Digital Ads

Overview

Students often arrive at these fairs overwhelmed:
Is grad school worth it? How do I pay for it? What if my background doesn’t match the degree I want?

The existing marketing didn’t address those anxieties. It was visually scattered, text-heavy, and didn’t speak directly to students’ real questions or motivations.

We needed to:

• Create a unified visual campaign that felt approachable and trustworthy

• Answer students’ biggest questions before they arrived

• Increase RSVPs and improve the attendee conversion rate

• Help programs stand out to the right students

• Design assets that worked across social media, paid ads, email, and onsite displays

Solution

I led the full design effort across:

• Campaign creative direction

• Paid and organic social ads

• SEO-friendly educational content

• Email and landing page visuals

• Onsite signage and promotional materials

• Blog and resources

• Illustrations and motion graphics for testimonial videos

I collaborated closely with the marketing and partnerships teams to build a strategy grounded in student anxieties, recruiter needs, and Idealist’s mission.

Results

• 7,419 RSVPs

• 3,031 attendees (42% conversion)

• 4,635 one-on-one conversations between students and recruiters

• Campaign reach of 1.8M+ people

• 5.4M+ impressions across channels

This work made a stressful process feel a little easier. Students arrived with stronger questions, better expectations, and more confidence. Recruiters felt the conversations were more focused and productive. And the fairs became not just events, but a clearer pathway into meaningful careers.