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YOUnion Fayetteville
DIGITAL MARKETING STUDENT LIVING CASE STUDY
FIND OUT HOW
The Client
YOUnion Fayetteville is a student housing community serving the University of Arkansas. They approached Threshold for help with digital marketing for the 2020 leasing season.
The Problem
The Dream
The Strategy
Threshold worked with YOUnion Fayetteville to curate a digital marketing mix that would differentiate them from the competition and earn high conversion rates that would turn into high lease rates.
Since most competitors were serving Google search ads and Facebook traffic ads, we narrowed our focus on these platforms and increased efforts on alternative platforms to reach a less competitive pool where the property had more room to shine.
Since most competitors were serving Google search ads and Facebook traffic ads, we narrowed our focus on these platforms and increased efforts on alternative platforms to reach a less competitive pool where the property had more room to shine.
Facebook Retargeting & Lead Generation
With fewer competitors advertising with Facebook’s Lead Gen tools, this platform presented an opportunity to stand out from the crowd and build an audience of prospects who could be nurtured with further marketing efforts down the road, resulting in a higher likelihood of conversion.
Retargeting tools also allowed us to reach prospects already searching for housing and nurture leads who had already encountered YOUnion Fayetteville, further promoting the likelihood of conversion.
Retargeting tools also allowed us to reach prospects already searching for housing and nurture leads who had already encountered YOUnion Fayetteville, further promoting the likelihood of conversion.
Gmail Ads
Gmail ads provided an additional playing field on which there was more room to shine. These ads would use Google’s powerful targeting tools to reach qualified leads and leverage the property’s beautiful grounds and interiors to show off its unique offerings.
Responsive Search & Display Ads
Since paid search and display were where competition was highest, we focused on responsive ads that would ensure our messaging was tailored to each individual user, promoting higher click and conversion rates even amid tough competition.
The Results
These strategies have worked together to reach YOUnion Fayetteville’s leasing goals week-to-week and month-over-month since the start of the 2020 leasing season in August 2019 without resorting to any rent concessions or specials.
In the competitive arena of Google search and display ads, our new laser-focused strategy initially resulted in fewer impressions, but higher Click-Through-Rates that persisted over time, with CTR for search ads peaking at 8.64% in December 2019, then holding steady above 8% and CTRs for display peaking at 9.68% in December. These trends showed that we successfully narrowed the focus of these ads to qualified users that resonated with the messaging. Conversion rates also grew steadily, peaking at 29.55% for search ads in January 2020 (representing a whopping 357 conversions) before holding steady at 20% or higher.
Our efforts on Facebook’s Retargeting and Lead Generation platforms also drove high conversion rates and an influx of qualified leads. Since August 2019, the Lead Gen campaign has delivered over 700 qualified leads at an average cost per lead of only $6.86. Even better, this translated into conversion rates over 28%.
Our combined efforts not only helped YOUnion Fayetteville meet their leasing goals week in and week out, they did so by performing well above the industry average, with 134% higher CTRs overall and a peak conversion rate over 10x the industry average. All this was achieved for 94% less cost per acquisition than the industry average too, resulting in a huge positive impact on the property’s bottom line.
In the competitive arena of Google search and display ads, our new laser-focused strategy initially resulted in fewer impressions, but higher Click-Through-Rates that persisted over time, with CTR for search ads peaking at 8.64% in December 2019, then holding steady above 8% and CTRs for display peaking at 9.68% in December. These trends showed that we successfully narrowed the focus of these ads to qualified users that resonated with the messaging. Conversion rates also grew steadily, peaking at 29.55% for search ads in January 2020 (representing a whopping 357 conversions) before holding steady at 20% or higher.
Our efforts on Facebook’s Retargeting and Lead Generation platforms also drove high conversion rates and an influx of qualified leads. Since August 2019, the Lead Gen campaign has delivered over 700 qualified leads at an average cost per lead of only $6.86. Even better, this translated into conversion rates over 28%.
Our combined efforts not only helped YOUnion Fayetteville meet their leasing goals week in and week out, they did so by performing well above the industry average, with 134% higher CTRs overall and a peak conversion rate over 10x the industry average. All this was achieved for 94% less cost per acquisition than the industry average too, resulting in a huge positive impact on the property’s bottom line.