All work
Opening a new recruiting region
The challenge
The college wanted to widen its international recruiting into a new region, and inquiries from South Asia were already coming in. I used market research and an analysis of past applicant data to decide where to go.
What I did
- Planned and ran a three-country recruiting trip across South Asia, about three weeks.
- Built the itinerary and a multi-currency budget that fit each country’s travel rules, and finished about $1,000 under budget.
- Met with partner agencies, school counselors, applicants and families, and alumni and current-student families, adapting presentations and marketing handouts to each audience.
- Collected prospective applicant and new contact information throughout the trip, then followed up with new promotional materials, virtual recruitment events, and scholarship and admission deadline reminders.
- Connected engaged and top prospects to professors and current students, and sent major-specific updates based on each prospect’s interests.
The result
I more than tripled prospects in our highest-yielding funnel.
I interviewed 24 top prospects for a full-tuition leadership scholarship, the majority from the South Asia trip.
What I took from it
Partnerships convert when each audience gets a value proposition built for them and the relationship is managed after the first meeting. Tailoring materials by stakeholder group, following up on a deliberate cadence, and tracking yield by channel is how relationships become results.