Taking enrollment to the next level with e‑commerce tools

For years, EPD relied on brochures and postcards to promote its top-ranked short courses, certificates and degrees. But user research conducted with current and potential customers told us working engineers wanted the convenience of digital communications. To be successful, EPD needed to build their very first digital media strategy—and employ e‑commerce website best practices that would move engineers from curiosity to enrollment.

After hearing from 234 engineers from around the country, KW2’s user experience designers radically restructured the course search and enrollment experience on epd.wisc.edu to serve both academic explorers and goal-oriented enrollees. At the same time, our digital media team extensively researched engineering terminology to develop a highly-targeted paid search campaign based on dozens of distinctive, topic-specific words and phrases. EPD’s new higher education marketing plan also introduced new organic search tactics, including inbound marketing efforts for LinkedIn, email and more.

Enrollment is up. So are page views, brand awareness and ad performance. EPD’s award-winning e‑commerce website has steadily increased mobile traffic and site engagement since 2015—and it still gets stronger with every visit, thanks to site-wide event tracking. Meanwhile, proactive Google Ads campaign management is helping EPD optimize their short course promotions from month to month—and earn a $4 return on every ad dollar they spend.