LAMDA:

The background

The London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is one of the UK’s leading conservatoires, shaping the next generation of performers across acting, musical theatre, and classical training. As LAMDA’s long-term marketing partner, we have developed a deep understanding of the unique challenge of marketing arts education: combining brand prestige with performance, inspiring creativity while driving measurable growth.

Working closely with LAMDA’s internal marketing team, we’ve helped translate their world-class reputation into full-funnel marketing strategies that reach the right audiences, generate genuine interest, and convert intent into applications. Through insight-led paid media, creative testing, and continuous optimisation, we’ve consistently exceeded benchmarks and supported LAMDA’s goals — driving meaningful growth in short-course applications while strengthening long-term brand equity.

The goal

In our latest campaign, we set out to increase applications for LAMDA’s portfolio of short courses, from screen acting to Shakespeare Summer School, and reach a broad mix of prospective performers, younger audiences, and parents.

The objectives were clear:

• Increase short-course applications by 20% YOY  (primary KPI: Apply clicks + completed applications)
• Boost visibility of priority courses via Meta and Google
• Acquire new qualified users and drive more high-intent sessions
• Move prospects through the full funnel, from awareness to submission
  

LAMDA also had performance benchmarks in place for Landing Page Views and application clicks, and the goal was to exceed these while maintaining strong cost efficiency.

The audience

We focused on three core segments, each with different needs and behaviours:

• Aspiring performers exploring acting, musical theatre, and screen acting courses
• Parents/influencers – especially crucial for the Shakespeare Summer School, with students being below the age of 18
• Younger teens (awareness only, due to platform restrictions)

Geographically, the campaign skewed towards the UK, with additional reach for international interest in summer programmes.

Full-funnel marketing strategy

We deployed a full-funnel, multi-channel strategy combining the strengths of Meta and Google to meet users at every stage of their journey:

Meta – Awareness & Consideration

To scale traffic and interest, we ran Landing Page View (LPV) campaigns using student-led creatives, audience segmentation, and A/B testing to identify best-performing variants.

Google Search – High-Intent Conversion

Search activity focused on brand terms and short-course keywords to capture motivated users ready to apply.

Channel Synergy

Meta built reach → Google captured intent → together driving applications efficiently.

The execution

Our first step was to drive awareness and consideration at scale, using authentic, student-led static visuals to resonate with prospective applicants. Creative A/B testing by gender allowed us to identify meaningful performance differences and refine our approach accordingly.

We also split-tested key landing page routes, including /short-courses/ versus /introductory-courses/, to understand which journeys drove stronger engagement. Targeting was carefully tailored by course, with interest-based audiences aligned to specific disciplines, while the Shakespeare Summer School required a more intricate approach, running separate campaigns for parents and students. For under-18 audiences, we focused on impression-led targeting to build awareness compliantly, ensuring early brand exposure without sacrificing platform policy or performance.

Conversion (Google Search)

With the LAMDA short courses getting out in front of the right audiences, we shifted our focus to capturing high-intent demand. The first step was to implement a structured Google Search strategy focused on brand and short-course keywords, ensuring LAMDA was visible at the exact moment users were ready to apply. Keyword optimisation centred on proven, high-intent terms, allowing us to capture motivated prospects efficiently. When search volume around “Shakespeare” proved more limited than anticipated, we proactively reallocated budget to higher-performing channels, maintaining momentum and efficiency. Continuous refinement of bids, keywords, and ad copy helped improve CPA while increasing overall application volume, ensuring performance remained strong throughout the campaign.

Relevance & User Experience Improvements

Landing page performance was a key focus throughout the campaign. Through structured A/B testing, we identified URLs that significantly outperformed alternative routes, driving stronger engagement and higher-quality sessions. These insights went beyond paid media; they directly informed site and UX updates that improved clarity, relevance, and on-page experience. As a result, users were able to move more confidently through the application journey, supporting both conversion rates and long-term site performance.

Creative Insight
Creative testing delivered valuable insight into audience behaviour and conversion pathways. Women-focused assets consistently generated higher volumes of Apply clicks, while Men-focused creative drove a greater proportion of completed applications. Rather than treating this as a one-off finding, we used these insights to actively shape future creative direction by aligning messaging, imagery, and calls to action with the behaviours most likely to drive meaningful outcomes at each stage of the funnel.

The challenges

Performance fluctuations were expected, so we proactively managed them. 

• A dip in Meta “Apply clicks” aligned with our LPV optimisation strategy, which prioritised quality traffic over immediate conversions. We resolved this by reframing success around full-funnel KPIs. 
• As part of the target audience were school leavers under 18, we faced platform restrictions around under-18 targeting, which required a more nuanced campaign structure, leading to separate parent and student journeys. 
• Limited search volume for Shakespeare-related terms prompted a strategic budget shift toward Meta, where engagement proved stronger. Landing page underperformance was addressed through URL testing and UX optimisation, while creative performance differences led to a mid-campaign pivot that improved efficiency and results.

The results

Strategic thinking paired with timely optimisation, creative testing and tracking resulted in success! Our high-performing, efficient campaign exceeded expectations across all channels, delivering meaningful business uplift for the client.

• 129% Increase in Application Clicks
• 244 Applications Submitted
• +93.4% YoY growth
• 246% ROI

Performance benchmarks were exceeded by 129%, and Arke drove 9% of all new site users, a significant uplift for short-course discovery.

A/B testing directly influenced improvements to LAMDA’s course pages, strengthening on-site engagement. We also conducted a detailed competitor analysis, which uncovered opportunities for future strategic positioning. When running age and gender-relevant ads, we discovered that teen-focused campaigns exceeded impression benchmarks by +17%, contributing to long-term brand equity. These learnings now form a stronger foundation for future campaigns and continued growth.

The outcome

The campaign delivered exceptional full-funnel performance, exceeding targets, unlocking new audiences, and securing an increase in enrollment for LAMDA’s short-course recruitment.

Meta drove sustained awareness and interest, Google captured high-intent prospects, and together they delivered a profitable, scalable, and insight-rich campaign that led to full courses, opening doors to both prospective students and LAMDA alike.

Read more about Arke’s expertise in higher education marketing.