How 300 NAGAP Schools Respond to Inquiries & What It Means for Your Communication Strategy

Presented by:David Cotter, Assistant Provost for Graduate Enrollment Management, Boston University

Robert Ruiz, Vice President for Strategic Enrollment, Liaison Suzanne Sharp, Executive Director for Enrollment Management Consulting, Liaison

Agenda

! The graduate school market! The 2018 inquiry response project! Communicating with students today and findings from inquiry

responses! Be available! Be fast! Be relevant! Use multiple channels

! The application experience

The 2018 Secret Shopping Project

Our Process:• Visited web pages for sample of graduate schools on the

NAGAP membership list (359 schools)• Searched for inquiry forms/ways to indicate interest• Submitted inquiry forms and logged date and time• Tracked responses from each school:

Emails – date, time, level of personalization, number sentPrint pieces – dates received, level of personalization, typePhone calls – date and type

• All results were compiled four weeks from respective date of inquiry

The 2018 Secret Shopping Project

Four Keys to Successful Communication:1. Be available2. Be fast3. Be relevant4. Use multiple channels

BE AVAILABLERequesting information & Accessing applications

Can Students Find What They Need?DO: Have easy access for students to request information and/

or apply

Can Students Find What They Need?DO: Have easy access for students to request information and/

or apply

Requesting Information

DO: Keep forms simple

Requesting Information

DON’T: Forget to update your forms

Response Pages

DON’T: Be generic and give students a dead end.

Response Pages

DO: Offer an immediate way for students to continue engaging.

Inquiry Form Tips

• Make it available on the home page• Keep it short• Keep it current• Be sure to use all the information you collect• Pay attention to your response page

BE FASTResponding to requests and applications

Response Times

! Inquiries generated from digital marketing campaigns are high-intent prospects that are usually looking at two to three other schools. According to the 2017 Aslanian Market Research of Online College Students:

61% of students enroll at institution that contacts them first.

http://blog.educationdynamics.com/turning-leads-enrollments-importance-speed-inquiry/

BE RELEVANTIt’s all about the student and their interest.

Relevancy Matters

! Responses can increase by 135% when a person’s name is added to a full-color direct mail piece.

! Responses can increase by 500% in a full-color piece with name and other relevant information.

https://compu-mail.com/blog/2017/07/14/30-direct-mail-statistics-for-2017/#Canon

Relevancy Matters

RELEVANT CONTENT CAN LIFT

YOUR RESPONSE RATES BY 10 TIMES!

20%lift

5xliftRightMessage

10xliftRightTime

20xliftLearning

2xliftRightIndividual

Static Personalized HighlyRelevant

Respon

seRate

Caslon & Company

Relevancy Matters

! How relevant are responses to inquiries?

Relevancy MattersDon’t: Be generic and give prospects more busy work.

Relevancy Matters

Do: Leverage all the information you have and make it personal.

Relevancy Matters

Relevancy Matters

Do: Leverage all the information you have and make it personal.

Relevancy MattersDo: Be quick to take advantage of inclement weather.

USE MULTIPLE CHANNELSMulti-channel communication is key to reach your market.

Use Multiple Channels

Recent studies on using multiple channels:• Multiple channels can produce up to a 300% increase in ROI and 24%

increase in conversion • Adding just one additional channel to a single channel campaign can

increase ROI by 19% • A five-channel campaign outperforms a single channel campaign by 35%• Messages are more likely to reach a person’s long-term memory if they

see it across multiple channels• Consumers usually experience a message on six channels before buying

https://www.olsenmetrix.com/multi-channel-marketing-delivers-better-roi https://www.salesgenie.com/multi-channel-marketing-campaigns/

Use Multiple Channels

"Today’s consumer moves seamlessly—sometimes even quickly—across digital and offline channels. She jumps from email, to social media, to your website, and then back to social media, without losing momentum. And she does this from whatever device is most convenient at the moment."

--The Definitive Guide to Lead Nurturing, 2nd Edition, Marketo, 2015

Use Multiple ChannelsAre schools using more channels at the inquiry stage?

Email

Print

Phone

Microsites

0 17.5 35 52.5 70

2016 2017 2018

Use Multiple ChannelsDon’t: Send one email and expect a high conversion.

72

74

125

41

9

53

7

5

25

No form

Used Emai l and Print

Used only email to communicate

Inquiry Form, no response

Used Emai l, Pr int, and Phone

Single email was only communication

Used Emai l and Phone

Used only Print

Used only email, but offered microsite

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Combined Channels Used

Thank You!David Cotter - dfcotter@bu.edu

Robert Ruiz - rruiz@liaisonedu.com Suzanne Sharp - ssharp@liaisonedu.com

QUESTIONS?