Project Information
Client Overview
Sapthagiri NPS University Bangalore is a modern, forward-thinking higher education institution dedicated to offering specialized, industry-oriented undergraduate engineering programs. The university is strategically designed to prepare the next generation of engineers for emerging tech-driven careers by blending rigorous academic foundations with practical, real-world application.
To drive high-intent admissions and maximize engineering course enrollments, our targeted performance marketing campaigns focused on building visibility and generating qualified inquiries for their core B.E. programs, including:
- B.E – Computer Science & Engineering
- B.E – CSE (Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning)
- B.E – CSE (Artificial Intelligence & Data Science)
- B.E – CSE (Data Science)
- B.E – Electronics & Communication Engineering
- B.E – Electrical & Electronics Engineering
By analyzing student demographics and geographic data, we strategically targeted high-potential student regions and core urban/semi-urban hubs across Andhra Pradesh and Bangalore, establishing a highly efficient digital pipeline to capture and convert prospective applicants.
The Challenge
Prior to optimization, the primary objective was establishing a consistent, high-intent digital pipeline for undergraduate engineering admissions while balancing acquisition costs across disparate geographical regions. The initial campaign architecture—specifically the baseline “13th Feb 2026 Sapthagiri Campaign”—suffered from fragmented audience segmentation and an unoptimized creative mix, leading to volatile costs per lead (CPL) and inconsistent inquiry quality.
The core strategic hurdles included:
- Audience Splitting & Tracking: Identifying and scaling high-converting student and parent demographics across a dual-market footprint spanning both urban Bangalore and semi-urban hubs in Andhra Pradesh.
- Creative Saturation & Constraints: Developing a rigorous testing framework for reel and static creative variations without exhaustive campus assets, making it difficult to effectively highlight specialized B.E. programs (AI, Machine Learning, and Data Science) to an audience bombarded with generic educational ads.
- Funnel Friction: Reducing drop-off rates within Meta instant forms while collecting deep enough data points to pass qualified, high-intent inquiries directly to the university admissions team.
Strategy Implemented
Campaign Strategy & Funnel Architecture
We designed and deployed a comprehensive performance marketing framework divided across four distinct Meta ad campaigns to systematically target the student and parent demographics across Bangalore and Andhra Pradesh. While managing the end-to-end pipeline, our primary strategic focus centered on scaling the high-performing 7th March acquisition funnel and launching a high-precision 3rd July re-engagement framework.
- Core Acquisition Scale (7th March Campaign): Built out as the primary volume driver, this campaign utilized structured interest-based ad sets focusing on specific B.E. engineering tracks (including AI, Machine Learning, and Data Science). By setting up aggressive variations across individual ad sets, we effectively isolated low-cost conversion pathways.
- Custom List Retargeting Framework (3rd July Campaign): To address bottom-of-funnel friction and re-engage warm prospects, we engineered a dedicated retargeting ad strategy. This campaign was powered entirely by importing a high-value custom audience list containing over 1 lakh records of potential prospects. By matching this deep database back to active Meta profiles, we deployed tailored messaging to highly qualified leads, dramatically shortening the enrollment consideration cycle.
- Frictionless Lead Capture: Every campaign leveraged highly optimized Meta instant lead forms, allowing prospective students and parents to submit multi-point inquiries directly inside the app, balancing volume with data depth.
Creative Strategy & Asset Testing
To fuel the four distinct campaigns and combat ad fatigue across a dual-market footprint, we established a rigorous creative testing environment:
- High-Impact Reel Campaigns: Deployed vertical video reels capturing real campus environments, infrastructure, and tech-driven classrooms. High-performing assets—specifically the 16th April Reel variations—were scaled rapidly after testing proved video content drove maximum engagement among prospective engineering applicants.
- Targeted Static Creatives: Designed specialized static ads highlighting specialized academic career paths, university accreditation, and direct enrollment deadlines.
- Course-Specific Messaging: Tailored all copy and design structures to explicitly push emerging tech domains like Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Data Science, and Computer Science to align with high-demand career trends.
Results
Phase 1 Performance:
- Generated 609 qualified admission leads
- Achieved an optimized cost per lead of ₹386.69
- Total core campaign spend reached ₹2,35,494.21
- Delivered over 2.14 million high-intent impressions
- Reached more than 940,000 unique users across targeted campaigns
Phase 2 Performance:
- Custom list retargeting frameworks generated consistent admission inquiries across warm ad sets
- Achieved cost per lead as low as ₹344.86 on high-performing optimized campaigns
- Improved engagement through engineering course-focused creatives and targeted messaging
- Total campaign spend exceeded ₹1,42,625 while maintaining scalable lead generation performance
- Delivered more than 1.85 million impressions across optimized admission campaigns
- Increased inquiry generation efficiency through audience refinement and continuous creative testing
Overall Impact
- Generated 609+ qualified engineering admission leads through ongoing Meta campaigns
- Successfully promoted specialized engineering programs to targeted student audiences
- Achieved lower cost per lead through optimized reel, static, and instant form campaigns
- Reached more than 1.1 million users through targeted admission campaigns
- Delivered over 3.9 million impressions, significantly improving university visibility among prospective students
- Increased engagement for AI, Machine Learning, Data Science, and Computer Science programs
- Established a scalable lead generation system for ongoing admission campaigns
- Improved campaign efficiency through audience targeting, creative optimization, and continuous performance-driven campaign management
Key Takeaways
- Custom Audience Data Efficiency: Deploying a deep target database of over 1 lakh potential prospects for the 3rd July retargeting campaign proved highly effective at accelerating bottom-of-funnel conversions and capturing delayed intent.
- High-Volume Lead Scaling: Isolating high-converting ad sets within the 7th March campaign established a highly scalable acquisition baseline, driving 609 leads at a highly efficient ₹386.69 CPL.
- Creative Variant Performance: Performance analytics confirmed that short-form video assets (specifically the 16th April Reel variations) outperformed static formats, dropping individual ad set acquisition costs down to ₹334.79.
- Dual-Market Optimization: Segmenting the ad framework across four distinct campaigns allowed for clean budget allocation between urban Bangalore and broader Andhra Pradesh demographics without cross-audience delivery overlap.
- Frictionless Data Capture: Utilizing multi-point Meta instant forms minimized drop-off rates while successfully filtering for high-intent inquiries to pass directly to the university admissions pipeline.
Mathew Digital transformed Sapthagiri NPS University Bangalore’ Meta Ads from a high-cost, inefficient system into a more optimized and scalable lead generation channel.
