Helping Edgewood University Reach the Right Students

Edgewood University wanted to increase enrollment for its Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program, but success depended on reaching a very specific audience—not simply generating more leads.

Prospective students searched for MSN programs in many different ways, making it easy to attract people who weren't actually qualified. The challenge was to identify working nurses who met the program requirements while avoiding wasted ad spend on irrelevant searches and unqualified leads. At the same time, the admissions team wanted to better understand which messaging, creative, and targeting strategies would consistently attract the right prospective students.

We developed a paid advertising strategy across Google and Meta that prioritized quality over volume. Rather than casting a wide net, we continuously refined audience targeting, search terms, messaging, creative, and platform strategy to reach prospective students who were the best fit for the program. Performance data guided every optimization, helping improve campaign efficiency while uncovering insights that strengthened future recruitment efforts. 

As the campaign evolved, several clear patterns emerged.

• Refined targeting using audience signals, lookalike audiences, exclusions, and negative keywords to attract qualified nursing candidates while filtering out irrelevant searches.
• Tested messaging and creative to identify what resonated most with working nurses, with flexibility and career advancement consistently driving stronger engagement.
• Optimized campaigns across Google Search, Performance Max, Display, and Meta, improving efficiency while expanding reach over time.
• Generated awareness beyond measurable ad conversions, with admissions counselors frequently hearing from prospective students who remembered seeing Edgewood's ads, even when they ultimately applied through other channels.

Those findings shaped future creative, audience targeting, and campaign planning, giving the admissions team a clearer understanding of how to reach prospective students more effectively.

The MSN campaign delivered strong results while providing valuable insights for future recruitment efforts.

Highlights included:

• 194 qualified leads
• 5 admitted MSN students
• 18 prospective students still moving through the admissions process

Performance also improved throughout the campaign. Meta cost per click dropped by 41%, cost per acquisition fell by more than 50%, and continued testing helped identify the audiences, messaging, and creative that consistently produced the strongest results.

The campaign also influenced recruitment in ways that traditional reporting couldn't fully capture. Admissions counselors regularly heard prospective students mention Edgewood's advertising during conversations, even when those students ultimately applied through organic search. Those interactions reinforced the role paid advertising played in building awareness and keeping Edgewood top of mind during the decision-making process.

The MSN campaign is one chapter in an ongoing partnership with Edgewood University. We've continued supporting the university through additional paid advertising initiatives, including transfer student recruitment and the transition from Edgewood College to Edgewood University. Each campaign has added to what we've learned, helping inform future creative, audience targeting, and media planning across the university's recruitment efforts.

Every campaign has the potential to uncover something new about your audience. We help organizations turn those insights into stronger creative, smarter media decisions, and better results over time. If you're looking to get more from your paid digital advertising, let’s connect.