Case Study · Education · Hyper-Local Lead Gen
When your market is three neighbourhoods, precision beats volume
Alfa ZNO prepares students for Ukraine’s standardised university-entrance exam. Their catchment wasn’t a country or even a city — it was a handful of Kyiv districts. We built a tightly geo-fenced, bilingual search engine that put the offer in front of the right students at the right moment, and kept every hryvnia inside the catchment.
- Client
- Alfa ZNO
- Sector
- Education (exam prep)
- Product
- ZNO prep courses
- Model
- Local lead generation
- Market
- Kyiv (3 districts)
- Channels
- Google Search · Display
- Languages
- RU + UA
- Period
- Dec 2019 – Feb 2020
01 — The Challenge
Local education economics leave no room for wasted spend
A course centre only makes money from students who can actually travel to class — so the entire campaign had to live inside a tiny catchment around the Obolon and Vynohradar districts and the blue metro line. On top of that, Kyiv searches in both Russian and Ukrainian, established ZNO platforms were already bidding, and the buying window for exam prep is short and seasonal. Every click had to be local, high-intent and affordable.
02 — The Strategy
Fence the geography, match the language, own the window
Lock delivery to the catchment, speak to each student in their own language and subject, and stay in front of them with display and remarketing right through the decision window.
Hyper-local geo-fencing
Delivery was locked to the Obolon and Vynohradar districts and the blue metro corridor — so budget only ever reached students who could actually attend.
Bilingual, subject-level ads
Separate Russian and Ukrainian ads matched the language of each query, split by subject — with a sharp offer: “twice cheaper than a tutor” and a free trial lesson.
Stay through the window
Display and remarketing kept Alfa in front of students and parents during the decision window, plus competitor campaigns captured demand searching for rival ZNO platforms.
03 — Execution
Built tight, measured, and tuned to the season
The work behind the precision
A tightly scoped account where every keyword, ad and placement was built for one small catchment and a short enrolment window.
- ✓ Search campaigns by subject (Ukrainian, English, Maths, Biology, History)
- ✓ Delivery geo-fenced to Obolon, Vynohradar & the blue metro line
- ✓ Separate RU & UA ads matched to each query’s language
- ✓ Offer-led copy: “twice cheaper than a tutor”, free trial lesson
- ✓ Display & remarketing to stay present through the decision window
- ✓ Competitor campaigns capturing rival-platform demand
04 — The Results
A 9%+ CTR — and a clear January surge
Search CTR held above 9% every month — proof the keyword and message match were right — while enrolment enquiries concentrated in January’s sign-up window and spend never leaked outside the target districts.
05 — Why It Worked
Three moves that made a tiny budget punch above its weight
Discipline over reach
Geo-fencing to three districts meant zero wasted spend on students who could never attend — every click was a real prospect.
Spoke their language
Bilingual ads matched to query language and split by subject drove a 9%+ CTR — clear proof the message landed.
Owned the window
Display and remarketing kept Alfa present through the short enrolment season, so enquiries peaked exactly when it mattered — January.
“Thank you for the personal consultation — I'm delighted! We're starting work on the project at full scale.”
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