Case Study
#eCornellStories Campaign
1. Challenge
Post COVID, Cornell’s online executive education unit faced an increasingly crowded marketplace. The existing “Study Anywhere” campaign was no longer unique.
How can eCornell differentiate itself?
2. Insight
Students are posting UGC holding their Cornell certificates and mentioning “Ivy League” → prestige and reputation matter.
Reposted UGC has the highest engagement rate of all brand content → both B2B and B2C leads listen to student voices.
3. Solution
Develop a multi-channel content campaign called #eCornellStories to develop the brand as well as capture and multiply the proven power of UGC.
Campaign Launch: Calling for Stories from Alumni
Single drop to all alumni, offering swag for stories
Re-drop in 30 days to openers who did not share
Social
30-day campaign, 15 deliverables
YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter/X, Facebook
Direct Appeal
B2C sales team reaches out directly to enrolled students
B2B sales team reaches out to major partners with high NPS
Course Page
Redesign course completion page with a call for submissions, tapping into students’ sense of accomplishment
Campaign Rollout: Sharing Stories, Gaining Leads
Stories integrated into all lead nurtures for B2C. New B2B newsletter integrates stories and videos into design.
RESULT
36.08% open rate on email drops,
11% above brand’s average
350+ submissions (videos, photos, quotes) in 90 days
Social
Students share on their own profiles, tagging the brand and #eCornellStories. Brand also reshares submissions.
RESULT
189% increase in overall engagement
60,390 organic hashtag views in 90 days
Writing Samples
77 years apart, son of early Black law grad seeks his own degree →
NASA engineer is Alabama’s first certified Black woman winemaker →
Earned Media
Selected newsworthy stories, drafted feature pieces, and successfully pitched to Cornell’s in-house weekly newspaper.
RESULT
10+ independent outlets pick up stories
Website
Redesigned site to feature quotes and videos across all 300+ product pages.
Blog
Developed new landing page on blog to feature top stories, serving as a sales enablement tool for B2B and B2C teams.
Retargeting Ad
Collaborated with digital marketing team to repurpose stand-out UGC as retargeting ad campaigns on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram.
RESULT
38% increase in lead generation
150% increase in enrollments
0.82% CTR on Facebook, 9% above average of similar vertical campaigns
Bonus Results
Swag prolonged the conversation.
Once students received their swag, students posted on their personal social media, tagging the brand and exposing a net new audience.
Content snowballed.
Social engagement was extremely positive, prompting new students to share their own stories with and without the hashtag.
Enabled sales teams.
B2C sales team used stories in lead info sessions. B2B sales team used in client pitches. Product team used in pitches to develop new programs with faculty. University president and board of trustees featured stories in annual review.