Canadore College
Market Research and Strategy: Putting the Pieces Together
Canadore College has focused on student success, program and service excellence, community connection, sustainability, and innovation since it was founded in 1967.
The Challenge
Canadore College needed a more inviting and manageable website that offered students engaging information that directed them to a simple enrolment process. However, they also needed their website to attract corporate visitors in need of conference space, restaurant bookings, employee training, and many other services Canadore College offers. The website they had at the time was thousands of pages long–many of which had irrelevant content–and was on multiple web platforms. This made it cumbersome to make changes and disjointed in terms of branding and consistency.
Before Canadore College contacted CreativeWorks Marketing, their information was highly compartmentalized. Their website consisted of contributions from several separate entities, which resulted in a confusing user experience and complicated enrolment process.
The challenge was to create a cohesive website that was easy to use for internal stakeholders and that appealed to both students and local businesses, without detracting from either.
Our Solution
CreativeWorks Marketing knew that in order for Canadore College’s website to offer both students and local businesses a better user experience, we needed to better understand how the information was being created, know what were the frequency of changes, and assess the needs of key department contributors in order to combine all information into one integrated whole.
To do this, we started by conducting extensive market research. We interviewed each of the college’s key stakeholders in order to gain a clear understanding of their individual need for representation within the college’s framework. By doing so, we incorporated each division’s message and purpose within a uniform Canadore College brand.
After we completed the market research, we developed a new interactive website based on user experience, outcome requirements, and increasing the brand experience. We sorted through the pages, platforms, look, tone, and messaging to arrive at a website wireframe that reflected “today’s” Canadore College. This included a new, easy navigation and a clear profiling of each stakeholder’s division, which allows college staff to update the website smoothly and provides a natural flow for students looking for an effortless enrolment process and businesses looking for professional services.
Results
Canadore College’s previously disjointed website is now less than half the size it once was, resulting in more concise and relevant content for both students and corporate visitors.
Maneuvering the website is not only effortless for students and corporate visitors, but also for internal Canadore College users. Along with website development and implementation, CreativeWorks Marketing created a smooth internal process so college staff can maintain the website going forward.
The inviting, cutting-edge Canadore College website finally matches their brand’s ambitious goals and how they want to be perceived by their community members. The North Bay community and prospective students around the world can trust that Canadore College is highly organized and eagerly primed for the future.
"Our partnership with CreativeWorks Marketing has surpassed the initial expectations we had. From marketing consultation, to online solutions, to video productions, website development, and now event coordinating, the value CreativeWorks brings to our college is immeasurable."
