The Client
Doane University is a private liberal arts and sciences college located in Crete, Nebraska. It has additional campuses in Lincoln, Grand Island and Omaha. Doane prides itself on doing anything it can to help it’s students. They are known for their leadership in higher education, commitment to academic excellence, innovation and a special sense of place for each individual. These values have helped make Doane successful for over 140 years and will continue to help build an even stronger university for the future.
The Need
Doane had plans to announce a new program offering for potential students. A 100% online Agribusiness degree. They needed a way to spread the word and get students excited while explaining the value of their program. They were investigating creating a microsite to highlight the program details that they could drive all marketing efforts to in order to capture leads. The project was planned to be a retargeting effort.
The Solution
The team got to work and started planning a site highlighting their “5 key points” for why their program is the best out there. There was a lot of information to sort through, so we started organizing it with wireframes. This allowed us to plan what type of information would appear where and work out any problems early. After hammering out the details together with the Doane team, we jumped into design.
The microsite was intended to have a unique feel that could stand on its own and also be able to be re-used for other programs if needed. We needed something that would stand out from all the stale and information heavy university websites out there.
Photography was high on the priority list. Photos helped the user connect with the program and bring interest to the page. Adding a hint of animation and parallax to various elements also added a spark of interest that keeps you engaged while separating information in a more digestible way.
The Results
After launch Doane had a lot of success including with organic traffic, which they were not expecting. The website was working like a charm. Months after, the Agribusiness program is showing the most interest out of any of their undergraduate programs. We’re super excited to have contributed to that success with the new microsite.