Insights from the Higher Ed Experts

BY Anthony Campisi | June 30th, 2022

New and unique ways to market your program

As you are beginning to plan for your next recruiting year, it’s likely that you’ll be evaluating data surrounding the tactics that worked — and those that didn’t. While it may be tempting to put your marketing plan on autopilot and use past strategies to bring in leads, it may be worth it to try new and unique ways to market your program — especially these days!

Below is a roundup of a few unique ways higher ed institutions can market their programs. You might even notice a few of your competitors using these to stand out in the market. Don’t hesitate to take the first step to innovate and test new ideas — you may even see a big payoff!

Adding podcasts to your digital asset mix — and how to leverage them

You don’t have the be intimidated by podcasts. In fact, creating them and leveraging them may be easier than you think. Giving your students multiple ways to connect with your brand can benefit your school. Podcasts can be crucial to your media mix because they are personal and emotional, easy and inexpensive to produce, evergreen, accessible and convenient, and unique and engaging. Once you’re ready to brave the waters and try something new with a podcast, here’s how to get started.

Embracing the digital video advertising trend for your school

Although video advertising can work for any company in any industry, it’s becoming imperative in the higher ed world because of the personal scale connection required for large buying decisions like a degree. Video ads are shorter and more succinct than the traditional 3-5 minute video you have on your website or YouTube channel about your program, the benefits of your school, or a testimonial from a professor or student. If your school is considering embracing the video ad trend, here are a few secrets to help you succeed.

Leveraging alumni stories to boost your digital strategy

Every graduate program claims to have rigorous academics, highly regarded faculty, and fantastic employment or advancement opportunities. How do you prove that your institution is worth the investment and that students can anticipate the success they’re seeking? This is where alumni stories come in. Your school’s brand identity is shaped by how you tell your story. Profiling alumni can be one of the most powerful forms of storytelling. Learn how you can use these stories and their content to boost your digital strategy.

Are the latest social platforms a fit for your school?

When you are using social media to complement your marketing and communications plan, a high viewership is almost always guaranteed. However, with any marketing tactic, the key is to make sure that your content is reaching the target demographic with the right message at the right time. You may have heard your peers in higher ed or your digital agency talking about advertising on Spotify, Pandora, Reddit, Pinterest or even TikTok. But how do you know which platforms are right for your school, and whether or not they will help you achieve your recruiting and enrollment goals? Read on for some tips about selecting the best social media for your goals.

Need help?

If you’re interested in learning more about how these and other tactics and strategies can fit into your school’s marketing and recruiting strategy, GPRS can help. Contact us today to start the conversation.

Insights from the Higher Ed Experts

BY Techteam | June 21st, 2022

Discover How TCU Leveraged Persona Development for Success

Challenge

Despite rising global and national rankings, high alumni engagement, and a strong faculty presence, TCU Neeley faced a dip in enrollment due to fierce competition and resource limitations. A cost-effective solution was needed to sustain its personalized recruiting approach.

Solution

GPRS conducted a comprehensive audit, including interviews with alumni and students, to develop five distinct personas representing the ideal EMBA candidates through our Persona Development services. This allowed TCU to implement a segmented remarketing strategy and targeted email campaigns. Additionally, these personas were integrated into the curriculum to ensure the program met each student’s expected ROI, with specialized executive coaches and tailored learning tracks.

Results

With GPRS’ Persona Development services, as well as lead generation solution, the TCU Neeley Executive MBA Program increased the number of leads by 300% after just three months. In the second year, the program surpassed its diversity goals by enrolling a cohort with 31% female students and 50% from ethnically diverse backgrounds. Furthermore, the EMBA program ascended to #13 in The Economist global rankings and was rated #5 in program quality.

increase in leads generated

of the Class of 2022 was ethnically diverse

Insights from the Higher Ed Experts

BY Techteam | June 20th, 2022

The Harbert College of Business at Auburn University scratched its way to steady enrollment during the pandemic

Challenge

Like many graduate business programs. the Harbert College of Business at Auburn University was faced with the daunting task of maintaining enrollment during the pandemic. To make the task even more challenging, Auburn had 3 graduate business programs — Real Estate Development, Executive MBA, and Physicians Executive MBA — that needed to sustain enrollment.

Solution

We have enjoyed a strong and long-standing partnership with the Harbert College of Business. Our history together positioned us well to tackle the challenge presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. We leveraged the following advantages:

We leveraged data collected over the first 5 years of our partnership to determine how we could adapt our marketing strategy in response to the changing marketplace
We understood the program and student needs well and thus empowered us to market the program as if we are part of the team
We helped Auburn improve the recruitment experience for prospective students and staff

Results

With these advantages and our experience in lead generation, we increased the number of leads for the three programs by 8%. These leads resulted in enrolled students that yielded $5.3M in revenue for the Harbert College of Business.

To maintain these outstanding results, Auburn has decided to use our curated library of Nurture Campaigns to engage leads generated by our digital marketing campaigns. The objective is to maintain contact with prospective students throughout the application process. In doing so, the prospective students are more informed and encouraged to continue the application process. Furthermore, the admissions team increases their reach and connections with prospective students without investing more time and resources.

Number of years in partnership

$0.0M

Tuition revenue generated from GPRS leads

Insights from the Higher Ed Experts

BY Techteam | June 19th, 2022

The Zicklin School of Business Restores its Confidence in the Path Forward

Challenge

The Baruch College Zicklin School of Business needed to address shrinking enrollment for its Executive Programs, partially due to the market starting to view such programs as a “luxury”, and also based on the hyper-competitive New York City market.

The truth for Zicklin: Enrollment levels were insufficient for profitability, putting the sustainability of some of their programs at risk.

“We needed a firm to help us navigate that reality and work in tandem with us to make sure we were doing the best we could,” said Tricillia Jacob, Sr. Director of Administration & Operations of Executive Programs at Baruch Zicklin.

Solution

GPRS partnered with Zicklin, performing an in-depth Enrollment Growth Assessment designed to “diagnose” the cause of a school’s specific challenges.

The assessment began with an extensive questionnaire, and later included in-depth interviews with key stakeholders and a number of working sessions to prioritize goals and ideal outcomes.

“With the diagnostic, GPRS outlined recommended next steps – each action item regarding marketing and recruiting made sense to us,” said Gwen Webb, Associate Dean of Executive Programs at Baruch Zicklin.

Baruch needed to better track initial inquiries through to application, get a solid understanding of sources for leads, and track leads through the process.

In addition to long-term recommendations, the comprehensive report “identified some key areas that we could tackle right away,” said Jacob.

The assessment identified stalled leads as a key area to address immediately. GPRS stepped in with an immediate and impactful solution.

GPRS used the knowledge gathered from the assessment to implement its Call Center solutions to help Zicklin connect with interested prospects who were “stuck” in the funnel. The call center augmented Zicklin’s staff and gave prospects the personal touch needed to convert an inquiry into an enrolled student.

Results

In just a four-week period, the GPRS call center initiative re-engaged stalled prospects and set 162 appointments for Zicklin’s admissions teams.

GPRS’s assessment and calling solution not only increased short-term enrollment but also positioned Baruch on a path toward sustained growth and profitability, forging a lasting partnership.

“I want to keep GPRS to myself so they make me look better!” said Jacob. “I’m looking forward to working with them long-term.”

Weeks in the Campaign

Appointments Set for the Admissions Team

Insights from the Higher Ed Experts

BY Anthony Campisi | June 16th, 2022

Making the case for specializations to prospective students

Specializations can make your program more attractive to prospective students, especially if they are positioned and explained well. The key is to not only focus on the features of your specializations but also the benefits for the students. In other words — your marketing needs to spell out the “why” for them because adding a specialization takes extra time and focus. Beyond a generalized MBA that will certainly give them a leg up on the competition and a springboard to career advancement, what can a specialization add to their toolkit?

Here we have a few ideas on positioning specializations to prospects to convey the value.

Focus on their career path

The value of an MBA is clear – students will emerge stronger business leaders with a broader business perspective and able to tackle complex issues. Where a specialization becomes valuable depends on the student’s intended career path. If a student has a defined focus in a certain industry (like tech), a specific functional area (like marketing), or has the desire to pursue a unique path (like international business), a specialization can enhance their marketability. It’s important to frame your specializations to match up with your prospects’ career desires. For those that are extremely driven and focused, specialization can be a huge selling point as it will allow them to dive deeper into their intended area of interest and position themselves amongst their peers.

Focus on what employers want

A commitment to a certain skillset or industry may be seen as invaluable to employers and may make job candidates even more desirable. In today’s economy, anything candidates can do to upskill shows ambition and commitment to go the extra mile. When you are marketing specializations to prospects, make sure you focus on why future employers will find their specialized skillsets valuable:

In some industries and roles, specialists are seen as more desirable than generalists
Employees with specializations are often seen as loyal and dedicated to their craft
A specialization may increase your propensity for being an innovative leader, especially if the professors who teach the courses are leaders in their fields
Some jobs require extra certifications for candidacy

Focus on the value of added certifications

If your specialization offers an additional certification, be sure to tie in the value prospects will gain with the additional credential. For example, some specializations offer training for and/or the ability to earn an additional certification in a selected career path:

Finance: Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
Accounting: Certified Public Accountant (CPA); Certified Management Accountant (CMA)
Technology: Statistical Analysis System Certified (SAS)
Human Resources: Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI)
Marketing or Operations: Project Management Professional (PMP)

Additionally, if your healthcare specialization is taught by a policy leader or a top-ranked physician, or it includes in-person immersions, highlight those. If your HR specialization includes a certification from an organization that would otherwise cost an additional fee, be sure to include that in your messaging. If your strategy specialization includes working with a real client company to solve a business challenge, find ways to tell that story.

Many of these certifications are nationally and internationally recognized so adding them to a resume proves candidates have received in-depth training from top instructors in a certain field. In fact, some employers require specific certifications for certain roles — and having them can even boost salary.

Need help?

If you need help crafting a campaign around MBA specializations, GPRS can help. With over 20 years of experience working in the higher education industry, we are skilled at customizing your message for your unique audience to increase enrollment. Contact us today to start the conversation.