nagap annual mktg 2009 04.ppt [read-only] · • bs industrial engineering, lehigh university, •...

5/6/2009

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Where Learning Begins…

Beyond the Lead:Enrollment Management Boot Camp

Presented by: Andrew Gansler, President, Prospecting Services, EducationDynamics

NAGAP 22nd Annual ConferenceApril 23, 2009

About EducationDynamics

• A full‐service education marketing services company• Products and services focus on web‐centric student prospecting, enrollment, and retention

• One company built from four industry leaders:– eLearners.com

Where learning begins…

– Educational Directories Unlimited – WorldClass Strategy– GoalQuest

• Operate the leading consumer websites focused on student recruitment, including eLearners.com, GradSchools.com, EarnMyDegree.com, and StudyAbroad.com

About the Presenter

• Andrew Gansler– President of EducationDynamics Prospecting Services

Division• Former CEO and eLearners.com

– Previously Senior Manager, Business Advisory Services, Grant Thornton, LLP


– Education• BS Industrial Engineering, Lehigh University, • MBA, Stern School of Business, New York University

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Session Goal

• Help you maximize performance of enrollment efforts associated with online, direct response (DR) marketing initiatives for your graduate and continuing education programs– Share lessons learned over the past 8+ years, as well as


p y ,what we’re seeing and hearing today from schools, active students, and prospects

– Share some best (…and worst) practices– Keep it real!

Emphasis on post‐inquiry marketing…sort of.

About eLearners.com and GradSchools.comWebsites• More than 3,000 online degree and certificate programs and

40,000 traditional graduate programs• 30,000+ pages of user‐focused content• Web community with over 5,000 registered membersAudience• Over 1.5 mm unique visitors per month searching for higher and

i i d i


continuing educationClients• More than 1,000 colleges, universities, and training providers• For‐profit and not‐for‐profit, private and public • Accredited colleges only (for degree promotion)Marketing• Over 95% of spending is online, in direct response channels

Are You Really Competing?

YES!YES!

NFP


For-ProfitOnline Schools

YOURSchool

NFPSchools(Online andTraditional)

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Students are Shoppers

15%

20%

25%

# of Information Requests to Online Schools n=600


0%

5%

10%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8+ Don't remember

Source: EducationDynamics 2008 research

‐ 7% of students requested information from only one school‐More than 64% requested info from at least three schools

5 Best Practices

1. All Roads (Should) Lead to Leads• Doesn’t matter where the road starts

2. Understand Your Customer and Their Needs• Engagement on their terms


3. Make an Ally of Your Website(s)• One size doesn’t (and shouldn’t) fit all

4. Do the Math

5. Repeat Practices 1‐4

1. All Roads Should Lead to Leads

• Is searching for education opportunities

• Has (somehow) found your program offered by your school

• Has indicated interest in your program by completing an inquiry form

What is a Lead? For our purposes, assume a ‘lead’ or ‘inquiry’ is an individual that:


inquiry form

• Wants (and expects) you to contact them

NOT a Lead • A name or contact from a large list you’ve purchased

• Someone who has expressed general interest in education

• A name that has been sold to you and other schools without student’s explicit selection

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Why?• Puts you squarely in the drivers seat

– Creates a direct engagement opportunity– Opportunity to re‐market later

• Allows you to focus (presumably scarce) resources on prospects that are most

1. “All Roads Should Lead to Leads”


resources on prospects that are most interested

• Enables you to measure the performance of your marketing spend

• Allows you to compare alternate marketing channels and vendors on a common basis

Critical for DR Marketing

1. All Roads Should Lead to Leads

• CPA/CPL ‐ Cost per Action/Lead (inquiry)

“F ”*

The form of online advertising you use doesn’t matter…


• “Free”* (e.g., via Search Engine Optimization or ‘type‐in’ traffic

• Flat‐fee ‐ Cost per Ad/Subscription

• CPM ‐ Cost per 1,000 Impressions

• CPC /PPC ‐ Cost per Click / Pay Per Click (e.g. Paid Search)

Traffic ‘lands’ on your website

* Is anything in life truly ever ‘free’?

1. All Roads Should Lead to Leads…

Click

View

Flat Fee/SEO CPM CPLCPC

PricingModel


Application

Lead

Enrollment

StepsTo

Enrollment

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Critical Requirements

If you ‘Outsource’ Lead generation (CPL):• Monitor your providers

– Follow your brand

• You still need some level of trackingIf you ‘Do-It-Yourself’ (CPM,CPC, SEO, etc.):


• Landing Pages– Contextually relevant– Balanced ‘Conversion Funnel’ (especially if paying)

• Information Request Form– Not just your email address, not your school’s phone #– Just the basics!

• Tracking– Often the biggest challenge

Information Request Form

Do we like this form?


Collect only what you need…

FAQ: In‐source or Outsource?

• Maybe both• In‐Source: What are your internal capabilities?

– Direct Response Marketing expertise– Quality of Follow‐Up Process– Technology / Website / Optimization capabilities


gy / / p p– Tracking and Reporting– Time / Human Resources

• Outsource: Not a panacea– Requires trust in a third party– Some tracking still required– The process doesn’t end with a lead

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2. Understand Your Customer and Their Needs

• Inquiries expect action – Be Proactive, not reactive• Make first contact quickly!

– For Online Programs – 0‐24 Hours– For All Other Programs – Within 1 week– Call Them!


– The value of a lead diminishes dramatically every day– Inquiry to enrollment timeframe can be as low as 30 days

• If you can’t respond in a reasonable time frame, slow down your DR marketing campaigns

Initial Information Request to First Contact by School(Online Degree Programs)

30%

40%

50%

60%

Where learning begins… 1717

0%

10%

20%

Under an hour

Within 24 hrs

within 3 days

More than 3 days

Don't remember

‐67% Contacted within 24 hours‐ 86% Contacted within 3 days

Source: EducationDynamics 2008 survey

2. Understand Your Customer and Their Needs

…or do you wait for them to connect to you?

Does your school ‘connect’ to prospects?


Does your school take a ‘one‐size‐fits all’ approach to marketing and admissions?

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Understand Your Customer and Their Needs

• Cost

• Availability and form of financial aid

• Reputation of

• Credit transfer policy

• Requirements for completion

• Number of calendar starts

Common Reported ‘School Factors’ Influencing Enrollment Decisions*


Reputation of school/quality of instructors

• Admissions requirements

• Accreditation

Number of calendar starts per year

• Geographic presence (online programs)*

*Based on EducationDynamics research

Do You Have Influence Over These?


• Enrollment Process– Level and quality of engagement

– Financial aid application process

Other factors Influencing Enrollment Decisions*


– Credit transfer process

– Post enrollment/pre‐start communication

• Uniqueness of program offerings

• What else ?

*Based on EducationDynamics research


• Start with ‘School Factors’, but don’t stop there

Pre‐Inquiry: Identify and market your key points of differentiation


there…– There might be others you’re not aware of

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• How do we do that?

Post‐Lead: Identify the criteria most important to each prospect


–Ask them…directly

Understand Your Customerand Their Needs

• Make sure your points of differentiation matter to the student– Example:

• Prospect Concern: “I don’t think I can make enough time for this program. I’ve got a lot on my plate, and my schedule is very unpredictable ”


my schedule is very unpredictable.• School Response:

– “We have a number of students who face similar challenges. Fortunately our programs allow you to work on your own schedule. You can attend classes live, or catch the recordings at your convenience.”

– “We also offer a free Time Management for Working Adults seminar that others in your situation have found extremely helpful.”

– “Finally, we have new starts every eight weeks, so if something really important comes up and you need to skip a term, you won’t have to wait months to get started again.”

Usefulness of School Resources in Decision Making Process

40%

50%

60%

70%

Not Useful

Somewhat UsefulV U f l

0%

10%

20%

30%

Webinar / Online

seminar

watch video online course demo

blogs & forums

enrollment counselors

social networking

sites

Very Useful

Source: EducationDynamics 2008 Research

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Influence of Various Factors in Making School Decision

30%

40%

50%

60%

10%

20%

Not Important

Somewhat ImportantVery Important

Source: EducationDynamics 2008 Research

3. Make an Ally of your Website

• Is Your School’s Website Helping or Hurting?

• Purpose? Who is your Audience (online, traditional, both)?– Presenting your school’s brand/image to the world?

– Efficiently convert high‐priced ad traffic to leads?

– Persuading prospects to apply/enroll?


– Generating free traffic via search engines?

– Resource for existing students, faculty & alumni?

• Potential Solution: Consider separate sites for:– Online programs

– Paid CPM/CPC ads

– Post‐inquiry recruiting

Example 1

Busy ?


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Example 2


Example 2:

So far so good….


Example 2

…now what?

Note conversion funnel ‘slippage…


…Nursing perhaps?

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Example 2

…What happened?


Example 2

…Request more info?

…from h ?


whom?

Example 2


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Example 3

Drexel.com ‐Website dedicated to online programs


Example 4

www.letuteach.com

Customized to a specific major…


Example 4

Degrees.WaldenU.edu


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Example 4a

WaldenU.edu


4. Do the MathQuantify Results

• Quantify the effectiveness of your DR marketing efforts

• Optimize: Spend more where results are being achieved


• Tracking is critical!

Do The MathQuantify Results

• 1,000,000 impressions for $5.00 CPM– Click through rate= 0.20% 2,000 Clicks– Click to lead conversion rate= 3.0% 60 Leads– Cost per Lead= $83.33

• 1 000 clicks for $5 00 CPC

Simple Example:


1,000 clicks for $5.00 CPC– Click to lead conversion rate= 7.5% 75 Leads– Cost per Lead= $66.66

• 100 leads for $50.00 CPL– Cost per Lead= $50.00

• Your SEO efforts have a cost too

*Don’t forget setup, tracking, and management costs

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Calculating Marketing Effectiveness

• Cost Per Enrollment (CPE) =(Total Ad Costs + Admissions Costs) / (# Enrollments)

Total Ad costs = Direct Spend + Creative Development + Tracking + Management FeesAd i i C t (Ad i i C t P L d) (#

Cost Per Enrollment – Perhaps the most practical metric available


Admissions Costs = (Admissions Costs Per Lead) x (# Leads)• Admissions Costs Per Lead = Print Costs + Postage + Email + Administrative Overhead

Calculating Marketing Effectiveness

Example• 1,000 Leads*• $60.00 Cost Per Lead (w/overhead?)• 3.5% Conversion Rate (inquiry to enrollment)

Calculation


35 Students$60,000 spent$60,000/35 = $1,714 per Enrollment(Other possible/similar measures include cost per application, cost per start)

• What is the ‘right’ cost per enrollment?

* May be from CPM, PPC, CPL

Calculating ROI

If you have the data, ROI provides the most accurate metric

• ROI = (revenue – cost) / cost– Revenue= expected lifetime revenue (or ‘gross margin’) of a student– Cost = total cost including all allocated overheads

• ROI considers additional factors


– Revenue per credit and ancillary revenue– Type of program and associated credit requirements– Retention rate– Alumni donations

• Remember, any online channel can be measured!• ROI helps determines what really works• ROI helps justify additional budget

Note: total ROI would account for all costs, but you can use marketing costs to find your “marketing ROI”

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Help & Resources

• Additional Questions? – [email protected]

• Presentation slides‐ available online through NAGAP, or email above

• White Papers


• White Papers– Attracting the Next Generation of Online Learners– Best Practices in Enrollment Marketing Management

Stop by our booth, or contact Howard Mandel, [email protected]

nagap annual mktg 2009 04.ppt [read-only] · • bs industrial engineering, lehigh university, •...

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