MSBA Candidate Acquisition Campaign

Executive Summary

The directors of the MS in Business Analytics (MSBA) program at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business asked our team to help them identify potential applicants, develop an advertising campaign, and provide an analytics framework to measure the campaign's success. We were also tasked with making recommendations to enhance the program's website to increase candidate engagement at all stages of the funnel: from awareness of the program through conversion (submitting an application).

Data Driven Further

Our acquisition campaign is called Data Driven Further. The campaign focuses on core strengths of the MSBA program and is underscored by Georgetown's Jesuit identity and world-class reputation as a DC-based institution with strong international ties.

Target Segment

MSBA strives to develop cohorts with diverse skills and experience levels. Our campaign is designed to attract mid-career professionals. Our target segment has the following attributes:

  • At least 5 years of professional work experience

  • Demonstrated technical and/or managerial proficiency

  • STEM coursework (particularly statistics or computer science)

While MSBA is willing to accept a number of candidates who fall outside this profile, we note that mid-career professionals are a particularly attractive segment among competing Business Analytics and Data Science programs.

The Data Driven Further campaign uses aspirational marketing to appeal to our goal-oriented target segment with a focus on career advancement. We emphasize the MSBA program's breadth of coursework that includes data-driven business management and decision-making skills as well as access to a large and prominent alumni network and career services support.