Data-Driven Marketing for Independent Schools Presentation for The Enrollment Management Association William Bullard, President of EdChanges John O Brien, President of The Academy of Notre Dame October 16, 2018
Introduction to Data-Driven Marketing
What Is Data-Driven Marketing? Data-driven marketing applies the facts, results and information from your marketing activities to direct decisions on what audiences to target, what channels and media to use, how to best allocate your resources, and how to create relevance and engagement.
Data Is Your Guide - but Not Your Boss Data is a critical input to your decisions but not the only factor
We Use Data Every Day If you compare prices or specials while shopping, you rely on data Review sites: how many 5 and 1 ratings College rankings Investments: historical returns and more Home choices: lot size, house size, proximity to other houses And many more
Now Is The Time for Data-Driven Marketing The evolution of data Transition to digital channels Improvements to analytics tools Growth in free online support Database enhancements Data visualization tools Societal changes pro sports too! Personalization Predictive analytics capabilities Bottom line - you can t afford not to!
Using Data-Driven Marketing
How Can It Help My School? Relevant data is almost always found in the marketing activities affecting a school s pillars of sustainability: Attracting and retaining talented new students Keeping current families happy Raising funds from diverse segments of constituents
Why Use Data-Driven Marketing? Provide information of the greatest value to your constituents Understand what drives interest and engagement Increase marketing success and improve ROI in spending and resources Help you choose one marketing medium vs. another Increase inquiries, applications and yield rate Raise more money at a lower cost Retain a higher percentage of students
Results of Using Data-Driven Marketing Rethink your marketing strategy, tactics, prospect selection, and topics Change your messaging Update your marketing mix Enhance navigation, improve mobile presentation, other web changes Include videos or images in your social media activity Add or restructure key programs if they are impairing progress
Data Is More Than Just Numbers Perception - data is numbers, e.g.: Email click rates Website visits Number of online gifts Social media shares, comments, likes Reality - data include much more: Each prospect s demographics and psychographics Student s extra-curricular interests Path through the admissions funnel Best keywords for digital ads and SEO And MANY more
Data-Driven Marketing In Enrollment
Using Data to Improve Enrollment Select ideal prospects: data mining with psycho- and demographic research Market profiles to match your best families on education, home values, equity, disposable income, charitable contributions plus interests in arts, athletics, and social welfare (thanks - Mike Connor) Assess opportunities Gauge frequency and channel of the prospect s engagement Email activity, requesting info from forms or mail pieces; acceptance to open house Analyze recruiting sources what produces better clicks ands leads
Using Data to Improve Enrollment, continued Tracking activity within the admissions funnel Test video for admissions pages: location, length, approach Test new channels, e.g. texting Creating strategy and personas for lead nurturing Survey accepted families who do not enroll
Other Key Examples of Data-Driven Marketing
Using Data to Improve Fundraising How often and how do alumni/ae engage with you? What you can track: Giving history, including time of year Participation in alumni activities and events Campus visits Email activity Benchmarks vs. comparable institutions How you can use the data: Allocate marketing and advancement resources to best prospects Assess lists for printed materials Communicate how and when constituents want to hear from you Time of year, email vs. direct mail, frequency
Using Data to Improve Retention Challenge: breadth of factors, effects of experience, faculty, WoM But marketers can help: Use email data to discover parent engagement or lack thereof Ask for parent feedback and use the results Solicit student feedback on programs and the school climate Survey people who leave your school early Systematically track poor student performance and attendance Match data with comments from teachers and coaches on at-risk students or families
Research and Data-Driven Marketing
Market Research and Surveys What do constituents think of your programs and culture? Current parents Alumni Inquiring families Accepted families who are not coming What does your team think of your programs and culture? Teachers and coaches Administrators and staff Compare and contrast results Address gaps between external and internal perceptions
Data-Driven Marketing In Media
What topics interest your constituents Using Data in Email What time of week and day generate the most opens and clicks TEST! Ask parents or other constituents what they think, then listen What email format is most effective How well and what type of videos work well? Trends
Using Data from Your Website Basics: Total and unique page views Number of visitors Top pages Time on page Bounce rate Drop-off pages Load speed of pages Trends! Understand steps and data of your admissions process Your SEO keywords vs. top keyword performers Now what? Start with trends; each of these metrics is affected by different factors
Using Data in Your Digital Advertising Start with strategy: what is the goal of your campaign? If taking action e.g., inquire, apply, visit our open house, you can quantify results Compare channels: How many leads come from digital ads vs. AdWords vs. social advertising Digital publications that drive the most activity Assess cost per click, lead, or enrollment for each channel If goal is to drive an application, how many did it create? Cost per app? Test retargeting programs What headlines, keywords, designs work best
Using Data in Social Media Determine interest in topics by shares, likes, comments, and new posts Degree of engagement and by whom across FB, Twitter, Instagram and others. Twitter Your audience: location, gender, interests Facebook From Audience manager: self-reported user data plus key demographics Instagram Leverage Facebook engine for demographics
Managing Review Sites Review your ratings on Niche, Great Schools, Google, Yelp, and key sites Do you have a high number of positive reviews? If not, inform current and recent parents about your goals Guide them to a reasonable process of adding without gaming Do NOT tell them what to say, only to request a rating and comment
Factors in Data-Driven Marketing
Related Areas to Data-Driven Marketing Personalization Segmentation Testing
Personalization Data track and predict your shopping habits, offer you preferred music and videos, even deliver medicine based on your genome. This transformation of consumer behavior and marketing will gradually have a similar effect on ed marketing. Personalization capabilities rely on data Creation of personas for enrollment and fundraising Custom email based on a student s interests and activities Just beginning: personal website interaction Post-inquiry contacts: direct mail, email, personalized URLs, videos Targeted parent communications
Audience Segmentation Marketing service firms deliver dozens or hundreds of segments based on consumer values, attitudes, habits, and actions Schools can form your own groupings for current families Data and databases enable this capability, which permit school marketers to focus on: Prospective constituents that fit the school s unique needs Current constituents for fundraising and retention As current constituent needs diverge, consider variable strategies, e.g.: Millennial expect to receive more frequent or targeted communication Tailor communications to international parents
Marketing Testing Testing creates data that enables you to optimize your marketing performance based on a series of crucial variables: Frequency, Timing Style, tone, headlines Choice of media Many others Testing can be used in virtually every marketing channel Example: At xxxx School, shorter headline increased open rate by 5% NOTE: Perform only if you ll change your tactics based on results!
Applications of Data-Driven Marketing
How a School Marketer Uses Data Test frequency and location of communications/timing: email, social activity, blog posts, digital and print ads, retargeting, more Try different topics and timing for blog posts Integrate into your broader institution s marketing plans (e.g., how to market blog posts via web announcements, social media, newsletter) Understand your traffic sources from Google Analytics Lead overhaul of marketing strategy and tactics based on results Be school marketing resource - help departments understand & leverage data
How School Leaders Use Marketing Data Understand how marketing influences his or her school Tracking enrollment progress via marketing campaigns Scattergram of where attendees are from vs. potential market Analyzing family and income demographics Support data testing by marketing, admissions, and advancement Understand implications of image audits Authorize changes to strategy and funding based on results
Data Integrated with Planning Enrollment management Development/fundraising Retention Ongoing curriculum development and improvement - track grades and other metrics and how those affect yield and college acceptances
Data-Driven Marketing Tools
Marketing Tools You Will Need You probably have many of these, or comparable, services already: Google Analytics or similar service website Understanding the steps of your admissions process (funnel) Email and blog analytics Social media: manual or Hootsuite, Buffer or similar packages Internal tracking system for direct mail Internal system for various digital marketing programs
Best Practices in Data-Driven Marketing
Best Practices for You Identify and use the relevant marketing data you currently have Invite HoS and senior leaders to embrace data-driven marketing Assess other school areas that could benefit from data Find those new sources of data Determine a data reporting schedule and follow it Analyze your data and hold recurring group meetings to discuss With your team, make key changes to strategy and tactics based on top data
Questions/Comments?
Thank you! William Bullard, wrbullard@edchanges.com John O Brien, runner158@aol.com