Perfecting the Business of Recruitment

As all universities know, success of a portfolio of programs is about much more than just leads in the door. Alignment of marketing, recruiting, and admissions is pivotal for maximum impact—and when one piece of the puzzle is out of line, recalibration is required.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, Purdue saw a significant drop-off in applications to Purdue Daniels Graduate programs, so they came to Go Fish to investigate what roadblocks were occurring for students during their application process. The goal and purpose of this strategic research initiative was to provide insights on how to improve the application completion rate for the Daniels School of Business through qualitative and quantitative analysis.

Our comprehensive strategy helped to drive potential students into conversion-focused landing pages and microsite pages, significantly increasing the number and quality of leads while decreasing overall cost-per-lead. Within a year, we were awarded another contract to take on additional Master’s and Executive Education programs.

Over the past 10 years, we have worked closely with the Purdue Daniels team to innovate and optimize lead generation efforts across the full graduate portfolio as it has grown.

Insights empower ongoing improvement.

In 2023, Go Fish embarked on an in-depth research project that combined quantitative and qualitative data-gathering methods such as surveys, stakeholder interviews, focus groups, research, and a cross-platform experience audit to find ways we could improve students’ experience with the brand. The goal was to offer recommendations for a more seamless application process across programs.

Our research findings gave us a strong understanding of Purdue’s audiences and their unique journeys throughout the graduate degree research, application, and enrollment process. We leveraged this data to validate hypotheses around application abandonment and create a priority list of actions to remedy the most impactful issues.

While research and planning are just the beginning, we continue to work hand-in-glove with the Purdue Daniels team to apply project findings to existing campaigns, restructuring our approach to messaging and media as a whole to better fit the unique audience expectations, pain points, and experience.