ICR Iowa Talent Hub Portfolio

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

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

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

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CarpeDM Portfolio

Case study

CarpeDM Matchmaking

CarpeDM came to us looking to grow membership sales, attract more relationship-minded singles, and scale revenue.

They had run paid ads before, but the results were inconsistent. They needed a new paid ads strategy that consistently attracted qualified singles, supported by compelling creative and data-backed optimization.

Project scope:

Digital advertising, funnel strategy, landing page optimization, revenue growth

Platform

Meta Ads

Kind words

From client

"My calendar stays booked out & I finally attract clients who value my work."

I used to post randomly and hope for inquiries, but it never worked. After working together, I now have a simple strategy that attracts the right clients and keeps my calendar full without the stress.

— Naza Shelley , CE) & Founder

The Before

The After

Drove 21% YoY Revenue Growth, Increased Applications by 255%, Expansion into 5 New Markets

CarpeDM had strong demand for its matchmaking services, but their marketing efforts weren’t delivering consistent results. Previous paid advertising campaigns brought in leads, but many weren’t a good fit for the service. They needed a strategy that could consistently attract qualified, relationship-ready singles and turn that demand into sustainable membership growth.

We developed a growth-focused paid ads strategy built on stronger creative, smarter targeting, and continuous optimization. This helped CarpeDM increase applications by 255%, achieve 21% year-over-year revenue growth, and build a scalable foundation for expansion into five new markets.

Portfolio Tag: FACEBOOK ADS