Tim Copeland's Blog on College & University Marketing and Enrollment Management

Are You Developing a Recruitment App? You May Want to Wait.

Have you taken that sales call yet from someone wanting to develop an iPad, iPhone, or Android recruiting app for you? You might want to wait.

Unless you have a strategy to enter your prospective students' "circle of app trust", you may want to hold off on that marketing initiative.

New research from Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project indicates that 68% of smartphone owners open five or fewer apps per week. According to Pew estimates, approximately 42% of U.S. adults have phones with apps. "The novelty wears off," says Pew researcher Kristen Purcell.

While faster data networks and fancier phones have steered more Americans to embrace apps software, the appeal of instantly downloading the latest apps loses its luster quickly, according to Roger Yu at USA Today.

But the ones with staying power really do stick. Android phone users spend about 90 minutes a day on their phone, about two-thirds of that on apps, says Monica Bannan of media research firm Nielsen. "We see a very familiar behavior with (iPhone users)."

Tricked-Out Smartphones ... or Not

I was speaking with an industry colleague late last year on the topic of smartphone usage among high school and college students. At DemandEngine, we've recently completed some soon-to-be released research on how high school students and adult learners participate online and through mobile devices. We were discussing some of the initial findings.

While the perceptions is that students are walking around campus with the latest tricked-out smartphone or tablet, this may not be the case. According to my colleague, we may think that the student body owns an iPad and a smart phone, but in reality they are walking around with the cheapest phone with texting capability.

 

High School Students Use Laptops for Online Channel Access ...

At DemandEngine, we found that 66% of high school student respondents use a smartphone phone for texting while a higher percentage access other common online channels using laptops and desktops.

... And the Laptop is the Device of Choice for Adult Learners

We found similar results for adult learners (ages 22-50) with laptops playing a more dominant role.

There is no denying the role that mobile devices will play now and in the future in higher education. Look for no better example than what is happening in the college textbook industry today.

But realize that technology initiatives have what Gartner Research calls the "over-enthusiasm" or hype cycle. Your challenge is to rationalize technology choices in light of your goals and resources.

 

 

Social Skepticism? Research Note from the Nation's Retailers

With the promise of social networks, many colleges and universities have gone 'all-in' creating institutional and departmental presences on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

Yet, at least one industry is starting to question their social investment. In a research report on five 2011 retail eCommerce trends, Forrester Research found an increased level of skepticism around the role of social networks in driving sales.

While the hype of social networks in commerce has created a frenzy around S-commerce" (social commerce) and "F-commerce" (Facebook commerce), the reality is that those buzzwords have been more speculative than proven.

For two years running, Forrester's research with Shop.org has shown that retailers have all created presences on social networks, but most have been unable to quantify the return on this investment and even fewer have found that social networks grow their business.

According to Forrester, fifty-nine percent of retailers surveyed in an annual survey with Shop.org said that the returns on social marketing strategies are unclear, while 28% said that social marketing strategies broadly have helped them grow their businesses to date.

To the degree that retailers find any benefit at all from social strategies, it is most frequently driven by tactics like ratings and reviews on a website rather than activities on social networks.

Finally, what may put the nail in the coffin: Social networks in fact ranked dead last on a list of 10 customer acquisition tactics when retailers were surveyed in our 2010 Shop.org survey. 

As higher education enrollment marketers are faced with an ever-expanding communications toolbox, take time to consider the implications. Raise your line of sight and consider the following questions:

1. What are your interactive marketing objectives? Listening? Supporting? Talking? Embracing?
2. Are you set-up to manage (planning, people, processes, and technology) a true multi-channel experience for your prospective students?
3. What enrollment metrics can you reverse engineer (and measure) from the desired end result?

Balance innovation and hype by focusing on fundamentals.

iPad - Shiny Object for Student Recruitment, Marketing, and Admissions

How are you using the iPad for student recruitment, marketing, and admissions?

With 25+ million iPads sold and counting what are you waiting for? In a recent LinkedIn invite, I received the following invitation to join a group on this very topic:

Everybody's doing it, right? I mean every student has an iPad and if I'm not using the iPad to recruit students then my recruitment efforts are behind the curve, right?

Well, not so fast.

In a new Pew Research Center study release this week, they found only 11 percent of American adults own a tablet of some kind. At DemandEngine, we found in a study earlier this year that less than 10% of high school (n = 1,000+) access information via tablet. In 2011, tablet ownership growth has flattened a bit:

As an iPad owner, I can truly say that it is a wonderful device. There is no debate on how the device is changing how we consume media and content, and to some extent, how we communicate. But let's keep it in perspective.Starting with a decisoin on the technology or platform first is the wrong path.

Ask first who you are trying to reach, what is their online/mobile participation profile, and what you are trying to accomplish. Then, and only then, can you choose the technologies and platforms to use.

Old Media is Dead? Not So, Says Facebook

Online advertising is the economic engine of Internet power houses such as Google and Facebook. Their reach extends the planet earth with millions upon millions of eyeballs searching content, reading status updates, and watching video every day. Google processes an estimated one billion Internet searches daily, while over 750 million people are Facebook users.

Given the sheer volume of people, it’s only natural to believe – and for many ‘experts’ to proclaim – old media is dead and marketing only happens in the ‘cloud.’

Why then is Facebook advertising in the September 2011 edition of Entrepreneur magazine … a publication with an estimated circulation of 600,000?

 

Old Media Best Practices

In this ad, Facebook promotes an introductory offer to try Facebook advertising for free. Why Entrepreneur Magazine?

There are an estimated 28 million small businesses in the US and what better channel to reach their owners than a magazine focused on small business concerns.

Notice the elements of the advertisement: 1) targeted to a well-qualified audience; 2) a clear message; 3) a strong marketing-focused offer that is easy to access; and 4) a tracking response mechanism (think marketing return-on-investment).

 

The Art of Selling the Marketing Offer

This Facebook ad also focuses on selling the offer with 5 Reasons to try Facebook Ads including:

Your ads only appear to the customers you want to reach  

1. Works for any budget
2. Also get a FREE Facebook Page for your business
3. People can spread the word about your business
4. Enjoy Repeat Business

 

In a Multi-Channel World, Your Enrollment Marketing Objectives Matter

In January, I wrote about similar direct mail offer I received from Google (Who Say’s Direct Mail Doesn’t Matter? Not Google).

Both marketing examples are instructive for higher education professionals. Enrollment marketing efforts should be balanced across a number of channels depending upon your objectives. And in these examples, with a clear objective to uncover prospective new customers, direct response is a winner.

Virtual Open Houses - Are Webinars in Your Enrollment Marketing Toolkit?

Have webinars made the cut into your enrollment marketing toolkit?

I wrote on a piece on this very topic over on the DemandEngine blog (The One Enrollment Marketing Channel You Are Not Using) back in August 2009. Despite their usefulness and popularity in the business-to-business market and with higher education vendors, colleges and universities still seem to be dipping the proverbial toe into the webinar water.

Here are a couple of recent examples of online programs using webinars in the enrollment marketing process:

Bryant & Stratton College Online Hosts Virtual “Open House”

During the open house admissions representatives will provide an overview of the overall online college experience, from application deadlines and the enrollment process to courses, career services and support available to students.

Additionally, representatives will be available to chat live and answer questions from prospective students about the online degree programs at Bryant & Stratton College Online.

 

Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies Online Info Session

Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies Online Information Sessions provide an excellent opportunity to learn about our programs.

During this live, 45-minute webcast we will offer a question and answer segment. You will be able to submit questions and get responses in real-time. Find out about admissions requirements, curriculum, faculty and more.

 

Many of the college webinars I see are typically limited for the promotion of online programs. While no one marketing channel or approach is the silver bullet, webinars can be a useful medium to engage prospects and cultivate student interest regardless of the education type.

Are you using (or planning to) webinars in the next academic year? Why or why not? Your comments are appreciated.

One Underutilized Online Marketing Objective - Listening

How do you use the information from your web analytics?

Most colleges and universities - at a minimum - have installed Google Analytics on their websites. But in a highly unscientific study - asking people - many enrollment managers and marketers know the information is there, but have little idea with what to do with it.

At DemandEngine and on this blog, I find my web analytics information useful for a variety of online marketing objectives including:

1. Awareness - measuring traffic and reach to college and universities against our internal targets
2. Campaign conversions and ROI - how prospects and customers engage with content and marketing campaigns(what they click on and where they go within the blog or my company's website)
3. Prospect identification - identifying interest signals from colleges and universities

There is a fourth objective that I pursue - not as measurable as ROI but important nontheless.

Listening.

Every day, I have my web analytics package open in a tabbed browser across my four online 'access' platforms - my Dell laptop, iPhone, iPad, and for good measure, my ancient Sony desktop (circa 2004) in my home office. On a daily basis, I get to see what is on people's minds as measured by the search terms they use.

This type of information gives me somewhat of a pulse of the higher education industry as it relates to marketing and technology, provides ideas for future blog and white paper content, and key insight for continually optimizing our website and blogs.

For example, at 2:53 AM EST this morning someone queried the Bing search engine asking, "why are college students so dumb."  

Someone on the Spelman College campus in Atlanta searched "CRM for Enrollment Management." For my higher education CRM vendors friends, now would be a good time for a follow-up sales call.

Consider these recent queries:

"higher education marketing mistakes"

"Is higher ed marketing worth the money" Someone from the University of Illinois is skeptical

"marketing for college enrollment phases"

Someone from Strayer University was searching for ideas on "marketing for online learners"

"communicating with adult learners"

A few years ago when I was with SunGard Higher Education, a search query appeared within this blog's analytics that was something like "sungard higher education negatives". I contacted our sales team and found out that we were working an active deal at this college. Someone was probably doing their due dligence on campus. But as you can imagine, the account executive was appreciative for the insight.

From a recruitment or retention perspective, use your web analytics and listen. Who knows what issue or opportunity you may uncover.

 

Who Says Email is Irrelevant? Not Facebook

It’s difficult to attend a higher education enrollment conference today without at least one ‘expert’ spouting that [insert age group] doesn’t read/use email anymore.

Then we have pronouncements such as the following statement. Last summer I blogged about the now infamous “Email is probably going away” comment made by Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg at a June 2010 Nielsen conference.

Now I could cite statistics from DemandEngine research on undergraduate and adult learners that prove otherwise. I believe you will find similar findings from other higher education thought leaders such as Noel-Levitz and Eduventures. I could also direct you to similar findings from Forrester Research regarding continued email usage across age groups.

However, my own experience from presenting research and data on interactive marketing channel usage and student online behavior invariably draws the occasional naysayer who says, “Well, but …”

Instead I will direct you to a November 2010 announcement regarding Facebook’s new email system.

Yes, anyone in the the 500 million member Facebook network can get their very own @facebook.com email address. According to PC World, CEO Mark Zuckerberg is quick to say that e-mail is just one part of the new, converged messaging system called Facebook Messages. The system blends e-mail, Facebook messages, SMS, and chat in one interface, so that users can receive and send messages in whatever form is appropriate.

Personally, I’m a long time Yahoo user for my primarily personal email account … and for some time I’ve been able to SMS, chat, update my status, and send email messages through one interface. However, I concede that Yahoo doesn’t have the community engagement that Facebook can potentially bring.

If The Social Network movie is to believed, what is now known as Facebook was launched by using a well-targeted email list with an offer to join something that had perceived value. Now only if higher education email marketers would follow the same tact rather than the mindless ‘batch and blast’ approach used by many...

Nevertheless, it looks like email is not going away after all … so sayeth Facebook.

Greendale Community College Launches Twittersode Tonight

America's favorite community college (and one of my favorite shows) launches its second season tonight on NBC. However, there is a lot more than the premiere to look forward to tonight. For Twitter users, the cast will be hosting their very first Twittersode. What is a Twittersode you ask? According the web site Poptimal, it is an episode told through a Twitter feed! Twitter + Episode = Twittersode!

Beginning one hour prior to the season premiere, show characters will act out a show scene using Twitter. The scene will be composed of 80 tweets and will debut at 7 p.m. EDT, an hour before the show is scheduled to air. Jeff, Britta, Abed and others  will communicate back and forth in what’s described as a “prequel” scene to their return to Greendale Community College as sophomores. 

They’ll make arrangements for their first meet-up of the year, as well as preparations for their first class,  Anthropology 101 (taught by guest star Betty White).It can be followed at www.NBC.com/CommunityTwittersode.

What a clever way to engage fans and extend the brand experience.

 

Tim Copeland is managing partner for DemandEngine, a higher education CRM consulting and interactive marketing services firm.

Email Marketing Takes a Beating ... Keeps Ticking

Has there ever been a communication channel as maligned as email marketing?

Consider the following:

• Why Email No Longer Rules… Wall Street Journal, October 2009
• The future of Web apps will see the death of e-mail CNET News, February 2008
• The Death of Email? Consumeraffairs.com, July 2006
• Death by SPAM: The e-mail you know and love is about to vanish Slate Magazine, November 2002

For most of the decade, email has been weighed, measured, and found wanting ... by pundits.

One of the most recent assaults on the channel comes courtesy of Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg addressing the June 2010 Nielsen Consumer 360 Conference.

Citing low teen email participation statistics (source unknown), Sandberg remarked, "E-mail--I can't imagine life without it--is probably going away."

Really? Let's stay with this logic for a moment and imagine:

I wonder what it was like in the past when we had that thing called radio ... because as we all know television replaced radio. Oh ... and what about those pieces of paper we used to call mail. I wonder what it was like to receive a printed letter or brochure ... because email replaced postal or snail mail ... and only if we still had the US Postal Service perhaps the unemployment rate could be reduced ...

If email is indeed going away then how come every time someone wants to ‘friend’ me or write on my ‘wall’, I get an email message from Facebook.

In a September 2009 article (Is Social Media Impacting How Much We Email?), Jon Gyb of Nielsenwire asked the question, “… if social media and social networks are these all-powerful game changers, shouldn’t they eventually make a newsworthy impact on email, the Internet’s original “killer app?”

He actually found that socially-connected consumers 'consume' more email, not less.

“Social media sites like Facebook send messages to your inbox every time someone comments on your posting or something you’ve participated in, and depending on your settings, can send updates on almost every activity.  Also, it’s perfectly logical that as people make connections though social media, they maintain those connections outside of the specific platform and may extend those connections to email, a phone conversation or even in-person meetings.”

Multi-Channel Mayhem and Online Participation

Most enrollment managers and marketers I speak with understand that the communication pie is expanding, not contracting. In addition to the telephone, direct mail, and email, social technologies create alternative paths for conversation. Expansion in turn is creating more complexity within colleges and universities to manage more communication channels with the same or fewer resources.

What's essential today in attracting and engaging students is understanding their online behavior not  the use of specific tools. Do you know the online participation profile of your students? How often do they post status updates versus perform internet searches? Do they send text messages daily, weekly, monthly, or never? How often do they send email?

Experts Abound and Technology Innovation

Yet, it's difficult to attend a higher education enrollment management or marketing conference without an 'expert' singing a similar tune. You know the expert presenters that show a few YouTube clips or provide links to great new web (and free) technologies. According to Sean Corcoran, an analyst at Forrester Research, "You can't walk out your house without bumping into a social-media expert today.”

According to Razib Khan at Discover Magazine, the success of people who run tech companies “… hinge on you becoming invested in the idea that their firm is going to change everything.”

The fundamentals of enrollment management and marketing haven't changed. Keep this in mind.

The Coupon-ization of Social Media - 25% off on BA Degrees ... Act Now!

Following their initial embrace of social media, some businesses are taking the next step to sell through their tweets and status updates. Merchants are adding shopping carts and promoting special deals through new Web-marketing services that integrate social media. These services support one-day promotions and are offered requiring a minimum number of buyers - thus promoting social word-of-mouth. Call it the coupon-ization of social media.

The e-commerce trend is currently limited to social sites, Facebook and MySpace. Twitter and LinkedIn, don’t offer a direct sales platform. According to a recent article, merchants are offering contests and prizes to build their fan base following.

Think of the application to higher education. Twenty-five percent off of [insert name of one of your institution’s under-subscribed academic program] if you apply today … and bring 10 of your friends! (written with tongue firmly implanted in cheek)

The fever of using social media in higher education enrollment marketing has resulted in popularity reports from a number of sources. (See Jenna Johnson’s Campus Overload Blog from the Washington Post). Yet, as colleges and universities rush into social technology adoption, are they putting in corresponding plans to ramp up their ability to respond to, and service prospective and current students? Opening these channels presents an opportunity to disgruntled consumers  “…who could also quickly blast their dissatisfaction to their network of friends,” according  Michael Trusov, an assistant marketing professor at Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. Hello Social media, let me introduce you to your superior, Mr. CRM strategy.

With any social media effort, it's important to understand the participation profile of your audience. In other words, what are the activities (not technologies) that your audience engages in daily? weekly? monthly? or never? DemandEngine research on the online profiles of students aged 16 - 50+ indicates that participation levels don’t match the current hype. Download our research on the communication preferences of adult learners. Research on traditional-aged students will be released later this month.

According to Edison Research and Arbitron, while nearly nine out of 10 Americans (87 percent) know about Twitter, just seven percent (17 million total) use it. This according to study data that includes three years of tracking data and a telephone survey of 1,753 conducted in February 2010.

By far the largest fraction of Twitter users – a third – are between the ages of 25 and 34, followed by 35- to 44-year-olds (19 percent) and 12 to 17-year-olds (18 percent). Twelve percent of Twitter users are between the ages of 45 to 54, and 11 percent are between the ages of 18 to 24. Women edge out men in the demographics: 53 percent to men's 47 percent.

The message? Your institution will not crumble if you are currently not using social media. Not everyone uses it and it’s better to do it well than to do it haphazardly. The use of social technologies has a place in higher education enrollment when it is used to convey what it is like to be a student. It’s a channel set that has application deeper in the enrollment or retention funnel.