USING CRM TO DRIVE ENROLLMENT Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education Boston, MA 11.14.09
UCM Vitals 4-Year Public founded in 1871 Located 45 minutes from suburban Kansas City Underwent name change in 2006 Moderately Selective Auto Admit ACT 21+ or 100 Index Score 11,191 Enrollment (8,880 undergraduate) 74% fall-to-fall Retention Rate 1500 in freshmen class 800 in transfer class 26% of FTFT Receive Pell EM Portfolio consists of UG Admissions, Transfer and Transition Services, Student Financial Services, Registrar s Office Banner SIS with custom built CRM on the front-end, Hobson E- Retain, Televox, Vontoo, Varsity Outreach
It s a Journey, Not a Quick Fix Introverted, dysfunctional web presence Weak and/or nonexistent publications Over 20+ disparate databases in Admissions Office Campus Visit program was not well choreographed Shotgun approach to marketing and recruitment Campus suffered from EAS 3
Guiding Principles It s all about relationships Get them to "No" as fast as possible Be first, Be fast, Be focused Speed must be a strategic direction Without technology, you will never be fast enough Responses must be fast, accurate and complete Messages focus on outcomes, not features Personalization is King Use of multiple communication channels is critical Have a strong web strategy Dance with who brung ya 4
CRM: What Are We Talking About A philosophy and a business strategy, supported by a system and a technology, designed to improve human interactions in a business environment. Greenberg (2004)
College-Bound Students Student Decision- Making Process Initial College Awareness Expanding College Awareness: Specific College Inquiries College Consideration: Application College Choice Set: Registration Retention and Success Alumni Loyalty Stages of Admissions Awareness Building and Recruitment Activities Inquiry Application Admit Yield Enrollment Targets CRM is a program, not just a technology
Essential Components of an Effective Brand Interruption Marketing Permission Marketing Loyalty Marketing
Brand Promise From a branding standpoint, what UCM offers can be found in varying degrees at a number of institutions in the area. Successful brands focus on strengths and leverage the emotional reasons for making a choice. The emotional drivers listed below serve as the foundation for the brand promise. Rational drivers are used to justify the emotional decision-making process. Brand Promise Emotional Drivers Close to home Friendly & safe Just the right size Attract Apply Accept Attend Advocate Pre-App Post-App Yield Cultivate Propagate Rational Drivers Affordable Academic programs Jobs/Career Services Brand Experience
Brand Experience Research indicates that students preparing to enter UCM experience periods of doubt and have low self-confidence when preparing to leave home. They aren t certain they will be able to succeed in college and a significant percentage question their ability to earn a degree. Follow-up research indicates that students increase their self-confidence after one year at UCM and even more as they approach graduation. UCM does an exemplary job at many of the milestones that help build confidence and develop competence in our students. This story needs to be clearly and consistently articulated so a student knows what levels of service and support to expect from Central. Key Milestones: Comfort at home UCM Effect Confidence in the world Apply To College Graduate HS Enroll In College Move To College Choose Career/ Major Graduate From College Enrollment Student Life Alumni/Dev
Mules. A confident breed
Campaign Integration Ads Website Posters TV Spots Collateral Video
Campaign Scope Traditions Academic Reputation Accomplished Alumni Athletic Success Student Success
Guiding Principles of CRM Need to connect with constituents where they are at Need to communicate with relevant messages that resonate and drive them through the funnel Requires the development of a carefully designed series of contacts-all supported by data-centric technology-that enhances institutional processes and transactions through automation Infrastructure and culture (hardware, software, plan) to handle multi-channel communications and strategy to develop a singular view of students across the enterprise
CRM provides ability to integrate multiple forms of communication in a multi-step process designed to develop a relationship with a prospect Data Sources Lists Data Base Web Advertising Special Events Telemarketing Travel Score Senders Phone Visit College Search Portals FAFSA Filers SEM Text to Voice Database Data Gathering And Mining Audience Segmentation Customization Personalization Sequencing Psychographics Channel Differentiation Web Publications Direct Mail Text E-Mail Phone (Land and Cell) Face-to-Face Chat/IM
4 Recruitment Strategy Clusters Direct Mail Web/E-Recruitment/Text On-Campus Programs Territory Management
Search 4 color letter w/ window envelope Variable Print Multi-channeled response options (BRC, 800, text, landing page Email follow-up to nonresponders
ACT Score Sender VDP
Application Push PC using VDP
High Ability Communication Flow to both students and their parents
Don t Forget About Parents! Parent Post-Admit Communication Plan Outcomes Brochure to all Deans/Chairs Honors College 6 post-admit e-contacts (automated) Parents as Partners E-Newsletter sent monthly throughout first-year
WEB/E-RECRUITMENT
ON CAMPUS EVENTS
TERRITORY MANAGEMENT
Auto-Responses RFI Inquiry Admit Dean Video Post-Visit Dashboards to track funnel stages
TEXT, BROADCAST PHONE, WEB 2.0
Permission-Based Text Messages Dates and Deadlines Admission Decision Campus Visit Reminder Incompletes Orientation Reminder Success Coaching Program Text to Voice Broadcast Phone Tickle Calls prior to big visit days and orientation Incompletes (3 rd or 4 th contact) Students with outstanding balances Web 2.0 Facebook (Varsity Outreach) Twitter YouTube Flickr
Targeted action-oriented broadcast marketing (print, radio, cable) to youth markets in primary feeder areas based on territory
RETENTION MANAGEMENT
A Peek Into the Minds of Our Developers
Build or Buy? Build If You have the internal talent and can get their time You want a completely customizable and dynamic application that wraps around your desires, preferences, idiosyncrasies You like to tinker Believe technology can give you a sustainable competitive advantage Buy If You are comfortable with a vanilla product
Development of CRM on Campus Student expectations are shaped by services they receive and the relationships they build with those in the commercial sector Compile an institutional inventory of constituent-building opportunities to analyze with your IT staff how you might employ available data and technology to enhance the student experience Mine available data, scan the environment and consolidate and leverage your database Help people see and understand the interconnectedness of the various systems Sickler, 2004
Lessons From the Swamp: Build your conversion beacons into the solution from the beginning Integrate with financial aid and scholarship processing and awarding from the beginning Automate, automate, automate Integrating with your university SIS system isn t as easy as one would think. Plan for hiccups along the way. Be Persistent
What s Next Creation of PURL at inquiry stage and customized brochure using VDP Continue to expand and refine EM data, reporting and tracking infrastructure to enhance predictive models Partner with academic leadership to improve learning environment in first-year courses, streamline curriculum and embed healthy SEM habits at the college and departmental level Develop enrollment scorecard/dashboard to provide administrative leadership across campus with real-time EM data at both the university and academic levels through Web-Based Point-in-Cycle Enrollment Reports Continue refining and automating communication flows to identified target markets
Contact Information Matt Melvin Associate Provost for Enrollment Management University of Central University 660.543.4810 melvin@ucmo.edu