111%
database increase
107%+
campaign engagement
21%+
email click-through rate
INTRODUCTION
As Director of Marketing at MIT Sloan Executive Education (MITSEE), Julie Harju carried the weight of every empty seat.
When enrollments fell short, it wasn’t just a number on a dashboard. Courses had to be canceled, participants were disappointed, and world-class faculty were left without program audiences.
Julie faced constant questions from colleagues and leadership. Pressure was mounting.
On top of that, she’d just navigated a messy breakup with a previous agency that left her wary of outside partners.
Julie needed a team she could trust to rebuild her confidence and deliver the results MITSEE urgently needed.
ABOUT THE CLIENT
MIT Sloan Executive Education (MITSEE) offers non-degree programs for executives and organizations worldwide. It designs and delivers initiatives to attract new learners and help them build the skills and knowledge to reach their professional goals.
THE CHALLENGE
Julie was battling broad, outdated marketing tactics
Julie was fighting to protect MITSEE’s reputation and revenue. She knew the marketing engine had to perform better, but the reality was messy.
Obstacles included:
- Campaigns that often prioritized broad reach over targeted relevance
- “Evergreen” journeys that weren’t personal enough
- Reporting that left Julie’s team with numbers, but few clear recommendations
To make things worse, technical roadblocks loomed large.
MITSEE’s reliance on Salesforce CRM, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and Salesforce Marketing Cloud meant that every new idea demanded scarce developer hours—resources Julie didn’t control.
She needed to fill program seats, retain participants, and re-establish momentum. Fast.
“I’m looking for an agency that can guide me. I’m learning as I go, and I can’t be an expert in everything. I rely on the agencies I work with to be experts in their specialist areas and to advise me.”
THE SOLUTION
Driving enrollment through targeted marketing decisions
Julie knew exactly what needed to change. She needed campaigns that reached the right people, a smoother enrollment experience, and a smarter way to keep past participants engaged.
With Smart Panda Labs quietly supporting her strategy, she was able to act decisively and direct improvements across every stage of the student journey.
Here’s how she did it.
1. Optimizing spend and campaign performance
Julie recognized that search engine marketing (SEM) campaigns were drawing lots of unqualified traffic and driving up costs without filling seats.
By taking the lead on targeting intent more precisely, she asked us to experiment to test what really worked. Julie guided decisions about where to cut spending and how to redirect it toward building awareness at the top of the funnel.
She also prioritized using the database more strategically. Julie allowed us to craft campaigns that leveraged past participant insights, with messaging tailored to specific audiences.
By doing this, she ensured that every dollar spent reflected her strategic intent to drive engagement and conversions.
2. Fixing website and enrollment bottlenecks
Julie saw that friction in the registration process was stopping prospects in their tracks.
She empowered us to pinpoint the account creation step as critical and tasked us with iterating on-page design, calls to action, and the overall user experience (UX).
Julie also asked us to review program pages and make adjustments that reflected her priorities—simpler flows, clearer instructions, and fewer barriers to registration.
By continuously monitoring the changes and suggesting refinements, website improvements directly aligned with her goal of increasing registrations.
Every adjustment made the enrollment journey far more intuitive for prospective participants.
3. Strengthening email and retention programs
Julie noticed that past students were being underutilized in marketing campaigns. So, she accepted our recommendation to create a more segmented and automated approach.
The goal was to structure journeys with personalized messages based on audience behavior and interests.
Julie also pushed for smarter remarketing, identifying opportunities to re-engage lapsed participants.
She requested that we:
- Audit and rebuild existing campaigns to improve targeting
- Improve creative assets to be more engaging
- Automate key communications to encourage repeat registrations
Julie’s focus remained on maximizing engagement and keeping participants coming back for additional programs while we advised in the background.
“I appreciate their guidance, especially around the market and the email program. I trust their recommendations and feel like I’m learning all the time.”
THE RESULTS
Julie’s new partnership boosted campaign engagement by 107%
Julie’s strategic decisions and guidance across campaigns, website improvements, and retention programs delivered measurable impact across MITSEE’s marketing funnel.
Her focus on targeting and participant engagement turned challenges into tangible outcomes:
- A 111% database increase, including thousands of new leads and email subscribers
- A 67% increase in SEM campaign conversion rate—coupled with a 54% decrease in CPA— through an increased focus on targeting prospect intent
- A 28% increase in new account creation through a redesign of the first page in the MITSEE program registration process
- A 21% increase in click-through rate (CTR) on email communications through audience segmentation and key campaign automations
- A 107% increase in campaign engagement (unique clicks) through strategic initiatives like personalization and several new deployment tactics
These improvements allowed MITSEE to reach more qualified prospects, streamline the registration process, and re-engage more effectively.
Julie’s leadership ensured every tactic aligned with her goals, creating a sustainable marketing engine that improved the entire student experience, from enrollment to retention.
In the process, she rediscovered the value of having a partner she could fully trust and collaborate with.
“They’re just wonderful people, and I feel like we’ve developed really great relationships. We work well together, we communicate and collaborate, and I can trust them.”