marines The US Marine Corps, America's most elite military branch, strives to produce not only the best warriors, but also the best people - men and women who live by the Core Values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment.

Opportunity

With marines.com as their #1 lead source, the Marines recognized the importance of online media to their 18-24 year old audience. At the same time, they needed to actively engage "influencers"—parents, coaches, girl/boy friends. To achieve recruiting goals, they needed to increase the number/quality of leads while driving down their cost.

Solution

After conducting research to better understand the audiences, the site was re-designed to more effectively deliver the Marines brand while offering content specific to each audience. Leveraging multiple online technologies to create a unique user experience, the site helps prospective recruits "self-qualify"—improving lead quality. Marketing campaigns—including online ads, search engine marketing, collateral and sponsored events—helped promote the new site while the Simplicis Marketing Platform tied the campaigns together to measure impact.

Outcome

The new site and related marketing campaigns were a resounding success:

  • Still the number one source for qualified leads
  • Generates the highest quality leads with better conversion rates than any other lead source
  • In 5 months, there were more unique visitors than the previous year (161%) and session length went up 550%
  • Winner of "Site of the Year" at the 2002 Favorite Website Awards (out of more than 9,900 entries)
  • Winner of Communication Arts Interactive Annual 9 Award

www.marines.com