September 10, 2013

How to Achieve Your New SCHOOL Year Resolutions

Sep. 10, 2013 at 07:59 AM | By Katie Doviak | Comment Count

We’ve all made New Year’s resolutions, fully committed to going to the gym, quitting a nasty habit, or working hard to get a promotion, only to have our enthusiasm gradually fizzle away until our resolutions are nothing more than dusty mantras thrown in the trash.

Did you know that 92% of all resolutions fail?

For us in higher education, resolutions for the new school year, like increasing enrollment numbers or trying new CRM strategies learned at Hobsons University, are sometimes just as hard to keep as losing 10 lbs. or learning a new language. But why?

For starters, similar to New Year’s resolutions, we tend to create goals that are too broad and intangible. Soon after, obstacles arise that lead to discouragement and guess what? You’re new strategy for boosting applications, implementing a revamped retention network, or configuring institution-wide big data initiatives is out the window and you are back at where you started, executing the same campaigns you did the year prior.

What is really going on in higher education?

Changing Demographics – High school graduation rates have been on the decline for a while. In fact, the U.S. Department of Education reported 26 states with lower graduation rates than previous years. Additionally, higher education is experiencing a population shift from traditionally aged 4-year students to adult, graduate, and non-traditional learners; a pool of applicants accounting for the majority of enrolled students.
Competition – Just look at the numbers. Today, 12% of colleges have 10k+ students and those same institutions enroll 54% of the available prospect student population.
College Costs – Sallie Mae’s latest version of their "How America Pays for College" report uncovers a few facts about the way students are paying for college that are hard-to-swallow: Fact – Parents are paying a smaller amount of college costs. Fact – Students are enrolling in more affordable options (in-state, public universities, and community colleges).

What does this mean for you?

Enrollment teams can’t continue to market the same pools of prospects as before and they certainly can’t market using the same core strategies and tactics in years past. When 88% of all schools are left to compete for 46% of prospects, institutions must look to new technologies and trends to engage with prospect pools.

Using Technology to Maximize Yield

Before you hit that send button for another round of boilerplate emails to applicants in Somewhere, U.S.A., ask yourself:

Where are my prospects really coming from?
Do my prospects understand our message?
Which prospects are most engaged?
Do I have the right prospects in my database?
Will this year’s freshman class be balanced?
Is my team organized? Are they working smart?
Do I have an enrollment funnel or an enrollment pipeline?
Do I have enough data to make strategic decisions?
Are our efforts producing results?
Am I ever going to get enough sleep or get caught up on the latest season of The Bachelorette?

Whether you are evaluating ed tech, just getting started, or have been using a system or platform for a while, it’s important to crawl before you walk. Once you have an idea of the objectives you hope to accomplish and a strategy to get you there, then you can run with it by executing, monitoring, and measuring tactics.

Going for the Golden Egg

Web Properties – “PPC" or Pay-per-click advertising is the cornerstone of any university's digital marketing strategy. However, this advertising model is increasingly fraught with danger for even the savviest of digital practitioners. As PPC offerings mature and offer marketers greater control over the placement of advertising, the risk of spending large sums of money quickly with little or no return on investment has increased.” Read these 5 Common Pitfalls of PPC Advertising

Optimizing for search engines? Try our blog post, Your Guide to Google’s Never-ending Updates or whitepaper, Developing Content Necessary To Reach Today's Undergraduate Student.

Mobile – Optimizing for mobile is a must. Beyond statistics, optimizing your website and e-mail communications for mobile can help you recruit, enroll, and retain students.

How?

Optimizing for mobile provides “a more relevant and effective solution to deliver a consistent online experience” to constituents. Try these resources to get your mobile campaign off the ground.

Why Mobile Matters and 4 Things You Need To Know About Students And Mobile Devices

23 Awesome Tools To Help College Websites Reach More Students With Responsive Web Design

Print, Social, Video, and Personalization – A prospective student’s decision on where to attend is 57% decided before they even apply. How do you influence that 57% while they’re seeking information and forming decisions?

Have you established a consistent presence for your institution by presenting accurate information to prospects that is timely and relevant?
Are you delivering information to your targets in their preferred format (email, direct mail, social media, phone, in-person)?
Does your copy provide resources that are germane to your audiences’ interests and needs?

Here’s a few pointers on how to better personalize your messaging to prospects.

7 Ways to Use Digital Tools for Student Recruitment

Students care about shared values, not brand

The Secret Sauce to Personalization for Non-Traditional Students

How Higher Ed Can Use Social Media to Attract More Students

25 Reasons Why Colleges and Universities Should Blog Smartly

The most critical factor in keeping your resolutions in the new school year is time. You must be consistent in revisiting your goals and persistent in working towards achieving them – even if challenges arise. Set reminders on your calendar as you would for meetings with your boss and check-in with yourself regularly to track how you‘re doing (resist the urge to snooze the appointment). Most importantly, don’t be afraid to say something is not working midstream. Understanding when to step back, reevaluate the status of your progress, and adjust if necessary (sometimes this means trying something new) are fundamental ingredients to success.