sector | edtech

bringing world class English courses to students globally, helping to improve their prospects and mobility

client | Oxford university press

democratising
education

project details

Commercial consulting
Branding
International development
Influencer marketing
E-commerce
Project duration | two years

View the client

OVERVIEW

One of the core aims of English Language Learning (ELL) is to bring heritage brands to the new age learner – those who consume and learn on their terms, in their own time, on their device. Our flagship partner was Oxford University Press and their My Oxford English course. Our brand designers worked on bringing the spirit of tradition into the present age to create a brand architecture that felt trustworthy, contemporary and global. From there, all activities focused on digital and social-first approaches to support the e-learning modules.

ELL democratises learning by bringing together the tried and proven world-class learning of partners – old and new – with new digital technology and channels. The aim is to break down borders and barriers by making high-quality learning affordable to anyone with the ambition to succeed in their career in life. “We give you all you need to succeed – you bring the rest!”

approach

The project needed mass market exposure at low cost, so a social-first approach using influencers was adopted. We collaborated with YouTube tutors who had high follower bases, engaging in partner and sponsored videos.

Digital support focused on a web build, international e-commerce capabilities and a strong SEO and social media advertising approach that built and maintained brand presence and led to direct purchases by learners who were willing and able to complete their studies.

This was combined with classic sales approaches, such as 2 for 1 offers, translated landing pages (Spanish/Mandarin/French) and affiliate payments. This was bolstered by our own educational content across social channels, PPC, and social advertising and re-targeting – all with the objective of driving mass traffic whilst aiming for a 2/3% conversion rate.

go to market

Our most successful influencer partnership was with the English with Lucy YouTube Channel, which now boasts a subscriber base of over 12m viewers (at the time she had 1m). Three videos were created and launched on the channel (one that was pure promotional content and two sponsored lessons on location in Oxford).

These videos garnered a 2.5% social conversion rate, followed by 5% on site to the ‘Thank you’ page. In less than a week, over 500 new students had joined ELL’s My Oxford English courses, going on to achieve a pass rate exceeding 70% and high student retention rates – one of the requirements from Oxford University Press.

The student base spanned every time zone and territory, including China where we had amplified in-country communication by using WeChat and Weibo.

On-site conversion rate behaviour showed that a student would spend at least 30 minutes on the site, view over 12 pages and visit a minimum of 4 times on average.

Continued digital activities see a steady student intake through social media marketing, including snippet learning where posts are constructed to teach grammar and vocabulary to the now 20,000+ Facebook community.

TESTIMONIAL

Adam

Founder, ELL

Reaching a truly global audience can be backbreaking. Influencer outreach and partnerships combined with student advocacy truly enabled and empowered our vision.

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