ActiveCampaign success story · Executive MBA program at a public university

How an executive MBA program raised enrollment 27% with ActiveCampaign automation and CRM.

Name: Overtop Media Digital Marketing
Address: 933 Louise Ave Suite 101-18, Charlotte, NC, 28204, US
Telephone: (704) 237-0707
Price range: $$

The University at Albany’s MBA for Executives program is marketed by its director alone. Its old CRM sent too much email to spam and synced badly. After moving nearly 4,000 contacts to ActiveCampaign, deliverability rose from an estimated 47% to more than 99%, and the most recent cohort grew 27%.

Business: University at Albany MBA for Executives
Market: Upstate New York
Goal: Reach the inbox and enroll more students

Campus building surrounded by trees with yellow autumn leaves

The results.

Deliverability is compared with an estimated 47% on the previous CRM. Prospect open rates rose from 18 to 20% to the mid to upper 30s; student and alumni emails open at 50 to 65%. The 27% enrollment increase is for the most recent cohort; ActiveCampaign does not publish the base enrollment or the period.

99%deliverability, up from 47% with the previous platform
27%enrollment increase in the most recent cohort
65%open rates among students and alumni

Figures as reported by the business in the story; ActiveCampaign does not publish dates or a measurement method for them.

The challenge.

The University at Albany’s MBA for Executives is the only program of its kind in upstate New York. Its director has run it for 17 years and handles marketing, operations and recruitment himself.

The program had moved from an aging contact manager to another CRM, but deliverability was poor, prospect emails rarely opened above 18 or 19%, and email sync was unreliable. The director evaluated as many as ten CRMs before choosing ActiveCampaign.

ActiveCampaign segment list showing engaged customers, customers by state, repeat customers and unsubscribed contacts

What they did.

CRM migration · Long nurture sequence · Information session automations · Deal pipeline from inquiry to enrollment · Segments by program track

A clean move: Nearly 4,000 contacts moved into ActiveCampaign, replacing a CRM with poor deliverability and unreliable email sync.
A long nurture sequence: A nurture automation of 15 or 16 steps sends a message every seven to 14 days, matching how long people take to decide on an executive degree.
Information sessions on autopilot: Invitations, reminders and different follow-ups for registrants, attendees and no-shows run automatically.
A pipeline from inquiry to enrollment: Deal pipelines track every prospect’s stage, and emails sent from the director’s inbox, even from his phone, are logged to the record.
Personal touches by track: Messages use first names, segments separate the executive, evening and online tracks, and every contact gets a birthday note.

Why it worked.

Our read on the decisions behind the numbers, and what any business can take from them.

Deliverability first: No nurture sequence works from the spam folder. Fixing inbox placement made every other message count.
Patience built into the system: Executive degree decisions take months. A long, spaced sequence keeps the program present without a person sending each email.
Every prospect in one view: A pipeline shows exactly who is ready for a call, so one person can manage hundreds of prospects.
Students and alumni as advocates: High engagement from current students and alumni keeps referrals, the strongest source of new applicants, flowing.

How we would run this play for your business.

You do not need a national budget to use the same ideas. This is how Overtop Media Digital Marketing puts them to work in our ActiveCampaign automation and management.

Fix inbox placement: We authenticate your domain (SPF, DKIM and DMARC), clean the list and warm up sending in your ActiveCampaign account before the first big send.
Map the decision timeline: Long-cycle decisions need long, useful sequences. We write one that answers the real questions in the order prospects ask them.
Automate the events: Open houses, webinars and consultations get invitations, reminders and attendee and no-show follow-ups.
Feed it with search: Our Google Ads management reaches people searching for programs like yours, and every inquiry enters the pipeline.