Benchmark scenario · Education
Business Pattern
- Business type
- Single campus, 6 UG and PG programmes, state-level intake
- Location
- Metro outskirts; students from across the state and neighbouring states
- Ticket size
- Annual fees ₹1.2–2.5 lakh; 4-year value ₹5–10 lakh
- Sales cycle
- 2–6 months, decided jointly by student and parents
- Season ad budget
- ₹12 lakh over 4 months (₹3 lakh/month, Google + Meta + YouTube)
The Challenge
"We get thousands of form fills, but counsellors waste days calling students who only wanted the brochure." Leads came from broad Meta campaigns with no programme or rank filter. Counsellors had no priority order, and follow-up stopped after two unanswered calls.
Objectives
- Lower cost per admission by at least 40% within the season
- Lift lead-to-application rate by improving lead quality
- Reach parents, not only students
What We Did
- Programme-level campaigns. Separate Google Search and Meta campaigns for each programme, with landing pages showing fees, placements, scholarships and cut-off ranks.
- Qualifying lead forms. Forms asked entrance rank range, programme and city, so counsellors called the best-fit leads first.
- Parent-focused creative. YouTube and Facebook videos covering safety, hostels, faculty and placement support, targeted at parents aged 40–55.
- WhatsApp nurture sequence. Every lead received programme details, campus-tour slots and counselling dates over four weeks. Counsellors worked a ranked daily list.
- Campus-visit push. Weekend open-house invites by WhatsApp and retargeting — the stage where most applications were made.
Results (4-Month Season)
| Metric | Previous season | This season |
|---|---|---|
| Season ad spend | ₹12 lakh | ₹12 lakh |
| Cost per lead | ₹520 | ₹310 |
| Leads in season | 2,300 | 3,870 |
| Lead-to-application rate | 6% | 9% |
| Applications | 138 | 348 |
| Application-to-admission rate | 35% | 35% |
| Admissions from digital | 48 | 122 |
| Cost per admission | ₹25,000 | ₹9,836 |
What Made the Difference
Treating admissions as a funnel, not a lead count. Qualifying questions and a ranked call list let counsellors spend their time on students likely to join, and the WhatsApp sequence kept the college in front of parents through a decision that takes months.
FAQs
Run separate campaigns for each programme, send traffic to pages that show fees, placements and cut-offs, qualify leads on the form, and nurture them on WhatsApp until campus visits and counselling.