Skills: User Research, Product Strategy, Campaign Analytics, GTM Strategy, Website Design, Campaign Marketing, Brand Strategy

Product: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿𝘀 at UC Berkeley 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗽-𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀.

Introduction

During Spring 2020, I joined Business Transfer Network during my first semester at Berkeley because I wanted to join an organization that really cared about transfer students who dealt with imposter syndrome. During Fall 2020, I became Director of Business Operations where I got to spearhead marketing projects like the Go-To-Market launch of the website and the newsletter series! 

Throughout my time as Director of Business Operations and Director of Marketing,  I worked closely with both the VP of Operations & VP of Marketing and also, the Website Design team to build our website and help build the brand. Once we defined personas, we revamped our new transfer club to better market this organization to transfer students. This report takes you through the journey of my product marketing and brand marketing plan centered around growing out BTN’s membership base using SEO, Brand Strategy, and User Research.

These projects were separated into 3 major sprints – 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵, 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 and Newsletter, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗼-𝗧𝗼-𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵. The entire team worked during all sprints, and I served as the sprint leader for the ideation, overseeing ideation and formulated go-to-market strategy.

The Problem

BTN aims at making transfers excel in their professional development by introducing new various opportunities. The caveat?  We had no professional & reputable brand unlike other clubs and no one knew we even existed!

BTN challenged me to think of new ways to implement brand marketing and product marketing into their club and strategize ways to differentiate us from our competitors. 

Previously, the club recruiting process occurred on a semester basis using Google Forms, Instagram and Facebook. This strategy of marketing was ineffective as we did not capture at least 10% of the transfer students in Berkeley. Fast forward to the pandemic and virtual environment, club recruiting and membership drastically fell. So I asked the team this: How do clubs accurately gauge their marketing performance from their team members and president?

Opportunity Areas

The scope of the 3 month project was to explore the needs of transfer students in order to design a seamless experience for transfer students at UC Berkeley.

Areas we wanted to investigate:

• 𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐬

• 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐛𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐬.

• 𝐃𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐔𝐂 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐛 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬? (𝐒𝐄𝐎, 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡?)

User Research

We conducted extensive research in order to better understand the experiences and needs of Cal transfer students by engaging in a variety of research methods.

Secondary desktop research: We took time to search the web and social media to learn about the best practices and designs for having a club brand. We also researched how other clubs marketed their events and membership programs.

Transfer Student Interviews:  The VP of Operations and I conducted 5+ interviews with current transfer students to better understand the experiences and needs of transfer students that differ from first year students. We also learned first hand what transfer students suffer through every day as a transfer and did not even know there was a transfer student club that existed.

Insights

Key Insights:

• Transfers can sometimes feel overly negative, which hinders the ability to seek out additional resources and feel less motivated to actively build professional relationships.

• Due to imposter syndrome and having 2 years left at the university, peers don’t often know whether to apply to jobs or just get your major and graduate.

User Pain Points:

• Difficult to find a professional network and community while attending UC Berkeley.

• Process of personal branding and job recruiting is repetitive & time-consuming.

• Many transfers come from a first-generation background and do not know how to prepare for interviews or stand out in the pool of applicants.

Key User Needs

We then identified three key needs of Transfer Students that we wanted to make sure to address in our solution.

• Leadership and Growth opportunities

  • Transfers want to develop and learn professional skills and learn how to be an effective leader.

• Job Opportunities

  • Transfers want to know what sort of job opportunities exist and if transfer students do land top-tier internships and represent transfers.

• Affiliation and Networking

  • Transfers thrive on a sense of belonging and an established community.

Messaging & Positioning on Website & Newsletter

Key Messaging Statements on Newsletter:

1. 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗔𝗠𝗔𝗭𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀!

2. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸, 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸’𝘀 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗰𝗞𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗲𝘆 & 𝗖𝗢, 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺𝘀!

3. 𝗜𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻? 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗴𝗶’𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱, 𝗥𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲!

4. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸, 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸’𝘀 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂!

Key Messaging Statements on Website:

1. 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 (𝗕𝗧𝗡) 𝗮𝘁 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗯 𝗮𝘁 𝗨𝗖 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘆. 𝗪𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀. 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗿𝗼𝗯𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽𝘀, 𝗮𝗯𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁-𝗸𝗻𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲𝘀, 𝗕𝗧𝗡 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲, 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀!

2. 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝘂𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗯! 𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗯’𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲, 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟱𝟬𝟬 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸!

3. 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗴𝗼 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝘀𝘂𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁!

KPI Metrics and Overall Key Results

One of the things I had kept in mind for BTN is establishing a model of KPIs that align with the club’s goals in order to measure the success of our website marketing and email marketing campaigns.

Attached below is a BTN Analytics Spreadsheet preview that shows how I kept track of how well our email open rates and click through-rates were. I noted the progress and saw that our average open rate was 70-80% given that our target market was centered around transfer college students that want to break into top-tier industries. In addition, I found that from our website, more leadership and general recruitment applications rolled in after finalizing and launching the website. Without me maintaining consistency and holding a passion for helping transfers, it would have been really difficult to strengthen the club’s brand. This was a really fun role I was in because I made an impact on transfer students existing across Berkeley and that the work I am doing is impact-driven and transforms lives of transfers everywhere not just in Berkeley. 

Impactful highlights:

• Membership grew over 400% after implementing a new website and newsletter series.

• Had over 1800+ people check out the website and over 250+ devices were accessing the website.

• Our club is ranked #1 on the search engine list after keywords “btn berkeley” after implementing Search Engine Optimization tactics.

Research and Data using Squarespace Analytics