College reimagined
Info
The challenge
Trio New College Network set out on an ambitious mission: help working adults across the country graduate college through an innovative, affordable, accelerated degree program. Trio’s strategy for expanding nationwide involved a hub-and-spoke model, where a central network helps local sites save costs and grow faster by sharing resources. However, they needed to prove they could quickly launch and grow regional brands efficiently. What’s Good partnered with Trio to help them realize this unique vision.
The solution
We addressed Trio’s challenge from the ground up. Our process involved two phases. First, we proved that Trio’s shared-resources model could balance efficiency and customization with a templatized brand system. Then, we helped scale adoption of those programs through a robust digital marketing campaign.
Brand & website design system
We led a full brand design project for Trio’s first branch, Gateway U, and then quickly replicated & streamlined that process for Trio’s next two regional brands.
Efficient, high-quality digital marketing
We then proved Trio’s branches could recruit students quickly through a best-in-field marketing and enrollment funnel.
Brand & website design system
Brand design
Gateway U’s early brand got the team out into the community quickly, but it didn’t capture the program’s unique personality.
We interviewed students, coaches, and stakeholders to understand what makes their community special, then dug deep into Newark's rich history of social movements and hardworking strivers. We drew symbolic and visual inspiration from Newark's industrial legacy of brick manufacturing to create an authentic local identity.
Throughout this process, we strategically designed elements that could scale across the broader Trio brand family, creating a scrappy, grassroots aesthetic that works for both national and regional teams.
Expansion
We systematized this approach across Trio’s next two brands, identifying which design elements would remain consistent versus those that could flex to reflect local character. By carefully balancing national cohesion with regional authenticity from the start, we created a scalable framework that could adapt to each community's unique story. This strategic method enabled rapid expansion into new markets while dramatically reducing launch costs and timelines.
Efficient high-quality digital marketing
Building an enrollment engine
After establishing that services could be shared efficiently across regions, Trio’s next challenge was proving they could enroll students at scale. We needed to test whether the newly-designed brand could convert traffic into enrollments. Digital marketing held the promise of being a powerful fit for scaling a nationally-expanding program, but none of Trio’s peer institutions had proven it could be a primary engine for enrollment growth.
What’s Good helped Trio become a trailblazer in their field. First, we worked with the team to break down their enrollment funnel and identify the right goals to measure for each milestone in the journey. Then, we achieved a high-performing paid social media campaign by building on our prior branding process with a sophisticated approach to content and outreach.
Ad creative
Our prior ground-up brand design laid the foundation for authentic, resonant ad content. We put into action the key themes we heard during audience interviews: that traditional college wasn’t built for all learners, and that Gateway U represented a compelling alternative pathway for the Newark community.
We designed creative that spotlighted real students and community members, helping to cultivate brand ambassadors and content creators on the ground by providing clear messaging and content strategy. Leveraging content captured on site, we edited it into high-converting ads that placed Newark natives as the protagonists of their educational journeys.
Data-driven iteration
We designed a systematic campaign framework focused on continuously optimizing our ad content. By coordinating thoughtful experiments, such as A/B tests to identify actionable insights, we were able to quickly learn and improve through a positive feedback loop.
In one test, a "real talk" student focused perspective ad outperformed a more polished narrative-based video, validating our focus on authentic voices.
Web analytics
Finally, we tracked detailed website analytics to monitor prospects’ behavior during their key early decision-making moments. Our measurement tools revealed which calls-to-action convert, where prospects get stuck, and what content resonates most with potential students. By tracking everything from scroll depth to multi-touch attribution across user sessions, we gave Trio clear visibility into their funnel performance, along with the insights needed to continuously optimize their student acquisition strategy.
Finding and fixing funnel drop off
We built a smart email automation system that ensures no lead gets left behind. Our three-stage approach catches prospects at different engagement levels: immediate responders get fast-tracked to enrollment, hesitant leads receive strategic nurturing, and long-term prospects get re-engaged for future terms.
Our adaptive flow led to a tighter, faster funnel. Engaging content and meeting reminders lowered the number of no-shows and cold leads early in the process.
The impact
The Trio Network was able to validate its unique strategic vision and turbo-charge its growth. Through partnership with What’s Good, Trio unlocked its primary channel for enrollment (digital marketing) and has been able to expand to new regions.
We achieved average CPL reductions that outperformed all prior campaigns among Trio and its peer institutions.
A positive feedback loop of new enrollments, committed students, and referrals grew the cumulative student enrollment count across all regional sites.
Trio’s growth goals depended on a breakthrough in digital marketing. The successful campaign empowered them to go all-in on digital as a primary recruitment channel.
Grew into new regions (Connecticut, New York) with more regional expansion on the horizon.
Marcone Correia
Director of Marketing, Trio New College Network
