Carnegie & The University of Massachusetts Lowell

The objective

Increasing prospective student engagement

UMass Lowell, through their TikTok agency partner Carnegie turned to TikTok to explore how creative and media strategy could work together. They introduced Spark Ads to highlight content that felt at home on the platform—and ran dual objectives (traffic and community interaction) to see how students responded when discovery and intent worked hand-in-hand. The test revealed that creative amplification plus full-funnel planning is a powerful combination. 

The solution

Testing native content to improve mid-funnel performance

To help UMass Lowell build brand awareness and drive prospective student engagement, Carnegie focused on two key tactics tailored to TikTok’s strengths. First, by using Spark Ads to promote organic, student-centered videos, the campaign delivered a native, authentic experience that boosted video engagement without disrupting the For You feed. This creative-first approach aligned with TikTok’s best practices and helped UMass Lowell stand out in a crowded content environment.

In addition to strong creative execution, Carnegie layered a Community Interaction campaign alongside a Traffic campaign to engage users across the funnel. This full-funnel approach allowed the team to build a foundation of brand familiarity through engagement-driven content while simultaneously driving users to take action. Over the course of three months, this combination proved highly effective, demonstrating that upper-funnel branding efforts can meaningfully support mid-funnel performance goals.

By increasing investment in Traffic objectives and pairing them with Community Interaction efforts, UMass Lowell saw significant improvements over previous campaigns. The results reinforced the value of a strategic mix of campaign objectives and native-feeling creative in solving for both visibility and performance on TikTok.

The results

Lower costs and higher student action through strategic testing

UMass Lowell implemented a full-funnel strategy by testing native-feeling creative formats and running traffic and community interaction campaigns simultaneously, an approach that ultimately reduced cost-per-click (CPC) by 75% compared to the previous year’s campaign. The test-and-learn approach revealed that combining branding and middle-funnel objectives was more effective than running traffic alone.

The results were significant: UMass Lowell reduced cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) by 29% and increased the click-through rate (CTR) by 1.9%. This approach also led to a 640% increase in total clicks compared to previous campaigns. With increased investment in Traffic and the addition of a Community Interaction campaign, the campaigns drove substantial improvements, demonstrating the power of spark ads to drive engagement and reduce costs effectively.  This approach led to a clear lift in reach and results. The campaign reinforced how platform-native creative, when paired with thoughtful objective planning, can move the needle across the student journey and influence outcomes throughout the enrollment funnel.

Tips & takeaways

• Run dual objectives to drive full-funnel impact. Pair traffic with community interaction campaigns to build awareness and inspire action throughout the student journey.

• Use Spark Ads to boost native content. Amplify authentic, student-led videos without disrupting the For You feed for higher engagement.

• Let creative and strategy work together. Align platform-native assets with campaign goals to improve performance and reduce costs.

• Test and scale what performs. A strategic mix of branding and performance objectives can lead to lower CPMs and higher click-through rates.