How Association Targeting Helped the University of Wisconsin Reach the Right Students

Finding the right audience is one of the biggest challenges in higher education marketing — especially when programs require highly specific qualifications and experience.

For the Universities of Wisconsin (UWs), attracting prospective students to its Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering: Diagnostic Imaging program required more than broad awareness. The university system needed to connect with professionals who already held the required imaging registries and were actively considering advancing their education.

That’s where SmartBrief helped bridge the gap.

The Challenge: Reaching Qualified Prospective Students

The Universities of Wisconsin is a state public university system serving more than 164,600 students and awarding more than 37,000 degrees annually. But despite the scale and reputation of the institution, identifying the right prospective students for specialized programs remained a challenge.

Students entering the Biomedical Engineering: Diagnostic Imaging program are required to hold one of four active registries. However, the marketing team was generating inquiries from students who misunderstood the program requirements and viewed it as an entry point into a two-year imaging program.

As a result, the Universities of Wisconsin needed a more targeted approach — one that would help the institution connect directly with qualified professionals already working in the field.

The Solution: Reaching Association-Backed Audiences Through SmartBrief

To solve the targeting challenge, the Universities of Wisconsin partnered with SmartBrief and leveraged Ultrasound SmartBrief — the official newsletter of ARDMS.

This provided direct access to an audience of professionals who already held the registry credentials required for the program.

Rather than relying on broad higher education targeting, the campaign placed messaging directly in front of credentialed imaging professionals consuming trusted industry content in their daily workflow.

The campaign included:

• Newsletter advertising placements
• Dedicated email sends
• Targeted messaging aligned to the program audience

By activating within an association-backed environment, the Universities of Wisconsin was able to engage prospective students in a more relevant and credible context.

Read more about the SmartBrief and UW partnership here.