Building the Foundation With Tracking and Targeting
We started by setting up GA4 and HubSpot to ensure accurate end-to-end tracking and lead attribution. Then we audited Holston’s existing Summer School campaign and shifted the focus to high-intent search campaigns. We also got to work on improving organic search rankings, developing a content strategy focused on high value keywords across a number of key audience segments, almost immediately seeing impact on key areas of the site like the Tuition page and the Course Catalog.
Refining the Approach to Drive Better Results
Through summer and fall 2024, we continued to push on our content strategy, and refined our paid advertising strategy, reallocating budget to proven search queries and pausing under-performing social ads. Our data analysis revealed that a couple concepts were most effective, so we leaned into those areas from both a paid and organic angle. We also standardized Holston's lead funnel in HubSpot to ensure accuracy across both teams, clarified internal definitions for lead stages, and created a seasonal shared campaign calendar to align efforts with the school-year enrollment cycle.
Both Organic and Paid Strategies Come to Fruition
By early 2025, we had been publishing 2-3 search-optimized articles per month and momentum was building. We were starting to see important keywords move up the rankings into the top 10. Traffic was up 90% year over year, and we saw steady growth in organic leads. In addition, our primary search campaign was delivering leads at 10% below target CPA. Our social media efforts began to pay off and were increasingly mentioned in lead attribution forms.
Lead Volume and Enrollments Take Off
In spring, organic growth continued to accelerate, and paid search campaigns were driving leads at just one-third of the initial target CPA. The numbers continued to grow in April, and new social ads drove a huge amount of visibility and traffic. By May, our SEO-focused content strategy had delivered exceptional results: a 1,400% increase in top 1-3 keyword rankings compared to the prior July. Holston’s total lead volume had more than doubled since then, organic leads increased nearly 800%, and enrollments were up more than 250%.
Set Up For Success
With strong systems, consistent content, and a refined paid strategy, Holston now has a replicable engine for driving enrollment. We’re proud to help them grow in an evolving education market.
