Well after two years of campaigning, election day is finally here and we get a brief respite from nonsensical television campaigns ads (at least for a couple of years). The electorate is energized with some 130 million+ anticipated voters expected to cast ballots today.
If you watched any political coverage over the weekend, there was a lot of talk on the importance of the 'ground game' today with each political party having a set of strategies to get voters to the polls. As I learned about ground game fundamentals from political pundits, I started to think about the parallels to prospective student enrollment management and marketing.
I'm spending the first part of election day in Corpus Christi, Texas to present at the annual TACRAO conference. Given the theme of the day, my topic?
Based on what I learned this weekend, there are four fundamentals to a political ground game: 1) Organization, 2) Registration, 3) Persuasion, and 4) Mobilization.
In other words, you need a focused organization to effectively and efficiently get the message out; you need to register voters that are sympathetic to your political views; you have to persuade voters that your candidate is the best choice; and finally, you have to make sure your voters show up. That's what both political parties are doing today. Here's hoping I make it back to Savannah before the polls close.
Can you see the enrollment connection?
You've got a great candidate (your institution) and message (your institution's mission and value proposition) and face a tough opponent (your competition). How do you employ your own ground game for enrollment success?
Organization
Your organization is supported by exceptional institutional leadership that establishes priorities for recruiting and admissions. Clear goals and measurable objectives provide the direction on what is important to focus on. Scorecards and dashboards are helpful tools to tell/sell the enrollment strategy to internal constituents.
Registration
Registration is about identifying your enrollment base and seeking out others who have similar characteristics. Rather than simply building massive student inquiry pools (electorate), successful enrollment managers focus on qualifying and assigning desirability rankings to prospective students, narrowing the pool and gaining insight to focus limited 'campaign' resources.
Persuasion
Think traditional conversion activities with a twist. In other words, how can you use what you learn from the behavior of your enrollment base to hone your message. It's the basis of interactive relationship-based marketing: addressing students, remembering what they say, and addressing them again in a way that demonstrates you remember what they said (or did).
Mobilization
Think yield. Using your polling mechanisms (e.g. scorecards, dashboards, qualification, desirability rankings), enrollment managers can micro-target hot spots to shore up the base in battleground territories.
Like political campaigns, prospective student enrollment marketing requires the coordination of many moving parts. As you approach your own enrollment 'election' day, use these ground game fundamentals to your advantage.
Comments