Case Study
STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS
THE EXTERNSHIP: DO I HAVE TIME?
Answering an objection with a strategic website.
THE PROBLEM
The Externship is a professional development program for new and aspiring financial planners. The eight-week course is intense but valuable. It takes the average “Extern” about 20 hours a week to complete. This raised a common objection from prospective externs: Do I have the time?
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Despite the website copy, testimonials, and videos explaining that the course was non-concurrent and could be slotted around each person’s unique schedule, the objection persisted.
WHAT I DID
Taking a common writing adage to heart—"show, don’t tell"—I decided we needed to illustrate how the program could fit into different lifestyles. I wrote and designed a webpage that detailed how four sample Externs (personas) from the most common demographics managed to fit The Externship into their busy schedules.
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Having worked with several cohorts of Externs, I had enough insights to create realistic schedules for each persona. This approach underscores my company’s philosophy: sometimes, we sway people with nuance, and sometimes, we must be direct.
I also collaborated with our Facebook ads team to create ads based on this new webpage content.
THE RESULT
The team received feedback from multiple future Externs who said the webpage alleviated their concerns. Others who emailed with scheduling questions were directed to the site. Overall, I believe this effort contributed to The Externship's record number of participants in that cohort.
THE WEBPAGE
