Collaborating with creatives to get smart on strategy

An American university department looking to increase undergraduate enrollment sought out their design collaborator to create a poster and update their website to attract students on campus and at feeder schools to interdisciplinary program electives. Their goal is to increase enrollment of several student types, including new majors as well as students from other programs enrolling in cross-listed courses.

The designer connected with CMLC to learn how research could inform the updates. From the initial recommendation and SOW, the project developed into 5 collaborative phases:

1) Course marketing

CMLC conducted a competitive audit. This analysis informed the content creator’s

drafting of new course names and descriptions for testing. The data-informed

recommendations for new courses and language for marketing.

2) Website refresh

CMLC audited competitors’ websites to inform website redesign and content re-writing.

Data included examples of positioning, maps of target audiences’ navigation, and best

practices for course descriptions and faculty information.

3) Target audience journey mapping

CMLC conducted an online qualitative board to outline when potential students

interacted with the department and how they made enrollment decisions. This phase

was added at the project kick-off, after initial scoping, due to client questions about how

to strategically address their varied target audiences long-term.

4) Relationship-building

CMLC conducted interviews with staff of other departments, including Admissions,

advisors, feeder schools, and other programs to understand existing relationships and

opportunities for collaboration. This informed final language choices and strategic

recommendations from the content writer and designer.

5) Creative implementation

CMLC supported the content writer and designer’s website updates, poster creation and

distribution, and strategic recommendations for internal relationship-building and student

recruitment.