Let’s Get Personal! Ways to Harness Your Data to Improve Personalization

Let’s Get Personal! Ways to Harness Your Data to

Improve Personalization

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About Us: Jane Raley

! Jane Raley, Director of Enrollment Management Operations - Over 30 years in Admissions and

Enrollment Management - Experience recruiting undergraduate,

graduate, adult degree completion and online students

- Skilled in managing and implementing admissions and CRM systems

Favorite Leisure Time Media Source:

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About Us: Emily Meehan

! Emily Meehan, CRM Strategy Consultant - Over 12 years of experience in

vendor and client-side technology and marketing analytics

- Expertise in CRM implementation, database marketing, relationship marketing best practices

- 3 years with Hobsons

Favorite Leisure Time Media Source:

! The “What” and “Why” of Personalization ! Driving Relevance in Recruitment

Communications: Buyer Personas ! Focus on Lesley University ! Integrating Personalization Into Your

Recruitment Efforts

Agenda

What is Personalization?

From searchcrm.techtarget:

“Personalization is a means of meeting the customer's needs more effectively and efficiently, making interactions faster and easier and, consequently, increasing customer satisfaction and the likelihood of repeat visits.”

Why Are We Talking About Personalization?

Across 2013 and 2014, output of content per brand increased 78%, while content engagement decreased 60% Track Maven Content Paradox – 2015

43% of professionally marketed blog posts receive fewer than 10 interactions Track Maven Content Paradox - 2015

Why Are We Talking About Personalization?

75% of consumers say they prefer personalized offers Aberdeen Group 2015

Personalized emails generate up to six times higher revenue per email than non-personalized emails. Experian Marketing Services' 2013 Study

“96% of consumers acknowledge having received mistargeted promotional information. 94% have taken steps to break off their relationship with the brand or service, including automatically deleting emails (68%) and unsubscribing from lists (54%).” Source: Print in the Mix and MarketingProfs

! Open ended question posted on College Confidential May 2015:

! 80 Open-Ended Responses ! Respondents Included:

-  Parents of prospective students, -  Prospective Students -  Current Students

What Students Say About Your Communications

“From time to time we like to check in with our members to see how the college preparation process is going ... Tell us about the communications you're receiving from colleges. What do you like? What should they be doing more of? What should they stop doing?”

! Personal Touch, Standing Out, Visual Communications

What They Like…

5%

5%

5%

7%

10%

15%

17%

17%

20%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

Accurate financial tools

Likeley letters

Active Social Presence

Good website navigation

Personal Outreach

Free application

Promotions/Giveaways/Freebies

Personalized acceptance letters

Print mailers with strong imagery

Most Positive Feedback About College Communication

Likely

“I like it when schools send shirts or puzzles or toys. Just adds a human touch to the college admissions process that seems to be cutthroat and nerve-racking as can be. Even making an illusion of humanness in the process does a lot to ameliorate stress.”

! Communications are overly generic, irrelevant, untargeted, too frequent, and inaccurate

What They Don’t Like…

5%

7%

7%

9%

14%

58%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Information Delays/Responses

Auto Phone calls

Fees

Lack of Guidance Counselor Support

Poor Website Nav and Info

Spamming of print and email

Top Complaints About College Communications

“I understand that [SCHOOL NAME] is a large school and they aren't able to personalize anything, but it was really annoying. They also sent me materials telling me to look at things online that didn't exist. They sent me emails telling me to do things, and then the website wouldn't work.”

! Personalized outreach received the most requests ! Opportunities to get on campus; truthfulness; important

deadline information

What They Want More Of….

3%

3%

3%

3%

6%

9%

9%

12%

18%

33%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Younger Alums Contact

More Contact Preferences

Fully Digitized Process

Outreach to Transfers

Post-Applicaton Communication

Important Deadline Info

Financial Information Earlier in Process

Honesty/Truthfulness in School Culture/Claims

Opps College Tours/Info Sessions/Visits

Personalized Mailing Based on Interests, Current Data

Top Requests for College Communication

! Marketers striving to interact with customers and deliver meaningful and highly engaging customer experiences.

! Consider other major consumer brands engaging your target audience.

! What sort of investment are they asking for in a Coke? Burrito? Coffee?

! YOU need an investment of $92,000 – $184,000.

Marketers are Responding …And So Should You

85% of marketers report that understanding buyers is their #1 priority over next 2 years ITSMA

! Think there’s an engagement experience gap??

Driving Relevance in Recruitment Communications:

The Buyer Persona

! “An archetype or composite picture of the real people who buy, or might buy, products like the one you sell.”

•  The Buyer Persona Manifesto

! Answers the question: Who is My Ideal Customer? ! For our purposes: Who is My Ideal

Student?

What is a “Buyer Persona?”

Ideal Channels

Multiple touch points Internet; e-mail; print; radio.

Sample Messaging

Must show value to investment. Must sell them on future career opportunities

Ideal Student Persona

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! Reach and engage your ideal students. ! Ensures your program and value messaging is

relevant and on the mark. ! Saves money-- allocate your marketing dollars

so your message reaches your ideal student segments

Why Create A Student Persona?

How Do I Create A Student Persona?

1.  Harness enrollment data to create segments

2.  Identify groups of individuals with broad characteristics

3.  Tailor content to make it relevant for select groups

! Age ! Responsibilities ! Major Concerns or Priorities ! Stressors/Pain Points ! Purchase Drivers ! Role in Purchase Process ! Where they go for Information ! How they find Information (channels/devices) ! Days to Purchase Decision

What Kind of Data Is Helpful in Creating A Student Persona?

Capturing the Right Data for Your Student Persona

Case Study: Lesley University

! Private University with enrollment of 7,000 ! Goal of increasing enrollment by 30% across

traditional undergrad programs ! Challenged with shrinking marketing &

recruitment budgets and limited personnel resources

Lesley University

Expanded capacity and quality of recruiting events

- Visitor Services Team

- Personalized Plan for Campus Visit

- Alumni Outreach

- Student Ambassadors

Recruitment Initiatives

Coordinated/focused recruitment efforts throughout all touch points of decision cycle ! Radius communication plans integrating phone, print,

email -  Highly actionable views for timely and easy counselor follow-up

! Strategic planning of fairs and high school visits -  Alumni outreach


! Private social community for new admits to encourage peer interaction


! Modified branding


Analyzing Enrollment Data by Zip Code ! Geotargeting analysis to

identify highest performing zip codes ! Reduced spend in

underperforming CPL programs ! Prioritized name purchase

spends by zip code

Geotargeting

! Develop a student persona profile of Lesley University’s ideal students to determine: - Behaviors, attitudes, demographic characteristics,

and psychographic profiles of Lesley University undergraduate students.

- How to engage the best prospective students? - Channel preferences that prospective students use

to conduct research about education pursuits and the best ways to reach them.

- What actionable items can be executed in a strategic marketing plan based on the above findings?

Student Persona Project

30 | © 2013 Hobsons. All rights reserved worldwide.

! Who are your students? ! Where should you target them?

•  Geographically •  In media

! What is important to them? •  Messages that resonate •  Product offerings they seek

Overview


Data Sourced from Neustar’s ElementOne

© Neustar, Inc. / Proprietary and Confidential.

Marketing Strategy &

Segmentation Customer

Acquisition Identification &

Verification Scoring Customer Retention & Upsell

Network

Attributes

Identifiers

! All matriculated students minus any withdrawals and stop-outs from the last three years.

! Ran segmentation against defined base of 8 states -  MA; NY; NJ; RI; NH; ME; CT; VT

! Identifies top segments exhibiting behavior of the data set ! Grouped into clusters representing a base large enough

to support a campaign

Data Selection

Segment Clusters

What it Means for Lesley U


! Central focus of messaging and channel choices.

•  Fiscally Responsible. ROI and value add are key. •  Quality is Worth Paying For. Brand visibility,

reputation, and program rank are important parts of the enrollment decision.

•  Social. In-person and digital connectedness make these people fulfilled.

•  On the go. Mobile accessibility and ease of obtaining information in transit are important

“Ideal Audience” Attributes

What it Means for Lesley U


! Central focus of messaging and channel choices.

•  Deal Seekers. Will put in the effort to find the best deal for the product they want. Need ready access to financial information.

•  Trending. Brand visibility and reputation are important parts of the enrollment decision – if they can be had at the right price.

•  Trust the Customer. Active consumers and contributors of social sites. Seeking advice from sources who can share their experience with the product.

•  Design Responsive. Information must be easily accessed on any device, in a visually appealing way.

“Ideal Audience” Attributes

! Adapt content messaging and imagery to speak to target ideal student groups. ! Allocate marketing spend in the

channels and media outlets target audiences are searching for information. ! Ensure forms and pages are design

responsive ! Offer tuition discounts to deal

seekers ! Ensure third-parties carry trusted

brand messages

Tactics to Respond to Groups

Enroll

Consideration

Recruit/Engage

! Achieved a 5.1% lead to inquiry conversion rate outpacing the 2% industry standard ! Increased inquiry to application conversion by 2%

for College of Art and Design ! Increased freshman applications by 30% and

transfer applications by 20% ! Anticipate increasing overall new

freshman and transfer enrollment by 30%

Results of Current Initiatives

Integrating Personas into Your Recruitment Efforts

! Ask Current Vendor Partners: - CRM Vendor - Marketing Agency

! DIY with focus groups and surveys ! DIY with existing tools: - Makemypersona.com - Upcloseandpersona.com - Usersbox.com - Siteseeker.com/target/personas

Options for Building Personas

! Tell me about your day to day at school (clubs, sports, major, events, free time, etc.) ! Where did you find the most useful information? Not just

the channels but the type or format. ! Tell me about how you decided on [School Name] ! Who else was involved in the decision? Who did you

speak with? ! What sites / where schools and parents went to visit? ! What was the turning point that finally helped you make

the decision to enroll?

Sample Survey Questions

Align Messaging with Decision Stage

Enroll

Consideration

Recruit/Engage

Anticipate needs, obstacles, concerns in out reach

! How is content presented in a way that’s linked? ! What do you want them to do next? ! How are peers sharing info with one another?

Consider Engagement Scenarios

! Get buy-in with recruitment staff ! Ensure outbound communication and recruiter

communication are aligned ! Conduct research on where ideal students get

information ! Secret shop among competitors to compare ! Select personas based on potential return and

what you can support. 1-2 max to start.

Integrating Into Recruitment Process

! Collect the right data ! Hone in on your “ideal” target segments ! Survey, conduct research or work with partner to

develop student personas ! Allocate marketing efforts and messaging

accordingly ! Work with exec stakeholders, marketing,

recruitment staff, faculty to integrate and maintain consistency ! Measure, observe, refine.

Summary

Questions?

Questions?

Education

Let’s Get Personal! Ways to Harness Your Data to Improve Personalization