Consulting Community Colleges

Research & Consulting Services

Define College Market Opportunities

WITH OUR CUSTOMIZED RESEARCH & CONSULTING SERVICES

We conduct primary research with your audiences to determine target markets, giving you data that can help you increase enrollment and retention and build a strong brand.

  • Brand Personality Foundation

    Grounded in archetypal theory, our research uncovers your organization’s unique Brand Personality – generating a brand voice as distinct as a thumbprint. Knowing this identity transforms how you connect with audiences, giving you an authentic competitive edge in building a powerful brand reputation.

    You’ll receive:

    • Focused strategy for expressing your brand
    • Brand promise and pillars to help you build a messaging platform
    • Training to equip staff for effective implementation
  • Student Communications Audit

    Do your communications provide a seamless student journey from inquiry to enrollment? Our Student Communication Audit maps your admissions process, identifying existing touchpoints and gaps. We review communications for content, consistency, clarity, relevance, brand uniformity, and delivery channels. The final deliverable outlines the current flow with recommendations for improving processes, communications, and guidelines for future development.

    You’ll receive:

    • Communications map of key student journey touchpoints
    • Recommendations to increase engagement
    • Guidelines for optimizing future communications
  • Market Scan

    In today’s competitive higher ed landscape, breaking into new markets and sustaining primary draw is crucial. Our Market Scan combines your enrollment data with rich information from top national data sources on competitors, employment, and demographics. Mapping key insights enables data-driven decisions to maximize enrollment opportunities in each market. The report also includes Zip Code level data for customization and focused strategy development.

    Gain insight on:

    • Promising Zip Codes based on your enrollment goals
    • Top feeder schools and competitors by market
    • Top employment opportunities for program-specific marketing
  • Community Perception Scan

    Do you know your institution’s true reputation and market awareness compared to competitors? Our quantitative consumer research uncovers unbiased market perceptions – awareness levels, reputation scoring, personality-driven views of your institution, and key insights on higher ed/community college perceptions. This in-depth look at how prospective students, parents, influencers, and the public view your institution informs enrollment/communication strategies and benchmarks future progress.

    You’ll gain:

    • Strengths, weaknesses, and strategies by market/demographic
    • Quantifiable data on market position vs competitors
    • Familiarity and reputation benchmarks for future marketing/enrollment

Our Big Numbers Get Big Results!

250,000+

INTERVIEWS CONDUCTED

35

YEARS EXPERIENCE

550+

COMMUNITY COLLEGES SERVED

45

STATES & PROVINCES SERVED

150+

YEARS OF COMBINED COMMUNITY COLLEGE EXPERIENCE

BRANDING SERVICES

At CLARUS — A Carnegie Company, we believe branding should be based on the College’s mission and sound research in order to truly engage your audiences.

We’ll take you from scattered campaigns to consistently branding your college.

The End Result

A branding plan unique to your college market segments, which includes a competitive advantage statement, a set of institutional marketing messages, a tagline, and recommendations for integrating the brand into the College’s overall marketing strategy.

In addition, we can provide all creative services or if you prefer, we can work with your creative team to create and test these materials.

College Branding

Need a Custom Project?