Strategic Media Planning and Buying

Bozell has partnered with the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) since 2013. We create an annual detailed and strategic media plan in partnership with the Office of Admissions. The plan is two-fold: undergraduate and graduate recruitment.

Insights

UNL has top talent in the creative department, and they have the ability to produce effective visuals and messaging that are in line with the mission of UNL. However, without a distribution plan, even the best creative is not going to have an impact with your audience. In order to assure this impact, the UNL team turns to Bozell.

While the target audience essentially stays the same age, the times never stop progressing. The way a high school student consumes media varies greatly now from even three or four years ago. Staying on top of these trends takes tenacity and expertise. It doesn’t hurt that our media director formerly worked at an area college and has a to-be college student of her own.

Execution

At the end of each summer, we partner with UNL to assess the creative assets the University’s internal team is dreaming up and then determine the best targets. Starting in late summer, Bozell secures media both in accordance with the audience trends and in geographic areas that are strategic to UNL. Following the initial buy, we monitor and adjust for best performance amongst industry targets, as well as our own goals. Along the way, we make recommendations to the internal team at the University regarding any additional creative or subtle adjustments to keep the messaging fresh and impactful.

Results

While we can never take full credit, UNL has broken enrollment records year after year. More specifically, our most recent campaign achieved a:

• 236% above-industry-average click-through rate
  (.37% vs. .11%, via Google)
• 17% higher video completion rate vs. industry average
  (89% vs. 78%, via Google)
• 52% less cost-per-click on Facebook
  ($.58 vs. $1.06 CPC, via Facebook)