Background
Abingdon & Witney College is a leading provider of further education for young learners, adults and businesses in South and West Oxfordshire. The college provides full and part-time courses including academic qualifications, vocational courses, work-based learning and supported learning. Key to the success of the college is identifying and informing the right people in its catchment area about new and existing training opportunities on offer. This requires high quality data and precise targeting.
Objectives
The college recently extended its range of apprenticeships. The objective was to contact small to medium sized enterprises (SME’s) in a tightly defined area and inform senior staff within these businesses about the benefits of taking on apprentices. The first stage was to obtain accurate, clearly defined data. The second was to reach the desired target audience through e-shots supported by telemarketing.
How we helped
Marketscan provided two batches of quality data on 2,500 SME’s within a 10 mile radius of the college. We worked with the college to define exactly what constitutes an SME which in this case equated to a company with one to 20 employees.
Contacts were defined not only by size of company and location but also by job role. Sample data showed the best contacts were HR managers and the most senior member of staff. The data was validated and Marketscan then sent out a series of e-shots notifying the target market of the placements available in different disciplines including:
• Health and Social Care
• Business Administration
• Customer Service
• Horticulture
• Motor Vehicle
• Accountancy
• Team Leading
• Management
Marketscan’s sophisticated e-software provided fast, accurate information on the success rate of each mailing, including click-throughs to the Abingdon and Witney website. The e-shots were followed up by telemarketing calls to provide more information and encourage organizations to take advantage of the training available.
Client benefits
The e-shot campaign was highly successful. A key factor was the time taken to understand the college’s precise needs before supplying the data and broadcasting the e-shots. “Marketscan were really helpful. They were really obliging in meeting our requirements. The data they supplied was very good and it helped us generate a good level of leads,” said Tina Lillington, Head of Marketing, Abingdon & Witney College, adding: “We have used Marketscan a number of times and I am very happy with what we have done with them.”
