Tulsa Welding School & RSI Case Study: 11+ Years of Enrollment Growth & Campus Expansion
Some agency-client partnerships last a year. Some last two. The partnership between Colling Media and StrataTech Education Group — parent company of Tulsa Welding School (TWS) and Refrigeration School, Inc. (RSI) — has lasted more than eleven years, and it is still growing.
That longevity is not an accident. It is the result of a shared commitment to full-funnel advertising strategy, rigorous attribution, and a relentless focus on one metric that matters above all others: enrolled students who show up on start day.
The Results
- 11+ year agency partnership — one of the longest in trade school advertising
- 95% predictable correlation between digital media investment and enrollment outcomes
- Consistent 130% to lead goal and enrollment goals across campaigns and markets
- Campus population growth leading to the opening of additional campus locations
- Multi-market expansion across welding, HVAC/refrigeration, electrical, and automotive programs
- Award-winning creative developed for TWS and RSI campaigns
The Challenge: Scaling Enrollment Across Multiple Programs and Markets
When Colling Media began working with StrataTech, the challenge was not simply generating leads. Trade school advertising is fundamentally different from consumer marketing. The student journey is longer, more emotionally complex, and more easily disrupted. A prospective welding student in Jacksonville is not the same as one in Houston. A student exploring HVAC programs has different motivations than one considering automotive technology.
StrataTech needed an agency that understood these nuances — one that could build enrollment systems, not just run ads. They needed a partner who could operate across programs, campuses, and markets simultaneously while maintaining consistent performance against enrollment goals.
They needed full-funnel accountability. They found it in Colling Media.
The Strategy: BDPN Framework Applied at Scale
Colling Media deployed its proprietary BDPN Framework — Brand, Demand, Performance, Nurturing — across every TWS and RSI market. This is not a theoretical model. It is an operational architecture that assigns specific channels, budgets, and KPIs to each stage of the student journey.
Brand
Building awareness among career changers and prospective students before they are actively searching. Connected TV, YouTube pre-roll, display prospecting, and social awareness campaigns establish Tulsa Welding School and RSI as the credible, aspirational choice in each market. Brand investment is not treated as a cost — it is treated as a multiplier for every performance dollar spent downstream.
Demand
Converting latent interest into active consideration. Search campaigns capture students who are researching programs. Social demand campaigns reach look-alike audiences and interest-based segments. Programmatic display targets in-market audiences across the open web. Every demand channel is measured against cost per qualified inquiry, not just cost per click.
Performance
Driving direct inquiries and applications. Google Search campaigns are structured around program-specific and location-specific intent. Meta lead generation campaigns are optimized for inquiry quality, not inquiry volume. Every performance campaign is connected to CRM data so that lead quality — not just lead quantity — drives optimization decisions.
Nurturing
Converting inquiries into enrolled students. Retargeting campaigns on Google, Meta, and programmatic platforms re-engage prospects who have expressed interest but not yet enrolled. Sequential messaging moves prospects through the consideration funnel. Nurturing campaigns are timed to admissions cycles and start dates, ensuring that media pressure aligns with the moments when enrollment decisions are made.
The Attribution Breakthrough: 95% Predictable Correlation
The most significant achievement of the Colling Media and StrataTech partnership is not any single campaign result. It is the development of a 95% predictable correlation between digital media investment and enrollment outcomes.
This is attribution at its highest level. It means that when Colling Media models a media plan for a TWS or RSI market, the projected enrollment outcomes are accurate within a narrow margin — consistently. It means that StrataTech’s leadership can make campus expansion decisions with confidence, knowing that the advertising infrastructure to fill those seats already exists and has been proven.
This level of predictability is rare in education advertising. It is the result of eleven years of data, continuous optimization, and a deep integration between Colling Media’s media strategy and StrataTech’s admissions and enrollment operations.
Collaboration Across the Organization
Colling Media does not operate as a vendor at arm’s length. The partnership with StrataTech involves active collaboration with cross-department teams — marketing, admissions, financial aid, and campus operations. When a new campus opens, Colling Media is part of the launch planning. When enrollment targets shift, Colling Media adjusts media strategy in real time.
This collaborative model is a deliberate choice. Enrollment outcomes are not determined by advertising alone. They are determined by the alignment between advertising, admissions follow-up, and the student experience. Colling Media builds that alignment into every engagement.
Campus Expansion: The Ultimate Proof of ROI
The most tangible evidence of the partnership’s success is campus growth. Over eleven years, Colling Media’s advertising strategy has contributed to growing student populations at existing TWS and RSI campuses to the point where additional campus locations were opened to meet demand.
This is the compounding ROI of sustained, full-funnel advertising. Each year of the partnership builds on the last. Brand equity accumulates. Attribution models become more accurate. Media efficiency improves. The result is an enrollment engine that scales with the institution.
Programs and Markets
Colling Media manages advertising for TWS and RSI programs across multiple disciplines and locations throughout the United States:
- Welding Technology — Tulsa Welding School’s flagship program, with campuses in Tulsa, Jacksonville, and Houston
- HVAC/Refrigeration Technology — RSI’s core program, based in Phoenix, Arizona
- Electrical Technology — offered at select TWS campuses
- Automotive Technology — offered at select TWS campuses
Each program and market has its own media strategy, budget allocation, and performance benchmarks. Colling Media manages this complexity through a unified attribution model that rolls up to portfolio-level reporting for StrataTech leadership.
Why the Partnership Has Lasted 11+ Years
Agency-client relationships in education advertising rarely last a decade. The ones that do share a common characteristic: the agency is treated as a strategic partner, not a media vendor. Colling Media earns that distinction by doing three things consistently.
First, by delivering results that exceed goals — not occasionally, but consistently, at 130% to lead and enrollment targets. Second, by building attribution systems that give StrataTech leadership visibility into exactly what is working and why. Third, by investing in the relationship itself — showing up for cross-department planning, adapting to organizational changes, and treating StrataTech’s enrollment goals as Colling Media’s own.
That is what a true agency partnership looks like. That is what eleven years of compounding results looks like.
Work With the Agency That Grows Campuses
If you lead marketing or enrollment for a trade school, vocational program, or career college, the question is not whether full-funnel advertising works. The question is whether your agency can prove it — with attribution, with consistency, and with the kind of long-term commitment that compounds over time.
Colling Media has proven it for Tulsa Welding School and RSI for more than eleven years. We can prove it for you.
Learn about our education advertising services or view all education case studies.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the 95% predictable correlation stat?
Over eleven years of working with Tulsa Welding School and RSI, Colling Media has developed attribution models that correlate digital media investment with enrollment outcomes at a 95% accuracy rate. This means that when we model a media plan, the projected enrollment results are accurate within a narrow margin — consistently. It is the result of deep CRM integration, multi-touch attribution, and years of continuous optimization.
What does 130% to goal mean?
Consistently delivering 130% to lead goal and enrollment goal means that across campaigns and markets, Colling Media’s advertising generates 30% more leads and enrolled students than the targets set at the beginning of each campaign period. This is not a one-time result — it is a consistent performance benchmark across the partnership.
How did advertising contribute to campus expansion?
By consistently growing student populations at existing TWS and RSI campuses, Colling Media’s advertising strategy created the enrollment demand that justified opening additional campus locations. Campus expansion is the ultimate long-term ROI of sustained, full-funnel advertising.
What channels does Colling Media use for trade school advertising?
For TWS and RSI, Colling Media manages Google Search, Google Performance Max, YouTube, Meta (Facebook and Instagram), programmatic display, connected TV, and retargeting across all channels. Each channel is assigned a specific role in the BDPN Framework and measured against enrollment-level outcomes, not just lead metrics.
How does Colling Media work with admissions teams?
Colling Media integrates directly with StrataTech’s admissions and enrollment operations. This includes CRM integration for lead quality tracking, collaboration on follow-up timing and messaging, and joint planning for start date campaigns. Enrollment outcomes require alignment between advertising and admissions — Colling Media builds that alignment into every engagement.
Can Colling Media replicate these results for other trade schools?
Yes. The BDPN Framework, attribution methodology, and full-funnel approach that drive results for TWS and RSI are applied across Colling Media’s education client portfolio. Every engagement begins with a thorough understanding of the institution’s programs, markets, and enrollment goals — and every campaign is built to deliver measurable results at the enrollment level.