The power of progressive profiling: Smarter recruitment strategies

Higher ed marketing is all about delivering the right message at the right time — but how do you personalize at scale without overwhelming students or making them feel like they’re under surveillance? Enter progressive profiling: a smarter way to collect key insights over time, enabling authentic, data-driven engagement. At Purdue University’s Daniels School of Business, we’ve refined our approach to gradual data collection, automation and AI-driven personalization to enhance student recruitment and improve email engagement. In this session, we’ll share real-world strategies for gathering meaningful data without scaring students away, leveraging automation for tailored outreach and ensuring personalization feels like a service — not surveillance. This session will provide practical, step-by-step guidance on implementing progressive profiling in your institution, best practices for collecting key student data points and strategies to ensure data consistency across marketing and recruitment teams. You will leave with actionable insights, a roadmap for getting leadership buy-in and a clear plan to boost student engagement through smarter, more strategic data collection. Whether you’re new to personalization or looking to refine your approach, this session will help you turn student insights into meaningful action.

Presenters

James Cox — Purdue University Kelsey Smith — Purdue University