The Perks of Funnel Vision
Project Overview
In 2020, The University of Houston’s C. T. Bauer College of Business and Electric Kite partnered to revolutionize Bauer’s digital presence and enrollment strategy. Over the course of 3+ years, EK, in extreme alignment with Bauer, completely overhauled the college’s website, developed and launched the acclaimed campaign “The Future is our Business”, and rebuilt the graduate enrollment funnel from the bottom up. The results? Remarkable.
Unprecedented Support! Exponential growth! Custom solutions & electrifying results!
This is just a case study, right? Hyperbole much? Have we no shame?
Well, no, No, we don’t. What we accomplished together with C.T. Bauer is exciting, impressive, and worthy of a smidge of immodesty – especially because it’s not an accident. No one-hit wonders, we. That means no case study template copypasta to make your eyes glaze.
And more importantly, it means that lightning can (and will) strike more than once. Let us make it strike for you.
BOOM.
The Results
70%
increase in submitted applications. In just one year.
66%
Increase in total enrollment in two years
TOP 25
Increase in total enrollment from Fall 2019 to Fall 2021.
ONLINE CREDITS SURPASSED THE TOTAL NUMBER OF IN-PERSON CREDITS
Three years running, Bauer’s Part-Time MBA Program has been ranked amongst US News Top 25 Public Universities. Previously Bauer had fallen in and out of the top 100.
What Was the Challenge We Faced?
UH Bauer had a stubborn challenge: a consistent downward trend in enrollment figures.
In partnership with Electric Kite, UH Bauer has completely reversed this downward trend and grown exponentially in reputation, enrollment, and degree offerings.
The University of Houston’s C. T. Bauer College of Business, a crucial part of the university’s strategic vision, is now a highly regarded destination for students seeking a comprehensive education in business.
How’d We Do That?
First, Electric Kite fully audited and then strategically rebuilt Bauer’s recruitment funnel.
How? Well, actually — trust, rapport & camaraderie first. When our teams started making jokes we knew we were ready to begin the serious work.
Because we needed to go deep. Clean out the garage deep. Chiropractor deep. Electric Kite’s Marketing & Enrollment Audit deep!
We asked:
What were the bottlenecks within the current funnel?
How were they nurturing prospects?
Where was Bauer, in detail, compared to its competitive set?
Then, having rebuilt Bauer’s recruitment funnel strategy, we developed a specific suite of solutions (in a very specific order) to power it:
- 01A new brand concept to elevate perception and fuel demand.
- 02A new content strategy to target the right audience and encourage them to enroll..
- 03Overhaul the website for today’s instant gratification audience.
- 04Refresh and redesign Bauer’s marketing collateral.
- 05Build efficient and effective paid, digital, social and earned media calendars and campaigns.
Enrollment Support
However, there was still a pressing issue!
When the enrollment funnel had been rebuilt it was clear that Bauer didn’t have the resources to fully support the required marketing mix.
Hiring for these types of roles can take months to post, interview, and fill, so we realized we could just start now and manage these roles for Bauer.
And this is where being able to deeply integrate with our clients’ teams really paid off:
We developed, staffed and launched agency-based enrollment services support that managed the top part of that funnel. This ensured we didn’t lose good leads and could get the right people to the right programs to increase enrollment and retention.
As a Result of the Results
While leads came in, the Electric Kite team fostered Bauer’s prospects along the way.
By managing incoming leads, emails, and phone calls, and offering strategic advice on application and enrollment processes, we gave Bauer the space to be innovative.
As a result, Bauer was able to focus on enhancing the student experience, experimenting with program delivery, and adding new graduate programs to their roster.
I speak to my colleagues at other institutions who partner with 3rd party (enrollment) groups and they can’t stand how aggressive they are with their students. We are so glad to partner with you and your approach.
