Insights on Admissions Marketing

Recruiting 2.1 by Brian Niles

So, I decided to pop into Brian Niles presentation at eduWeb this morning.  (Sure, they are a competitor to our solution Blue Ox Mailbox and other James Tower offerings, but I figure it is always good to see what others are up to and Brian is a good speaker.)

First of all, kudos on Target X's philanthropic efforts via their Power of X program.  We have always done similar things at James Tower in targeting support of United Way, American Red Cross and others.  I appreciate the  attempts at increasing awareness regarding the importance of these issues as an organization.

Information highlighted by Brian's presentation:

• 96% of Teens use social networking tools
• 22% of teens have uploaded content they have created to social networking sites.

Consumer Attitudes:

• 64% of consumers believe advertising is "dishonest" or unrealistic".

The new Communications Plan

• 71% of students started their college search before their junior year.
• 50% of PSAT takers were in the 10th grade or earlier
• Over 25% of first point of contact was the Admissions application for many institutions.  (I find this number to be low, compared to what I am finding with many of my clients.)
• 75% of time spent in researching a college is done on-line.  While assuring that your house may be in order relative to the Admissions web site, you must assure that your main .EDU homepage is effective as well, if not more effective in engaging prospective students.

Much of the information in the presentation in this section keyed off of findings from the Noel Levitz/James Tower/NRCCUA E-Expectations research.  If you haven't read this information, you can download the white papers from the James Tower website in order to see the full information and data available.

Stories not Stat.  People not Programs.

What is truly authentic about your institution?  How are you telling these stories effectively.  Are you allowing individuals on your campus to blog and share these stories in an unfiltered way?
Relative to the parents of prospective students, Biola University does a very nice job of engaging at all levels per Brian.  Their web site is www.biola.edu. 

"You must design the customer experience or the customer will design it for you."-Tom Peters

Brian's Bookshelf-Recommended books from Brian

• How to Drive Your Competition Crazy
• X Saves the Day
• Don't Make Me Think
• Re-imagining
• The Business of Changing the World
• Fast Company Magazine
• I missed a few.  Sorry I am not providing authors, as I couldn't read them from where I was sitting.

 

I know I have missed a number of points from the presentation as I attempt to keep up while typing, so my apologies for my inadequate typing speed.  I hope I hit this up adequately and fairly.  If you need more information, I would encourage you to contact Brian directly for the full power point presentation.

2008 Technology in Student Recruitment Conference

Web 2.0 technologies continue to expand and redefine how we engage with prospective students every day.  Are you confident in your strategies and meeting the expectations of this technology saavy generation?  If not, you should consider attending our 2008 Technology in Student Recruitment Conference on June 16-17 at the Avenue Hotel Chicago.

We are finalizing our 2008 conference agenda. We are excited to announce that John Baworowsky, Vice President of Enrollment Management at Hood College, will be our opening keynote speaker on Monday, June 16.  Additional confirmed conference speakers and session topics will include:

• The Fifth "P" of Marketing: Participation
  Presented by: Jennifer Ringler, Higher Education Consultant, James Tower


• Web CMS Strategy: Tools, Tips and Tricks for Site Success
  Presented by: Lance Merker, CEO, OmniUpdate, Inc.


• Admissions Video 101: Using Online Video Effectively in Admissions Marketing
  Presented by: Darren Wacker, Higher Education Consultant, James Tower


• Engaging the Social Networking Generation: How to Talk to Today's College-Bound Juniors and Seniors
  Presented by: Gary Fretwell, Senior Vice President and Consultant, Noel-Levitz


• Email Marketing: The Rules Have Changed
  Presented by: Darren Wacker, Higher Education Consultant, James Tower

Please visit our Web site  to view speaker biographies, session descriptions and additional session announcements as they become available.

We hope you will consider joining us in June for a great learning experience.

See you in Chicago!

Holiday E-Cards: An example from the U.K.

A special thanks to Rik for sending me a link to this Holiday E-Card from The City  Law School in London.

http://www1.city.ac.uk/law/seasonsgreetings/

A very nice greeting that highlights the city.  Makes me want to visit London some day!

Darren

Beyond Process: Figure out your objective

Greetings from the front lines…ok…actually greetings from Mississippi!

Last time around, I spoke of how to get your web redesign off of the ground and the “what to consider” in order to begin moving the process forward. So, now that the process is underway and well organized, what do you do from here?

Research and Site Evaluation

Understanding what you want to accomplish and why it is important. Everyone WANTS their web site to look better and be more dynamic, but what does that mean? And more importantly, what does that mean for the institution?

First of all, evaluate what you already have and understand WHY people are coming to your web site. Use information resources such as the James Tower/Noel Levitz E-Expectations research, as well as internal evaluation processes to determine what your site function and user experience needs to provide. This can be difficult, especially if you are really close to the site and its content. Make sure your team can provide an objective opinion of where your site is failing, as well as where it is successful, so the appropriate priorities can be established. Areas to consider are:

• Are content resources and information easy to find?
• Is content written well for the web and does it communicate what I need?
• Am I providing the right information and resources and are user paths easy to determine?

Don’t limit this process to only your own web site. Extend your evaluation to other sites as well, especially those of your competitors. Figure out what they aren’t doing that you can to differentiate yourself. Take special note of the keywords they are using to enhance site search so this information can help you form your own keyword listings.

By doing this evaluation, you should be able to begin to define your user paths, layout and experience via site mapping and a process called wire framing. These processes will allow you to define your user paths (site mapping), as well as how those paths are emphasized in page layout (wire framing). Completing both of these steps is critical to creating a site that is effective and well conceived, rather than a site that is simply pretty. And the best part is, once you have successfully completed this work, either internally or with a partner, it is still valid in the future when you decide to redesign again. Simply review and update your existing models and use them to move toward  your new design.

If you are interested in an example of a site map or wire frame for use in your site evaluation process, please send me an email and I will be happy to provide examples for your review.

Wow…all this work and we haven’t even made the site look good yet…

Talk to you next time.

So, I want to redesign my web site. That will be easy, right?

Welcome to Monday and the beginning of the workweek!

The last few weeks (okay, maybe the last year) of my life have been a constant discussion of the web. Attending conferences, speaking on campuses, responding to RFPs... everyone seems to be looking at their web site and few are satisfied with what they find. While issues have always been there and will never completely go away, there is an ever-increasing need to address areas such as usability, effective design and defining a more compelling on-line experience for users.

What I hear time and again though, is while everyone can agree that they have issues; no one can agree on how to best address them (or maybe even what the issues are!).  Quite often, simply determining where to start can be a huge challenge. Do we use our internal team or do we select a vendor partner? Do we redesign/recreate the entire site or will a simple “facelift” be enough? What about content management? What is the priority and which technologies should we consider?

These aren’t easy questions, but I am going to try my best over the next few posts to provide some insight. (Notice, I didn’t say answers!) Here’s the first: Organization and Process.

Organization and process are the two most essential elements to successfully beginning (and ultimately completing) your web site project, but are often the most difficult to begin. This is because getting organized takes time, doesn’t show immediate, tangible results and no one, from the president on down, has the patience. Everyone thinks they know the issue and would rather act than prepare to act. It is human nature. But it is also how a great web site quickly becomes overblown, inconsistent and unmanageable.

So, what do you need to do?

• Determine your team and set priorities: While you may want to designate a core team that is responsible for the project, it will almost always be a good idea to assemble a representational team from campus to help determine your goals and objectives, depending on scope.  Brainstorm with the team, capture and discuss ideas then use this information to set priorities for the site. If you are able, perhaps consider including a trusted vendor or third-party to participate and bring an external, experienced viewpoint.


• Identify your process and project timeline: Once priorities are set, start determining the process by which you are going to meet them and the timeline for completion. Make the timeline as comprehensive and detailed as possible with benchmarks. Try to keep timelines reasonable, but don’t over-analyze dates. You can always adjust if necessary, but at least determining what you are doing and when you will complete each step toward meeting those goals will give you something that will help drive your process. 

In addition, if you are working with a vendor partner in your web development project, make sure they detail their project management and delivery process for you. Have them explain their change management and communication process and how they will keep you involved. Also, make sure they will be documenting and providing you copies of a project plan and delivery schedule. That way, you are able to hold them accountable.

This is barely scratching the surface. There is still a lot more to discuss and detail on this topic. Please make sure to come back and feel free to comment on your own web development process, especially if you are either in the middle of it or recently relaunched your site.

Technology in Student Recruitment-Day Two

 

Day Two of the James Tower

"Technology in Student Recruitment" came to an end on Wednesday.  It was another successful day of information and collaboration.  (if any of you reading this happened to attend, I would appreciate any feedback you can offer!)  Presentations covered strategies and discussions around:

• •Search Engine Marketing/Optimization
• •Engaging "Secret Shoppers"
• •More effective email marketing strategies

and results of the 2007 E-Expectations research.  While the first white paper will be released in about a week and available on the

James Tower web site here is some of the information covered at the conference.

• Regarding websites, 15% of students indicated that if a web site is not effective in answering their questions and information needs, they would immediately drop them from consideration!  68% said the web was their first preference for information, but if they already knew of the school, they would contact them for additional follow up or read brochures.

• Respondents continue to show a preference for web-based communications over printed brochures.  Seniors prefer the web 57% over brochures (47%).  Juniors indicated a 56% vs. 44% preference.
• Social networking solutions continue to grow in acceptance for college-bound prospects.  61% see the use of social networking sites in reaching out to students as a good idea, with females (66%) scoring this activity higher than males (56%).
• While a more mature communications medium, 84% of respondents are still willing to provide and use email in communicating with universities and colleges.  However, there is a preference for email usage post-application, rather than pre-application.

These are just a few quick insights available from this year's survey.  For more information, please feel free to contact me or view the white paper once released.  I will make sure to let you know when this happens.

Again, thank you to all attendees.  The conversations and collaboration were fantastic and I hope everyone walked away with valuable information and actionable strategies for use in their own communications programs.  We look forward to seeing you next year!  And bring your friends!

 

Wishing you were here....

It was a fantastic first day at the James Tower "Technology in Student Recruitment" conference.  If you are reading this and were unable to join us this year, here are some highlights:

• Presentations and an overview of the RedDot CMS solution
  • We highlighted a number of the advantages that RedDot can provide, but also information on managing a CMS implementation, regardless of your solution.
• Unveiling of the future of AdmissionsGenie, version 7.0.
  • Both current AG users and individuals unfamiliar with AdmissionsGenie were provided an overview of the enhanced functionality and capabilities of AdmissionsGenie 7.0
• An outstanding keynote address by Mary Chase, Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management and Director of Admissions and Scholarships at Creighton University.  Mary's keynote focused on the application and definition of Web 2.0 technologies.
  • Mary provided excellent perspective on the what, how and why of Web 2.0 and how it applies to admissions and recruitment.
• A presentation by Jennifer Ringler, marketing director at James Tower, on creating and maintaining an effective Blog program on your campus
  • Blogging is a tool that continues to grow in popularity on colleges campuses.  Jen provided strategies and perspective on how to make it work or improve the program you already have.
• Strategy development and planning between teams of attendees and James Tower representatives
  • To enhance the value of the conference, each session includes a team collaborative discussion for developing strategies specific to each attendees situation.
• An evening of networking and fun with all attendees.
  • The famous Wild Horse Saloon provided a fantastic backdrop, meal and chance to meet in a less formal atmosphere.

All presentations and discussions have been very well received.  On tap for the morning, an overview of the latest E-Expectations research from James Tower, Noel-Levitz and NRCCUA.    Look for a summary of the latest E-Expectations research in the A.M. and I look forward to sharing more tomorrow.

Oh...and a shout out to Missouri.....