About
Balsa University is a private university located in a metropolitan area in the South. Their college of business enrolls approximately 620 students across certificate, master’s, and doctoral programs.
The Challenge
Balsa’s College of Business began to experience enrollment declines after years of strong, steady enrollment due to outdated marketing tactics and a disjointed program development strategy.
Quick Facts
Institution: Balsa University* (a pseudonym)
Institution Type: College of business at a small private university
Location: Metropolitan area in the South
Enrollment: Enrolls approximately 620 students across certificate, master’s, and doctoral program
EAB Partnership: Adult Learner Recruitment
Early Impact Highlights:
+121% increase in completed applications
+150% increase in admitted students
The Solution
Building on their undergraduate work with EAB’s Enrollment Services, Balsa partnered with EAB’s Adult Learner Recruitment in 2019 to support their growth goals for the College of Business. EAB helped Balsa recruit best-fit students and grow applications through personalized, intent-based marketing. EAB also worked with Balsa to identify programs with the highest growth potential and refresh those programs to meet student needs.
The Impact
EAB’s campaigns doubled application and admit volume for the 2020 cycle, while EAB’s strategic market and portfolio planning services helped Balsa restructure their business admissions requirements and curriculum for future terms.
Deploying Data-Driven Targeting and Student Journey Marketing
How EAB Revitalized Balsa’s Marketing and Recruitment Strategy for the 2020 Cycle
Before EAB Partnership
Limited Staff Capacity
Balsa’s one-person marketing
team lacked the resources to
execute comprehensive
campaigns
Lower-Quality Leads
Although leads grew over time, lead quality was low as Balsa struggled to identify right-fit prospects
Poor Conversion Rate
Balsa failed to convert leads into applications due to an outsized focus on top-of-funnel metrics
With EAB Partnership
Crafted Student Personas
EAB developed in-depth student
personas to inform targeted
marketing strategy
Determined Best-Fit Students
EAB used test taker targeting
and identified prospective
students in key geographic areas
to find right-fit prospects
Launched Personalized Marketing at Scale
Designed highly responsive,
multichannel campaigns based
on student personas and intent
Impact of EAB Campaigns
116,800
Prospective students reached
via digital ads
394
Applications influenced by
EAB campaigns in 2020
203
Admits influenced by EAB in 2020
2020 Enrollment Results: Fall Applications and Admits More Than Doubled
Building a Roadmap for Ongoing Growth
EAB Market Insights and Program IQ helped Balsa optimize programs for future growth.
Balsa’s portfolio challenges:
- Determining which programs represented the greatest opportunities for growth
- Identifying curricular changes to make programs more competitive
- Building consensus around changes to their program portfolio
Early Impact
Generated list of high-potential programs to guide strategic updates to Balsa’s program portfolio and investment of marketing budget
Surfaced key competitive advantages to better position programs and inform improvements to program webpages
Reached swift consensus and identified next steps, including immediate program improvements and strategies to grow alumni engagement and employer partnerships
EAB’s Approach
Custom Labor Market and Competitor Analysis
EAB analyzed local and regional employer demand and competitor enrollments to identify programs with highest growth potential
Audit of Application
Requirements
EAB recommended updates to program prerequisites based on best practice research
Assessment of Competitive Advantages
EAB performed competitive analyses to identify Balsa’s key differentiators to highlight in marketing
In-Depth Workshop with Key Stakeholders
EAB presented actionable next steps to Balsa’s Board of Trustees
"We’re in a really good position right now. A lot of this can be attributed to EAB."
