The University of Stirling

Abstract

The University of Stirling is an international university with a global reputation for high-quality teaching and research. The university is among the top 500 universities worldwide according to QS World Rankings 2022.

The RAK Branch Campus was established in 2019. This relatively new branch campus needed to plan and execute a strategy to generate brand awareness in both the local UAE market as well as the international market. This is where I come in.

My Role

I currently work for the University of Stirling (RAK Branch) as a Digital Marketing Manager. I manage marketing-related communication between the main campus in the UK and our branch campus here in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE. In addition to this, I maintain the university's website and analytics. I also handle all the digital channels of the university, manage/create the content and ad campaigns for these channels. Content ranges from photos, videos, and graphic designs to even print material like brochures, leaflets, and roll-up banners.

I was working on all the above-mentioned tasks as a one-man team for the 1st year (quite the experience I must say! I had the opportunity to learn a whole lot in a short span of time). Now, I have a graphic designer that works with me. I also work closely and collaborate with the admissions team, the marketing team over at the home campus in the UK, all the faculty members as well as the students here, in order to build and maintain a cohesive brand image that can attract potential students/parents and show them what we're about.

Achievements

  • Our digital channels have grown (and is still growing) significantly during the course of my time here are the University of Stirling, RAK Campus:
    1. The number of followers on Instagram has increased by 600%
    2. The number of followers on Meta (former Facebook) has increased by 100%
    3. The number of followers on LinkedIn has increased by 100%
    This was achieved through the execution of various strategies and tactics including, but not limited to, the following:
    • Planning and scheduling the posts for the upcoming month ahead of time
    • Sharing engaging content on a regular basis to attract and retain followers (like the example below)
    • Using relevant hashtags to increase the visibility of our posts and attract new followers (illustrated above)
    • Engaging with the community by replying to comments and messages on our account
      • Illustration of audience being engaged
    • Running promotions to encourage users to follow and engage with our accounts
    • Using all marketing materials to build brand awareness and encourage users to follow and engage with our accounts(illustrated below)
      • Illustration of marketing materials used at the university of stirling rak branch campus
    • Using paid advertising to target specific users and increase the visibility of our posts
    • Analyzing and tracking the performance of our posts and adjusting our strategy accordingly to maximize engagement and growth.
    • Hopping on trends and creating content that I know would do well in the context of the platform that we are posting on. For example, one of the major contributors to our Instagram account's growth was our decision to create more reels instead of posting graphic designs and photos(such as the halloween reel shared above). The result was almost instant!
    • Collaborating with influencers and other companies to reach a wider audience and gain new followers
  • Successfully created a fully functioning website for our university as well as the SQA Centre after gathering the requirements from the management, home campus team, and the faculty.
  • Increased website traffic and conversion rates for the university and the SQA Centre through search engine optimization (SEO)
  • Successfully launched and managed online marketing campaigns
  • Developed and implemented social media marketing (SMM) strategies that generated leads and increased brand awareness
  • Created and implemented email marketing campaigns that generated high open and click-through rates
  • Developed and executed paid advertising campaigns on platforms like Google AdWords, Facebook (Meta) Ads, and LinkedIn Ads that achieved desired results
  • Analyzing and reporting on the performance of marketing campaigns, and using the insights to improve future campaigns.

Want to Learn More About My Role Here?

If you'd like to learn more about my work here or anything related to digital marketing, feel free to get in touch with me via any of my social media accounts(LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook), or you can email me at: zeeshann.zss@gmail.com
View My Resume