Data-driven experimentation for the next generation of educators

Catalyst Education: 9.56% of leads converting to enrolment

Catalyst Education engaged The Garden for a 12-month digital advertising campaign across its RTOs, Selmar Institute of Education and Practical Outcomes, generating qualified leads for the Certificate III and Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care. Relentless experimentation drove the campaign to a 9.56% lead to enrolment conversion rate.

Client: Catalyst Education
Industry: Education
Solutions: Media & Performance
Services: CRO, Facebook Ads, Google Ads
Region: Australia

Lead to enrolment conversion rate

9.56%

Reduction in cost per lead

13%

Peak landing page conversion rate

9.44%

The challenge

The campaign had to hold a steady pipeline of prospects at or above existing conversion metrics, sharpen lead quality month by month from client feedback, tailor conversion journeys to each course, and make the unique selling points of Catalyst’s RTOs land with the people considering a career in early childhood education.

Our solution

Rigorous creative testing ran across Meta and the Google suite, and the first five months became the proving ground: landing pages segmented by traffic source for hyper-relevant experiences, emotional versus outcome-based versus value-driven headlines tested head to head, SMS verification tuned to balance quality against volume, and the value exchange diversified from a low-barrier course guide to a high-intent enquiry path.

Monthly insights fed lead-quality feedback straight back into targeting and creative, fast-tracking the learnings that set up the results that followed.

The results

The campaign delivered a 9.56% lead to enrolment conversion rate, a 13% reduction in cost per lead and a peak landing page conversion rate of 9.44%: the groundwork of insightful testing in the early months, converted into compounding returns.

From the team

What made this campaign work was the great communication we had with Catalyst, allowing us to fine-tune and refine our strategies collaboratively. This 12-month campaign became a testament to the importance of insightful testing and continuous learning in the initial months, laying the groundwork for great results.