Driving a future state strategy for Deakin’s Manufacturing Initiative - ManuFutures

ManuFutures connects manufacturing entrepreneurs, start-ups and industry partners looking to execute their ideas and products.

ManuFutures has been a significant and growing part of Deakin’s success since its establishment in 2018, helping create over $1 Billion in company value, hosting over 500 student placements and creating over 120 direct new jobs.

A 360° strategy: hitting the target audience across multiple touch points

To ensure that we had an approach that targeted ManuFutures’ key demographics, we delivered a strategy that:

  • Determined who were the best potential partners for the ManuFutures team
  • Targeted each audience for their Ignite, Accelerate, and Engage programs
  • Covered paid, email, publications and organic social
  • Provided a defined short- and long-term roadmap scoping the execution of the overall campaign.

"By working closely in partnership with the ManuFutures team, we were able to successfully expand the scope of their coversion needs. This allowed us to make the right optimisations that catered to a niche audience and target the right prospects for each program."

- Rosie Brown, Head of Student Garden

Key pillars of success

Lead generation and data capture

We developed a landing page that helped to segment leads by stage of their business. We also helped ManuFutures to establish a CRM view where all past and new data is stored, allowing the team to personalise their messaging across email, paid audiences and call conversion.

Hitting a niche audience

As ManuFutures is relatively unknown in a niche market, we knew traditional channels wouldn't reach the desired audience. We used custom audiences across LinkedIn, Google and Meta to capture the ideal customer for each program and find greater insights for more accurate targeting.

Acting as an extension of the ManuFutures team

While small and agile, the ManuFutures team sometimes lack access to Deakin’s centralised team and systems. We maximised our agency resourcing and ManuFutures' internal capabilities by operating in a sprint approach and working with staff across the Manufutures, Research and Central teams.

Crafting the right messaging

The ManuFutures programs require significant investment from participants. We educated the audience by informing them on what financial aid is available, and by providing them with the relevant information through their acquisition journey.

Letting the program's enquiry data drive the approach

We helped the ManuFutures team pull insights and learnings that could guide their messaging and approach for each of their program’s target demographics.

The Results?

A strategy and campaign that is uniquely created to hit the right audience for each program.

We produced a brand-new campaign that hit the right niche user for their programs in an already-saturated manufacturing market, while also expanding their tech capabilities. This allowed ManuFutures to take advantage of their messaging, profiling, and audience into the future.

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