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

Email

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

Email

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.