The need to engage local communities

Making higher education more accessible is incredibly important. There are lots of barriers for many prospective students; they may be first in their family to go to university or may be struggling to understand the financial impact. Crucially, many just need some support in choosing their path.

Aspire to HE helps communities across the West Midlands access information, resources, and events. Efforts to point students, parents and teachers in the right direction are now largely digital, meaning Aspire to HE’s digital presence needed to be enhanced.

With people mainly turning to the internet for help, Aspire to HE needed to be at the top of search results and social feeds, with a website that appealed to both young people and their parents/teachers.

Website with tested user journeys

As a support hub advising local people, Aspire to HE’s voice of expertise needed to be displayed in the most simple, helpful way. Aspire to HE wanted to empower young people and their families with the information to help them make their own decisions.

Much of our UI and UX design for this project centred around this. A discovery defined some user personas and the website’s purpose. With that came distinct user journeys for students, parents and teachers and clear calls-to-action for events and resources.

Along with simple navigation, the site needed to perform. Our development team built the website to stand the test of time - to be faster than Aspire to HE’s competitors, and to allow for the consistent uploading of articles and events that are integral to Aspire to HE’s operations.

Local SEO for students, parents, and teachers

Those who can benefit from Aspire to HE aren’t always aware that help is available. SEO played (and continues to play) a big part in ensuring those looking for support on Google find it with Aspire to HE.

We started with a deep dive into local SEO within Aspire to HE’s catchment area. Technical audits, keyword research, and a SEO strategy with clear recommendations laid the foundations for Aspire to HE to rise the rankings and provide more local people with support.

Social media marketing aimed at growth

With the new site in place, Aspire to HE wanted to get in front of their target audiences outside of the classroom. Our marketing team partnered with Aspire’s to get the most out of social media.

Upon writing a content strategy, our team managed all Aspire to HE social media accounts, creating content and pushing paid advertising campaigns to detailed targeted persona profiles in the area. As well as content, we helped optimise all profiles and establish content guidelines going forward.

Refreshing content helped cement Aspire to HE’s unique position in the market and set a clear tone of voice for the brand. Paid campaigns brought in exceptional results which had a huge impact on event attendance and resource engagement.

The results greatly improved not only Aspire to HE’s social reach, but also the perception of the brand to local students and parents. Over a period of 4 months, monthly impressions increased by over 60,000, monthly profile visits increased by over 4,000, and followers went up across all platforms.

Making a difference, digitally

We love being able to support causes we care about. Our partnership with Aspire to HE is rooted in elevating the success of their mission, helping people get education.

We are proud to have helped Aspire to HE reach more students, parents and teachers, as every student encouraged to stay in education is a great asset to society. We are privileged to have the opportunity to work with people who care about supporting the next generation.

The new website, and marketing assistance, both contributed to growing Aspire to HE’s brand and their ability to reach their target audience in West Midlands. These students, parents, and teachers now all find it easier to access higher education.