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Charge Into Your Future
The Challenge
Eastern Wyoming College (EWC) is a higher education institution located in Goshen County, Wyoming. As a smaller college, they offer affordable, personalized education opportunities to students. They often refer to themselves as a small institution with a big heart, able to help their students charge into their future with high-quality education resources and diverse degree options.
Their friendly and warm environment was not communicated well online. Their digital presence was outdated, complex, and unusable. They knew they needed to overhaul their website and digital identity, but they were unsure how to accomplish it.
The new website and supporting marketing materials established EWC as a trusted institution and a great option for students interested in specific programs or a down-to-earth community feel from their college.
Their digital presence has made them competitive against other smaller colleges in their region, as well as a trusted option for many looking for a career change or continued professional development.
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Our Vision
Our team was excited to partner with EWC to transform their online identity and showcase the college’s unique spirit and offerings to potential students. Additionally, we were eager to create a website that current students and faculty could easily navigate.
The Solution
Our strategy for a comprehensive digital experience was focused on the following goals:
- Attract first-time and returning users.
- Tell the unique story of EWC and position them as a place where students will be welcomed, encouraged, and served.
- Provide information, resources, and opportunities to engage with EWC.
- Direct and encourage users to take action.
We knew we needed to appeal to two different user groups: potential students and current students/faculty. The website needed to be attractive, functional, informational, and accessible.
The Branding
Before we could begin thinking through the website design, we first needed to uncover the visual and verbal identity of EWC. Working through our brand attribute activity, EWC identified the following characteristics that they wanted their brand to emulate: From there, we crafted a moodboard that leveraged EWC’s current brand elements, their emphasis on brand attributes, and some updated touches.
Our Design team used their brand colors of yellow and black while adding warm tones of orange and cream. This helped evoke a welcoming atmosphere while staying true to EWC’s identity. Incorporating elements like dashed lines resembling a lasso and a sepia-style photo treatment established a sense of roots, history, and tradition. The choice of fonts balanced casual and welcoming vibes with professionalism, with a subtle hint of Western flair.
The Web Design & Development
With a visual and verbal direction in place, we could begin planning the website architecture and design. Our sitemap helped protect our hierarchy and content flow, which then translated into the intentional use of the website’s main navigation.
Unique Website Features
Using the top categories as mentioned above, we were able to leverage a functional navigation menu with an additional masthead above it. A college website is a critical component of a potential student’s consideration for choosing a school, but it’s also a tool for current students to leverage during their time.
We needed to create intentional touchpoints throughout the site to highlight news and information to protect the engagement of EWC’s student body.
EWC has a variety of specific, unique degrees and programs like welding, gunsmithing, veterinary, and cosmetology. These programs are highly desirable, so making it simple to find and easy to learn more was critical.
Content Development
With our sitemap as our guide, we developed a robust content strategy that directed our team to identify the most important pages to live on the website. We were tasked with paring down 3,000+ pages to under 100 for the new site. This was only possible because of our sitemap and user goal strategy.
Our content strategy was directed by the following key categories: About EWC, Academics, Admissions & Financial Aid, Student Resources, Athletics, Our Family.
Photography & Videography
When EWC came to us, their photography was lacking, and having the right images was critical to show the sense of community and belonging that the school wanted to be known for. We captured essential images of the campus, student body, faculty, and degree programs to convey the school's sense of community and belonging.
Like photography, video would bolster EWC’s ability to communicate the feel of their school through captivating visuals. The Brand Anchor video we produced did just that.
Inbound Marketing
After launching the new website, we partnered with EWC to create a multi-email campaign for students interested in EWC from the 2023 National FFA Convention. We developed a landing page linked to a QR code at their booth, gathering over 500 student submissions. We then created six emails to nurture these students, from grades 8–12, with key information to encourage applications.
These emails highlighted EWC’s campus, programs, financial aid, and housing, starting one week after the convention to maintain momentum. The campaign, EWC’s first, had a 40% open rate, with only 10 out of 500+ students unsubscribing. Degree options and financial aid were the most engaging content.
