Insights from the Higher Ed Experts

BY Anthony Campisi | April 3rd, 2019

Your prospects have stopped engaging. Now what?

It’s crunch time. You’re finishing your final round of admissions events for the year. Your class is starting to round itself out, but you’ve still got those final seats to fill. You’re looking at each and every lead in your funnel, trying to predict which ones will take action.

If you’re like many schools, you’ve got a group of stagnant leads that you’re wondering about. Did they decide to pursue another program/school/path and forgot to let you know? Or is it possible that they may emerge from the black hole of grad school prospects and raise their hands, magically giving you that last push across the finish line of filling your class.

Stagnant leads are tricky for many reasons. Here are a few ideas on what to do with them.

Consider the decision timeline for your program

Some programs like MAcc or MSF, have an immediate decision cycle because students are coming straight out of undergrad. If you haven’t heard from them after a year, it may be time to purge them. With an MBA, the prospects could take up to 1-2 years as they are early in their careers and trying to figure out how to move up or switch directions. For an executive program such as an EMBA, it’s important to give prospects the time they need for their decision because they are weighing (already successful) careers and families to find the right time to weave school into their busy lives. Of course, you want to be sure that your messages aren’t falling on deaf ears, but giving them the time they need, even if it’s up to 5 years, may be necessary.

Audit your current communications mix

Within your current channels, is your messaging getting tired? It may be time to try something new. If an audit of your ads/emails/social/etc. reveals low response rates, get creative with your content. Are you only promoting events? Try some value added content like infographics or videos. Are you tirelessly pushing for applications, with no submissions? Try hosting an informal webinar. Other enticing information can be high profile alumni profiles or student stories. If you’ve tried these things to no avail, it may be time to develop or evolve your digital strategy.

Cater to your target and their communications preferences

You’ve heard the buzzwords surrounding multi-generational workforces. Catering your messaging to prospects with different mindsets – even if you’re inviting them to the same event – can work to your advantage. Here are a few ideas on communicating to different generations:

Boomers – prefer face-to-face interaction but also like a balance of voicemail and email
GenX – prefer succinct email, but since they strive for work-life balance, prefer business communications during working hours
Millennials – prefer all forms of online communication, but need prompt feedback

Of course, these are broad generalizations. If you’re having trouble connecting with a particular age group, do some research on their communication preferences.

Vary your calls to action

Get creative. If you’re seeing some engagement, i.e. they opened the email but didn’t click, consider what you’re asking them to do. Is it too tall of an order to request that they start an application in an email if they haven’t attended an event yet? Is it possible that something is holding them back from attending an event and perhaps they’d like to connect on the phone first? Try being flexible and varying your calls to action and see what happens.

Ask them if they’d like to opt out

“No way!” may be what you’re thinking. But consider this…how many emails do you get in your inbox per day? How many online ads or social media posts do you see per day? People are overloaded. Couldn’t everyone benefit from a little less noise? A short email to prospects who’ve been stagnant may actually spur the action you want as they say, “I’ve been watching from the sidelines for too long and now it’s time for me to act!”

Insights from the Higher Ed Experts

BY Anthony Campisi | March 15th, 2019

Why your local marketing agency won’t help you meet your enrollment goals.

There’s a firm in town that’s been reaching out. They’re really nice, and have a great website. Some of the other departments are using them and seem to like them. Sounds like a no-brainer for your graduate program’s needs, right?

Unfortunately not, and this is a very common mistake. Further, it holds especially true if the program was looking for qualified lead generation that could be directly associated with enrollment, and not simply a brand advertising campaign.

So why is the local agency the wrong choice? It’s not because they’re local, but because they’re generalists. Of course they’ll tell you that their marketing expertise can be applied across industries, and is transferrable. And even show you successful examples of that. But this is different, graduate program marketing and recruitment is a unique animal. The consumers are savvy, they’re difficult to pinpoint and connect with, and the decision making cycle can be lengthy before they choose to enroll.

Contending with very specific personas which require unique messages is another challenge. Like veterans, stay-at-home-moms looking to return to the workforce, future entrepreneurs, those looking to change careers, and the more typical professional looking to advance their career or add to their skill sets.

Industry experience, mastery of lead generation channels, and highly capable measurement platforms for optimization and match back ROI are some of the most important factors you should consider when hiring support. Graduate programs do not have the luxury of gambling with their marketing budgets – they need as close to a sure thing as they can find.

I recently talked to an MBA program that chose a local firm 9 months ago because their colleagues were using them. Now that program director is panicking because she’s at risk of having her marketing budget cut by her superior. Why, because though the firm got them exposure, and they received a lot of clicks, and some leads, applications are down and the enrollment window is quickly closing. She shared that her boss was convinced, as a result of the previous efforts, that digital marketing doesn’t work for their program and that there’s less demand for MBA programs. That’s exactly the opposite of what we’re seeing across our clients. But then again that comes from highly specialized experience, exposure to programs across the entire country, and a data warehouse full of patterns highlighting the path to enrollment success.

Insights from the Higher Ed Experts

BY Anthony Campisi | January 30th, 2019

How EMBA Prospects Choose Their Future Programs

The decision-making process for a prospect to enroll in an Executive MBA program is painfully long. Statistics show that this process can take up to two years. So what can you do to speed up the process? Develop — and implement — a pull-through digital enrollment marketing strategy.

Audience Targeting

Audience targeting is a key component of any successful marketing strategy, online or offline. Don’t throw a wide net; targeting will produce better results. Why? Because you will be delivering relevant content. If you bid on keywords that are too broad, you may be wasting your online advertising dollars. To promote a Healthcare EMBA program, for instance, both the keywords and the ad messaging must be specific. Otherwise, you may receive a great number of leads but not quality leads. Quality leads are more engaged in your EMBA program and, therefore, more likely to commit sooner.

Timing

Timing is everything. While you want your online ads to appear prior to your program deadlines, you also want prospects to see them at key stages in their decision-making process. Keep in mind that, although these two timelines may intersect at certain points, the overlap may be minimal. That’s why you should schedule ads throughout the calendar year, not just based on the academic calendar.

So what are some of the stages that prospects will go through on their path to enrolling? Here are a few common stages:

Considering an EMBA
Deciding what type of EMBA program
Seeking information
Applying
Enrolling

Reasons Why a Prospect Stalls

Just because you get a prospect into the funnel, that doesn’t mean it will be smooth sailing. Bottlenecks can pop up anywhere:

Cost of the program
Concerns regarding work-life balance
Questioning ROI of EMBA degree

Offering Incentives

Your program positioning and digital marketing strategy must address and overcome these and other obstacles. You can kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, by offering incentives for early enrollment.

First, financial incentives will help to bring down the overall cost of an EMBA. Second, incentives can help shorten the decision-making process.

What kinds of incentives can you offer? That depends on your program’s pricing and operations budget. Some programs offer scholarships, waive application or GMAT fees (some programs waive the GMAT altogether), or pay for textbooks. Other programs offer incentives to specific groups, such as military veterans.

If you find that work-life balance is an issue for prospects, take a look at your program format. EMBA programs must be willing to rethink traditional models in order to appeal to professionals with limited bandwidth. Programs with flexible scheduling will have an advantage over those with rigid formats and may prompt commitments earlier in the decision-making process.

Your digital marketing strategy must demonstrate program ROI. How? Include testimonials on ROI from current students and alumni. If favorable, compare your tuition to that of other EMBA programs. Survey your alumni to find out how they moved up the career ladder (and how quickly) and how much their salaries increased post-graduation. Collect stats, and then use them to your advantage.

Digital enrollment marketing is more than just “setting and forgetting” a search engine marketing (SEM) campaign. Your strategy should be made up of many components: keyword optimization, banner and search ads, landing pages, search engine optimized (SEO) web content, social media advertising, retargeting campaigns and more. Your online campaign also should be consistent in visuals and messaging with offline marketing.

Don’t forget to monitor your campaigns. Tracking results will reveal which components worked best, and which fell flat. Then tweak your campaigns for optimal results.

A coordinated, consistent, ongoing marketing effort will produce the best results and, ultimately, shorten the prospect’s decision-making timeline.

Insights from the Higher Ed Experts

BY Anthony Campisi | January 22nd, 2019

An Open Letter To Graduate Level Administrators And Deans

INTRODUCING A STRATEGIC PARTNER TO HELP MAXIMIZE YOUR CURRENT MARKETING, RECRUITMENT AND ENROLLMENT RESOURCES.GPRS

Each year, do you wonder how you’re going to fill your cohorts and hit your net tuition revenue goals? Have you been watching online programs and competitors syphon off what was once a reliable channel for new students? Is your current marketing budget not providing the return on investment it once did?GPRS

You’re not alone.

The market has been changing and it’s brought with it a multitude of challenges unique to Graduate Programs. Instead of competing with the few colleges in your region, you’re now locked in battle with schools both locally, and online. The marketing and lead generation tactics that have been a mainstay in higher ed are becoming more difficult to justify with the ever-increasing costs and the lack of strategic thought provided by most vendors. With the shrinking pool of candidates, and fewer employers footing the bill, it’s difficult to know how to navigate this new landscape and hit your graduate enrollment goals.

Over the past 17 years, I’ve had the privilege of working with over 100 graduate programs at my marketing firm, Annodyne, and saw this challenge first hand. While there was no shortage of companies offering tactical lead generation services, marketing, and enrollment management, very few were able to step in as a strategic partner and consult with in-house teams so they would be better equipped to handle this challenge. In talking to Deans of graduate programs across the country, I realized this was a real problem and one that wasn’t being addressed by traditional providers. This has led me to our new venture, Graduate Program Recruitment Solutions, or GPRS.

I started GPRS because I believe there is a gap in the marketplace; one that after nearly two decades of providing measured results to graduate programs, we are uniquely qualified to fill.

So what does this all mean for your graduate programs? Well, it means you can exponentially improve your ROI by keeping your in-house marketing team or your current marketing agency. How? By utilizing our team of highly-experienced higher education business leaders as subject matter experts (SMEs) to provide strategic insight, guidance, staff augmentation services, and tactical advice on your marketing, lead generation, and enrollment strategies. You don’t need more people selling you the latest media platforms, technologies, and trends. You need help making the most out of the resources you’ve already committed to, and that is where GPRS can help.

Of course, what’s our advice, strategy, and tactics without being able to measure the outcomes? That is why we provide our clients a way to measure every interaction with every marketing campaign – to track inquiries back to not just an email, or an ad, but going beyond that to granular data points related to imagery, messaging and ad size. That is where the true value of GPRS is realized – seeing a direct line from your dollars spent in marketing to your dollars earned in tuition revenue.

We know that this market is challenging, and we know that you and your team are dealing with issues you never could have anticipated ten or even five years ago. We know because we’ve been there and we are ready to help.

To learn more about GPRS and our solutions, please visit www.gprsolutions.org. Or better yet, reach out to me personally at 215.769.9900 x202 and we can talk you through how GPRS can help you and your team get ready for the next enrollment deadline.

Insights from the Higher Ed Experts

BY Anthony Campisi | December 12th, 2018

How to Make Your EMBA Program Stand Out

Many words come to mind when describing an Executive MBA program:

Transformational
Experiential
Leadership
Elite
Incomparable
Potential
Advancement

Do these words describe your Executive MBA program? It’s likely they do, and they can also be used to describe most EMBA programs. Herein lies the problem. Most EMBA programs look and sound the same. How is a prospective student expected to distinguish between your program and that of your competitors?

What is your unique selling proposition?

Let’s start with your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). A USP is the reason why you are better than the competition. It can include things like price, values, and curriculum. Think of your EMBA program as a product. What is your unique selling proposition (USP)?

What is your USP?

Exceptional ROI. Is your EMBA program the least expensive in your city? region? state? the nation?
Fabulous faculty. Are your faculty members noted for their research or publications? Have they received awards? Do they have industry experience? Students want to learn from those who’ve “been in the trenches,” so to speak.
Innovative curriculum. Most EMBA programs cover business fundamentals. But what types of electives are available? Do you offer specializations in or tracks according to areas of interest?
Impressive cohort. Is the caliber of your cohorts head and shoulders above the rest? EMBA students learn from each other as well as from their professors. This could be a big selling point.
Brand equity. Is your program ranked? Does it have exclusive accreditation? Is it part of a business school that is ranked or widely acclaimed? Is it part of a prestigious college or university? It’s OK to piggyback on the brand of your parent organization.
Program format. Many schools tailor their program schedules to meet the needs of working professionals. Is there anything about your program that is especially flexible? Do you offer a hybrid of learning environments or formats?
Leadership development. Do you go above and beyond basic executive coaching? Do you go the extra mile when it comes to careers and placements? Do you take leadership development to the next level? What about executive education?
Global reach. Does your EMBA program have an international component? If so, how does it differ from all the rest?
Alumni network. This extends the value of your program beyond graduation. Where are your alumni now? We’re talking both geographically and in terms of positions at their respective companies. You might just find a trend to capitalize on, such as a track record of success in a particular industry.
Another way you can distinguish yourself is through your Think about foregoing the traditional students-in-classroom imagery and use an image totally unrelated to academia. This will make your ads eye-catching, which is the first goal of any ad. Your messaging, however, will still resonate with your audience.

If you’ve read the above bullet points and still are scratching your head over how your EMBA program stands out, this could be a wake-up call. Perhaps you need to revisit one or more elements and adjust them to make your program more enticing to prospective students.