From the Field: When it’s Halloween and You are Haunted by an SIS Integration
For many clients newly transitioned or in the process of transitioning to a new CRM platform, October is a terrifying month for reasons having nothing to do with Halloween. Enrollment and recruitment divisions are operating in high-gear, admissions counselors and representatives are in the throes of the recruitment fair circuits, and all manner of higher educational institutions are peacocking at sundry open houses and interest-generating events trying to court potential students. The transfer of data between the prospective student market and the educational institution is frequent, voluminous and consequently overwhelming without the right tools and processes to manage the flow of information.
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Different for a reason…
We were in Chicago this week for the Stamats Integrated Marketing: Graduate School Marketing Conference and had the pleasure of presenting with Kari Kovar of Datamonitor on "Technology Tips to Enhance Your Funnel: Effective Use of CRMs for Driving Enrollment."
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Seven Steps to Reduce Application Abandonment
In the world of e-commerce, no problem plagues marketers more than shopping cart abandonment rates. According to the National Retail Federation, most online retailers see roughly two-thirds of all shoppers leave before making a purchase. It’s no wonder then that online stores spend millions of dollars each year to help convert prospective buyers into paying customers. But what about colleges and universities?
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Enrollment Marketing Channel Preferences
Very interesting post today by Tim Copeland at Demand Engine on Enrollment Marketing Channel Preferences from a student’s point of view.
In his post, Copeland highlights one high school student’s preferences when it comes to receiving marketing materials from colleges. Coincidentally, the student’s observations are consistent with the results we’ve seen from a recent poll we conducted regarding channel preferences amongst college students. Almost unanimously, as Copeland’s subject also points out, our poll found that permission and relevance were key regardless of the channel.
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Enrollment Funnel or Bottleneck
We’re all familiar with the image of an enrollment funnel. Many individuals enter as “leads” and hopefully a few make it all the way through to become enrolled students. Traditionally, you’d want as many leads at the top of your funnel so that you can have your pick of hot prospects to convert into enrolled students. Ideally, you’d want your funnel to look something like this. But in today’s recruitment environment, more leads may not necessarily be such a good thing. In fact, too many leads (especially bad leads) could turn your enrollment funnel into an enrollment bottleneck.
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No laughing matter
Community colleges are often overlooked or (worse) looked down upon. Which is why community college officials got a bit defensive and voiced their concerns earlier in the year when NBC made plans to unveil Community, a new series set on a community college campus.
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HBCUs Dealing with Financial Crisis
While most educational institutions have been hard hit by the recession, few have felt the burden more than historically black colleges and universities. According to a report this week by CNN, “Many black colleges expect enrollment rates to keep shrinking as families and students struggle in the economic downturn.”
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A funnel by any other name
Few people know the ins and outs of Facebook better than Nick O’Neill. In fact, his blog AllFacebook now attracts hundreds of thousands of readers each month looking for resources and news regarding the world’s most popular social network.
Recently, O’Neill wrote a wonderfulpost offering advice to readers on how they can leverage Facebook to increase their reach and generate sales. The end result was this funnel you see on the left that he dubs “The Facebook Sales Funnel.”
Look familiar? It should.
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Stay Cool. Avoid the Summer Melt
Last Friday was “the” day for many prospective college students across the nation to send in their deposits and reserve their spots at the institutions that accepted them.
Now, with decision day behind us, the hard work begins for many colleges and universities as they try to yield as many students as possible and avoid the dreaded “summer melt.”
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If institutions are so fat, why do so many of them appear to be starving?
“Support-Staff Jobs Double in 20 Years, Outpacing Enrollment.” With that eye-catching headline on April 24th, the Chronicle of Higher Education kicked off its latest installment of an occasional series exploring college costs. What follows is a comprehensive look at the findings of a study by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, as well as “The Chron’s” own research. This development is generally portrayed as a problematic one; and Richard K. Vetter, director of the center that conducted the study, asserts that “It’s time for higher education to go on a diet.”
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