NACCAP presentation-How to utilize website marketing in enrollment marketing
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Transcript of NACCAP presentation-How to utilize website marketing in enrollment marketing
How to Utilize Website Marketing in Enrollment Marketing
Tony Gallini, Marketing Consultant, Saint Louis University School for
Professional Studiesand
Tylor Hermanson, Senior SEO Specialist, PlattForm Higher
Education
Treating your website like your university
Your website marketing strategy
• Help them FIND you• Help them LIKE you
Help them FIND you
• Importance of inbound marketing– More cost-effective - 62% lower cost-per-inquiry
• SEO (Search Engine Optimization)• PPC (Pay-Per-Click Advertising)• Traditional media integration
HubSpot 2011 State of Inbound Marketing Report
How do you find a school online?
Top three answers:• Google or other search engine to find schools
by name – 41%• Use a site to match me, like My College
Options or The College Board – 38%• Enter words or phrases into Google – 35%
Noel-Levitz, Inc. E-Expectations Report 2010
SEO and PPC
Paid Listings
Organic Results
SEO• Objective: Maximize relevant, organic search traffic
to your website• Strategy – Give target market what they want– Make search engines aware
• Why?– Slow, but effective– Lowest cost-per-enrollment, highest inquiry-to-enrollment,
greatest return on investment– Test your site– This isn’t peer pressure, but everyone’s doing it…
SEO Strategy
On-Site SEO
Off-Site SEO
On-Page SEO
• Crawlable Architecture • Keyword Research• Content • Title Tags• Meta Data• URL Structure• Interlinking• Image Optimization
Off-Site SEO
• Linkbuilding– A vote for your site– Relevant & authoritative– Time intensive
• Local Optimization– Google Maps– Bing Local– Yahoo! Local– Yelp– And more…
PPC
PPC – 30%
SEO – 70%
PPC• Objective: Maximize cost-effective paid search traffic
to your website• Strategy
– Keyword research and refinement– Keep high quality score– Geo-target by radius or DMA when applicable– Use mini-sites
• Why?– Immediate results– Broad/specific in keywords and location– Low cost-per-enrollment– Pay-per-click
PPCMini-Site Example
Traditional Media Integration• 41% of people are online while they’re watching TV*• It’s not one or the other, it’s a perfect harmony• QR Codes– 72% of smartphone users would likely recall ad**
• Social Media– Understand your goals
• Tracking– Unique URLs– Branded search correlation testing
*Big Research Simultaneous Media Survey 2009**MGH, February 2011
Helping them FIND St. Louis University
Saint Louis University School for Professional Studies
“We have an online program now, so let’s go national.”
– Dean, SLU School for Professional Studies, April 2007
Saint Louis University School for Professional Studies
How do we increase inquiries/enrollments for new programs/online offerings with same, very small, marketing budget?– Strengths: reputation/brand, adult student focus– Weaknesses: affordability, sufficient resources– Opportunities: new programs, online/alternative formats– Threats: competition, internal resistance
Saint Louis University School for Professional Studies
In addition…– In 2006, the University adopted a new Content
Management System (CMS) for the website – resulting in “lost site syndrome”.
– University of Phoenix 2010 Annual Report• Gross revenue almost topped $5 billion, which is nearly
a $1 billion increase from 2009• Enrollment is 438,000 students• “Sales and Promotional Expenses” budget was more
than $1.1 billion! ($160 million increase from 2009)
Saint Louis University School for Professional Studies
• Challenges– Google can’t find us– Going “national” on shoestring budget– Up against for-profit competition– Insufficient resources
Saint Louis University School for Professional Studies
• Began working with PlattForm in October 2007– Started small - SEO only– Targeted top eight pages first for optimization
and gradually expanded throughout the year– Resulted in 50 percent increase in both search
engine traffic and overall visitors from 2007 to 2008
– Traffic in 2011 is four times greater than 2007, with 68 percent coming from search engines
Saint Louis University School for Professional Studies
• SEO, PPC and Retargeting Ads– Organic takes time, so don’t delay any longer– PPC is a great kick start, but also a great
compliment to a good SEO campaign– Retargeting ads are a cost-effective and affordable
way to do banner ads across the Internet– Combine these with traditional advertising for a
steady and sustained lead flow
Help them LIKE you
• Your website• Mobile• Social• Reputation management
Imagine if a student visited your campus and…
• They were swarmed by several faculty and staff telling them to do different things
Imagine if a student visited your campus and…
• They couldn’t find anyone to answer their questions
Imagine if a student visited your campus and…
• They got lost
Imagine if a student visited your campus and…
• They were handicapped, but the school didn’t have wheelchair access
Your Website
• 92% of college bound high school students said they would be disappointed with a school or remove it entirely from their lists if they didn’t find the information they needed on the school’s website.
• 1 in 4 students removed a school from their list because of a bad experience on the school’s website
• Of those, 51% said it was because they couldn’t find what they wanted
Noel-Levitz, Inc. E-Expectations Report 2010
Your Website
• It starts with the homepage– The facts: 65% of students land on your homepage– The catch: It needs to work for everyone
• Usability• Aesthetics• Content• SEO–friendliness• Call-to-action
Noel-Levitz, Inc. E-Expectations Report 2010
Your Website:Usability
• What is most important to prospective students?– List of programs (28%)*– Cost/Tuition/Fees (21%)– Program details (19%)*
• *Nearly 1/2 of students put something academic related as most valuable.
• What pages are most important on your school’s website?– What pages do search engines find most valuable?
Noel-Levitz, Inc. E-Expectations Report 2010
Your Website:Call to Action
Net Price Calculators
• October 29, 2011 deadline• Default vs. customized– Default: Pros
• Meets law’s minimum requirements• Free
– Default: Cons• Does not consider key components in Federal Methodology
Expected Family Contribution (EFC) calculation• Does not allow school to capture prospective students’
contact information
Mobile• General Mobile Data– 33% of American households (11% in ‘08)*– 40% of Americans that do not own a smartphone plan
to in the near future*• Education-specific Mobile Data– 23% of prospective students reported searching
college sites from their smart phones– PlattForm SEO clients have seen a roughly 400%
average increase from last year in mobile trafficDeloitte State of Media Democracy, 2011
Noel-Levitz, Inc. E-Expectations Report 2010
Mobile• Mobile friendly vs. mobile site• Mobile site– Mobile browser detected– Customized navigation– Most important information
• Mobile friendly– Limit Flash– Incorporate click-to-call– Try it out!
Social Media
“Companies not actively engaging are missing a huge opportunity and are saying something to consumers, intentionally or unintentionally, about how willing they are to engage on consumers’ terms.”
Josh MendelsohnVP, Chadwick Martin
Bailey
Social Media:Activity
–Nearly 2/3 of U.S. internet users regularly use a social network*–93% of U.S. adult internet users are on
Facebook**–1 out of every 8 minutes online is spent on
Facebook***
*Emarketer, February 2011**Blogher, April 2011
***Comscore, February 2011
Social Media:Activity
–More than ½ of active Twitter users follow companies, brand or products on social networks–79% of U.S. Twitter users are more likely to
recommend brands they follow
Edison Research, 2010
Social Media:Consumers
• 40% of customers who use search in their path to purchase are motivated to use social media to complete their decision
• 53% of people admitted that content on social media websites changed their mind on a brand they were considering buying
Group M Search and Comscore, 2011
Social Media:Students
• 33% of prospective students said they had searched for schools on social networking sites
• 74% thought schools should have a presence on social media sites
• 80% wanted official and non-official social media content about the school
Noel-Levitz, Inc. E-Expectations Report 2010
Social Media• Why/Why not?– Social media = a School’s website in 1998
• Strategy and measurement– Have a purpose, and a way to measure results– Develop guidelines– Determine your audience– Monitor, monitor, monitor– Allocate resources
• Create social media advocates• LISTEN: qualitative market research
Social Media:What are we supposed to say?
• Engage, show you care and have a pulse• Share interesting news– This does not have to be about your school
• Take customer service to a new level• Provide an outlet for a community• Listen
Reputation Management
• Two types– Search result focused– Customer service focused
• Allocate resources (people and programs)• Change expectations customers have for
companies• Turn complainers into companions• The social media connection
Reputation Management:Customers
• 37 % had a recent bad experience with a company*• 71% of those told a friend about it• 12% of those used social media to broadcast their
discontent• 45 people read the average social media post– 1 complaint = 5.4 negative impressions
• One negative review can cost you 30 customers**
*Convergys U.S. Customer Scorecard**Convergys, 2009
Help them LIKE St. Louis University
St. Louis UniversitySchool for Professional Studies
• Converting all that traffic– Navigation: program pages– Quick contact form– Web tile “buttons”– Content• Video, blog and social networking content• Helpful articles• Career info• The more the better…
You’re a believer, but what about theboard, VP, president, etc.?
• “They can’t find us and they don’t like us!”• Not in the phonebook?• Showing the value
Showing the Value
• Tracking– Do you know where your online traffic/inquiries
are coming from, how they’re performing, and how they impact the bottom line?
• Redefining the competition– Online vs. traditional
• Crunching the numbers
How Did Tony SELL It?
Saint Louis University School for Professional Studies
• Starting Small– SEO is a must, PPC is faster– Budget: depending on your market, look at
moving money from print or direct mail– Data: baseline your website’s current search
results and overall search engine traffic– Convert: don’t spend all your money on inquiry
generation without good website conversion elements
Key Takeaways
• Realize the importance of inbound marketing and adjust your marketing mix accordingly– Help them FIND you
• Maximize your reach qualitatively by improving the website and social media performance– Help them LIKE you
• Use the data you have to show the opportunity– Showing the value
Questions?
Now It’s Your Turn!
• Interested in presenting next year? Visit the Moody exhibit for more information!