BY Anthony Campisi | May 29th, 2019

Maximizing CRM: Unique communications tracks, content and frequency

Customer Relationship Management. There are platforms designed around this idea, but even if you don’t have a formal platform, but rather a process, every B-school can benefit from a communications map to keep leads and prospects engaged.

Find out how you can manage your relationships with prospective students using different communications tracks, content and frequency.

Communications Tracks

Once a lead enters into your system, you’ve likely obtained some key information that will help you tailor the messages you send them. Or, if they entered in through a short info request form, you can always follow up to find out more about them. These demographics can be considered as you segment your messaging:

Gender
Geographic location
Specialty groups: military, healthcare, etc.
Program of interest
Entry year
Title
Industry
Age

When you know any or all of these aspects of a person’s background, you can assign them into a “track” within your communications map that is in addition to the general communications track that everyone receives. For example, if you are located in Michigan and you’re offering information sessions in Ohio, it probably makes sense to tell prospects from Ohio that you’ll be in their area with a personal message. Or, if you are offering a military scholarship, consider sending out a separate communications flow to the military applicants in your pool. In addition, you can further segment messaging based on industries like healthcare or IT to communicate the benefits of your program.

Content Variation

Not everyone responds the same to the same message. Just as we discussed above, you have a melting pot of people in your funnel and they are all looking for different things. Once you’ve determined your communications tracks, you can decide on the content. For the general communications track that everyone receives, you can use program features & benefits, ROI and admissions criteria & events. Once you start digging into your segmentation, try to focus on the core motivations of each sub-group. Here are some examples:

For gender-tailored content, consider:
- Women: climb the corporate ladder, flexibility, lead with confidence, advance your pay scale, collaborative environment that values your talents
- Men: prepare yourself for leadership, powerfully elevate your career, make an impact, become a dealmaker, reposition your career, solidify your advancement
For age differences, consider:
- Millennials: be transparent, get to the point, focus on their goals and community
- Gen X: include data, emphasize results, stay away from clichés
- Boomers: try clever humor, focus on how you can make their lives better
For industry ideas, consider messaging targeted at how your program can impact those in these fields/stages of career:
- Healthcare
- Entrepreneurs
- Executives vs. career launchers
- IT
- Strategy
- Marketing
- Finance

The goal here is to focus on what motivates these segments and fine-tune your messaging to connect with them.

Frequency

While some prospects are hyper-engaged and ready to act right now, there are others who are just starting their search and want to “browse.” So how do you strike the balance of giving everyone what they need, when they need it, but not turning them off? The answer is a structured plan. Even for the hottest prospects, you want to be sure you’re not coming on too strong.

For all prospects, consider an email campaign, or a communications map that is auto-triggered to send messages every 10 days (following lead entrance into the system). For the active leads, you can layer on a calling or text campaign. In addition, you may consider mailings, i.e. sending your brochure, a postcard with events (although these may be hard to track). Also, don’t discount the power of social media. This is a great supplement to the communications you’re sending because the prospects can consume this information on their terms, giving them the feeling of control. If they are following you, it is likely that they are seeing what you’re posting every 1-3 days. Be sure to vary your content, and also be aware of what you’re posting on social to reduce duplication.

By mapping out your communications, considering your audience’s motivations and varying your frequency, you can find ways to connect with your prospects on their terms.

Find out more about how to engage prospects with email nurture campaigns through your CRM platform. Contact GPRS.

Recruiting: The middle of the funnel – who’s responsible?

If you’re in B-school admissions or marketing, you’re familiar with the common push-pull of who’s responsible for filling your next class.

Hey, we’re all on the same team, right? Then why does it sometimes feel divisive when it’s time to assign accountability for a waning class size, or take credit for an overflowing classroom on day 1? Let’s talk about where the most important action happens – the middle of the funnel.

Admissions Team

You’ve collaborated with marketing on a strategy to bring leads into the top of the funnel. You’ve stated your goals, approved a plan, and you’re gaining traction. Your pool of leads may be growing and your admissions events have attendees. You’re ready for them to apply – NOW! After all, they showed up, called you or filled out a form – they must be interested right? Here’s where the questions begin:

If we spent money to bring them in and they’re not applying, are they the right leads?

Did marketing lead us astray on strategy? Should they be doing more emails/advertising/InMails/billboards/radio? (Fear not, marketing folk, we’ll get to you.)

Is our database stale?

Is the competition eating our lunch?

All of these things (and more) are possible, however, consider asking these questions about your prospects, instead:

What barriers do they have and how can I address them?

How could I get them to interact with my school, either on-campus or online?

Could I connect with them (beyond email) in a meaningful way?

Could I collaborate with my team or my agency to develop a calling campaign, email campaign, mailing or webinar series to engage those that have been stagnant?

Is there any content I could share with them that would be interesting and compelling, i.e. video or a professor’s recent book?

The goal here is to focus less on “what went wrong” prematurely and more on how you can help your prospects make a decision. With a different approach, you may be surprised at how much action you can spur, pulling them through the murky waters of the middle funnel and down to the bottom where you’re ready for them.

Marketing Team

You’ve done your job. You’ve developed a marketing strategy, your advertising is filling admissions events, you’re tracking activity on your dashboard, and you’re seeing an uptick in YOY leads. So why are applications down? Here’s where the questions begin:

How is admissions following up with the leads I generated for them?

What is happening at admissions events if no one is applying?

Do I need to ask for more advertising budget?

What is the competition doing that we’re not?

All of these things (and more) are valid, however, consider asking these questions about your prospects, instead: