5/6/2009. About EducationDynamics. About the Presenter. Beyond the Lead: Enrollment Management Boot Camp

Transcription

1 Beyond the Lead: Enrollment Management Boot Camp Presented by: Andrew Gansler, President, Prospecting Services, EducationDynamics NAGAP 22 nd Annual Conference April 23, 2009 Where Learning Begins About EducationDynamics A full service education marketing services company Products and services focus on web centric student prospecting, enrollment, and retention One company built from four industry leaders: elearners.com Educational Directories Unlimited WorldClass Strategy GoalQuest Operate the leading consumer websites focused on student recruitment, including elearners.com, GradSchools.com, EarnMyDegree.com, and StudyAbroad.com About the Presenter Andrew Gansler President of EducationDynamics Prospecting Services Division Former CEO and elearners.com Previously Senior Manager, Business Advisory Services, Grant Thornton, LLP Education BS Industrial Engineering, Lehigh University, MBA, Stern School of Business, New York University 1

2 Session Goal Help you maximize performance of enrollment efforts associated with online, direct response (DR) marketing initiatives for your graduate and continuing education programs Share lessons learned over the past 8+ years, as well as what we re seeing and hearing today from schools, active students, and prospects Share some best ( and worst) practices Keep it real! Emphasis on post inquiry marketing sort of. About elearners.com and GradSchools.com Websites More than 3,000 online degree and certificate programs and 40,000 traditional graduate programs 30,000+ pages of user focused content Web community with over 5,000 registered members Audience Over 1.5 mm unique visitors per month searching for higher and continuing i education Clients More than 1,000 colleges, universities, and training providers For profit and not for profit, private and public Accredited colleges only (for degree promotion) Marketing Over 95% of spending is online, in direct response channels YES! Are You Really Competing? For-Profit Online Schools YOUR School NFP Schools (Online and Traditional) 2

3 Students are Shoppers # of Information Requests to Online Schools n=600 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Don't remember 7% of students requested information from only one school More than 64% requested info from at least three schools Source: EducationDynamics 2008 research 5 Best Practices 1. All Roads (Should) Lead to Leads Doesn t matter where the road starts 2. Understand Your Customer and Their Needs Engagement on their terms 3. Make an Ally of Your Website(s) One size doesn t (and shouldn t) fit all 4. Do the Math 5. Repeat Practices All Roads Should Lead to Leads What is a Lead? For our purposes, assume a lead or inquiry is an individual that: Is searching for education opportunities Has (somehow) found your program offered by your school Has indicated interest in your program by completing an inquiry form Wants (and expects) you to contact them NOT a Lead A name or contact from a large list you ve purchased Someone who has expressed general interest in education A name that has been sold to you and other schools without student s explicit selection 3

4 1. All Roads Should Lead to Leads Why? Puts you squarely in the drivers seat Creates a direct engagement opportunity Opportunity to re market later Allows you to focus (presumably scarce) resources on prospects that are most interested Enables you to measure the performance of your marketing spend Allows you to compare alternate marketing channels and vendors on a common basis Critical for DR Marketing 1. All Roads Should Lead to Leads The form of online advertising you use doesn t matter CPA/CPL Cost per Action/Lead (inquiry) Free * (e.g., via Search Engine Optimization or type in traffic Flat fee Cost per Ad/Subscription CPM Cost per 1,000 Impressions CPC /PPC Cost per Click / Pay Per Click (e.g. Paid Search) Traffic lands on your website * Is anything in life truly ever free? 1. All Roads Should Lead to Leads Pricing Model Flat Fee/ SEO CPM CPC CPL View Click Steps To Enrollment Lead Application Enrollment 4

5 Critical Requirements If you Outsource Lead generation (CPL): Monitor your providers Follow your brand You still need some level of tracking If you Do-It-Yourself (CPM,CPC, SEO, etc.): Landing Pages Contextually relevant Balanced Conversion Funnel (especially if paying) Information Request Form Not just your address, not your school s phone # Just the basics! Tracking Often the biggest challenge Information Request Form Do we like this form? Collect only what you need FAQ: In source or Outsource? Maybe both In Source: What are your internal capabilities? Direct Response Marketing expertise Quality of Follow Up Process Technology / Website / Optimization capabilities Tracking and Reporting Time / Human Resources Outsource: Not a panacea Requires trust in a third party Some tracking still required The process doesn t end with a lead 5

6 2. Understand Your Customer and Their Needs Inquiries expect action Be Proactive, not reactive Make first contact quickly! For Online Programs 0 24 Hours For All Other Programs Within 1 week Call Them! The value of a lead diminishes dramatically every day Inquiry to enrollment timeframe can be as low as 30 days If you can t respond in a reasonable time frame, slow down your DR marketing campaigns Initial Information Request to First Contact by School (Online Degree Programs) 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Under an hour Within 24 hrs 67% Contacted within 24 hours 86% Contacted within 3 days within 3 days More than 3 days Don't remember Source: EducationDynamics 2008 survey Understand Your Customer and Their Needs Does your school connect to prospects? or do you wait for them to connect to you? Does your school take a one size fits all approach to marketing and admissions? 6

7 Understand Your Customer and Their Needs Common Reported School Factors Influencing Enrollment Decisions* Cost Availability and form of financial aid Reputation of school/quality of instructors Admissions requirements Accreditation Credit transfer policy Requirements for completion Number of calendar starts per year Geographic presence (online programs)* Do You Have Influence Over These? *Based on EducationDynamics research Understand Your Customer and Their Needs Other factors Influencing Enrollment Decisions* Enrollment Process Level and quality of engagement Financial aid application process Credit transfer process Post enrollment/pre start communication Uniqueness of program offerings What else? *Based on EducationDynamics research Understand Your Customer and Their Needs Pre Inquiry: Identify and market your key points of differentiation Start with School Factors, but don t stop there There might be others you re not aware of 7

8 Understand Your Customer and Their Needs Post Lead: Identify the criteria most important to each prospect How do we do that? Ask them directly Understand Your Customer and Their Needs Make sure your points of differentiation matter to the student Example: Prospect Concern: I don t think I can make enough time for this program. I ve got a lot on my plate, and my schedule is very unpredictable. School Response: We have a number of students who face similar challenges. Fortunately our programs allow you to work on your own schedule. You can attend classes live, or catch the recordings at your convenience. We also offer a free Time Management for Working Adults seminar that others in your situation have found extremely helpful. Finally, we have new starts every eight weeks, so if something really important comes up and you need to skip a term, you won t have to wait months to get started again. 70% Usefulness of School Resources in Decision Making Process 60% 50% 40% 30% Not Useful Somewhat Useful Very Useful 20% 10% 0% Webinar / watch video Online seminar online course demo blogs & forums enrollment counselors social networking sites Source: EducationDynamics 2008 Research 8

9 Influence of Various Factors in Making School Decision 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% Not Important Source: EducationDynamics 2008 Research Somewhat Important Very Important 3. Make an Ally of your Website Is Your School s Website Helping or Hurting? Purpose? Who is your Audience (online, traditional, both)? Presenting your school s brand/image to the world? Efficiently convert high priced ad traffic to leads? Persuading prospects to apply/enroll? Generating free traffic via search engines? Resource for existing students, faculty & alumni? Potential Solution: Consider separate sites for: Online programs Paid CPM/CPC ads Post inquiry recruiting Example 1 Busy? 9

10 Example 2 Example 2: So far so good. Example 2 now what? Note conversion funnel slippage Nursing perhaps? 10

11 Example 2 What happened? Example 2 Request more info? from whom? Example 2 11

12 Example 3 Drexel.com Website dedicated to online programs Example 4 Customized to a specific major Example 4 Degrees.WaldenU. edu 12

13 Example 4a WaldenU.edu 4. Do the Math Quantify Results Quantify the effectiveness of your DR marketing efforts Optimize: Spend more where results are being achieved Tracking is critical! Do The Math Quantify Results Simple Example: 1,000,000 impressions for $5.00 CPM Click through rate= 0.20% 2,000 Clicks Click to lead conversion rate= 3.0% 60 Leads Cost per Lead= $ ,000 clicks for $5.00 CPC Click to lead conversion rate= 7.5% 75 Leads Cost per Lead= $ leads for $50.00 CPL Cost per Lead= $50.00 Your SEO efforts have a cost too *Don t forget setup, tracking, and management costs 13

14 Calculating Marketing Effectiveness Cost Per Enrollment Perhaps the most practical metric available Cost Per Enrollment (CPE) = (Total Ad Costs + Admissions Costs) / (# Enrollments) Total Ad costs = Direct Spend + Creative Development + Tracking + Management Fees Admissions i Costs = (Admissions i Costs Per Lead) x (# Leads) Admissions Costs Per Lead = Print Costs + Postage + + Administrative Overhead Calculating Marketing Effectiveness Example 1,000 Leads* $60.00 Cost Per Lead (w/overhead?) 3.5% Conversion Rate (inquiry to enrollment) Calculation 35 Students $60,000 spent $60,000/35 = $1,714 per Enrollment (Other possible/similar measures include cost per application, cost per start) What is the right cost per enrollment? * May be from CPM, PPC, CPL Calculating ROI If you have the data, ROI provides the most accurate metric ROI = (revenue cost) / cost Revenue= expected lifetime revenue (or gross margin ) of a student Cost = total cost including all allocated overheads ROI considers additional factors Revenue per credit and ancillary revenue Type of program and associated credit requirements Retention rate Alumni donations Remember, any online channel can be measured! ROI helps determines what really works ROI helps justify additional budget Note: total ROI would account for all costs, but you can use marketing costs to find your marketing ROI 14

15 Help & Resources Additional Questions? Presentation slides available online through NAGAP, or above White Papers Attracting the Next Generation of Online Learners Best Practices in Enrollment Marketing Management Stop by our booth, or contact Howard Mandel, 15