Case Study · Teaching Fellowship
1,000+ applicants from paid channels for a selective teaching fellowship.
1,000+ applicants from paid channels for a selective teaching fellowship.
1,000+ applicants from paid channels for a selective teaching fellowship.
A six-month recruitment campaign that hit the applicant target and opened a younger audience the program had not reached before.
A six-month recruitment campaign that hit the applicant target and opened a younger audience the program had not reached before.
Target
1,000+
completed applications
Target
1,000+
completed applications
Target
1,000+
completed applications
Channels
Google + Meta
roughly $30–$33 per applicant
Channels
Google + Meta
roughly $30–$33 per applicant
Unlocked
A younger audience
through a message no one had tested
Unlocked
A younger audience
through a message no one had tested
The challenge wasn’t demand. It was selectivity.
The challenge wasn’t demand. It was selectivity.
The challenge wasn’t demand. It was selectivity.
The fellowship only works if it can choose a small cohort from a large pool of strong candidates. Each cohort takes around 120 fellows out of thousands of applicants. That means the top of the funnel has to stay big enough and strong enough for selectivity to mean anything.
The fellowship only works if it can choose a small cohort from a large pool of strong candidates. Each cohort takes around 120 fellows out of thousands of applicants. That means the top of the funnel has to stay big enough and strong enough for selectivity to mean anything.
The younger audience needed a different answer.
The younger audience needed a different answer.
The younger audience needed a different answer.
The proven messages worked for career changers. They didn’t work for younger candidates. Interviews surfaced the real barrier: teaching read as outdated. So the next campaign dropped nostalgia and led with the most innovative parts of the training itself.
What already worked
Meaningful work. A teacher who shaped you.
Strong for mid-career changers. Not enough for younger skeptics.
What already worked
Meaningful work. A teacher who shaped you.
Strong for mid-career changers. Not enough for younger skeptics.
What unlocked the audience
Same program, different front door.
Lead with the innovation in the training, not nostalgia for teaching.
What unlocked the audience
Same program, different front door.
Lead with the innovation in the training, not nostalgia for teaching.
Every ad had a job.
Every ad had a job.
Every ad had a job.
This wasn’t one campaign with rotating ads. We mapped distinct personas, placed each on the awareness ladder, and shifted the messaging with the recruitment timeline: awareness early, consideration in the middle, action as deadlines approached.
This wasn’t one campaign with rotating ads. We mapped distinct personas, placed each on the awareness ladder, and shifted the messaging with the recruitment timeline: awareness early, consideration in the middle, action as deadlines approached.
Campaign rhythm
Awareness
early
Consideration
middle
Action
deadline
Person → stage → next step.
Campaign rhythm
Awareness
early
Consideration
middle
Action
deadline
Person → stage → next step.
The campaign hit the target — and changed the audience.
The campaign hit the target — and changed the audience.
The campaign hit the target — and changed the audience.
Over 1,000 completed applications from paid Google and Meta. Not “leave your details” leads — real applications to a program most applicants knew they probably wouldn’t get into. The younger audience came in through a message no one had tested until we asked the fellows themselves.
Over 1,000 completed applications from paid Google and Meta. Not “leave your details” leads — real applications to a program most applicants knew they probably wouldn’t get into. The younger audience came in through a message no one had tested until we asked the fellows themselves.
Outcome
1,000+ completed applicants
including an audience the client had never reached before
Outcome
1,000+ completed applicants
including an audience the client had never reached before
The problem behind the program
The teacher shortage doesn’t hit every school equally.
The teacher shortage doesn’t hit every school equally.
The teacher shortage doesn’t hit every school equally.
UNESCO estimates the world will need 44 million more teachers by 2030. The shortage consistently hits rural and disadvantaged areas hardest — where students most need strong teachers, and are least likely to get them.
UNESCO estimates the world will need 44 million more teachers by 2030. The shortage consistently hits rural and disadvantaged areas hardest — where students most need strong teachers, and are least likely to get them.
Global shortage
44M
teachers needed by 2030
Rural and disadvantaged schools feel it first.
Global shortage
44M
teachers needed by 2030
Rural and disadvantaged schools feel it first.
Global shortage
44M
teachers needed by 2030
Rural and disadvantaged schools feel it first.