When you work in marketing, you need to ensure that you’re staying current with all of the marketing strategies. Digital marketing has completely revolutionized the way advertisements reach an audience. In today’s highly saturated market place, the average consumer is flooded with roughly 5,000 advertisements a day. One of the most beneficial marketing strategies a company can employ to cut through the clutter is IP targeting.

What is IP targeting? IP targeting is an online marketing strategy that electronically delivers ads to specific households and businesses. Every device that is connected to the internet has an IP address, which represents the physical location of that device. IP targeting allows you to match street addresses to a list of IP addresses, and then displays your ads directly to your intended audience. These highly personalized advertisements and messages are easily delivered to homes and businesses, in a cost efficient and highly effective manner.

Any school, big or small, can use IP targeting. The only thing you need is a list of mailing addresses of your audience. You can use an existing address list, or you can purchase an entirely new list. Each year, colleges and universities successfully attract new students by using IP targeting.

 

Studies show that students who received IP targeted ads were 35% more likely to apply for admission.

 

The best way for a college or university to attract prospective students is to send directly targeted ads to their home addresses. One idea is to send ads to prospective students who have already applied, but have not accepted. You can send these students ads, speaking to how the university cannot wait for them to be a part of their family and culture. Another idea would focus on using your current mailing list, to target the IP addresses of alumni members. These ads would inform them about new alumni events and capital campaigns. You can also use your alumni data to reveal which members have children between the ages of 16-18. This would allow you to target ads specifically towards them, in the hopes that they would eventually enroll in your school. The list of possibilities is endless when IP targeting is utilized.

For our client, a mid-sized university located in Massachusetts we noticed that their international enrollment numbers declined over the past few years. We wanted to work with the university’s in-house Marketing & Communications department, to help increase international student enrollment. We also noticed that enrollment was not increasing as rapidly as other universities in their market area. We worked closely with the department, and agreed to launch an IP targeting campaign.

 

Our Targeting Strategy

After meeting with the university’s Marketing & Communications Department, we decided that it would be best to launch both an IP targeting and direct mail campaign to reach the maximum number of potential students. By using both mediums to reach our audience, we increased the chances of students and parents seeing the ads and enrolling at the university.

Household Level IP Targeting Strategy
Strategy 1: Filter SAT/ACT Scores.
The combined campaign targeted households of students based on their ACT/SAT scores, locations, demographic, religion, and the date of their high school graduation. Students received ads that had scholarship offers based on their test scores.


Strategy 2: Filter Alumni Data
Using a current address list, the data was able to show houses of alumni members with children between the ages of 16-18.

Strategy 3: Target Students that Have Applied
We were able to pull addresses from students who already submitted applications to the university. We then sent them ads that focused on how the university could not wait for them to be a part of their campus.

Captive Audience Strategy

To increase the visibility of our ads and reach a larger audience we expanded our horizons.

Strategy 1: Target Feeder Schools
We targeted two-year colleges, with programs and credits that could transfer over, within a 15-30 mile radius of the university.

Strategy 2: Target Conventions and Venues
We targeted convention centers and venues that host the NACAC, college fairs, open house programs, etc. We also focused on the hotels where the attendees stayed.

Strategy 3: Target Corporations
We targeted corporations and companies that have a reimbursement program, which pays employees to attend a university. Examples of these companies are UPS, Verizon, T-Mobile, Exxon, FedEx, etc.

Strategy 4: High Schools
We targeted high schools within a 50 mile radius of the university. Numerous high schools were targeted to fulfill the campaign.

Strategy 5: State Government and Military Buildings
We targeted these buildings to recruit more students.

Strategy 6: Target Open Houses
We targeted the university’s open house to increase likelihood of attendance.

 

Our experience with this university proves that IP targeting is an effective marketing strategy. By employing IP targeting, the university saw a dramatic 8% increase in enrollment. IP targeting is the best way to be seen and heard in the tech savvy marketplace. It provides your audience with a specific, personalized message that was never before possible with traditional advertising.