Online Case Study - Stonebridge Colleges

Based in Bude, North Cornwall, Stonebridge Associated Colleges is one of the leading distance learning companies in the country, providing over 600 long distance learning courses. There are two brands under the umbrella of Stonebridge Associated Colleges: Elearn and Stonebridge.

In September 2010 Elearn joined our premium digital marketing level which includes search engine optimisation, reputation management, email marketing management and monthly reporting. Pleased with the results, in April 2011 we were appointed us to take full control of both their brands which has included a whole host of online activities.

Objectives

To increase traffic to both websites.
Undertake usability testing and design two new websites.
Perform numerous web development tasks.
Create a social media strategy to increase their social media presence and generate engagement, visits and revenue.
Segment email databases and send a series of targeted email campaigns to encourage customer loyalty and retention.
Improve reputation and brand.

WHAT WE DID

A Co-ordinated Online Marketing Strategy

Clockwork developed an online marketing strategy which included a range of online marketing activities including the following:

Website Design: Following usability testing, Clockwork designed and developed 2 new websites for Stonebridge and Elearn UK. The websites were designed with a better layout and a new Content Management System so that any content (special offers, latest news) can be instantly updated.
Social Media Strategy: We developed and created a clear social media plan with a variety of strategic campaigns to help increase likes, engagement, visits and revenue. Tasks we undertook included Facebook/Twitter competitions, regular posts, specific offer codes, course of the month, email marketing and uploading events.
Email Marketing: Stonebridge had a large email database however the results generated from sending emails were poor. We therefore segmented this list into 4 different categories so that the messages were more targeted which meant results were greatly improved. We found that open rates and click through rates were significantly up. As each month goes by their results continue to increase.
Digital Marketing: As part of our marketing retainer we also undertake their online marketing strategy, including search engine optimisation, link building, article writing and email marketing.
Online Reputation Management: When clockwork took on the task of improving Stonebridge’s reputation there were lots of negativity across websites which needed to be responded to appropriately. To help us in this task we ran a series of competitions to help boost these reviews and attract new visitors. As a consequence their reputation and has dramatically improved.

RESULTS

Significant Business Growth

Clockwork continues to maintain and support Stonebridge Colleges as a retained client; some of achievements to date include:

Both websites have seen a dramatic increase in visitors and more importantly a big increase in unique visitors +50% year on year and pageviews +48%. These websites have also seen increased ranking exposure for high volume generic terms in the education sector. Additionally they also achieved record sales in 2011.
The total number of Facebook likes increased in a 2-month campaign from 333 “Likes” to 2,913 “Likes”. These likes have also helped to record some fantastic revenue figures. Twitter followers have also increased from 340 to 824 since May 2011. With lots of future activities we will be continuing to grow their social media strategy and help drive more traffic and revenue.
Email marketing has proved to be very successful attracting lots of new and existing customers to undertake more learning courses and also complete many additional courses.
Stonebridge/Elearn UK have also seen a dramatic increase in their online reputation their rating is now extremely high at 92.6% recommended and a figure of 4.6 out of 5.