Colleges, universities and edtech
Admissions run on a calendar. Most ad accounts do not, and the gap between the two is where the budget goes.
- Meta
- Google Search
- YouTube
- Regional-language platforms
- WhatsApp for counselling
Three problems specific to this business
Admissions run on a calendar and spend does not
Intake deadlines are fixed and demand is seasonal, but budgets are usually flat monthly. You underspend in the window that matters and overspend in the one that doesn't.
Lead volume peaks while lead quality collapses
The cheapest leads arrive when the platform has been told that a form fill is the goal. Volume looks excellent in the week before a deadline and converts at nothing.
Counselling teams cannot tell which source produced the students who enrolled
The counsellor knows who enrolled. The ad platform doesn't. So it keeps buying more of whoever fills forms fastest.
What we report against
Not impressions, and not cost per lead. These decide whether the marketing paid for itself.
- Cost per qualified enquiry
- Enquiry → application rate
- Cost per admission
- Application → enrolment
- Yield by source and programme
The outcome goes back to the platform
Runs the enquiry-to-counselling-to-application-to-admission pipeline across intakes and campuses, and sends admissions back as the conversion event so the platforms optimise on enrolled students.
Rules we work inside
These shape what you are allowed to say, and we build creative to them from the start.
- UGC and AICTE claim restrictions
- ASCI education guidance
- Honest representation of placement statistics
Asked in this sector
Against the funnel's lead time, not evenly. Enquiries generated close to a deadline convert worse because there is no time to counsel them properly. The heavier spend belongs early enough that counselling can work, with a defensive budget near the deadline for high-intent search, not volume prospecting.
Thirty minutes on your account. No deck.
We'll come with two or three specific things we'd change, whether or not you work with us.