A study-abroad consultancy was paying premium rates for broad "study abroad" keywords that attracted browsers, not applicants. Here's how webinar and intent-based campaigns filled the counseling calendar at a much lower cost per qualified lead.
A study-abroad consultancy
Overseas education counseling consultancy, Chennai
High CPL on broad keywords
Generic "study abroad" targeting, mostly early-stage browsers
One quarter
Now an ongoing performance marketing retainer
Performance Marketing
Country-specific webinars, intent targeting
The consultancy's campaigns bid on broad, generic terms like "study abroad consultants" — some of the most expensive keywords in the education vertical, and also some of the least specific. Clicks came from students still deciding between countries, courses or even whether to study abroad at all, months away from being ready to book a paid counseling session. Cost per lead was high, and the counseling team spent most calls re-educating prospects on basics rather than moving qualified applicants toward enrollment.
Separated true high-intent searches (specific country, course, intake) from broad, early-stage research terms.
Free webinars per destination country — "Study in Canada: 2026 Intake Guide" — replacing generic landing pages as the lead magnet.
Campaigns shifted toward specific-intent keywords and lookalike audiences built from past enrolled students.
Every webinar attendee offered a direct counseling-session booking slot at the close of the session, while intent was highest.
Email and WhatsApp nurture sequences for registrants who didn't attend live, recovering counseling bookings from the webinar recording.
Reporting tied to counseling bookings and enrollment outcomes, not raw lead volume or webinar registrations.
The webinar did the qualifying the ad couldn't. Anyone willing to sit through 45 minutes on a specific country's visa and intake process had already self-selected as serious — booking rates from webinar attendees ran far ahead of cold-form leads.
Sourced through country-specific webinars instead of a generic contact form.
Intent-based targeting replaced expensive, low-intent broad keywords.
Covering the consultancy's top destination countries across a single quarter.
"We were paying top rates for clicks from people six months away from being ready. The webinars changed who showed up to counseling calls entirely — serious applicants, already sold on the destination, ready to talk timelines."
Booking and cost-per-lead figures come from Google Ads, Meta Ads Manager and the consultancy's counseling-calendar system, compared against the prior quarter's broad-keyword campaigns. Timeframe and starting baseline stated above, as with every case study we publish.
We'll analyze last quarter's funnel, benchmark your visibility against three competing consultancies, and map exactly where leads are leaking — with a calendar-timed plan to fix it before the next intake.
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