Case Study: Email Lead Gen for WRESA.
WRESA, a respected provider of professional development for educators across Western North Carolina, had a valuable content-rich website but lacked a robust system for turning that traffic into engaged subscribers. Despite high page views on blog posts, workshops, and resource pages, email list growth was stagnant—and many visitors left without taking action.
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The Challenge
High Traffic, Low Conversion: Despite strong page views on blogs, workshops, and resources, the site wasn’t converting visitors into email subscribers or active participants.
Stagnant Email List Growth: Without effective lead capture tools, the organization’s email list remained flat—even as their content continued to attract relevant educators.
Generic, Untargeted Communication: Past email efforts lacked segmentation, which led to generic messaging that didn’t match the specific interests of different educator groups.
Missed Mobile Opportunities: A large portion of visitors came from mobile devices, but signup forms and email collection tools weren’t optimized for small screens or mobile behavior.
Our Solution
Intent-Based Popups for Lead Capture: We implemented smart popups that triggered after 30+ seconds on key content pages—targeting users already showing high engagement.
Mobile-Optimized Forms with Clear Value Props: All modals and signup forms were designed to work seamlessly on mobile, offering free tools or workshop updates in exchange for emails.
Educator-Specific Email Segmentation: Built a segmented email system by topic (e.g., Literacy, STEM, Leadership) to send more relevant and engaging updates.
Follow-Up Automation to Sustain Interest: Users who subscribed via popups were added to automated email flows guiding them to relevant workshops, tools, and events.
Tech Stack:
Results
312% Growth in Email Signups in 60 Days: The new capture strategy quickly transformed passive visitors into engaged subscribers without increasing bounce rates.
Email Became #1 Workshop Signup Driver: Outperformed both Facebook and organic search in driving actual registrations for professional development sessions.
47% Open Rate and 13% Click Rate: Segmented, educator-focused content led to high engagement across all email campaigns.
Stronger Educator Community Engagement: More personalized, value-driven communication helped WRESA build lasting relationships with the teachers and administrators they serve.