From generic campaigns to a growth engine built on structure and vision.
Client: SAE Institute
Sector: Considered-purchase B2C, Creative Education
Services: Campaign strategy, ICP research, lead qualification, sales-marketing alignment, reporting infrastructure, creative team mentoring.
Results
Contacts Generated
+219% YoY
Conversion Rate
+89% YoY
Target Achieved
4 months ahead of schedule
The Problem
They had brand recognition but no system to convert it into qualified enrolments.
Budget spent, leads generated, but conversion stuck and targets missed.
Campaigns were running on generic messaging: "best music school, enrol now." The positioning leaned on past reputation rather than on what prospective students actually needed to hear. Nobody had asked them why they chose the school, or what they were afraid of when making that decision.
Sales and marketing operated as separate units with no shared language and no shared metrics. Lead attribution was a recurring argument. Nobody could answer with confidence whether a lead was sales-qualified or marketing-qualified. The reporting that existed was fragmented across platforms, leaving both teams working from incomplete pictures.
The approach
Phase 1: Fix the immediate performance gap
Before anything strategic could be built, the campaign structure needed to work. We restructured the paid media strategy to generate more volume at a lower cost per lead. This gave the school breathing room and created a baseline of data to work from.
Phase 2: Understand why students actually enrolled
We ran structured interviews and surveys with current and prospective students. Three clear drivers emerged: job security after graduation (the majority of SAE graduates found employment within six months), parental reassurance, and financing options. None of these were present in the existing messaging.
We rebuilt the campaign messaging around these drivers. We started speaking to parents as a distinct audience. We introduced financing as a lead argument rather than a footnote. The creative shifted from self-congratulatory to reassuring and specific.
Phase 3: Build the qualification infrastructure
We implemented a marketing automation system to score and qualify leads before they reached the sales team. This reduced noise and increased the quality of conversations sales was having. The argument about attribution became less frequent because the data was now clean.
Phase 4: Align sales and marketing through shared reporting
We built a two-page real-time dashboard pulling data directly from ad platforms and CRM. For the first time, both teams were looking at the same numbers in the same format. Sales-marketing alignment stopped being a conversation topic and became a daily operational reality.
Phase 5: Build internal capability
We worked directly with the internal creative team, reviewing copy, adjusting angles, and briefing campaigns alongside them. The engagement ended with a structured creative template that allowed the team to operate independently with the same strategic rigour.
All the infrastructure remained in the company.
Note from the client
“I had Simone by my side on the external team supporting paid advertising. Together we tackled various challenges: GA4, consent mode, pixel, digital tax, etc... His competence is beyond question, but what I appreciated most was the way he managed his team. Brilliant in his ideas and kind in his manners.”
Nicola Mazzara
Head of Marketing,
SAE Institute
If you recognise this situation
You have an agency or internal team running campaigns. The leads are coming in but the quality is inconsistent. Sales and marketing are not aligned on what a good lead looks like. And nobody has sat down to ask your customers why they actually chose you.
That is where I start.