Established in 2016, Oxford Education Online (OEO) offers students aged 8 to 18 a comprehensive, full-time British curriculum, characterised by small classes (maximum of 6 students) and 100% live, interactive lessons. This approach ensures a personalised and flexible education tailored to each pupil’s needs.
With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent shift to online learning, UK parents grew increasingly dissatisfied with the improvised online education from state and private schools.
Recognising this as an opportunity, OEO sought to increase its student roll by 34, from 14 to 48 over a nine month period.
To achieve this ambitious goal, OEO partnered with Waypoint, tasking us to devise a digital marketing strategy to broaden OEO’s reach and significantly grow their student base.
To realise this objective, and in the compressed timescale required, we formulated a dual-channel digital solution through Google and Facebook advertising. This strategy was designed to drive conversions by engaging potential customers at different stages of the decision-making process.
Google Ads were chosen to capture existing demand, targeting parents actively searching for a better education for their child. By optimising for key phrases related to OEO’s core offering, these ads aimed to reach parents at the moment they were searching for alternative online education options.
Conversely, Facebook Ads were deployed to tap into latent demand. This aspect of the campaign focused on reaching a broader audience of parents who might not be actively searching for online education but would be called to act when seeing OEO’s engaging adverts.
To achieve OEO’s goals of recruiting 34 new students, we focused the digital advertising campaign on three key parent profiles, each with distinct educational aspirations for their children.
A New Approach to Learning: We targeted parents seeking a life-integrated education model that didn’t revolve around the school run. Our ads emphasised OEO’s smaller classes and individualised attention, highlighting a schooling system that fits into family life rather than dominating it.
Improving Child Performance: We addressed parents whose children needed more focused academic support. The campaign spotlighted OEO’s ability to nurture special teacher-student relationships in small class settings, fostering enjoyment and academic success.
Flexible Education for Talented Children: Our ads appealed to parents of children with significant extracurricular commitments, showcasing OEO’s adaptability to accommodate busy schedules of young athletes or artists.
We then created a bespoke landing page which clearly showcased OEO’s unique offering and presented compelling calls to action such as scheduling a meeting with the principal, attending a taster lesson or requesting further information.
The initial target of recruiting 34 new students was achieved in under six months, three months ahead of schedule. This was achieved through a higher click to conversion rate of 10%, double the initial forecast.
By the start of the September 2021 term, the student roll exceeded 50 and has continued to grow ever since.
An ongoing Google and Facebook digital advertising campaign, combined with a refresh of our messaging, content delivery and website, has led to OEO School exceeding its growth targets – thank you to the Waypoint team! It is great working with you – always so helpful.
Sue Bonell
Business Manager, OEO School
