Belmont Abbey College

Our efforts helped Belmont Abbey College increase freshman enrollment from an average incoming class of about 240 to 305 the following year and most recently a record year of 378.

Belmont Abbey College is a Catholic, Benedictine liberal arts college located just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. The Abbey wanted to increase its incoming student enrollment, as well as raise the academic profile of its student body. Our plan included an ongoing email campaign to high school juniors and seniors who indicated they were interested in the College. Through innovative segmentation and a 1:1 marketing strategy.

The admissions funnel is fueled by inquiries at the top. It depends on a cascade of conversions that must be managed effectively to attract students: from inquiry to prospect to applicant to deposit to student. Smaller schools often have a greater difficulty developing a large enough inquiry base. This translates all the way through the admission cycle and reduces the the amount of leads that admission counselors are able to work with. Even though the college has a strong academic reputation, without the larger top number it required an unrealistic conversion rate to dramatically increase enrollment.

Through a large opt-in list Adler Marketing Group was able to develop a high-touch email campaign framed around events and news at Belmont Abbey.

We developed a custom plan for the Abbey that showed an email flow of scheduled actions based on which links the respondent clicks. This allows an automated followup with content specifically designed for that prospect. For example, if a respondent clicks on athletics in the email, they receive a followup email from the athletic director two days later. They then also receive emails from athletes and athletic alumni with athletics-specific information.

The result: a tremendously effective email campaign with numerous, relevant touchpoints delivered throughout the recruitment cycle.