Client List & Portfolio

Client Background & Needs 

Headquartered in Aurora, Colorado, American Sentinel University (American Sentinel) is an accredited online educational institution founded as a Vanderbilt University Technology Company by nationally recognized academic and business leaders in 2006. American Sentinel has more than 20 online undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs, enhancing busy students’ professional and civic lives without them needing to set foot on a campus via its no-residency requirements. Seeking to meet student acquisitions goals and increase brand awareness, American Sentinel approached EMG to address its needs to increase and drive more qualified leads to apply and grow awareness through its existing networks and social media channels.

EMG Approach & Solution 

To ensure its understanding of American Sentinel and its business was comprehensive at the outset, EMG kicked off its strategic consulting engagement with university stakeholder and administration interviews, industry and competitor research and an audit of American Sentinel’s web properties and other marketing materials. To identify and clearly define the university’s varied audiences, EMG conducted a comprehensive social listening endeavor to provide an understanding of the online communities relevant to the institution and even attended the school’s 2010 graduation ceremony to meet and gather feedback from current and past students. 

EMG then developed and delivered a content creation and distribution strategy, including a Tactical Roadmap to provide a frequency and detailed distribution guidelines while the delivery of a Social Media Playbook equipped the university with an exhaustive catalogue of best practices to use when creating content. With this, American Sentinel can effectively reach their audiences and deliver a controlled, cohesive and compelling message.

Using the sum of information gathered, EMG completed a thorough assessment of the university’s needs and objectives and delivered a holistic Integrated Marketing Plan, laying out a customized approach to realizing American Sentinel’s specific goals. The plan provided comprehensive website, search engine marketing and search engine optimization recommendations for American Sentinel’s school website, landing pages, content network and display advertising, email marketing and sponsorship initiatives. The key element of each recommendation was an accompanying list of key performance indicators for use in measuring the implemented plan’s performance. Finally, EMG also developed a referral program strategy to incentivize top-performing students, alumni and faculty to become university ambassadors and augment the quantity of qualified and well-suited leads. 

The Tactics

• Stakeholder Interviews with Administration and University Officials
• Current Students and Alumni Interviews at 2010 Graduation Ceremony
• Social Listening Deep Dive
• Content Playbook and Tactical Roadmap
• Integrated Marketing Plan and KPIs