Al Akhawayn University: From Legacy Website to Enrollment Engine
Al Akhawayn University (AUI) in Ifrane, Morocco, is the country's only English-language liberal arts institution, drawing students from more than 60 countries.
AUI offers undergraduate and graduate programmes across three schools: Business Administration, Engineering, and Humanities and Social Sciences.
The university competes globally for students seeking an internationally accredited, campus-based higher education experience in North Africa.
Challenge
Competing globally with infrastructure built for a different era
When Latigid first engaged with AUI in early 2021, the university faced structural challenges widely shared across higher education institutions attempting to modernise their enrollment funnel. AUI's website was not optimised for mobile devices, lacked HTTPS security, and was built on a technically fragile architecture that limited both performance and search engine discoverability. In practical terms, AUI was invisible to prospective students who did not already know the institution by name.
More critically, there was no unified system connecting marketing, admissions, and the student information infrastructure. Lead generation depended entirely on paid media campaigns, with no infrastructure to capture, track, or nurture prospective students organically. The admissions team operated without a CRM, and there was no connection between the marketing platform and the Student Information System holding each applicant's academic record and enrollment status.
AUI communicates across three languages: English, French, and Arabic. It serves multiple audience segments with different decision timelines and content needs. Without a single source of truth connecting marketing, admissions, and the SIS, it was impossible to understand what was driving enrollment or optimise for it.
Solution
A phased HubSpot transformation: website, CRM, SIS integration, and campaigns
Phase 1CRM-Powered Website| 2021
Latigid rebuilt aui.ma from the ground up on HubSpot CMS, migrating 318 pages simultaneously across English, French, and Arabic. This was not a redesign: it was a structural shift from institutional showcase to lead generation engine. HubDB tables power the programmes catalogue, faculty directory, and job board. All visitor data flows directly into HubSpot CRM, giving AUI a unified view of every prospective student for the first time.
HubSpot CMS HubMulti-language EN / FR / ARHubDB Dynamic ContentLead Capture and Smart FormsCRM Integration
Phase 2HubSpot Sales Hub and Jenzabar Integration| 2022 – 2023
With the website generating leads, the next step was connecting HubSpot to Jenzabar, AUI's Student Information System. Latigid built a custom bidirectional middleware integration: application data flows from HubSpot forms into Jenzabar automatically, and candidacy updates, academic credentials, and enrollment outcomes sync back to HubSpot in real time. For the first time, the full student lifecycle is visible and actionable in a single platform.
Alongside the integration, HubSpot Sales Hub was implemented for the admissions function: custom pipelines mapped to the student journey, lead scoring, automated workflows, and a formal MQL definition developed jointly with marketing and admissions teams.
HubSpot Sales HubCustom HubSpot and Jenzabar IntegrationAdmissions CRM PipelineLead Scoring and MQL FrameworkBidirectional Student Data Sync
Phase 3Integrated Enrollment Campaigns| 2025
With the platform and SIS integration in place, Latigid launched coordinated enrollment campaigns across AUI's three academic schools. Programme-specific Google Ads campaigns, dedicated landing pages, and multi-language HubSpot workflows were deployed simultaneously. The scope of the partnership continues to expand, from website translation management and
Results
A digital infrastructure that delivers at scale
70x
Traffic growth
Annual sessions in 2025 vs. 2023 baseline. Even after normalisation of campaign investment, the platform's digital footprint is 70x larger than before the HubSpot infrastructure was in place.
+212K
Prospective student contacts
Total contacts captured in HubSpot since platform launch, from zero lead capture infrastructure in 2021.
3
Languages on one HubSpot platform
English, French, and Arabic. 318 pages managed from a single CMS instance.
+4
Years of continuous partnership
From initial website build through CRM, SIS integration, and ongoing campaigns.
Cumulative prospective student contacts in HubSpot
Source: HubSpot
Impact
A 4-year partnership that connected every stage of the student lifecycle
What began as a website project became a multi-year digital transformation of how Al Akhawayn University attracts, engages, and converts prospective students. The marketing team manages a trilingual digital presence without developer dependency. The admissions team works from a shared pipeline with full funnel visibility. Every lead, whether from organic search, paid campaigns, or direct form submission, flows through the same HubSpot infrastructure, with application status and enrollment outcomes synced back from Jenzabar in real time.
AUI has chosen to consolidate the entire digital operation under the Latigid partnership: website, CRM, SIS integration, campaigns, translation, and ongoing optimisation. The integrated approach delivers results that siloed solutions cannot.
Key outcomes
First institution in Morocco with a live HubSpot and Jenzabar integration connecting marketing, admissions, and the academic SIS in one enrollment pipeline
Full student lifecycle tracked in HubSpot: from first website visit through application, candidacy updates, and enrollment confirmation
212,500+ prospective student contacts in the platform, from zero lead capture infrastructure at project start
Unified enrollment funnel: marketing and admissions aligned on shared pipeline with jointly-defined MQL criteria
Eliminated developer dependency across 318 pages in 3 languages
Multi-programme, multi-language campaign capability across Business, Engineering, and Humanities schools
Partnership scope continuously expanded: webcam integration, translation, SEO
Testimonial
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Working with Latigid over the past four years has been a valuable partnership for Al Akhawayn University. Their understanding of the higher education sector allowed them to grasp the complexity of our institution, our audiences, and our digital communication needs from the outset. Beyond delivering a modern and engaging website, the team helped us build a flexible digital platform that enables us to manage and continuously evolve a large-scale, trilingual web presence with greater autonomy and without constant reliance on developers. What has stood out throughout our collaboration is Latigid’s responsiveness, adaptability, and willingness to work closely with our teams as our needs and priorities evolved. The project has grown well beyond the initial website launch, and we appreciate having a partner who continues to understand our context, listen to our challenges, and support the evolution of AUI’s digital presence..
Abdel TaoufiqCommunications Director, Al Akhawayn University
Satisfied customers
Most of our clients have been with us for several years and, although we have a great relationship with all of them, we know it's not just because of our friendliness.
