A digital marketing case study for Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation - PG Scholarship Programme
Established in 2002, the Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation (NSF) has dedicated themselves to aid the careers of young pioneers through a unique scholarship and mentoring programme. The Programme is a one of a kind, merit-based scholarship for Masters students. Its unique mentoring scheme and the vast network of successful past recipients has made it one of the most prestigious scholarships.
Awarded only to a select few, this scholarship provides a plethora of opportunities that supports the student’s career. The applicants go through a rigorous screening process in regards with their academics, work experience, overall personality, and skills in order to be awarded a full or part loan for their further studies.
Our Goal:
One can only apply for the NSF scholarship online. Hence, it was essential to:
• Build awareness amongst the target age group:
Firstly, generate interest about the prestigious scholarship programme by showcasing its mission, legacy and how it was different from other programmes. Secondly, communicate the steps, the logistics and other necessary information about the programme clearly to the target audience.
• Get maximum signups:
Ensure high quality applicants from across the country to compete for this scholarship. The scholarship application form was lengthy and required a variety of documents to be submitted in order for it to be deemed as complete, along with a sum of Rs. 500. Understanding the behaviour and lifestyle of our target audience was essential in order to boost their motivations to apply for the scholarship.
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The Challenges:
Challenges are inevitable when pushing a nation-wide campaign online. Over the past 15 years, they have aided 214 scholars from 53 Universities across 7 countries.
Going Digital
Every year, the NSF Scholarship carries out integrated marketing campaigns. However, this year, due to COVID-19, we were limited to digital platforms. We relied solely on social media and other digital mediums to effectively push forward a strategised and successful campaign.
Clarifying Doubts
Communicating the logistics of the scholarship and its benefits briefly and clearly was essential for a qualified conversion. A short timeline coupled with numerous individual queries for a campaign of this scale required a clear process to be set up for a small team.
Rebuilding Social Media
As the programme is active for 3-4 months of the year there was a need to revive the dormant social media accounts with the aim of establishing a convenient way for the applicant to interact with the programme.
Our Approach & Deliverables:
With a wide target audience of any Indian graduate who had applied for a Masters and was under 29 years of age, it was essential to build a well-planned strategy with a clear call-to-action using digital organisation and marketing tools.
We achieved this by dividing our campaign into 4 phases:
• Pre-Launch
• LaunchPost
• Launch
• Deadline Push
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The Challenges:
Challenges are inevitable when pushing a nation-wide campaign online. Over the past 15 years, they have aided 214 scholars from 53 Universities across 7 countries.
Going Digital
Every year, the NSF Scholarship carries out integrated marketing campaigns. However, this year, due to COVID-19, we were limited to digital platforms. We relied solely on social media and other digital mediums to effectively push forward a strategised and successful campaign.
Clarifying Doubts
Communicating the logistics of the scholarship and its benefits briefly and clearly was essential for a qualified conversion. A short timeline coupled with numerous individual queries for a campaign of this scale required a clear process to be set up for a small team.
Rebuilding Social Media
As the programme is active for 3-4 months of the year there was a need to revive the dormant social media accounts with the aim of establishing a convenient way for the applicant to interact with the programme.
Our Approach & Deliverables:
With a wide target audience of any Indian graduate who had applied for a Masters and was under 29 years of age, it was essential to build a well-planned strategy with a clear call-to-action using digital organisation and marketing tools.
We achieved this by dividing our campaign into 4 phases:
• Pre-Launch
• LaunchPost
• Launch
• Deadline Push
One month prior to the launch of the scholarship applications being open, we focussed on:
• Reviving the NSF’s social media accounts to communicate the launch date and build hype around the same.
• Using Google Ads along with Facebook and Instagram adverts to reach prospective applicants from across India to pre-register with the NSF Scholarship Programme.
• Using Mailchimp emailers, and regular social media updates to showcase the legacy and prestige of the programmes.
• People who pre-registered with the scholarship programme received a first look at the Orientation Video 2020 that explained the benefits of the programme along with email reminders, quick tips and a head start on their application process.
The pre-launch phase helped us build an audience of over 1800 from whom we were able to gain valuable insights upon which we built our second phase.
The Scholarship Application launch was announced online through social media, emailers, Whatsapp forwards and adverts.
• Leveraged the 1800 pre-registered applicants to sign-up for the scholarship programme.
• Used a clear call to actions and relatable imagery picked through A/B Testing to create Google Display, Google Search, and Facebook and Instagram adverts to maximise reach within the target audience.
• Systematically planned social media updates with quirky posts, helpful information, student testimonials, and highlighting the scholarship’s unique features and benefits in order to create an organic following.
• Utilising the new features of Instagram including Guides, highlight stories, and interactive polls, we created a user experience that was organised, transparent and friendly.
• Branching out to video advertisements on YouTube shown on appropriate channels to target the right audience.
• Website refresh to rank better on SEO using appropriate keywords, providing clear, concise information, a countdown timer and trackable “Register Now” buttons across the site.
• Directly reaching out to colleges across the country through digital channels and conducting online webinar sessions with the applicants to understand and apply for the scholarship programme. The scholarship programme receives a large number of applications from applicants at these institutions each year.
Our post launch strategy was focused on converting our sign-ups into quality applicants.
We achieved this by:
• Using testimonials from past years scholars stories to bring out the perks of the scholarship programme and in order to provide insights into how to improve their application.
• Keeping in touch with the applicants who had signed-up by using emailers and social media with a focus on using survey forms to understand their pain points and addressing them on a one-to-one basis.
• Further optimising ad campaigns by creating separate ad sets for best performing cities in relation to different platforms. (e.g. Google Search saw higher conversion rates from metro cities).
• Gained higher keyword ranking by making ad groups targeted at specific post graduate degrees.
• Regularly updating keywords to ensure the adverts run smoothly and target the right audience.
• Conducting regular zoom webinars to clear doubts, answer FAQs, and understand student pain points in order to address them effectively via social media, the advertising creatives and email. This was an essential step to tackle multiple queries efficiently instead of cold calling each applicant which is a more tedious process.
• Being available on social media to address concerns and updating social media with reminders, notices and other relevant information for applicants to access at any time.
• Emailing pdf brochures, pamphlets and leaflets along with updates and checklists to applicants to help them be more organised and stay on top of their game.
• Building urgency closer to the deadline to constantly remind applicants through countdowns on emails, website and social media, using effective copy and sending out email reminders to applicants to complete their applications.
• Retargeting users who have visited the website before using personalised communication in order to accelerate their previously shown intent.
• Using a live countdown timer on all channels - emails, social media and the website.
We actively optimised the adverts using the analytical data to understand the audience behaviour. Using the data collected, we were able to create a successful campaign strategy. In addition to this, we also recorded our numbers on a weekly basis and analysed the changes to be made. The student testimonials and past scholar interactions, along with the engaging user service provided also increased the motivation of applicants and understanding the benefits of this prestigious scholarship programme.
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Increased overall engagement and following on social media
Over 2000 applicants pre-registered for the scholarship
Received over 5,700 registrations in comparison to 3,300 overall registrations in 2020
Around 2,000 applicants paid the registration fee: 60% increase in comparison to the year before
1600 Completed Applications: 38% increase from the previous year in completed applications
Over 2,00,000 clicks and 1,00,00,000 impressions via Google Display AdsClose to 2,00,00,000 impressions via Facebook and Instagram adverts
Close to 2,00,00,000 impressions via Facebook and Instagram adverts
The Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation received higher numbers of quality applications in 2021 compared to 2020, despite having no increase in the advertising budget. Learning from the previous year, we were able to be more cost efficient.
Moreover, we targeted the right audience by optimising the keyword search and by focusing on improving our organic SEO rankings. The COVID restrictions allowed us to be more efficient and push beyond social media and Google ads to generate higher conversions.
By thinking outside the box and using digital methods to get in touch with the target audience, we were able to abide by the covid restrictions as well as reach our digital goals. Getting in touch with Universities in India and offering digital webinar sessions with their students allowed us to further expand our reach and lure in quality applicants.
We found the digitalisation of the entire campaign to be more cost effective, and were able to get in touch with applicants from all over the country from the comfort of our own homes.
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