Schools

Two Seneca Valley Academy of Choice Commercials are a Success

The advertisements rank 20 percent higher than the average Google click.

Late last spring, Communications Director Linda Andreassi came up with a marketing campaign to advertise the Seneca Valley Academy of Choice, which is the district's cyber and performing arts school. Now, with the campaign halfway completed, statistics show that the advertisements have been successful.

Andreassi's plan included creating two cable television commercials which aired on stations such as the Discovery Channel and Nickelodeon. In addition, the school initiated an online ad campaign with Google and Facebook.

"We are coming in at about 20 percent higher than the average Google click," said Andreassi. "[There is] a spike in the number of people who click on the ads during the time the TV spots are airing."

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Andreassi looked at demographics for age groups and tried to pick stations that would have both children and their parents watching.

The commercials were made using the stories of real students in order to explain why different aspects of cyber schooling work. They feature a musically inclined student, a student looking to experiment with different courses, a student who is two years ahead in math, and a gymnast who spends eight hours a day in the gym.

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"Not as many are leaving as we have had in the past to go to Lincoln or to other Cybers," Andreassi said. "We've made a discernible difference in the number of students who stayed. I do believe and feel confident saying that we are stopping kids from leaving."

In addition to retaining current Seneca Valley students, the goal of the advertisements is also to attract students from surrounding school districts. The program sells online seats to 30 different school districts in the area.

With all going well in the campaign, Andreassi says that the next steps in the project might be to expand commercial zones to reach a wider audience or to extend the campaign in current zones for a longer period of time.



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