Winterline GSP is the first gap year of its kind. In this nine-month program, students get the opportunity to actively explore what they want to do with their lives. The GSP goes beyond helping students prepare for their careers — it positions them to succeed in all aspects of their lives. They travel through 10 countries, learning basic life skills such as how to prepare meals, manage finances, and negotiate deals.
With the growing popularity of gap year programs in the U.S., Winterline saw a unique opportunity to enter the market. Earlier this year, they launched a new website and were looking for a HubSpot Certified Partner to assist with the setup of a marketing dashboard and CRM system. The Winterline team hired Converge to help them build brand awareness and name recognition for the program. Converge set up HubSpot marketing, sales, and social media accounts to generate leads and interest.
“Based on our inbound marketing expertise, we knew the partnership would be a great fit,” said Megan Cendrowski, vice president of content strategy at Converge. “When we put a content development and storytelling strategy in place, Winterline’s unique offerings came to life.”
The partnership launched in February 2015, with the majority of strategy and setup launching in March. Throughout the course of Winterline’s partnership with Converge, they saw more than 1,500 likes on Facebook, 300 Twitter followers, 1,000 digital advertising leads, and a 550 percent increase in website traffic. Winterline also received more than 100 applications for their new program.
“Our work with Converge helped us find students who were the perfect fit for our gap year program,” said Nathan Scott, president and executive director of Winterline GSP.
In the coming months, Winterline plans to roll out advertising for Instagram and launch a student-written blog series highlighting students’ experiences in the program, from scuba diving to mastering the art of Thai cooking.
Converge Consulting is a digital agency for higher education with offices in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Denver, Colorado, and Manhattan Beach, California. Converge uses what’s new and next in inbound marketing, website design, content strategy, search engine optimization, digital advertising and web analytics to positively impact student recruitment and alumni engagement for colleges and universities around the world.
