Challenge
The bigger question behind studying abroad.
StudyAdelaide promotes South Australia as a study destination for international students, while also ensuring students have a genuinely rewarding experience once they arrive. Their role spans education institutions, government, and industry. Positioning Adelaide not simply as a place to study, but somewhere to live, work, and belong.
Because choosing a city is rarely about a course alone.
It’s about the full experience around it – study, work and life.
When digital journeys don’t map to real decisions.
Digital campaigns were active and traffic was flowing. But the primary CTA was a Course Finder built around institutions, programs and course codes. But students were asking something else entirely.
Across four focus groups (three in-region and one with students currently studying in Adelaide), we heard the same questions again and again:
Is it safe?
Can I work while I study?
How do I catch public transport in Adelaide?
What will it really cost?
Will I feel like I belong?
The website spoke about degrees. Students were thinking about life.
At the same time, performance data was fragmented. Media metrics lived in one place. Website analytics in another. CRM behaviour sat somewhere else again.
There was reporting, but no clear line between spend, intent and institutional outcomes.
Solution
Rebuilding the path to Adelaide.
We started with insight. While the focus groups were underway, we ran a full digital audit to understand channel performance, data flows and reporting gaps. The findings reframed the whole experience.
The Course Finder made way for a dedicated “Why Adelaide?” landing page. This was built around the real questions students were asking about lifestyle, affordability, safety and work.
At the centre was the “10 Things You Need to Know About Studying in Adelaide” guide, developed by StudyAdelaide. A concept shaped directly by UX research.
Key elements included:
- Research-led positioning shaped by four focus groups
- Guide-led engagement answering practical student questions
- HubSpot automation tagging users by interest and triggering tailored nurture journeys
- Unified reporting bringing channel, website and HubSpot data into one live dashboard
Forms were simplified. Nurture flows clarified. Friction removed at key decision points.
The result was not simply a landing page. It was a connected system.
“We've really enjoyed working with the Outta Spatial team. Tom was able to quickly step into the shoes of our audience and run meaningful workshops that have delivered actionable insights. Particularly, Tom was welcoming and patient while facilitating focus groups with participants whose first language isn't English.”
Outcomes
Turning insight into momentum.
Within months of launch, the guide “10 Things You Need to Know About Studying in Adelaide” exceeded 150% of the original download benchmark per month.
Engagement strengthened across priority markets. Instead of sending the same message to everyone, StudyAdelaide could now respond to what students were actually exploring – study, work or life in Adelaide.
But the real shift wasn’t just downloads. It was visibility. Seeing how interest moves through the journey. Which markets respond. Where friction appears. And how behaviour changes over time.
Clarity like that changes how decisions are made. A real game changer, enabling faster optimisation, stronger collaboration with institutions and more confident campaign investment.
What began as a campaign destination became a connected system aligned to real student intent – from first click to institutional engagement.
The work was recognised nationally, winning the 2025 Australian Marketing Institute Award for CX & Loyalty. A reflection of the power of behaviour-led content to create more relevant user experiences.
