Driving Fellowship Applications Through Paid Media
Problem
In the years following the pandemic, the Capital Fellows Programs experienced a sharp decline in applications—part of a broader national trend impacting undergraduate and graduate enrollment. At the same time, the program lost its outreach coordinator and faced internal staffing challenges, limiting its capacity to maintain visibility and connect with prospective applicants. These external and internal pressures created a perfect storm, significantly affecting outreach efforts at a time when strategic engagement was most critical. A fresh, targeted approach was needed to rebuild awareness and drive applications during the limited recruitment window.
Goal
- Launch a paid media campaign to expand national awareness, drive qualified traffic to the application portal, and increase program applications during the limited recruitment window.
- Develop a digital paid media strategy aligned with the newly refreshed Capital Fellows brand
- Create and testing compelling ad creative tailored to each platform
- Manage and optimize campaign performance across multiple channels
- Meet enrollment goals
- Report outcomes with measurable KPIs
JSR Strategies executed a paid media campaign across LinkedIn, Google Display, and Google Search, using a mix of audience targeting, keyword bidding, and creative testing to maximize reach and conversions. The campaign strategy focused on positioning Capital Fellows as a prestigious and career-advancing opportunity for emerging public service leaders.
- Platform-specific creative development (static, animated, and text-based ads)
- Targeted LinkedIn campaigns for recent grads, policy professionals, and alumni networks
- Google Display and Search campaigns aimed at capturing high-intent traffic
- Optimizations based on real-time performance data, including A/B testing of creative and audience segments
- Strategic landing page enhancements to support conversion
Outreach
Results
The Capital Fellows paid media campaign delivered strong performance across all key metrics, surpassing recruitment goals and significantly expanding digital engagement. Through targeted outreach and optimized placements, the campaign successfully reconnected the program with emerging public service leaders nationwide.
- Website traffic saw substantial lifts from Paid Search, Video, Referral, and Direct sources, with event counts surpassing expectations
- The campaign exceeded minimum KPIs and played a critical role in reversing the downward trend in applications