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Judge Business School increases leads | Case Study | ON24

Discover how B2B marketers are adapting to AI — and preparing for the future — in our State of AI report. 🙌 Read now

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University of Cambridge Judge Business School increases leads and drives engagement by using ON24 breakout rooms

CASESTUDY Console JudgeBusinessSchool

  • 30%

    of student leads come from digital, in-person, and hybrid events

  • 51%

    uptick in registrations when using multi-registration pages

  • 2X

    the number of digital webinar events hosted in the last two years

Capabilities

Industry

  • Higher Education

Use Cases

Number of Employees

  • 2,501 to 10,000

Introduction

ON24 helped University of Cambridge Judge Business School to transform its approach to MBA recruitment by delivering more dynamic, engaging and scalable digital experiences. With ON24, they doubled the number of online events, introduced interactive features like breakout rooms, and streamlined registration and follow-up. 

Over four years, ON24 has become an integral part of their recruitment strategy, supporting both virtual and in-person efforts and driving a 50% registrant-to-attendee conversion rate — with events now generating nearly a third of all leads.

Problem

The marketing and events team at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School are focused on attracting high-performing professionals to their Cambridge MBA program. The team has long used in-person events to recruit and educate prospective students. However, during the time when in-person events were not possible, they needed to pivot and find a way to engage with professionals, at the same time that people were starting to experience Zoom fatigue. 

They wanted an online solution that would look different than the standard video conferencing platforms, handle large audiences without disruption and keep audience engagement high throughout the event. They wanted to continue to spark interest in prospective students, international students in particular, and move them through their journey to conversion — a journey that can take up to three years. 

Solution

After a vetting process to determine if it would fit all their requirements, the team chose ON24. Over the four years of using ON24 the team has significantly increased the number of online events they have held during their recruitment cycle. This includes expanding beyond their initial Open Day webinar events to offer a series of topic-focused webinar sessions that engage prospective students throughout their journey to enrollment. 

One of the key features of ON24 that the University of Cambridge, Judge Business School team fully leverages is breakout rooms. By encouraging event attendees to join breakout sessions tailored to their specific interests—such as admissions, alumni insights, or conversations with current students—they create opportunities for more personalized and meaningful engagement. These sessions allow prospective students to gain deeper insights into the program in a private, focused setting.

According to Andreea Gabriela Alexa, MBA Marketing and Events Coordinator, University of Cambridge, Judge Business School, “Breakout rooms have been a game-changer for us—creating space for real conversations and personal connections. Since introducing them, we’ve seen a 69% increase in breakout room attendees per webinar, driving deeper engagement and strengthening relationships that move the needle on student candidate pipeline and enrollments.” 

The breakout room topics—such as admissions, alumni insights, or conversations with current students—also offer valuable insights into where prospective students are in their decision-making journey. Because ON24 integrates with their CRM, Microsoft Dynamics, they are able to take those insights and provide more personalized follow-up. 

The team has also started using ON24’s multi-registration pages, enabling attendees to sign up for all sessions of a series and multiple events in one go. “Since we started using the multi-registration function for our series, we have seen a 51% increase in the number of registrants,” explained Gabriela Alexa. 

ON24 also plays a part in their in-person events as well. They leverage the platform for registration that provides registrants with a QR code, streamlining check-in on the day of the events. It also gives the team a clear understanding who is at the event and allows them to segment post-event communications between attendees and no-shows. 

Additionally, the team has also started producing podcasts using ON24. Their The Balance Sheet podcast features interviews with alumni and is used primarily as a conversion tool. As podcasts are a preferred form of media for many, these podcasts are an opportunity to reach a broader audience within their owned channels.

“ON24 has transformed the way we recruit for the University of Cambridge, Judge Business School — enabling us to scale our events globally, double our output, and maintain high engagement throughout the entire candidate journey.”

Andreea Gabriela Alexa, MBA Marketing and Events Coordinator, University of Cambridge, Judge Business School

Results

Using ON24 has paid off for the marketing and events team at The University of Cambridge, Judge Business School. Digital and in-person hybrid events are the second highest lead generator — their website is the top lead generator — with 30% of leads coming from ON24 events. 

The team is seeing impressive results since starting with ON24. Not only have they increased the number of online events hosted over the last two years by 2X, but they also boast a 50% registrant to attendee conversion rate. They also experienced a 69% increase in breakout room attendees per webinar (over the 180 days prior to reporting). Since employing multi-registrations pages, they have also seen an approximate uptick in registrations of 51%. 

The results are likely to be even better as the team makes further use of podcasts and uses ON24 to expand into more hybrid formats.

“Since implementing ON24’s multi-registration feature for our event series, we've seen a 51% increase in registrants—making ON24 our second-highest performing channel for lead generation.”

Andreea Gabriela Alexa, MBA Marketing and Events Coordinator, University of Cambridge, Judge Business School

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