Southern Wesleyan University selects Crawford Strategy as agency of record

Crawford Strategy, a full service marketing and communications firm, has recently been selected by Southern Wesleyan University to develop and execute a marketing strategy to promote the university’s adult and graduate studies programs. The statewide effort supports online programs and five locations in Central, Charleston, Columbia, Greenville and North Augusta.  The agency began its work with Southern Wesleyan in May 2016 after the university completed a multistage selection process. After several years working with an out-of-state agency, Southern Wesleyan deliberately chose a South Carolina-based agency with a deeper understanding of the university’s target audiences and geographic markets.

“We are excited to be working with an institution that provides not only a quality education experience, but also supports its students in meaningful ways before enrollment, during their coursework and after graduation,” said Andy Windham, SVP and Director of Client Strategy at Crawford Strategy. “We look forward to helping Southern Wesleyan grow its community of students and alumni.”

Crawford Strategy quickly got to work, rolling out the first campaign in mid-June. The campaign employed traditional and digital marketing tactics to drive enrollment for Fall 2016 classes. The Crawford Strategy team developed new strategic messaging and shared it through radio and hyper-targeted digital advertising.

“The campaign that Crawford Strategy quickly developed and implemented was immediately successful,” said Chad Peters, VP of Enrollment at Southern Wesleyan University. “The number of applications for fall classes increased significantly compared to the previous five years. We look forward to working with Crawford Strategy to help more people in South Carolina improve their lives and careers through higher education.”

With the successful Fall campaign now complete, Crawford Strategy and Southern Wesleyan are focused on long-range strategic marketing planning and on the upcoming Spring enrollment campaign. The agency has just completed an in-depth quantitative study with the participation of more than 400 current and recent Southern Wesleyan students. The results of the study will provide strategic insights into student decisions about higher education and will guide Crawford Strategy’s planning and marketing message development processes.

“One of the strengths we recognized in Crawford Strategy was their fresh perspective for using research to drive marketing innovation,” said Cody Thomas, Director of Marketing at Southern Wesleyan. “We look forward to using the results we’ve received to shape our marketing strategies and impact our enrollment in 2017.”

About Crawford Strategy, LLC

Crawford Strategy is a full-service marketing and public relations agency in Greenville, S.C. With 26 employees, the agency provides a full complement of services, including marketing, branding, public relations, and digital media. Crawford Strategy is known for providing exceptional project execution, highly responsive customer service and significant results for its clients. Crawford has particular expertise in healthcare, finance, education and destination marketing. For more information, please visitwww.crawfordstrategy.com.

About Southern Wesleyan University

Southern Wesleyan University is a private, nonprofit Christian university committed to liberal arts and professional education, and is an institution of The Wesleyan Church. Southern Wesleyan was founded in 1906 and offers traditional campus programs and evening and online programs. The University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and the Schools Commission on Colleges to award associate, baccalaureate and masters degrees. For more information, please visit www.swu.edu.