Local University Ensures Stable Enrollment with Digital Marketing Campaigns
East of Pittsburgh, the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg partnered with Dail Digital to elevate visibility in a competitive higher ed landscape. With no standing marketing budget, the campus used strategic grant funding to amplify its message through targeted, cost-effective channels. Over three years, the partnership evolved to include digital billboards, geo-targeted display ads, and streaming audio. The results? Strong enrollment stability, increased transfer and nursing applications, and enhanced regional presence—supporting both recruitment and advancement goals.
Implementation
Discovery Process
In our initial conversations with UPG, it became clear they had specific goals around reach and frequency, along with the need for a flexible campaign structure that could adapt messaging and targeting. After evaluating their objectives, we recommended starting with display advertising and a digital billboard to establish broad visibility. As the campaign evolved, digital audio emerged as a natural next step, expanding their reach and reinforcing brand messaging across additional touchpoints.
The Assets
This billboard, set of display ads, and audio ads show an example of one of many campaigns ran during UPG's partnership with Dail Digital. Creatives provided by the marketing department at UPG.
This 10.5x36 foot billboard was placed in a high-traffic area near the University.
Display ads were sized to fit a variety of mobile and desktop devices.
These 15-second audio ads ran on a variety of streaming services.
These 15-second audio ads ran on a variety of streaming services.
The Impact
While the partnership is still ongoing, the following metrics were calculated from multiple campaigns running March 1, 2022-January 31, 2025.
2.7m
Total Digital Ad Impressions
1,679
Display Ads Leads
28.8m
Billboard Impressions
409k
Total Audio Ad impressions
Interview with the Director
How long have you been working with Dail Digital?
We began partnering with Dail Digital in March of 2022.
Why did you decide to start working with Dail Digital?
The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg historically does not have a dedicated general marketing budget allocation—but the administration understands how important the marketing component is to the recruitment and advancement processes.
When the University of Pittsburgh launched a new branding initiative in 2021, it provided an internally funded grant to Pitt-Greensburg that allowed the regional campus to update its branded assets with the new elements. In addition to refreshing campus signage, light-pole banners, and other key campus identifiers, the Pitt-Greensburg staff responsible for marketing decisions sought an opportunity that would provide the “best bang” for their buck while reaching a larger, targeted, regional audience.
Ideally, the marketing campaign had to fulfill the following criteria:
• Be cost-effective in terms of reach and frequency;
• Allow for targeting of specific demographic populations and geographic locations;
• Provide analytics that would show the effectiveness of the ads and the marketing channels;
• Be nimble enough to allow for easy changes to messaging and demographics in response to the analytics or new campus initiatives.
Our Dail Digital marketing representative reviewed our limited budget allocation. He listened closely to what we wanted to accomplish and who our audiences were. The first year the program ran, it included the following:
• Digital Billboard presence in a high-traffic location;
• Digital Display Ads with geo-targeting of locations determined by Pitt-Greensburg.
In its second and third years, the program looked like this:
• Digital Billboard presence in a high traffic location;
• Digital Display Ads with geo-targeting of locations determined by Pitt-Greensburg;
• Digital Audio Ads on streaming services.
While correlation does not imply causation, we have found, at the time this information was prepared, these details notable:
• Pitt-Greensburg’s enrollment numbers have remained stable over the past three years, a period marked by a challenging recruitment environment in higher education.
• Our Admissions Director has noted that our Transfer applications are “up as compared to last year’s numbers at this time,” which could be the result of a separate transfer student campaign that ran from August 2024 through January 2025.
• Our Admissions Director has noted that our Nursing applications are “up as compared to previous years’ numbers.”
What goals has Dail Digital help you accomplish?
The Pitt-Greensburg marketing team believes that the Dail Digital marketing campaign allows for a cost-effective, targeted approach to reaching our audiences. It eliminates the shotgun approach that many traditional advertising/marketing channels use, and it allows us to see on paper what is working or not working via the digital ad click-through rates and audio ad completion rates.
We believe that the Dail Digital marketing campaign supports the ongoing marketing efforts of our Admissions team who use a mix of traditional admissions activities and their own digital marketing efforts through a proprietary platform to attract students to our campus.
We also believe that by varying our geo-fencing locations seasonally, we also are enhancing our public image in the region, which then supports the ongoing efforts of our Advancement team to foster relationships with alumni, the community, and government representatives. This in turn enhances our fundraising and grant-seeking efforts.
How would you describe your experience working with the Dail Digital Team?
George Cross is our marketing representative. From the first day to the present, he has been attentive and patient, working to fine-tune our marketing efforts to best meet our needs and our budget. He responds quickly and continues to remind me through his words and actions that kindness and attention to detail continue to be important aspects of all business relationships. Mr. Cross and Dail Digital focus on our marketing needs and look for ways to help us achieve our goals of increased visibility while remaining mindful of our budget constraints. We have built a partnership that puts Pitt-Greensburg’s needs at the forefront and allows us to add or remove services as they fit our situation and requirements.
Susan Isola, Director of Media Relations
Since 2009, Susan Isola has served as the Director of Media Relations in the Office of University Relations and Institutional Advancement at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, a regional campus in the University of Pittsburgh system. Her responsibilities include advertising/marketing, media relations, writing, and graphic design, particularly in support of the campus’s external communication and advancement efforts.
Conclusion
Our team at Dail Digital collaborated with the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg to create multiple campaigns that prioritized flexibility, strategic targeting and efficient execution. By combining digital billboards, geo-targeted display ads, and streaming audio, we helped Pitt-Greensburg extend its reach, support student recruitment, and enhance regional visibility. These campaigns' success is reflected in stable enrollment numbers, increased transfer and nursing applications, and strengthened community presence. Though the tactics have evolved over time, our partnership remains grounded in collaboration, adaptability, and a shared commitment to achieving measurable results in higher education marketing.
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