Best Practices in the Promotion and Marketing of Online Programs

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Agenda for Online
Program Marketing
Marketing Model for Online Sales
Types of Online Programs
Creating Landing Pages that Convert
Segmentation for Follow-up
Email Drip Marketing to Close the Sale
Market with a Memory for Future Sales

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Use Two-Step Marketing to Convert
Prospects into Inquiries and Inquiries
into Customers
Clients
Customers
Inquiries/Leads
Prospects
Suspects

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Types of Online Programs
Webinars
Individual Online Courses
Certificate Programs (credit or non-credit)
Undergraduate Degrees
Graduate Degrees

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Think of Your Landing Page
as a Funnel

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Landing Page Stats
It‟s estimated that up to 50% of visitors to landing
pages will bail in the first 8 seconds
Average landing page conversion rate is around 2 to
5%
How do you increase landing page conversions?

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How to Increase conversions at
Your Landing Page
1. Make sure you articulate what the visitor is going
to get - Perhaps it is a copy of your new catalog or
a promotional brochure
2. Have bullet points - that provide information
making the page easier to scan, highlighting the
important details
3. Tell the visitor - how the they are going to receive
the requested information

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How to Increase Conversions
at Your Landing Page
4. Typography should be hierarchical - so the eye
can quickly pick out what elements of the page
are most important
5. The CTA is clearly positioned and concise - keep
barriers to entry low; making it more likely the
user will complete sign-up

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6. Social Media Sharing - if these links distract users
from the process of signing up, you‟re damaging
the effectiveness of your page
7. Copy - does it focused on the organization and
not the user? Don‟t „we-we‟
8. Self-serving copy is a turn-off for users - Make
sure you tell users how they will benefit to ensure
a positive response (WIFM)

Have Copy that Appeals to
All Communication Styles
ANALYTICAL DRIVER
AMIABLE EXPRESSIVE
LOW RESPONSEL
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HIGH RESPONSE

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9. Mandatory and non-mandatory information -
make sure it is clear what the minimum
requirements are when completing the form
10. Limit the number of requested “fields of
information” on the landing page
11. Have a call to action that - “Get updates on
future webcasts” rather than the generic and
intimidating “Sign Up”

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12. Multiple Sign-up buttons - having buttons at the
top and the bottom of the page means the CTA is
always available, whether the user reads all the
supporting information or not
13. For Long Landing Pages - where the top of the
page disappears when you scroll, having multiple
buttons is a must

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14. Sample content preview on whitepapers - will
help the users to gauge the usefulness and make
the page more engaging
15. Good Video - Studies from eyeviewdigital.com
report up to 80% improvements in conversion

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16. A Side Benefit - is properly optimized video can
be 53 times more likely to reach the front page of
Google search results
17. You may have a progress indicator form - that
lets visitor know there are 3 steps and where
they are in the process

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19. Have a Nice Mix of Bullet Points - coupled with
detailed descriptions for those who need to dig
deeper
20. Sweepstakes - such as a the free prize giveaway
as an add-on will lift conversions

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Use the Four (4) Great Motivators:
Fear, Guilt, Greed, Exclusivity
You may not get into the program
Don‟t you owe it to your family
Bottom-line gains from taking the program
Enrollment is limited to „First come, First serve‟

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Greed…One of the Four Great
Copy Motivators

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21. Newsletters - are great way to engage prospects
22. White Papers - are the granddaddy of content
used to create conversions
23. Use Ebooks - as an incentive when you ask for a
lot of information

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Know Your Data Base & Allocate
Follow-up Accordingly
High Recency Low
MonetaryValue/Activity
High
Low

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Following Up on Leads
Lead nurturing is the process of cultivating leads
not ready to buy
Leads are segmented based upon profile
characteristics
Nurturing keeps prospects engaged by using drip
marketing

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Following Up on Leads
Use progressive profiling where you incrementally
ask contacts for additional information
Contacts are much more likely to share information
about themselves during the first 24 hours they are
engaged with you
Remember: Prospects have probably contacted
several other providers

37
"Early impressions
are hard to eradicate
from the mind.“
-Saint Jérôme

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A Few Thoughts About
Recruitment….
There is no perfect recruitment model
Nearly every school or business has an opportunity
to do a better job in recruitment by following a
process
Personalization of even “canned emails” makes it a
bit better
How you recruit - or IF you recruit - is not a reflection
on how “good” you are

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A Few Thoughts About
Recruitment….
Technology - depending on the level of
complexity - is crucial
Even without technology some process can be
put in place
Process and accountability is what is lacking in
most recruitment shops

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Most Embarrassing….
The empty envelope
Wrong name
The goofed up phone message
Those who never followed up
The unexpected answered phone call
Duplicate emails

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Most Embarrassing….
Typos
Un-kept promises
The 30+ day wait time
The sense from our secret shopper many
institutions just weren‟t that interested in her

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Greatest Successes….
Emails from people (included names)
Offers to connect students to financial aid,
academic deans, and career services (For-
Profit)
Free webinars on navigating financial aid

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Greatest Successes….
Open house invites on finding your next job,
resume writing, and finances
Personal hand-written notes tucked in with a
mailed packet
Consistent process

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Current Process….
How is a lead handled?
Does it differ depending on the type of lead?
Is there a clear process and expectation (that is
written down) that all those following up on leads
uses?

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Nothing Happens by
Accident….
Process
Process
Process

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Recommended Process….
Build the relationship
Understand the motivation
Determine barriers
Evaluate their level of seriousness

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Present a customized picture of your product
Create urgency
Remove barriers – educate
Close the deal
Continue to recruit your current clients

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Build the relationship
Leverage key questions that allow you to
connect with the individual
People love to talk about themselves – let them
Identify and ask key questions

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Understand the motivation
New job
Success at work
Want my kids to be proud

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Determine barriers
Money
Time
Lack of support

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Evaluate their level of seriously
Have they considered this before
Does anyone know they are talking with you
Is there outside support (or motivation) for
your conversation with them

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Present a customized picture of your
product
Limit your information to what they have told
you they need to know
Leverage examples of others like them you
have helped
Use information from key questions

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Create urgency
Leverage motivations
Pull heart strings

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Remove barriers – educate
Road blocks are often larger to the person who
isn‟t sure what they really look like
Anticipate the obstacles that most of your
prospective clients face

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Close the deal
When a client is ready to buy there is no waiting
Continue to sell the choice they have made
Beware of buyers remorse
Be prepared to help them overcome the resistance
they will now face
Ask and leverage information from key questions

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Continue to recruit your current clients
There is no loyalty
People are savvy consumers and will not tolerate
poor treatment
Leverage what you know about your clients to re-
engage them and get them to re-invest over and
over with you

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Redefine Your Process….
“The way I‟ve always done it”
Moving from good to better…
Letting go of what is comfortable

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Redefine Your Process….
Challenging yourself to do what feels foreign
Pushing the envelope of your own success
Listening more – talking less
The importance of process

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Suggested Recruitment
Approach….
Adult inquires – Day 1
Personal connection (email, phone, personal note)
within 24 hours
Follow-up contact (call) – Day 6
Follow-up contact (email) – Day 10
Follow-up contact (email or call) – Day 21

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Suggested Recruitment
Approach….
Follow-up contact (maintenance) –
holiday/newsletter/special announcements

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Telephone Follow-Up to
Prospects
Pre-call Planning
Interest – Creating Opening Statements
Effective Questioning
Sales Recommendations

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Telephone Follow-Up to
Prospects
Getting Commitment (Closing)
Addressing Resistance (Objections)
Wrapping Up and Setting the Next Action
Attitude and Self-Motivation

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Following Up on Leads with
Email
Email open & click through rates are a good place to
start evaluating your engagement process.
The 'welcome to our organization' will be the most
important email you will send. Open rate is twice the
regular open rates. Make sure your include an
irresistible offer.
When inviting people to contact you, put a person
name and email address

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Following Up on Leads With
Email
Let the 'subject' line be the key benefit of your offer
Put the name of your organization along with your
name in the 'from line.‟ You could also include your
signature at the bottom of the email. Two signatures
out perform one signature.
Personalize the email by putting in the recipient's
first name. Personalize by mentioning something you
know about the reader. Essentially, market with a
memory.

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Email
Put several links to your website above the fold. Many
recipients preview your email without actually
opening it, so give recipients a chance to click-
through at the top. Statistics say as many as 75 - 85%
use only their reading pane.

66
Email
Use a number of eye-catching devices in your body
copy. For example, use bullets, bold type, along with
highlighting. Keep sentences to around 14 words.
Make sure you don‟t 'we we' on your customers.
Instead use lots of 'you' copy.

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Email
Use appropriate images to build credibility and
interest
Have a photograph of the faculty member and
let the email come from them
Use a banner at the top that picks up the theme
on your website
Make sure you have multiple 'calls for action‟

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Email
Include your unsubscribe link; and when people
click the link, ask them to complete a short
survey on why they are leaving your database
Your goal is to get ideas for reducing „opt outs‟
Optimize your emails for mobile viewing

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Email
Keep in mind that after the third email to the
same person, design loses its appeal. Therefore,
your email should be more text or copy intensive
for repetitive mailings to the same target
audience
As a rule, you should avoid Mondays and the first
day after holidays for your email marketing
Keep your emails to around four paragraphs
maximum

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Email
Delete hard bounces right away and soft
bounces that repeatedly say 'mailbox is full'...a
sign of an abandoned email address. Do not
delete temporary bounces
Segment future emails based on who has been
opening your emails during the last six months,
or year, and those who have never opened your
emails

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Email
Use a special emails to wake up dormant leads,
customers or addresses
Provide a 'we missed you offer' or 'an online
survey' with a completion incentive such as a
lottery drawing for a $500 Amazon gift
certificate.

Best Practices in the Promotion and Marketing of Online Programs

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