COMPANY
YEAR
ROLE
Project description
As Digital Marketing Manager for Oregon State University's College of Engineering, I inherited a paid search strategy managed by an external agency. While the campaigns were generating traffic, a comprehensive audit revealed significant opportunities for improvement, including ineffective bidding strategies, inaccurate conversion tracking, limited keyword optimization, no utm tracking, and inefficient budget allocation.
My objective was to quickly stabilize performance, improve accountability, and establish a stronger foundation for long-term growth. Initially, I worked alongside the agency to implement key recommendations. Over time, I transitioned management in-house, giving the college greater control over strategy, reporting, and optimization.
Timeline
April 2024 - Present
Within the first month, I completed a full account audit and implemented significant changes across campaign structure, conversion tracking, bidding strategies, keyword targeting, and ad assets. These foundational improvements created a more efficient and scalable paid search program capable of supporting enrollment growth objectives.
KPIs
Success was measured against several key objectives:
Increase qualified conversions and application-driving actions
Reduce cost-per-acquisition (CPA)
Improve overall campaign efficiency and return on ad spend (ROAS)
Strengthen conversion tracking accuracy to support better optimization decisions
Eliminate spend for irrelevant keywords
Process
Research & Planning
I began with a comprehensive audit of the Google Ads account, conversion tracking setup, and performance history. The review identified several critical issues, including conversion actions that did not accurately reflect enrollment goals, bidding strategies optimized around low-value actions, underperforming keywords consuming budget, and limited ongoing account maintenance.
Working with internal stakeholders, I redefined success metrics and mapped conversion actions to meaningful enrollment outcomes. This provided a clear framework for future optimization decisions.
Implementation
Once opportunities were identified, I executed a full account overhaul. This included rebuilding conversion tracking, implementing value-based and conversion-based bidding strategies, restructuring campaigns, refining keyword targeting, updating sitelink assets, and introducing more rigorous search query management.
The updated strategy aligned Google Ads optimization with high-value prospective student actions rather than vanity metrics, ensuring campaign spending was focused on generating qualified leads and applications.
Measuring & Optimization
Following implementation, I established an ongoing optimization process focused on performance monitoring, search query analysis, bid adjustments, audience refinement, and landing page alignment.
Enhanced reporting and attribution provided greater visibility into campaign effectiveness, allowing for data-driven decisions that continuously improved efficiency while supporting application growth goals.
Results
3.5x
increase in average monthly conversions
229% ↓
decrease in cost-per-acquisition (CPA)
56%
increase in website form submissions
Increased conversions
By aligning campaign optimization with meaningful enrollment-focused conversion actions, the program generated significantly more qualified prospective student leads. Average monthly conversions increased by 3.5x while maintaining strong lead quality, creating a larger pipeline of potential applicants for the college.
Decreased cost per conversion
Improved bidding strategies, more accurate conversion tracking, and refined keyword targeting dramatically increased campaign efficiency. Cost-per-acquisition decreased by 229%, allowing the college to generate substantially more conversions from the same advertising investment.
Eliminated wasted spend
Through ongoing search query analysis, tighter keyword management, and improved campaign structure, budget previously allocated to low-performing traffic was redirected toward high-intent audiences. This reduced waste, improved overall account health, and contributed to an 8% increase in applications.
Eliminated wasted spend
Through ongoing search query analysis, tighter keyword management, and improved campaign structure, budget previously allocated to low-performing traffic was redirected toward high-intent audiences. This reduced waste, improved overall account health, and contributed to an 8% increase in applications.
DESERT FOX DIGITAL