Hobsons Consulting discusses the impacts of the relationship management processes that schools can embrace to communicate with more relevance, meaning, and efficiency to connect with the right types of students and ultimately increase -- or at least maintain -- yield.

1. Optimizing the Student Recruitment
Experience
Carol Gersten, VP Consulting Services, Hobsons
Emily Meehan, Senior Consultant, Hobsons
Naviance Summer Institute July 2013

2. 2
About Us
! Carol Gersten, Vice President, Consulting
Services
- Over 20 years of experience in technology across a
variety of industries.
- Expertise in strategic consulting, governance and
enterprise implementations.
- 5 years with Hobsons
! Emily Meehan, Senior Consultant
- Over 12 years of experience in vendor and client-
side technology and marketing agency marketplace.
- Expertise in CRM implementation, relationship
marketing measurement.
- 3 years with Hobsons

3. 3
• Pre-Implementation Readiness
• Identification of Goals & Objectives
• Diagnostic of System Utilization
• Best Practices to Maximize ROI
System
Optimization
• Marketing and Communication Plan Strategy
• Data Analysis & Marketing Plan
Marketing
Optimization
CRM
Assessment
Consulting Areas of Focus

4. ! Agenda
• Enrollment Management Situational Overview
• Technology Approach for Institutions
• Marketing Approach for Institutions
• Discussion

5. What’s Happening Out There?
5

6. ! Decline in number of High
School Graduates from
2012 -2015.
! Population Shift to Adult,
Graduate, and Non-
traditional learners
- Now represents the majority
of enrolled students
- New Challenges!
Source: Ovum White Paper
6
Changing Demographics
“College enrollment in the spring-2013
term is down by 2.3 percent compared
to Spring 2012.”
— National Student Clearing House.
Spring 2013 Enrollment
* * * * *
“More than half the top 20 online
schools are experiencing flat or
declining [online] enrollment.”
— EDUVENTURES. Online Higher Ed
Market Update

7. ! Consumers responding to financial pressures by
choosing less expensive options
! Seeking education close to home
! Financial aid and student loans important
! Postponing or seeking community college option
7
Consumer Changes in Education
Planning
Longmire and Company. (2009). Report on the Impact of Economy on College
Enrollment [White paper]. Retrieved from http://www.semworks.net/white-papers.php

8. ! Top 12% of all colleges enroll
more than half the student
population
- 88% of schools compete for
46% of students
! For profit schools on the rise
! MOOC Madness
! Expanding overhead increasing
enrollment pressure
8
Competition

9. ! Stretched Budgets/Resources/Staff
! Limited Visibility: Lack of Data,
Access to Data, Decentralized
Data
! Strained Technical Resources/
Support
9
From your perspective….

10. Show of Hands, Please
• Currently using
a CRM?
• Consider the
project
complete or
live?
• Think you are
operating at full
potential?

11. - ~35% of institutions have
implemented CRM technology
- Concentrated in larger schools
and in Undergraduate
Admissions
BUT
- Many unsuccessful
- Void of CRM Services in Non-
Traditional and Graduate
Offices
11
Do You Have the Tools and the
Approach to Be Competitive?
Gartner predicts
that by 2013
institutions
without a CRM
will be at a
severe
competitive
disadvantage.

12. ! How Do You Know if You Are At Risk?
We have Identified 6 Red Flags…
4

13. 13
Technology First Approach
Don’t Just Throw Technology at the Problem

14. ! No Buy-In
! Configuration
Does Not Meet
Needs
! Lack of Training
! Lack of Support
14
User Adoption Challenges

15. 15
No Plan for Change Management
Gather
Requirements
& Set Goals
Configure &
Consult
Stakeholders
Test & Get
buy-In
Train &
Onboard
Evaluate &
Optimize

16. Data and Integration Issues
16

17. No Defined Objectives…
Discovery
Listening
Engaging
Reinforcing
Growth
Intelligence
EfficiencyQuality
17

18. Leads Projected Incr. Rev.
ROMI
Costs
ProspectsTotal Leads
Overall
GA
Tactic
DR
Online
Adv.
Channel/Source
Referral
Events
Lists
Q310 vs
Q4309
Total
Trend &
Status
Total
Trend &
Status
14,000 4,00010,000tbd
-/+ %
-/+%
-/+%
Application Stats
Actual
Trend &
Status
Apps
Goal
Incr.
Conv.
300 TBD
%
12%
Engaged Leads
Current +/-
Rep A
Prior
Rep B
Rep C
Lead Distribution
#
Program A
% of Total
Program B
Program C
Program D
Application Data
Program
Total
+/- Prior
Mo
Goal
YTD as of
12/10
Avg. Time to
Complete App
# Days % Other Metric Other Metric
PROGRAM
NAME
15%
Month
…Or Measurement Strategy
18

19. Where Are You Today?
Where Are You in the Magic Quadrant of Technology Success?
19
Integration Plan
Executive Support
DefinedObjectives&
MeasurementPlan
GovernanceStructure
System
Success
System
Failure

20. ! Technology: Check!
…So now what?
2
0

21. 21
What’s on your mind?
How is my marketing
performing?
Do we have a new program
needing message &
positioning guidance?
Are we employing best
practices and marketing
tactics?
How can I approach
automated
communication?

22. 22

23. 23
You Might Need…
Audit of
communication
practices
Quick wins
Using
Technology
Example
approaches for
reaching the
right audience
Marketing
ROI
Best practices
to take
enrollment
efforts to the
next level

24. ! Marketing Approach for Institutions
Who Should I Target?
2
4

25. 25
Analyze, Segment and Execute
Understand students’
demographic,
psychographic,
lifestyle trains, and
marketing habits !
Data
Segmentation
Marketing
Communications
Plan
Data
Analysis
Quantitative and
Qualitative
completed by team
of data analysts on
current or
prospective students!
Focus your
communication efforts
with well defined
tactics and
recommended touch
points!

26. Targeted Analytic Platform
26

27. This is a strategy grid of segments plotted according to how closely they match our
criteria (people who enrolled in Undergraduate or Associates degrees in computer-
related fields) and how large of a sample size they represent. Segments resting in the
upper right quadrant are considered to be ideal targets as they index higher than 100
and are part of a large sample size.
% Comp:
Amount of targets within each group of segments;
Left of line = smaller sample
Right of line = larger sample
Index:
An indication of likelihood to
enroll
Above line = good target
Below line = bad target
Segments:
Groups of population who possess like
demographic and behavioral traits
27

28. 28
Bringing To Life Top Tier Prospects
Tier 1 Current Student –
Segment 3 “Midlife Success”
Age: 44
HH Income: $122,000
Children: Yes
Neighborhood: Greater City Suburbs
Cost of Living: Low
Marital Status: Single, Never Married
Life Stage: Mid-level Management
Other: Homeowner
Listens to Hot Adult Contemporary 7 days a week
Very likely to have shopped online more than 3
times in the last week
In the last month has visited LinkedIn,Amazon.com,
YouTube, CNN, ESPN.com,Weather.com, and
several coupon sites more than 6 times.
In the last 30 days has done online research for
education programs and considers his internet
info-gathering to be ‘Far Above Average’.
Segment 3:
3.98% of US HH Pop
~4.6M US HH
Psychographic & Behavioral

29. Ideal
Channels
Multiple touch
points
Internet; e-mail;
print; radio.
Sample
Messaging
Must show
value to
investment.
Must sell them
on future career
opportunities
Target Audience Profiles
29

30. ! Marketing Approach for Institutions
How Should I Reach My Target
Audience?

31. 31
Our Approach
Events/
WOM
Display
Advertising
Paid
Search
Social
Media
Marketing
Email
Marketing
GRE/
TOEFL
Partner
Network

32. Drive Interest to Conversion
32

33. ! Positioning
- No scrolling down
! Links off the page
- Don’t let them leave BEFORE the fill out the form!
! Length
- What’s the right balance?
! Fields
- What’s the minimum amount of information you can
ask without losing them?
! Call To Action
Convert Leads with Landing Page
Best Practices

34. Coordinate Lead Cultivation Efforts
INQUIRY
RESPONSE
DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 4 DAY 15 DAY 25 ONGOING
• Email auto
response
• Personal
email from
counselor
• Calls:
continue
over 8
days until
contact
• Print:
Viewbook/
letter
• Email:
Engage
with us!
• Email
Drip:
Events/
Engage
• Email
Drip:
Ongoing
every 30
days
34

35. ! Communication Plans
! Fixed Date Communications
! Rolling Date Communications
! Behavior Based Communications
! Automation
! Variety of messages and calls to action
35
Identify the Type of
Communication Needed

36. ! Is there campus-wide visibility into all
communication? Is there overlap?
! Are there clear calls to action?
! Are your messages personalized?
! Is your message being received?
! Are you responding to your audience
- Explicit communications
- Implicit behaviors
36
Manage Your Message

37. ! Measuring Performance
3
7

38. Leads Projected Incr. Rev.
ROMI
Costs
ProspectsTotal Leads
Overall
GA
Tactic
DR
Online
Adv.
Channel/Source
Referral
Events
Lists
Q310 vs
Q4309
Total
Trend &
Status
Total
Trend &
Status
14,000 4,00010,000tbd
-/+ %
-/+%
-/+%
Application Stats
Actual
Trend &
Status
Apps
Goal
Incr.
Conv.
300 TBD
%
12%
Engaged Leads
Current +/-
Rep A
Prior
Rep B
Rep C
Lead Distribution
#
Program A
% of Total
Program B
Program C
Program D
Application Data
Program
Total
+/- Prior
Mo
Goal
YTD as of
12/10
Avg. Time to
Complete App
# Days % Other Metric Other Metric
PROGRAM
NAME
15%
Month
Measurement is Key
38

39. Technology ROI:
Two Sides of Measurement
39
Qualitative
• Governance
Model
• Process
Improvements
• Being accessible
and relevant to
all stakeholders
Quantitative
• Capturing all
interactions
• Reporting
• Pervasive
System Adoption
• Change
Management

40. 40
Qualitative
• Brand
Awareness
• Relevant and
responsive
• Accessible to
students
Quantitative
• # Qualified
Leads
• Feedback from
counselors
• CPC/CPO/CPL
• Data analytics
Marketing ROI:
Two Sides of Measurement

41. 41
Plan for Continuous Management
Gather
Requirements
& Set Goals
Configure &
Consult
Stakeholders
Test & Get
buy-In
Train &
Onboard
Evaluate &
Optimize

42. 1) Do I have the tools to help me accomplish my
enrollment goals?
2) Am I implementing and managing the tools with
enough people, planning and process to be
successful?
3) Do I know who the right prospective students are for
my program/institution?
4) Do I know how I can reach my prospective students?
5) Can I observe the results of my efforts and modify
accordingly?
42
Key Success Factors for Successful
Student Recruitment

43. Thank You!
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