Military Marketing & Admissions Programs for Colleges & Universities
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Case Study: Concordia University
How CollegeRecon is Building Concordia University’s Military Branding and Outreach Efforts
About Concordia University
Concordia University is a Lutheran higher education institution with stunning campuses on both sides of Lake Michigan, Concordia University Wisconsin north of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Ann Arbor, Michigan. Together, the university has nearly 9,000 students on two residential campuses and 8 regional centers.
Keith Casey, a former Battalion Commander who served 30 years in the Army, is the Director of Veteran Services at Concordia University. He oversees student veterans and their activities on both campuses. Today, they have roughly 310 student veterans enrolled at Concordia.
Executive Summary
Concordia University began working with CollegeRecon in 2021 to assist in building brand awareness in the military throughout Wisconsin and Michigan. These two states are the primary recruitment regions for Concordia students. These states are not considered to be large veteran population centers but Concordia felt they had the programs in place to support this community and compete with other larger brand names in the area. Since partnering with CollegeRecon, Concordia has seen nearly 10x the engagement on their own military webpage as well as their CollegeRecon profile.
CollegeRecon’s platform produces stronger brand recognition and engagement than any other military marketing tools.
Keith initially looked at CollegeRecon partnership opportunities in early 2021 and met with his VP of Marketing to review proposal options. According to Keith,
“We were very interested in CollegeRecon’s position within the military transition space. We had used different marketing strategies in the past and hadn’t been able to truly capture and turn impressions into inquiries. Our team felt CollegeRecon could be a viable solution for this problem. It also seemed to understand the military and needs of schools so we decided to invest.”
When looking at how the campaign has impacted Concordia’s marketing efforts to the military within the first 6-months:
“Our relationship with CollegeRecon has increased our engagement dramatically since starting the campaign. Prior to partnering with CollegeRecon, our military traffic to our Michigan and Wisconsin websites was extremely low. In under six months, our monthly traffic has increased tenfold. That growth has turned into three students who have come up to me and told me that they chose our campus after learning about us on CollegeRecon. These veterans and military-connected students felt CUW was the right choice because of what they saw on [CollegeRecon]. At this point, we are very pleased with the true value and returns of the platform and the partnership we have formed with College Recon.”
The CollegeRecon platform experience
CollegeRecon customizes deliverability of military inquiries (from prospective students) and campaign reporting based on the university’s preferences. Schools can receive notifications via email, through integrations with CRMs or secure uploads to shared excel files.
At Concordia, the “inquiry management team” and Keith’s military team are notified each time an inquiry is made through CollegeRecon so they have real-time engagements and up-to-the-minute reporting on campaign activity. They also receive robust background details on the individual: military experience, academic interests, education history and contact information. Keith says,
“Using CollegeRecon, we get more than a prospect’s name and email. We get in depth data on their military status, their branch, ranks, degree interests and more. The CollegeRecon tool is extremely targeted and full of helpful data for our marketing and admissions efforts that we just can’t get anywhere else.”
About CollegeRecon
CollegeRecon is the #1 branding and engagement platform for colleges and universities looking to market to the largest community of college-bound, military-connected students in the country. We work with all different types of institutions: small private liberal arts colleges, large online universities, public schools and trade programs.
Over the last decade, CollegeRecon has built a reputation within higher ed as a premier service providing direct access to the military and veteran community. Through native advertising, compliant marketing practices, and detailed consulting on your communication strategy, we can help build your plan from the very beginning or elevate your existing plan to the next level.
CollegeRecon is built exclusively for veterans, active military, the National Guard, Reserves, military spouses and dependents of the US Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Space Force and DoD to assist in their education journey.
Get started on building your own institution’s plan today!
Reach out to CollegeRecon at Information@HFAlliance.com or 414-350-6638 to discuss your institution’s needs and explore how our solutions can help you grow your brand and enrollment efforts within the military and veteran community. We are available to help you analyze your current efforts and provide a roadmap to get you where you want to go!
