NMAT (NMIMS Management Aptitude Test) by GMAC (Graduate Management Admission Council) is a national-level entrance test conductor for MBA admissions at NMIMS University and other reputed B-Schools in India as well as abroad. This test is attempted by students aiming to pursue MBA as well as working professionals.
Brands nowadays aim to maximize their visibility and reach to a larger audience via robust paid media strategies, and NMAT was walking on a similar journey. To increase the registration of the students while making them aware about the advantages of taking the NMAT exam , NMAT joined hands with #ARM Worldwide.
Challenges
- Drive stipulated registrations from a Landing Page which was changed wherein we anticipated users drop offs due to multiple exit points.
- Hike in the registration fees which led to students having a dilemma in filling up the registration form.
Strategy
- Robust Media planning and distributing the overall budget across platforms to achieve the desired goal.
- Creative Communication Route: Emphasizing on the advantages of taking this test.
- In order to have sharp targeting cohorts we looked at the behavioral affinity of registered users interacting with the ads and then created TGs with identical interests that included Students along with working professionals.
- We launched this on multiple partner platforms to ensure we targeted the people most apt for our product and the sniper approach in targeting made us achieve results within our benchmarks.
Approach
#ARM Worldwide identified the challenges of the national-level MBA entrance conductor and devised robust paid media strategies to overcome the same. Our team of expert paid media professionals picked each challenge and provided solutions accordingly.
Our team started with identifying the most-suited platforms to run media advertising campaigns for NMAT. After an in-depth analysis, we finalized three platforms – Google, Facebook, and YouTube, and carefully allocated a budget to each platform.
In the next step, our team began with A/B testing for campaigns with a custom audience remarketing campaign to target users who have visited the landing page to register for the exams.
Moving ahead, we devised and ran multi-channel digital campaigns including brand-specific, generic, competitor, and remarketing campaigns on Google, non-skippable and skippable videos for YouTube, and conversion & remarketing ad campaigns on Facebook. In the post-campaign analysis, the team ran an A/B test and optimized the most performing channel – which was Google, in this case. Additionally, we approached educational publishers and ad networks such as IMS, Shiksha, Chaitoast, MBA Universe, Careers360, and more to increase registrations for NMAT.
To draw high intent students amidst the fees hike, our team devised a content strategy that showcased to students the pros of taking the entrance exam. The benefits were showcased via creatives and RSA copies on Google.
Another approach that the paid media team instated for addressing the low volume of generic keywords was emphasizing more on Brand Keywords on Google Search to push the maximum number of registrations.
Results
Lead to Registration Rate increased from 23% to 41.19% year-on-year
The #ARM Worldwide team was able to achieve all the desired targets along with the company’s goal of creating a sturdy digital presence with valuable inputs and solutions provided by the paid media team.
Why is it important to have a strong paid media strategy?
Paid media strategies are like recipes. The paid media marketers have complete control over the campaign – from reviewing to resetting benchmarks. It is imperative for brands and businesses to include paid media in their digital marketing strategies as it allows you to be directly in front of the target audience and engage them in the platforms they are already spending their time. Paid media helps brands generate exposure and credibility, hence it becomes important for them to have a strong paid media strategy for fruitful results.
