Like many institutions, Coastal Carolina University has ambitious enrollment goals, and limited resources to achieve them. Their team dedicates a significant chunk of their enrollment budget to contract external vendors in support of their recruitment goals. Amanda Craddock, Vice President for Enrollment Management at CCU, described how her team makes difficult investment decisions when navigating today’s crowded market.
“We don’t always have the dollars to work with everybody. Something could sound intriguing, but I can’t just say, ‘I need X dollars to do this new thing,’ because the question’s going to be, ‘what are you going to cut to get it?’ It’s a trade-off.”
– Amanda Craddock , Coastal Carolina University
The CCU team leverages MARKETview’s Purchase Analysis to evaluate the return on investment from each of their list providers. Which ones are producing the students who matter most to their enrollment objectives? Which ones are inefficient? Are other institutions seeing stronger results from specific providers? With this comparative insight, the CCU team is able to make data-informed decisions on which contracts to renew.
Craddock’s team began using this data to evaluate past vendor performance in 2023 and has continued to monitor their performance in real time ever since. To conduct their annual cost-benefit analysis, they start by examining inquiry sources through MARKETview’s standardized categories — search, alternative list providers, campus tours, etc. — and follow those inquiries from the inquiry stage, noting conversion rates all the way through to deposit. This allows them to quickly discern where they are generating the strongest outcomes. Craddock explained how this visibility helps her make the case for new investments.
“When I need to make asks in the future, I can go to the budget office and say, ‘We’ve got the data in front of us that’s supporting the cases that we want to make.’”
– Amanda Craddock , Coastal Carolina University
The MARKETview data pinpointed a vendor who was bringing in massive volume at the top of the funnel, but less than one percent of those inquiries ultimately yielded. Additionally, other institutions across the country were struggling to yield students from this provider as well. It was a partnership that appeared to be worthwhile on paper, but after taking a closer look in MARKETview, it became clear it was not producing the results the CCU team needed to reach their goals. Craddock elaborated on how MARKETview enabled them to remove the guesswork when evaluating which partners to keep, expand, and cut.
“We are really spending the dollars wisely. We’re looking at where our vendors are netting the most return and then make decisions to change and not renew if we need to.”
– Amanda Craddock , Coastal Carolina University
There were also sources where they were outperforming the market identified in the data — specifically with campus visits. The CCU team used this knowledge to reallocate their budget into this area to make their visits more personalized as well as launch a virtual tour program. Thanks to MARKETview’s real-time monitoring, they saw immediate gains in visit conversion after making these changes. Craddock described how real-time data helps her team illustrate which recruitment strategies are succeeding — especially compared to other institutions.
“In our world, it’s fascinating to see where we’ve got some wins and gains and opportunities. I can tell campus stakeholders, ‘Look, we made smart decisions by using [MARKETview] data.’”
– Amanda Craddock , Coastal Carolina University
If you have goals surrounding enrollment, revenue, retention, or any other key metrics, schedule a demo with our team to find out how MARKETview can help you achieve the success you seek.