Case Study — Allied Health Education
Pima Medical Institute: 62% Increase in Quality Leads Through Paid Social
Pima Medical Institute is one of the largest allied health education providers in the United States, offering programs in medical assisting, dental assisting, radiologic technology, veterinary technology, and more across campuses in 12 states. Colling Media was engaged to transform Pima Medical’s paid social advertising — improving not just lead volume, but lead quality.
62%
increase in quality leads from paid social advertising
Quality First
Attribution-informed optimization shifted spend toward channels and audiences producing enrollable students
Multi-State
Paid social strategy and creative executed across Pima Medical’s campus network in 12 states
The Challenge
For allied health programs, lead quality is as important as lead volume. A prospective student who submits a form but never enrolls costs the institution money and wastes admissions resources. Pima Medical Institute needed a paid social strategy that could drive more of the right leads — students who were genuinely qualified, motivated, and ready to start a program.
The challenge was compounded by the breadth of Pima Medical’s program portfolio and geographic footprint. With programs ranging from medical assisting to radiologic technology and campuses across 12 states, the advertising strategy had to be precise — reaching the right prospective student for the right program at the right campus, not just generating volume.
The Approach
Paid Social Strategy and Execution
Colling Media rebuilt Pima Medical’s paid social advertising on Meta (Facebook and Instagram) with a strategy built around audience precision and creative relevance. Rather than broad prospecting campaigns, Colling Media developed program-specific and campus-specific audience segments — reaching prospective students based on career interest, geographic proximity to a campus, and behavioral signals indicating readiness to enroll.
Creative Strategy
Creative is one of the most important variables in paid social performance, and Colling Media treated it as such. The team developed creative concepts aligned with the specific programs and student motivations at each campus — emphasizing career outcomes, program length, and the practical, hands-on nature of allied health training. Creative was tested systematically, with winning concepts scaled and underperforming creative replaced continuously.
Attribution and Quality Measurement
Colling Media implemented attribution tracking that connected paid social leads to downstream enrollment outcomes — allowing the team to distinguish between leads that enrolled and leads that did not. This attribution data was fed back into campaign optimization, shifting budget toward the audiences, placements, and creative combinations that were producing the highest-quality leads, not just the highest volume.
The Results
Pima Medical Institute saw a 62% increase in quality leads from paid social advertising — a result driven by the combination of audience precision, creative strategy, and attribution-informed optimization working together.
The quality improvement meant that admissions teams were spending more time with genuinely interested prospective students and less time working through unqualified inquiries. The attribution model gave Pima Medical’s marketing leadership clear visibility into what was driving enrollment-ready leads across their campus network.
About Pima Medical Institute
Pima Medical Institute is one of the largest allied health education providers in the United States, with campuses in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and other states. Founded in 1972, Pima Medical offers diploma and associate degree programs in medical assisting, dental assisting, radiologic technology, veterinary technology, pharmacy technician, and other allied health fields.
Ready to Improve Your Lead Quality?
Colling Media specializes in paid social advertising for education institutions — with a focus on lead quality, not just lead volume. If you want to know which leads are actually enrolling, let’s talk.