Email basics – finding ways to stay top-of-mind

Perhaps one of the most important middle funnel activities your school can do is consistently communicate with your leads. One way you can ensure that your school stays top-of-mind is to remain in their inboxes. Heading into the recruiting season, one of the key things you can do to enhance your marketing is to be sure your email campaigns are cleaned up, targeted, and automated.

In this roundup, GPRS offers advice on ways to maximize your CRM, create a plan for email communications, and how to track and automate the process to ease the burden on your admissions staff.

Maximizing your CRM

While some prospects are super-engaged and ready to act right now, there are others who are just starting their search and want to “browse.” So how do you strike the balance of giving everyone what they need, when they need it, but not turning them off? The answer is a structured plan. Even for the hottest prospects, you want to be sure you’re not coming on too strong.

For all prospects, consider a base weekly email campaign, or a communications map that is auto-triggered to send messages every 10 days (following lead entrance into the system). For the active leads, you can layer on a calling or text campaign. By mapping out your communications, considering your audience’s motivations, and varying your frequency, you can find ways to connect with your prospects on their terms. Learn more.

Nurturing your leads

The beauty of most CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems is that they give your school the ability to automatically connect with your prospects over a set period of time via email with no manual labor involved. Using these tools can help you nurture your leads so they feel important and give them the information they need to take action. Here are some creative ways on how to use CRM data to keep engagement high and re-energize prospects that may have fallen off the radar. Learn more.

Automating your email plan

As you plan for the upcoming recruiting year, you’ll want to make sure your email plan is automated, set up for consistent communications, and tailored to your prospects’ needs. This can ease the burden on your admissions staff and give your prospects confidence that they can expect personalized customer service from your program. Learn more.

Tracking effectiveness and ROI

When you’re using an automated tracking system that ties in with your CRM and aggregates all of your marketing and email data in real-time, you can use that information to optimize your tactics throughout your recruiting season. When you can track every program inquiry back to specific marketing campaigns and messages, you can see where they came into the system and how they interacted with your emails after they arrived. This is a great way to match your enrollment data back to your marketing efforts to prove ROI at the end of the year. Learn more.

As you’re refining your email communications, determining the right cadence for connecting with your leads, and working on ways to track your ROI, having a trusted partner by your side can enhance your success. GPRS has worked with schools to create, deploy and optimize their email campaigns. Start the conversation today.

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Addressing admissions myths in your communications

Business school has always had a reputation of being sophisticated, selective – and for some, even an exclusive club. This perception can serve as a double-edged sword; it’s enticing, yet also a deterrent. For many schools, marketing includes a delicate balance of maintaining your reputation of being selective while also appearing accessible and personal. The good news is that you can address common admissions myths in your communications and your enrollment process.

Recently one of the most highly selective programs in the country published an article on Poets & Quants, “11 Myths About Getting into Harvard Business School.” Regardless of where your school falls on the spectrum of perceived selectivity, you can address prospects that may be intimidated by the degree, the competition, or just business school in general.

Address personal barriers

Many people who are considering a graduate program have similar personal and professional barriers in common, especially for MBA and Executive MBA programs where they may already be in an established career. These include:

• Cost
• Time commitment
• Admissions requirements
• Current job responsibilities
• Family commitments

Prior to prospects entering your funnel, they have questions that you can address in your digital advertising, website, marketing materials and events. Offering direct messaging that acknowledges their hesitations can be done with transparent questions like, “Is now your time?”; or reassuring statements like, “We know you have questions, let’s chat.” Learn more.

Address business school myths

Regardless of how selective (or not) your program is, there will always be those prospects who are too intimidated by the idea of business school to apply. Here are some common misconceptions that can create the perfect storm of doubt in your prospects’ minds:

• It is too hard to get in
• Test scores are the only determining factor
• The environment is cutthroat
• Faculty is not accessible
• The return on investment isn’t there
• A background with a low undergrad GPA or an unconventional career path can be a deterrent

For some of these myths, you can easily add verbiage to your application and admissions pages on your website. You can also employ current students and alumni to give testimonials regarding their application process to give a personal and believable spin on the information you’d like to present. In addition, you can combat the inaccessible faculty myth by including professors at your on-campus events, in webinars, in videos, or in sample classes that provide a preview of faculty interaction. The last thing your prospects want to feel like is “number.” Do your best to combat that feeling with a strategy aimed at transparency and personalization.

Address truths and misconceptions about your school

Let’s face it, certain schools or programs have the reputation of being aimed at specific functional areas – such as finance or operations. There may also be a misconception that unless you are targeting a CEO career path, the program may not be for you. Although those things may not be true, your prospects may believe their success will be limited in your program.

A few things your prospects may be concerned about:

• There’s a certain type of person/background that will fit the student profile
• The program is only for a certain career path
• The application process is too difficult

While you may want to highlight certain career paths, classes, or professors, it’s important to showcase a well-rounded curriculum and focus on how all backgrounds can be successful. This can be done by highlighting alumni with diverse backgrounds and outcomes. You can also find ways to showcase those with non-traditional career paths and how they fit into the classroom dynamics and peer groups. The goal is to show how everyone can belong and that all backgrounds and skillsets are valued.

With just a few additions to your website, marketing materials, and admissions process, your school can be well on its way to myth-busting common misconceptions to open the door a bit wider for your prospects.

If your school needs help brainstorming ways to improve your communications and address your prospects’ barriers in marketing, GPRS can help. Our team has worked with over 60 schools to develop solutions to increase lead activity and grow enrollment. Start the conversation today.

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With less people taking the GMAT, what is happening to the top of your funnel?

The GMAT was once seen as the gold standard in higher ed — a way to predict success of prospects in an MBA program, a determinant of quantitative skills and a judge of work ethic. And because of the test’s reputation and its status as a key gatekeeper for prospective students, many schools have been using GMAT test registrants to populate their databases for years. Due to the pandemic and recent market shifts, the GMAT is on the decline, and along with it, its ripe list of registrants. So what can schools do that have relied on this test for so long?

The GMAT is on the decline

In today’s market, there are several reasons why GMAT is on the decline, according to a recent article in Poets & Quants:

• Fewer schools than ever before are requiring it, due to the upheaval the pandemic has caused on test-taking in general.
• The GMAT is losing market share to the GRE; where tests are required, the GRE is quickly growing in popularity as its at-home version had a smoother rollout during the pandemic. It’s also less expensive.
• Currently more than two-thirds of B-schools in the U.S. now offer some form of waiver. And of the top 50 programs, 32 now offer applicants a path to avoid taking a test all together. That number is growing as the pandemic stretches on.
• Schools that previously required the GMAT and waived it during the last admissions cycle are having trouble justifying a return to stringent test requirements.

So what is this doing to the top of the funnel?

Quantity

Schools that relied heavily on purchasing GMAT registrant names to populate their databases and mailing lists are seeing less availability of qualified leads. Although fewer test takers don’t necessarily equal less interested prospects, it is a disturbing trend in higher ed that marketing and admissions departments across the country haven’t yet figured out.

If your school falls in this category, here are a few potential solutions:

• Expand your name purchase strategy to include competitor tests like the GRE.
• Develop and expand your lead generation campaigns to target those who frequent admissions sites like Poets + Quants and rankings websites.

Quality

Schools that previously relied on a minimum GMAT score to determine candidate viability may be having trouble gauging prospects’ qualifications. There are many schools that have devised specific formulas to predict students’ success in the program based on certain quantitative scores, especially for programs with a heavy finance and accounting curriculum. In addition, other schools see the GMAT as being extremely rigorous and use it as a way to gauge prospects’ commitment to studying for the test and potential work ethic that will help them succeed in the program.

If your school is struggling with finding ways to gauge lead quality due to the GMAT decline, here are a few potential solutions:

• Develop a new set of criteria to establish a baseline of requirements.
• Determine a new way to gauge commitment, like a test developed by internal faculty.
• Review the success of the students admitted in the past admissions cycle against the students’ performance from the previous 2-3 years. Determine what differences there were.
• Find a way to bring perceived lagging students up to speed with a class prior to being admitted or starting the program.

There are many ways that schools can overcome the shifts that have been caused by the pandemic, but it can be extremely difficult to overcome these challenges, especially when you are in the midst of constant change and a static recruiting cycle.

If your school needs help identifying ways to increase the quantity and quality of your leads, even with the declining GMAT test taker numbers, GPRS can help. Our team has worked with many schools to develop solutions to increase lead activity and grow enrollment. Start the conversation today.

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What higher ed can learn from luxury brand marketing

If you’ve ever purchased an expensive watch, the latest handbag or designer shoes, you hope that the quality is worth the cost. Regardless of your motive for buying a luxury brand – a desire for buying the best, or the ability to show others you have refined taste, the reality remains the same – you were willing to pay a lot of money for something you hope delivers value.

An advanced degree is similar in many ways – and often costs even more than that bag, scarf or piece of jewelry you’ve been eyeing. Let’s take a look at the similarities between luxury brands and higher ed, and what schools can learn from how the big brands do it.

Marketing for luxury goods

Advertising for luxury goods and brands tend to focus on opulence, quality and the happiness you will feel when you interact with their brand. They want to inspire confidence in customers that they will elevate their status by using their product. They do this by:

• Using elevated words like timeless, performance, prestige and elite
• Using imagery that conveys luxury
• Employing prestigious spokespeople, celebrities and clients
• Implying scarcity, as in, it’s hard to obtain, find or fit into
• Implying a mystique – what’s in the secret sauce?

In addition, there are some things they don’t do, like:

• Mentioning price
• Telling you where to find/buy it
• Stating the value you’ll receive (as it’s implied)

As far as the channels they use:

• Avoid casting a wide net and instead focus on channels that allow targeting of specific demographics.
• Rely on word of mouth and personal recommendation.
• Extend their customer service beyond the purchase with nurturing, personal care.

Using luxury brand marketing strategies and tactics for higher ed

While you may not use every advertising technique listed above, schools can:

• Focus communications on where the degree will take you, the elevated circles it will place you in and the performance aspect of the new skills you will obtain.
• Use imagery that conveys your brand. If you can’t swing a custom photo shoot, opt for campus shots and tight criteria on stock images.
• Highlight prestigious alumni, faculty or current students as representatives of your programs.
• Emphasize selectivity while remaining open to a diverse set of students.
• Imply there’s a secret recipe to the success of your graduates without divulging the ingredients.

Like luxury brands, schools should avoid:

• Mentioning price, ‘deals’ or words like ‘less-expensive’ or ‘cheap’
• Limiting campus visits to scheduled appointments – instead encourage prospects to explore the campus on their own to get a feel for the atmosphere
• Pushing too hard on the value you will receive for the money as this may concern some prospects and cause them to do in-depth price comparison

As far as channels go, schools can take a page out of the luxury good playbook and:

• Target certain demographics for specific programs and do research on what channels your ideal student uses
• Rely heavily on alumni referral
• Provide nurturing, personal outreach to as many prospects as possible

Although there are many similarities between luxury goods and the higher ed industry, it’s clear that an advanced degree will take you much farther on your journey than a pair of designer shoes. Highlighting the benefits of your degree, showcasing successful alumni and targeting your advertising in both channel and communication type can go a long way.

If you need help customizing your marketing strategy and communications plan to appeal to your prospects, GPRS can help. Our team has worked with a wide range of schools to develop solutions to increase lead activity and grow enrollment. Start the conversation today.

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