Integrating traditional and emerging data into an executable communication plan.

1. How to Increase Registrations and
Revenues by Turning Data into Action
ACHE 2011 Annual Conference and Meeting
Integrating Traditional and Emerging Data into
an Executable Communication Plan
Steve Blumberg, Director of Strategic Services, DS Graphics Todd Gibby, CEO, Intelliworks
email: sblumberg@dsgraphics.com email: todd.gibby@intelliworks.com
twitter: @tgibby
WWW.DSGRAPHICS.COM WWW.INTELLIWORKS.COM

2. THE DECK IS
STACKED, RIGHT?

3. Demand Has Never Been Higher
Less than 16% of those enrolled in higher education
-­‐22)
Over 25 population is the fastest growing segment
in higher education
Availability of online and hybrid programs makes
these programs more accessible than ever before
Even in a recession, people are better off with an
education than without
Increasing cost and scrutiny of for-­‐profit educators
have made not-­‐for-­‐profit adult education providers
even more appealing

4. SO WHY IS IT SO HARD?
We Find Balance Between Being
Efficient & Effective?

5. Expectations Are Changing
Colleges that wish to remain successful in
the face of rapidly changing dynamics
need to employ a new paradigm, one that
uses more sophisticated search strategies
and new metrics to track and enroll the
desired number of students who are a
good fit for the institution
Noel-­‐Levitz
Multiple touch points
Preferences vary based on lifecycle
Next best thing is always around the corner
No single simple solution

6.
Survey Says: Doing More With Less
Tough Economy
More competition
Reduced response rates
Changing Demographics
Differentiate Messaging
Reaching Target Audience
Little or no support staff
Social Media
Reduced budget
Proliferation of Online programs
Increase competition from For-­‐profits
Tracking, measuring and evaluating

7. Survey Says!
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40% Very Important
30%
20% Important
10% N/A
0% Less Important
Not Important
Source: Intelliworks Email Poll of UCEA/Eduventures Members, April 2010

8. Do we have any sales people in the room?

9.
Can You Name This Institution?
Convenience
Flexible
Designed around your busy schedule
Accelerated
Affordable
Finish your degree in 16 months
Online, On campus, blended

10.
Right Strategy
Right Person
Right Way

11. Session 1: The Right Strategy
a) Assessing your situation (SWOT)
b) Connecting problems to solve (Pain Chain)
c) Programming for results (Reference Story)
d) Extra Credit: Differentiate (Elevator Pitch)

12. S.W.O.T.

13. SWOT: SUNY Oswego
Strengths Weaknesses
Steady growth Limited resources for
New online MBA marketing
program; No tracking system
Affordable, convenient, No visibility into lead
Addresses regional source
demand
Opportunities Threats
New agency partner to Some regional
help drive marketing competition
Global presence with Decentralized
online programs organization
Metro branch campus Lack of policy and
process
Highly politicized culture

14. Pain Chain

15. Pain Chain: SUNY Oswego
Dean
Director of
Pain: Eroding operating Admissions
margins; budget cuts
Pain: Inability to know / Prospective
define student market ;
Reasons: Operational
slow process / response
Student
Inefficiency; Declining
time to student inquiries Pain: Indecision
enrollment
Reasons: Understaffed / Reasons: Limited
unfocused; No visibility outreach from
into the campaign institution and lack
performance or student of relevant
enrollment funnel messaging /
information.

16. Reference Story
Issue Comments
Situation and circumstances?
Critical Issue What is the critical
Reasons What are the driving forces creating the challenge?
Who, What, When, Describe the actions being taken to address the challenge.
Where, Why, How
Solution Specific actions, initiatives, tactics to improve the situation.
Results How and what will we measure to track our progress against goals?

17. Reference Story
Issue Comments
Situation SUNY Oswego provides an excellent case of an institution that identified how a CRM strategy
could help them reach their marketing objectives.
Critical Issue The institution struggled with engaging students and building long-­‐term relationships that
ultimately led to enrollments.
Reasons Their objectives were to support key student decision points and connect with prospects
during the decision cycle by uncovering demand, qualifying interest, cultivating commitment
and reinforcing decisions
Who, What, When, With a full-­‐time staff of four, which includes the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research, the
Where, Why, How need for a system that will automate communication, data collection, tracking and analysis
is imperative to the successful growth of enrollment. Without such a major component, it
will be virtually impossible to manage data, track inquiries and build a source for outbound,
targeted marketing efforts to engage and communicate with prospective students.
Solution Created a multi-­‐channel marketing plan that was supported by a flexible CRM solution that
allowed them to track day-­‐to-­‐day interactions with constituents, manage inbound and
outbound communications and report on the success of their efforts.
Results Identified KPIs for success measurement

18. FIGURE OUT
WHO THEY ARE, AND
WHERE

20. Help Me With The Math, Please.
2010 Census Worcester County by Education
Level Obtained
Total Population 798,552
Population 25-­‐40 years and over 92,556
Some college, no degree 87,756

21. 53,020 prospective students divided by 9 colleges and an additional 8 online programs.
Of the 53,020 prospective students, how many are interested in going back to school?
Of those 53,020 prospective students who are interested in going back to school, how
many are interested in you?

22. 1% increase in enrollment requires
7% increase in inquiries

23. For adults in transition, specific life events
set the time on the learning clock.
There are millions of potential adult learners
who need or want to learn. . . But specific
life events are needed to convert most of the
latent learners into active learners.
Carol Aslanian

24. The value of knowing what kinds of transitions
cause adult learning lies in being able to predict
what they will learn.
The value of knowing what kinds of events trigger
adult learning lies in being able to predict when
they will learn.
Carol Aslanian

25. Student Motivations: What They Want
Student Motivations
Source: Intelliworks LinkedIn Poll, October 2009 (n = 355)

26.
WHY?
Understand their decision-making process.
Understand their communication style.
Discover pain points/barriers to enrollment.
Validate or deny your assumptions and avoid stereotypes.

27. THINKING IN
HUMAN TERMS
The Doubting Thomas
He went straight to work after high school
degree, but just got promoted and
ant to leave his job.

28. THINKING IN
HUMAN TERMS
of your school. And neither have her
friends.

29. THINKING IN
HUMAN TERMS
The Idea Man
own company, and is ready to retire, but
affluent professionals like him may prefer
to learn at their own pace while enjoying
their golden years.

30. 1 What are they like?
2 Why are they here?
3 What keeps them up at night?
4 How can you solve their problem?
5 What do you want them to do?
6 How can you best reach them?
7 How might they resist?
© duarte.com 2008

31. EDUCATION LEVEL
TOTAL POPULATION
Segment Your Market?!
G GEOGRAPHY
E
ETHNICITY
N
D GRADES
INCOME
E AGE
R INDUSTRY
PROGRAM OF INTEREST

32. Session 2: The Right Person
a) Understanding field of play (Market Analysis)
b) Knowing your customer (Rating Attributes)
c) Speaking their language (Creating Personas)
d) Extra Credit: Preferences (Channel Choice)

33. Attribute Rankings
Most Geography Most Geography
Valuable Accessible
Program of Interest Program of Interest
Education Level Education Level
Industry Industry
Grades Grades
Income Income
Population Population
Age Age
Gender Gender
Ethnicity Ethnicity

34. Creating Personas
PROSPECT A PROSPECT B PROSPECT C
What are they like?
Why are they here?
What keeps them up at night?
How can you solve their problem?
What do you want them to do?
How can you best reach them?
How might they resist?
Name:

35. THEN FIGURE OUT
HOW TO COMMUNICATE
WITH THEM

36. need to get his or her permission with some kind of
Once a customer volunteers his or her time,
you're on your way to establishing a long-­‐term
Seth Godin, Author, Permission Marketing

37. Individuals who have raised their hands and indicated that
they are interested in advancing their careers, changing their
careers, or enriching their lives.

40. Marketing Is a Process,
Not an Event.

41. Do These Look Familiar?
Goals
Increase Enrollment
Improve Staff Efficiency
Control Data Sharing
Enhance Effectiveness of Student Contact

42. Session 3: The Right Way
a) Setting Frame of Reference (Decision Stages)
b) Isolating To-­‐ Mapping Objectives)
c) Setting the Mark ( )

43. Identifying Decision Stages
Discovery
Listening
Engaging
Reinforcing

44. Mapping Objectives
Objectives by Discover: Listen: Engage: Support:
Decision Uncover Capture / Convey Reinforce
Phase Demand Qualify Value Decisions
Limited
Fragmented Generic
Current State Marketing
Inquiry
Messaging
Silence
Capture
Ubiquitous
Strategic Segmented Established
Ideal State Outreach
Data
High Touch Networks
Capture
SEO / SEM Inquiry Forms Segmented
Functional Email & FB Views
Comm Outreach
Facebook
Vision Comm Plans
Events /History
Events Response Sys

45. Setting Metrics
Reduce
abandonment rates
by 20% Increase Y-o-Y
inquiries by 15%
Reduce by 25% the time it
Reduce by 45% takes to complete a
number of clicks to Grow enrollments in
campaign
Growth
complete application X program by 25%
Maintain inquiry response
Improve satisfaction time under 4500 more
Generate hours
rates to >85% at 4- attendees to info
Intelligence sessions
5. Automate assignment of
leads to counselors
Quality Efficiency

46. Scorecard: Embry-­‐riddle Worldwide
35+%
80+%
85+%
14% 72% 68%
Inquire Apply Accept Enroll Retain Graduate

47. Preparing For Measurement
Define Metrics and Goals:
Define global metrics and drive agreement around units of measurement for
tracking plan effectiveness.
Set goals & objectives that will be measured against in Plan v. Actual format.
Report Framework & Frequency:
Develop conversion and enrollment reporting framework designed to be updated
at defined intervals.
Observe :
Include a model and placeholders for summary of observations/findings and
recommendations.
Refine to Optimize Your Programs & Processes:
Create a strategy and action plan for deploying additional business units to
observe and optimize plan based on reports key findings

48.
BIG
FINISH

49.
Right Strategy
Right Person
Right Way

50.
What Metric