target.

03

Building awareness on a modest budget

With new programs and a limited six-month timeline, the campaign had to be exceptionally efficient. It needed to first build brand awareness for the school and its unique offerings, and then quickly pivot to convert that awareness into a high volume of qualified leads, all while working within a modest advertising budget that required maximizing the return on every dollar spent.

The solution.

Our partnership began with a deep discovery process, including a competitive analysis, to fully understand the faculty's unique, purpose-driven mission in the broader market. This foundational research informed our strategy development, where we created detailed student personas for each program and built a core messaging strategy rooted in hope and action. With this strategic framework in place, we designed and executed a two-phase, bilingual digital marketing campaign from the ground up, ensuring our approach would create an authentic connection with individuals looking to become agents of social and ecological change.

Purpose-driven messaging & creative

To connect with the faculty's unique audience, we developed a messaging strategy rooted in hope, action, and inclusivity. We crafted all bilingual ad and landing page copy to be approachable and inspiring, avoiding the corporate jargon that had failed in the past. The creative focused on empowering potential students, with calls-to-action like "Be the Catalyst for Social Change" and "Become a Transformative Leader for a Just and Sustainable World."

Building the digital funnel from scratch

We constructed a complete digital marketing funnel to create a clear and compelling journey for prospective students. This included designing and launching dedicated, bilingual landing pages for each program. These landing pages were optimized to provide clear, accessible program information and a simple path to inquiry, serving as the central hub for all campaign traffic.

Two-phase social & search campaigns

We launched a strategic, multi-channel advertising campaign across Meta (Facebook & Instagram) and Google. The first three months focused on broad brand awareness, introducing the faculty and its unique mission to new audiences. The campaign then pivoted for the final three months to focus more heavily on lead generation, targeting users who had shown interest and driving them to submit an inquiry or register for an info session.

Agile collaboration & optimization

We established a close, collaborative partnership with the faculty's leadership, holding bi-weekly meetings to review performance and align on strategy. This tight feedback loop, combined with monthly A/B testing of landing pages and ongoing ad optimization, allowed us to be highly responsive and efficient. This agile approach ensured we maximized the modest budget and delivered a steady stream of qualified, mission-aligned leads.

The results.

97%

Increase in qualified leads compared to the previous year.

40%

Increase in total applications compared to the previous year.

233%

Increase in offers of admission compared to the prior year.

325%

Increase in new students across the two programs compared to the previous year.

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The key learnings.

For purpose-driven programs, the marketing must embody the mission

We learned that attracting candidates for social change programs requires a complete departure from corporate marketing. By using a messaging strategy rooted in hope, inclusivity, and action, we successfully connected with a niche audience that a more traditional, business-focused approach had previously failed to engage.

With a new program and a limited budget, you must build awareness before asking for a conversion

Our two-phase campaign model proved essential. By dedicating the initial months to building brand awareness, we were able to efficiently warm up a new market and identify high-potential audiences before shifting our focus—and budget—to direct lead generation, maximizing ROI.

In a niche market, a tight client feedback loop is the most powerful optimization tool

Our close, collaborative partnership with the faculty's leadership was critical to success. The bi-weekly strategy sessions allowed us to translate their deep audience knowledge into actionable campaign adjustments quickly, ensuring our messaging was always authentic and our targeting was exact.