Running an admissions campaign like a product roadmap

A school client's digital admissions campaign, run in test-and-scale phases and wired into the admissions CRM, that grew leads 35% and conversion 20% year on year.

Context

A school client of Reach And Teach wanted to grow admissions through its Google and Meta campaigns. The aim wasn’t just more enquiries, but more of them turning into enrolled students.

What I did

Started from a baseline, not a hunch. Analysed last year’s campaign data beyond cost per lead: lead quality and where enquiries dropped off. Google’s high-intent search came in about 15% cheaper per lead than Meta’s demographic targeting.
Planned the budget from the data. Used cohort analysis to forecast the back-to-school surge, then split spend 55% Google, 35% Meta, with 10% held back for testing.
Ran it in phases, like a product roadmap. Weeks 1–4 validated hypotheses (negative keywords cut CPL 20%). Weeks 5–8 scaled what worked (Meta budget up 30% for video; A/B-tested creatives lifted click-through 10%). From week 9, automation and nurture took over.
Designed the lead journey end to end. Leads flowed from the ad platforms into the admissions CRM in real time with source attribution, and the CRM prompted counsellors with the next step for each lead. Personalised follow-ups lifted response rates 25% in testing. GDPR consent was built in throughout.

Outcome

Leads up 35% and conversion rate up 20% year on year. Attrition mapping found a 25% drop-off after first enquiry, and nurture sequences reclaimed about 12% of those lost leads.

What I learnt

Marketing works best when you run it like a product: a baseline, a hypothesis per phase, KPIs tied to business impact, and permission to pivot. Cost per lead on its own tells you very little; lead quality and drop-off tell you where the money is.

The full write-up, with each phase in detail, is in my article A digital marketing blueprint, from a product manager.