Growing the Visibility of the FAS International Agricultural Fellowship Program
FAS International Agricultural Fellowship Program
RQ Marketing played a crucial role in boosting the awareness and success of the FAS International Agricultural Fellowship Program through strategic and targeted outreach efforts. By leveraging online advertising, social media, and email marketing, we significantly enhanced the program’s visibility and drove meaningful engagement.
As a result, there was a 38% increase in homepage visitors, and despite a shorter program cycle compared to the previous year, we achieved the desired number of final applicants.
38%
Increase in the number of visitors to the Homepage
1K+
Visitors came through Email Campaigns
50%
Hours of manual work saved
Introduction
Industry: STEM
Location: United States
The Foreign Agricultural Service International Agricultural Fellowship Program (IDFP) is a new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) program that identifies and prepares individuals interested in careers in USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).
The FAS International Agricultural Fellowship Program provides graduate fellowships to qualified individuals who will attend two-year graduate programs in Agri-business or Agricultural Economics at U.S. universities, provide two summer internships – one domestic and one overseas, offers mentoring from Foreign Service Officers, and provides professional development activities.
Howard University administers the FAS International Agricultural Fellowship Program on behalf of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service. The initial name of this program was the FAS Diversity Fellowship Program
Objective
Boost awareness of the fellowship program, increase application numbers and implement conversion tracking.
Challenges
Low application numbers necessitated a review of outreach strategies.
Low Application Numbers
Low number of applications hindered diversity and inclusion efforts, this indicated potential barriers to awareness necessitating a review of outreach strategies and program visibility.
Absence of Conversion Tracking
Without conversion tracking, the FAS IAFP team was unable to analyze user actions after clicking an ad, making it challenging to optimize the user experience or accurately measure campaign success.
Limited Knowledge of User Behaviour
With no insights into user behaviour, there was little understanding of the channel or platform that was performing the best.
Niche Audience Targeting
The program is highly selective and caters to professionals in Agri-business, Agriculture, and Agri-economics, making targeting challenging. It is crucial to reach the right audience segment through appropriate channels. Additionally, given the small audience size, effective re-engagement strategies were essential.
Limited Reach with Google Ads
Relying solely on Google ads for previous program cycles resulted in relatively low traffic, highlighting the necessity for diversified platforms to achieve better reach and engagement.
Solution
RQ Marketing developed a comprehensive outreach plan incorporating social media and email marketing, along with niche targeting through a different advertising channels.
Outreach with Social Media
Dedicated social media accounts were set up on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter with curated content calendars to increase program awareness and search presence.
Outreach with Email Marketing
Email campaigns were utilized to disseminate program information to targeted audiences. “Spread the Word” and “Deadline Approaching” emails were sent out with clear calls to action (CTAs).
Conversion Tracking
Setting-up conversion tracking and implementing UTM tags provided valuable insights into the user journey and the effectiveness of the marketing efforts. This allowed for optimization of campaigns for better performance.
Use of RQ Automated Email Scheduler
Automated reminder emails were pre-scheduled to applicants, improving communication and deadline adherence, and reducing overhead of administrators. Hyperlinks in emails were tagged with UTM codes providing insights into the number of applicants who returned to complete their applications.
Outreach with Meta Ads
Due to the very specific target audience for this Fellowship, a Facebook ad campaign was run and emerged as the top driver of traffic, attracting the most applicants.
To ensure relevance and reach the target audience, multiple audiences were experimented with. The budget was allocated across three distinct Ad Sets, targeting interests, universities, and a combination of both.
To prevent creative fatigue, two creatives were utilized: one featuring a text overlay and the other focusing on an image. The text overlay creative was particularly effective in maintaining engagement.
As part of the re-engagement strategy, a “Deadline Approaching” post was boosted on Meta, specifically targeting previous website visitors.
Results
Increased Number of Visitors
38% increase in the number of visitors to home page as compared to the previous year.
Increase in Website Traffic due to Meta Ads
800% increase in new users from Meta Ads compared to Google ads that were ran in the previous cycle.
Influx of Users from Email Campaigns
1K users were brought in through “Spread the Word” and “Deadline Approaching” Emails.
Automated Email Scheduler
Automated reminders enhanced communication, reducing response time and improving the number of complete applications. Email Scheduler helped bring 32 applicants back to the application form.
Integrated Reporting Tools
Reporting tools provided actionable insights for strategic decision-making.
Increased Engagement
The regular posting of program benefits, Fellow updates, and program details has led to a 7.4% increase in engagement rates across all social media channels.
