University of Missouri-Kansas City Case Study

Achieving Record Enrollment With Innovative Solutions to Recruitment Marketing Challenges

The Challenges

As part of the University of Missouri system, UMKC needed to grow awareness of its unique, differentiated brand and implement new recruitment marketing strategies to achieve aggressive goals for enrollment. In 2022, the University faced a series of challenges that prompted them to re-assess their recruitment marketing support. Its understaffed admissions team was spread thin and previous recruitment marketing vendors delivered lackluster performance — account managers turned over frequently and failed to develop an in-depth understanding of the University, its market, and its goals. The University’s enrollment leadership knew it was time to make bold changes. Rather than retain a single partner to provide a full-service solution, UMKC opted to seek out the most innovative solutions available to address their specific needs.

The Solution

UMKC partnered with Capture Higher Ed to incorporate ENGAGE, Capture’s recruitment marketing automation platform, into its recruitment efforts.

“When we evaluated vendors, I asked pointed questions about how they were really doing something different — because we can’t differentiate ourselves with marketing and content that’s just reformatted and rebranded,” said Elora Thomas, Director of Admissions. “Most vendors are doing the same things, but with Capture we saw true innovation in behavioral intelligence.”

Using ENGAGE, UMKC was able to leverage behavioral data in deploying dynamic website content and email marketing — and to inform and maximize their other marketing activities.

“As the director, I was charged with finding innovative solutions to pursue big enrollment goals,” Thomas said. “To get there, we needed to make a change. In our vendor relationships, we were struggling with errors and changing account managers, and our recruiters were bogged down in administrative tasks. We signed on with Capture to make an immediate impact.”

About the Institution

The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), originally chartered in 1929 as a private institution, is now the largest comprehensive, fully accredited university in the Kansas City area. As an urban research university, UMKC’s mission is to promote learning through the discovery, preservation, and dissemination of knowledge of public value across a broad spectrum of disciplines and fields of study. With a 14:1 student-to-faculty ratio and students from all 50 states and more than 85 countries, UMKC has earned national and international attention for the quality of its faculty, students, research, and community leadership. UMKC is at the heart of a thriving urban area. UMKC’s medical, dental, pharmacy, and nursing schools are anchors in the UMKC Health Sciences District.

The Outcomes

+ 50%

Inquiries

+ 14%

Applicants

+ 10%

Enrollments

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