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Performance
Highlights

Performance
Highlights

One in-person expo. One WhatsApp thread per lead. A ranked list of candidates the LATAM advisor team could call the next morning.

0
LEADS ENGAGED ON WHATSAPP
LEADS ENGAGED
8006004002000
793Engaged via WhatsApp
W1W3W6W9Now
0
FULLY QUALIFIED LEADS
FULLY QUALIFIED
3002001000
271Answered 7 of 8
W1W3W5W7Now
0
HOT LEADS · ADVISOR-READY
HOT LEADS
151050
13Scored 80% or higher
W1W3W5W7Now
0%
SHOW RATE · HOT COHORT
SHOW RATE BY TIER
50%25%0%
50%2× any other tier
COLDWARMQUALHOT

Background

Background

Northeastern runs an annual circuit of in-person Global Study Expos across its international markets.


The São Paulo edition anchors LATAM for the Fall 2026 master's intake: the admissions team meets prospective students face-to-face and surfaces candidates for the regional scholarship programs, Latin America Future Leaders, full tuition on the Miami campus, and the Excellence Scholarship at 50%.


Platty ran two layers of the campaign: paid media acquisition on Meta and LinkedIn, and the WhatsApp qualification and RSVP flow powered by Avexa, our in-house AI assistant trained on Northeastern's admissions context.


The brief was explicit, deliver qualified candidates to the LATAM advisor team, not registrations on a landing page.

Challenges

Challenges

The standard event-marketing playbook in higher-ed produces three predictable problems:

Form leads are dead leads

A name, an email and a program interest tell an advisor nothing about whether the person is application-ready, scholarship-eligible, or fluent enough in English to apply at all. So the advisor qualifies on the call itself. That is the most expensive minute in the funnel to spend on a question a chatbot could have asked in week one.

RSVP is not attendance

Most expo campaigns treat the two as the same number. Leads register in week one, go quiet for a month, and half the funnel evaporates before the doors open. Without a structured nurture between RSVP and event day, the registration list is a vanity metric.

Post-event leads decay in days

With no automated closure flow, attendees and no-shows drop out of the advisor queue within a week. The event turns into a one-time spend instead of a database asset that feeds the next intake.

Form leads are dead leads

A name, an email and a program interest tell an advisor nothing about whether the person is application-ready, scholarship-eligible, or fluent enough in English to apply at all. So the advisor qualifies on the call itself. That is the most expensive minute in the funnel to spend on a question a chatbot could have asked in week one.

RSVP is not attendance

Most expo campaigns treat the two as the same number. Leads register in week one, go quiet for a month, and half the funnel evaporates before the doors open. Without a structured nurture between RSVP and event day, the registration list is a vanity metric.

Post-event leads decay in days

With no automated closure flow, attendees and no-shows drop out of the advisor queue within a week. The event turns into a one-time spend instead of a database asset that feeds the next intake.

Our Approach

Our Approach

We designed a three-flow architecture running in parallel inside a single WhatsApp thread per lead. The lead never sees a handoff between the flows, but each one is engineered for a specific moment in the funnel.

Flow 01

Qualification & Nurture Eight scored questions, paced across the thread, never delivered as a survey. Six mandatory questions carry 55 points, two bonus questions carry 10. The 65-point score produces a tier and a written brief for the advisor.

Flow 02

RSVP & Event Logistics Day-10 RSVP ask. Day-7 reconfirm. Day-3 venue details. Day-0 morning nudge. Each message written for the decision the lead is actually making at that hour.

Flow 3

Post-Event Closure Day+1: attendees get a 1-to-10 intent question and an exclusive fee-waiver code. Day+2: no-shows get a recovery call offer. Replies route straight to the advisor queue, and every lead stays enriched in the database for the next cohort.utomated closure flow, attendees and no-shows drop out of the advisor queue within a week. The event turns into a one-time spend instead of a database asset that feeds the next intake.

Flow 01

Qualification & Nurture Eight scored questions, paced across the thread, never delivered as a survey. Six mandatory questions carry 55 points, two bonus questions carry 10. The 65-point score produces a tier and a written brief for the advisor.

Flow 02

RSVP & Event Logistics Day-10 RSVP ask. Day-7 reconfirm. Day-3 venue details. Day-0 morning nudge. Each message written for the decision the lead is actually making at that hour.

Flow 3

Post-Event Closure Day+1: attendees get a 1-to-10 intent question and an exclusive fee-waiver code. Day+2: no-shows get a recovery call offer. Replies route straight to the advisor queue, and every lead stays enriched in the database for the next cohort.utomated closure flow, attendees and no-shows drop out of the advisor queue within a week. The event turns into a one-time spend instead of a database asset that feeds the next intake.

Results

Results

Avexa beat the usual higher-ed nurture numbers by a wide margin.


WhatsApp drip campaigns normally sit at 10–15% response and email nurture at 2–5%. This campaign hit 53%.

Results

Avexa beat the usual higher-ed nurture numbers by a wide margin.


WhatsApp drip campaigns normally sit at 10–15% response and email nurture at 2–5%. This campaign hit 53%.

0%
RESPONSE RATE
RESPONSE RATE
60%40%20%0%
53%vs 10–15% typical
W1W3W6W9Now
0%
3+ BACK-AND-FORTH EXCHANGES
MULTI-TURN CONVERSATIONS
50%25%0%
39%3+ exchanges
W1W3W5W7Now
0/8
QUALIFICATION DEPTH
QUESTIONS ANSWERED
2401200
7 of 8Most of the cohort
12345678

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