Getting strategic to boost enrollment
From 2012-2022 U.S. college enrollment decreased by 1.9M applicants—nearly 10% overall. Coupled with the impending enrollment cliff expected in 2025-2030, colleges and universities are looking for ways to reach the “right” students.
As a major four-year university faced the all too familiar trend of shrinking enrollment, their digital campaigns, which performed well in the past, were also stagnating. They aimed to increase the amount of better-qualified applicants to meet enrollment demands — without increasing budgets.
The university was spreading its media budget evenly across multiple nearby states without tailoring messaging, creative, or narrative. Lacking a clear strategy, they struggled to determine where and how to focus their efforts for maximum impact.
OUR PROCESS
Finding and engaging the best-fit students
TrendyMinds reviewed the university’s long-running acquisition strategies and recognized the untapped potential to segment audiences and get more return on their advertising dollar.
We identified the following questions that would guide a better allocation:
Who are my right-fit applicants?
Where do I find better-qualified students?
How do I reach applicants with my marketing dollars?
What did I learn from the data about my investment?
OUR WORK
Data-powered student recruitment
Our Data & Analytics team created a proprietary data model using a mix of CRM data (Slate CRM), marketing performance metrics, third-party census data, and student survey insights. This model helped identify the best potential student applicants, allowing us to run a highly targeted nationwide marketing campaign without increasing the budget.
We focused our digital ad efforts on the most promising locations and fine-tuned campaign strategies to maximize effectiveness. Additionally, we developed marketing recommendations that can be customized for individual colleges within the university, specific academic programs, or targeted regions across the U.S.
Outcomes
TrendyMinds eliminated locations or channels that did not reach the right personas or predict the best success. The changes lifted all the desired KPIs in the first year after implementation.
Ad engagements +47%
Applications generated +69%
Total resulting enrollments +36%
Total ad spend YOY -8%
A prospective student who applied through the ad campaigns was 50% more likely to enroll than one who applied from any other source.
Summary
Turning data into enrollment results
With the rate of high school graduates decreasing and the total pool of applicants shrinking each year, universities must seize every opportunity to engage their best-fit students. However, many aren’t using their marketing dollars efficiently because they don’t have the bandwidth to create a robust data-driven marketing strategy. Instead, they put unnecessary money into too many channels and locations that don’t produce results.
A data analysis and campaign strategy has the potential to significantly improve enrollment numbers without increasing ad spend. By leveraging smart data insights and a targeted marketing approach, universities can attract the right students, maximize their budget, and stay ahead in an increasingly competitive enrollment landscape. See how a data-driven strategy can work for your university.
