CASE STUDY

Website traffic campaign for Solomon Schechter Day School of Metropolitan Chicago.

Campaign Dates: March 1 to June 6, 2023

Our Role: Campaign strategy, content creation, end-to-end video services, social media launch, management, and reporting.

Summary

Solomon Schechter Day School of Metropolitan Chicago (SSDS) hired NTI Upstream to design, develop, and execute a social media strategy aimed at increasing its presence on social media in key geographic locations and driving more traffic to its website, where target audiences could learn more about the organization and connect with recruitment personnel. Campaign success was measured by tracking reach, impressions, post link clicks, and website visits.

To accomplish these goals, we created a series of upbeat testimonial videos featuring current students, parents, and faculty talking about all the incredible things SSDS offers: an outstanding education, an inclusive community, small classroom sizes, personalized learning opportunities, and more. The campaign ran for three months from March 1 to June 6, 2023, and was a huge success. Not only did we accomplish our goals, but we also grew our client’s social media audience, increased traffic across the website, and gleaned important strategic takeaways that empowered them to improve other aspects of their marketing and outreach efforts.

APPROACH

Having relied successfully on traditional marketing for lead generation, recruitment, and enrollment, SSDS decided it was time to leverage the power of social media to reach a broader audience and better communicate its value proposition and points of differentiation in a personalized way. As new competitors emerged and existing competitors strengthened their position in the marketplace, SSDS needed to break through with more dynamic, emotional, and attention-grabbing content and messaging. Though the school had social media channels and used them periodically to share information and content with existing families, it struggled to utilize social media outside of its existing audience base. Like many organizations without a dedicated social media marketing department, they struggled to produce high-quality, value-based content and distribute it in a consistent, effective way. In addition, they did not have experience using paid social to hyper-target desired audiences and track and measure the data derived from such efforts.

Insights

Few assets are as powerful, or as underutilized, as the voices of happy customers. Testimonials serve as a bridge between a potential buyer’s uncertainty and their decision to take action. They provide social proof. When prospective customers see real people passionately endorsing a product or service, it humanizes the brand and builds trust far faster than any polished ad campaign can.

This campaign was all about social proof and sharing the love of SSDS. We leaned into capturing video testimonials, and the results were astounding. What makes testimonials particularly compelling is that they tap into the innate human desire to share positive experiences. When people find something they love, they naturally want to tell others. It gives them a sense of authority, of being "in the know." These SSDS evangelists are marketing gold: authentic storytellers who can influence enrollment decisions more persuasively than any sales pitch. By strategically capturing and showcasing these stories, we drove thousands of potential new customers to the SSDS website and increased their brand awareness and footprint in the market.

Results

Our SSDS campaign was a huge success, with content saturating target market feeds across multiple social media platforms. Not only did we have staggering campaign results, but we also improved the school’s overall social presence and reinforced the brand in a highly competitive region. Our call-to-action directed audiences to the SSDS website to learn more about the school and connect with an enrollment recruiter. We used both organic and paid social media in a very specific, hyper-targeted region in the northern suburbs of Chicago.