Industries · Education
Media for education providers in New Zealand
Enrolment windows are short, audiences are spread across life stages and countries, and every dollar has to be justified. KBR plans, buys and measures media for universities, polytechnics and private training establishments so the right people find the right course at the right time.
The short answer
What does an education media agency do?
An education media agency plans and buys advertising that fills courses. That means reaching school leavers, career changers, parents and international students in the places they research, then keeping the institution in front of them until they apply.
KBR has run education campaigns since 2017, from intake bursts to year-round brand and recruitment activity. We plan around your intake calendar, build creative that scales across dozens of courses, and report on applications and enrolments, not just clicks.
Why it's different
What makes education providers different
Intake calendars
Semester and rolling intakes create short, competitive windows. Media has to build demand before them and capture it during them.
Many audiences
School leavers, parents, career changers, employers and international students all need different messages and channels.
Lots of courses
Dozens or hundreds of programmes, each with its own audience. Planning and creative have to scale without the budget spreading too thin.
Long decisions
People research for months. Measurement has to connect early engagement to the application that comes much later.
What we do
How we help
Intake and enrolment campaigns
Plans built backwards from each intake, with budget weighted to research and application peaks.
Course-level targeting
Search, social and programmatic targeting by subject interest, life stage and location, so each course reaches the people likely to enrol.
Dynamic creative at scale
Templates that turn one creative system into hundreds of course variations, without extra production cost.
Domestic and international reach
Planning for New Zealand audiences plus key international markets and the channels students use there.
Search and AI search
Prospective students ask Google and AI assistants which course to take. We make sure your programmes show up with accurate information.
Reporting tied to enrolments
GA4, CRM and application data connected, so you can see cost per application and which channels fill courses.
How we work
From brief to results
- 01Intake and course prioritiesWhich courses need students, when, and from which audiences.
- 02Plan the yearAn always-on base with bursts around each intake and open day.
- 03Launch and optimise weeklyBudget moves to the courses and channels producing applications.
- 04Report on enrolmentsCost per application and enrolment by course, channel and audience.
Experience
Education providers we have worked with
- Ara Institute of Canterbury
- Lincoln University
- Unitec
- Toi Ohomai
- Wintec
- Aspire2
FAQ
Common questions
When should education providers start advertising for an intake?
Usually three to six months before the intake, with spend rising as applications open and peaking in the weeks before closing dates. Brand and awareness activity should run year round, because many people research courses for months before they apply.
Which channels work best for student recruitment?
Search captures people already looking for a course. Social and online video reach school leavers and career changers earlier. Programmatic display and video retarget people who have visited course pages. International recruitment adds market-specific platforms. The right mix depends on the course, audience and budget.
How do you advertise hundreds of courses without hundreds of ads?
With dynamic creative. We build a template system that pulls course names, images and messages from a feed, so one set of creative becomes hundreds of relevant ads. It cuts production cost and keeps every course in market.
How do you measure media for education providers?
We connect GA4, your enquiry and application forms and, where possible, your student management or CRM data. That lets us report cost per enquiry, application and enrolment by course and channel, instead of just clicks and impressions.
Has KBR worked with education providers?
Yes. KBR has planned and bought media for 36 education providers since 2017, including Ara, Lincoln University, Unitec, Toi Ohomai, Wintec and Aspire2.
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