Overview
A local university approached us with a unique challenge: they needed to recruit participants for a research study but had exhausted traditional outreach methods with limited success. Time was of the essence, and the university needed a scalable way to generate consistent, qualified leads for their academic project.
The existing outreach methods—flyers, university announcements, and local postings—were only bringing in a handful of responses per week, many of which didn’t meet the study’s eligibility criteria.
SEO Tools & Software
Goals
- Design and execute a cold email campaign targeting the right demographic for the study.
- Generate a consistent stream of qualified participants on a weekly basis.
- Minimize manual follow-up by crafting messaging that pre-qualified recipients before responding.
Challenges
- Academic research recruitment requires sensitivity and professionalism, especially when the subject matter is niche or personal.
- The university had no existing email list or cold outreach infrastructure in place.
- Compliance and ethics were critical, requiring carefully worded communication and opt-out mechanisms.
Our Strategy
We partnered directly with the professor leading the study to fully understand the participant profile and the study’s value proposition. From there, we:
- Built a highly targeted cold email list based on publicly available demographic and interest data.
- Created a three-step email sequence designed to inform, engage, and pre-qualify recipients.
- Used clear, non-pushy language to explain the study’s goals, the benefit of participation, and eligibility requirements.
- Implemented email tracking, A/B tested subject lines and calls-to-action, and monitored response rates for continuous optimization.
The Results
Within the first two weeks, the campaign was already outperforming expectations:
Average Qualified Leads/Week
Open Rate
Reply Rate
Results
They began receiving an average of 10 qualified leads per week, a significant increase compared to previous methods.
The email sequence maintained a 35% open rate and a 12% reply rate, signaling strong engagement.
This project demonstrated how cold email—when done strategically and ethically—can be a powerful tool for even non-commercial, academic use cases.
Met within project timeline
Cold Email | Lead Generation | Higher Education Marketing | Email Campaign Strategy | Research Participant Recruitment
