Case study
ICR Iowa Talent Hub
ICR Iowa is a nonprofit joint venture dedicated to growing the Iowa City–Cedar Rapids region through business attraction and workforce development. When they launched the Talent Hub — a brand new initiative to bring workers back to the area — they needed a way to find and recruit the right people at scale.
With no existing ad presence and a tight timeline, they needed to build their paid acquisition strategy from the ground up and start generating qualified leads.
Project scope:
Digital advertising, Lead generation
Platforms
Meta ads (Facebook/Instagram)
The before
the after
Generated 70+ new qualified leads per month — at a record low cost of $17 per lead.
Starting from scratch, ICR Iowa had no existing campaigns, no audience data, and no proven messaging. They needed to identify who to target, where to reach them, and what would actually make someone consider relocating to the ICR area.
After rigorous A/B testing and audience refinement, we discovered the highest-converting audience was college alumni and people who had grown up in the area but moved away. Once we locked in that targeting and optimized the landing page funnel, leads came in consistently — with some campaigns running as low as $13 per lead.
The Challenges
Our Results
- No existing ad campaigns, audience data, or creative to build from
- Needed to attract a very specific type of candidate — not just anyone, but people with a real connection to the region
- Landing page wasn't set up to convert paid traffic into qualified applicants
- 70–80 qualified leads per month on average.
- Cost per lead of $17 YTD, with top campaigns hitting $13
- Ads generated 120+ comments, 200+ saves, and 250+ shares — well above benchmark engagement
- Landing page optimized with an animated "how it works" video to reduce drop-off and increase applications
The Challenges
- No existing ad campaigns, audience data, or creative to build from
- Needed to attract a very specific type of candidate — not just anyone, but people with a real connection to the region
- Landing page wasn't set up to convert paid traffic into qualified applicants
Our Results
- 70–80 qualified leads per month on average.
- Cost per lead of $17 YTD, with top campaigns hitting $13
- Ads generated 120+ comments, 200+ saves, and 250+ shares — well above benchmark engagement
- Landing page optimized with an animated "how it works" video to reduce drop-off and increase applications