Student Recruitment Communication Best Practices

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1 Student Recruitment Communication Best Practices

2 Agenda Overview Secret Shopper & Insights What not to do in your leads communications plan What should be included in your leads communications plan campaign best practices Closing message

3 The Goal of Secret Shopper We want to see who is responding and making the most of their leads! In responding to leads, the goal should be to make a great first impression o Capture the attention of students, build trust, relay relevant information, invite further communication, and ultimately generate conversions!

4 Secret Shopper 2017 We contacted 57 schools 66% Canadian, and 33% International (UK & US) Requests were made through the profile request info on SchoolFinder.com Requests were made between September 6 10, 2017 Two personas: o Grade 12 student looking to begin undergraduate study in Fall 2018 o Mature student looking for both undergraduate and graduate programs Responses were given a score out of 25, based on 5 categories: speed, personalization, content, subject line and use of graphics Only 22% of schools responded to info requests (13 responses) This means 78% of schools did not respond to a request for info!

5 Secret Shopper Responses Out of those who did respond, their responses fell into two categories: 1. Those who scored in the top half had responses that were informative, timely, clear, concise, relevant, personalized and visually appealing. A student receiving these responses would feel encouraged to consider these institutions as a legitimate possibility. Ultimately, a lasting impression was made. 2. Those who scored in the bottom half had responses that were not memorable. This included responses that were entirely plain text, not personalized, included non-relevant information and even had errors. It is not enough to just respond to a lead the response needs to have a valuable impact and create a lasting impression.

6 Secret Shopper Response Scores School Response Time (Days) Response Type Total (Out of 25) % University of South Wales % Canadore College % Saint Mary's University % University of Calgary % University of Guelph-Humber % Concordia University % Middlesex University % Trios College 1 /3 Calls 16 64% Thompson Rivers University % Vancouver Island University % University of Waterloo % Bangor University % Swansea University %

7 Secret Shopper Insights Out of the 13 schools who responded Only 23% of responses were delivered in the 1-3 day recommended time 62% of responses were personalized to the student (name was included) 38% of responses used graphics successfully (more than just logo and footer) 38% of responses included information specific to the program requested It is now more important than ever to separate yourselves from your competition

8 What not to do No tailored subject line Not personalized Plain text, not engaging Poor Call-to-Action (CTA)

9 What not to do Not relevant information Plain text, hard-to-read layout Poor Call-to-Action (CTA)

10 You can t afford not to go mobile Not mobile friendly In June 2016, it was reported by Catalyst that 76% of Canadians own a smartphone. More than 70% of readers delete an that is not mobile optimized. More than 55% of s are opened on a mobile device Optimized s generate 15% higher click-through rates. Unreadable on device

11 Good lead campaign example Adding login info to online system is a great personal touch, however, this raises security concerns

12 Great lead campaign examples

13 Great lead campaign examples

14 Students still want to be ed Out of 260 students polled, 70% prefer and 14% prefer text!

15 Students still want to be ed QS Statistics, Link:

16 Lead Communication Best Practices Incorporate these best practices into your communications, for a winning strategy: Respond within 1 to 3 days: This is your opportunity to build trust and rapport with the lead, so meet their request for information in a timely manner! This will help ensure they keep you top of mind. Great subject line: 33% of recipients determine whether or not to open an based on subject line, so make sure yours stands out! o Keep it brief o Personalize it o Manage expectations o Include urgency o Make the student feel special o Test your subject lines

17 Lead Communication Best Practices Incorporate these best practices into your communications, for a winning strategy: Ensure content is relevant: Your response should include information about the program the lead has requested relevant content increases click-throughs Personalize the By using personalization, you will increase click-throughs by 39%. Add the recipient s name in the subject line and in the content Strategic CTA placement: Your Call-to-Action should be a button or text link that directs a lead to a specified landing page. The fewer CTAs you have, the better, as fewer CTAs can result in 40% higher click-throughs. Include engaging visuals: Make leads excited about your school! s with images convert almost twice as well than s without.

18 Including texting in your comms plan Texting shouldn t be used as your first form of communication with a prospect Develop an opt-in text program that gives prospective students a reason to subscribe they will now be open to receiving text communication from you Use texting as a personal touch point to reengage the prospect, and invite them for a phone call a prospect will be much more open to receiving a phone call from you if they have given you permission A 2015 study published in the Social Science Journal, found that over a third of college students sent 100 texts a day, and checked their messages an average of 16 times per hour you can t afford to not involve text in your plan

19 Final message respond to your leads! The leads you receive via LeadMatch are real students, looking for the next step in their educational journey. If you want to successfully compete with other schools, then you must respond to your leads. By not responding, what message does this send to prospective students? Build trust with students by meeting their requests in a timely manner.

20 We re launching LeadPost! We have developed LeadPost to make contacting your leads easier! With LeadPost you can have your SchoolFinder Group Leads posted automatically into your CRM system! We will be launching soon! Interested in learning more, or have questions? Please contact us at

21 Join us at SEMM! We will be co-sponsoring the 2017 SEMM (Strategic Enrolment Marketing & Management) Forum 2017, and we would love for you to join us here in Toronto! The program features multiple tracks of workshops on a wide range of topics related to marketing, enrolment management, recruitment, and retention. Learn more, or register here: Receive $50 off of your registration by using our discount code: EDG50

22 Thank you! Interested in learning more, or want to have a one-on-one chat? We are here and happy to help! Reach out to us at info@edgeip.com