How the FAS International Agricultural Fellowship Program Boosted Visibility
Category
Fellowship
Industry
Government
A shorter application cycle, a highly niche audience, and a 38% jump in homepage visitors, how targeted outreach grew the FAS Fellowship's reach.
Overview
RQ Platform's marketing services helped boost awareness and application success for the FAS International Agricultural Fellowship Program through strategic, targeted outreach combining social media, email marketing, and niche Meta advertising to reach a highly specific audience of agribusiness and agricultural economics professionals.
Program impact
38% Increase in homepage visitors
Process change
1K+ Visitors driven through email campaigns
Scalable growth
50% Hours of manual work saved
Introduction
The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) International Agricultural Fellowship Program is a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) program that identifies and prepares individuals interested in careers with USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service.
The program provides graduate fellowships to qualified individuals attending two-year graduate programs in Agri-business or Agricultural Economics at U.S. universities. Fellows complete two summer internships, one domestic and one overseas, and receive mentoring from Foreign Service Officers along with ongoing professional development.
Howard University administers the FAS International Agricultural Fellowship Program on behalf of USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service. The program was originally launched under the name the FAS Diversity Fellowship Program.
Challenges
Low Application Numbers
A low number of applications hindered diversity and inclusion goals, pointing to potential barriers in awareness and signaling a need to revisit outreach strategy and program visibility.
Absence of Conversion Tracking
Without conversion tracking in place, the program team couldn't analyze what users did after clicking an ad, making it difficult to optimize the experience or accurately measure campaign success.
Limited Knowledge of User Behavior
With no insight into user behavior, there was little understanding of which channels or platforms were actually performing best.
Niche Audience Targeting
The program is highly selective and caters specifically to professionals in agribusiness, agriculture, and agricultural economics, a narrow audience that made targeting difficult and made effective re-engagement strategies essential given the small pool of prospects.
Limited Reach With Google Ads
Relying solely on Google Ads in previous program cycles resulted in relatively low traffic, highlighting the need for a more diversified set of platforms to achieve better reach and engagement.
Solution
RQ Platform's marketing team developed a comprehensive outreach plan combining social media, email marketing, and niche targeting through additional advertising channels.
Outreach With Social Media
Dedicated social media accounts were set up on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter with curated content calendars to build program awareness and search presence.
Outreach With Email Marketing
Email campaigns delivered program information directly to targeted audiences. "Spread the Word" and "Deadline Approaching" emails were sent with clear calls to action.
Conversion Tracking
Setting up conversion tracking and implementing UTM tags provided real insight into the user journey and the effectiveness of each marketing effort, enabling ongoing campaign optimization.
Automated Email Scheduler
Automated reminder emails were pre-scheduled to applicants, improving communication and deadline adherence while reducing administrative overhead. Hyperlinks in these emails were tagged with UTM codes to track how many applicants returned to complete their applications.
Outreach With Meta Ads
Given the very specific target audience for this fellowship, a Facebook ad campaign was launched and became the top driver of traffic and applicants.
To ensure relevance and reach, multiple audience segments were tested, with budget allocated across three distinct ad sets targeting interests, universities, and a combination of both. Two ad creatives, one text-overlay, one image-focused, were used to prevent creative fatigue, with the text-overlay version proving especially effective at maintaining engagement. As part of the re-engagement strategy, a "Deadline Approaching" post was boosted on Meta specifically to previous website visitors.
Results
Increased Number of Visitors
A 38% increase in homepage visitors compared to the previous year.
Increase in Website Traffic Due to Meta Ads
An 800% increase in new users from Meta Ads compared to the Google Ads campaign run in the previous cycle.
Influx of Users From Email Campaigns
1,000 users were brought in through the "Spread the Word" and "Deadline Approaching" email campaigns.
Automated Email Scheduler
Automated reminders improved communication and reduced response time, helping bring 32 applicants back to complete their applications.
Integrated Reporting Tools
Reporting tools provided actionable insights that supported strategic decision-making throughout the cycle.
Increased Engagement
Regular posting of program benefits, fellow updates, and program details led to a 7.4% increase in engagement rates across all social media channels.
"RQ Marketing's outreach strategy helped us reach the right audience despite a shorter cycle, and gave us the data to understand what was actually working." - Candice M. Roberts, Program Manager, FAS International Agricultural Fellowship Program
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