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Campaign blueprints
Campaign examples to help you plan and activate marketing efforts
Campaign blueprints showcase real-world examples of marketing campaigns used across Academic Affairs. Each guide outlines how a mix of tactics—digital, traditional, and experiential—can work together to support awareness, engagement, and action for a specific academic initiative.
These guides are designed to help units understand how campaigns are structured, why certain tactics are used, and how approaches can be adapted to fit different goals, audiences, and resources. They are not prescriptive plans, but practical references you can tailor to your unit’s needs.
What you’ll find in a campaign blueprint Accordion Closed
Each campaign blueprint presents a campaign-level snapshot, including:
- Campaign overview and strategic framing
- Program(s) or initiative(s) supported
- Primary objectives and success focus
- Key audience segments
- Integrated marketing tactics across channels
- Considerations related to budget, timing, and coordination
Together, these elements illustrate how multiple tactics work in concert to support academic momentum, student persistence, and program visibility.
When to use a campaign blueprint Accordion Closed
Campaign blueprints are especially helpful when you want to explore how a campaign might come together before building a detailed plan.
Use a campaign blueprint when you want to:
- See examples of integrated marketing campaigns
- Understand how different channels support different stages of engagement
- Explore campaign ideas before committing resources
- Adapt proven approaches for your own academic programs or initiatives
How campaign blueprints work with playbooks Accordion Closed
Campaign blueprints and playbooks serve different—but complementary—purposes.
- Campaign blueprints show what a campaign can look like in practice.
- Playbooks provide step-by-step guidance for planning, execution, and measurement across platforms.
Many teams start with a campaign blueprint to explore campaign structure, then use a playbook to build, execute, and assess their own initiative.
Campaign classification matrix
This matrix shows how campaign blueprints are categorized as Light, Advanced, or Robust based on the scope of tactics, marketing approaches, and resourcing required. Campaign level reflects execution intensity, not strategic importance.
| Criteria | Light | Advanced | Robust |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall lift | Low lift; manageable within existing workflows | Moderate lift; requires planning and coordination | High lift; sustained effort with many moving parts |
| Channels activated | 1–2 primary channels (often digital-first) | Multiple channels across digital + select traditional or experiential | Broad mix of digital, traditional, experiential, and earned media |
| Tactics per channel | Limited set of core tactics | Several tactics per channel | Many tactics running concurrently across channels |
| Content volume | Low volume; reusable or lightweight content | Moderate volume; mix of new and adapted content | High volume; significant original content and variation by audience |
| Coordination required | Minimal coordination | Some cross-unit or partner coordination | Significant coordination across units, partners, and platforms |
| Staffing needs | Can be executed by one team or role | Requires multiple contributors | Requires multiple teams and designated ownership |
| Budget considerations | Minimal or no additional budget | Modest budget for select tactics | Larger budget across multiple tactics and formats |
| Experiential components | None or optional | Limited (e.g., tabling, pop-ups) | Multiple experiential or guerrilla elements |
Campaign blueprints
Light implementation
Low-lift campaigns designed to fit easily within existing workflows. Light guides focus on a small number of channels and core tactics, with minimal coordination and little to no additional resourcing.
- Light implementation: sample one – an example of a digital-first, integrated marketing campaign that uses social media, web, and storytelling tactics to build awareness, connection, and momentum for a high-demand academic program.
Advanced implementation
Moderately resourced campaigns that build on core tactics by activating multiple channels. Advanced guides require some planning and coordination across contributors, offering broader reach without a large operational lift.
- Advanced implementation: sample one – an example of an integrated marketing campaign that combines digital, traditional, and experiential tactics to guide educators from awareness to engagement and action.
- Advanced implementation: sample two – an example of a student-centered, integrated marketing campaign that combines digital, traditional, and experiential tactics to encourage current students to explore and add certificate programs to their degree path.
Robust implementation
Larger-scale campaigns that activate a wide mix of tactics across channels and audiences. Robust guides involve sustained effort, higher coordination across teams or partners, and greater resourcing to support broader visibility and engagement.
- Robust implementation: sample one – an example of an integrated marketing campaign that blends digital, traditional, and experiential tactics to build credibility, increase visibility, and guide working professionals toward inquiry and application.