Background

Lincoln Technical Institute offers hands-on career training programs in a variety of fields including automotive, health sciences, information technology, skilled trades, spa and cosmetology and culinary. Headquartered in New Jersey, Lincoln offers programs both online and at 23 ground campuses, primarily located on the east coast of the U.S. Lincoln Tech was looking to scale enrollments and optimize efficiency in their marketing efforts for their training programs.

Challenge

Since 2006, Lincoln has partnered with Digital Media Solutions^®  (DMS) to manage and generate high-intent prospective student inquiries. Due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic across higher education in 2020, the DMS team of enrollment marketing experts needed to work in close partnership with the Lincoln Tech marketing team to help the higher education institution meet their enrollment and growth goals.

DMS Solution

The DMS digital performance marketing team leveraged their extensive network breadth, multi-channel expertise and comprehensive optimization efforts to drive high-intent, qualified prospective students into the enhanced Lincoln Tech admissions process.

• Strategic Methodology: The DMS team selected top potential partners for both interactive campaigns, which drive prospective students directly to a Lincoln Tech landing page, and third-party pay-per-lead (PPL) campaigns and worked strategically with Lincoln to optimize the digital media mix. DMS analyzed historic performance at a granular level, creating custom media plans for each of Lincoln’s locations, strategically allocating the majority of volume and budget to the top-performing partners for individual markets.
• Multi-Channel Expertise: Based on proprietary DMS data demonstrating heightened social media traffic and performance during the pandemic, the DMS team increased focus on social media campaigns. After testing multiple variations, the DMS team determined that more candid campaigns performed best, helping to drive engagement and interest in Lincoln’s program offerings.
• Robust Optimization: The DMS team closely monitored campaigns each day and performed full-scale optimization analyses on a bi-weekly basis, rigorously analyzing conversion data both holistically and at the campus and program levels. The team continuously optimized the media and affiliate partner mix by adjusting allocation toward top performers to achieve Lincoln Tech’s performance goals.

Unparalleled Results

Due to the consistent efforts of the DMS performance marketing team and the close partnership and streamlined enrollment process with Lincoln Tech, DMS helped Lincoln achieve a 76% increase in enrollments year over year, while decreasing the CPE by 67% and beating Lincoln Tech’s CPE goal by as much as 61.7%, all during a year that has brought about unprecedented challenges in the higher education landscape. 

Are You Looking To Connect With High-Intent Prospective Students At Scale?

DMS Education^TM is a thought leader in education and martech-enabled digital media distribution. Through our support of traditional and for-profit colleges, trade schools, community colleges, boot camps, continuing education providers, OPMs and agencies, we have seen it all. Led by industry veterans and dating back to our founding in 2002, DMS Education provides predictable, scalable and reliable education marketing.

About the Author

Digital Media Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: DMS) is a leading provider of technology and digital performance marketing solutions leveraging innovative, performance-driven brand and marketplace solutions to connect consumers and advertisers. DMS proprietary technology solutions, significant proprietary media distribution and data-driven processes help large brands steadily acquire more customers. For more information visit https://digitalmediasolutions.com.

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