Posts filed under 'Admissions'
I have also posted this in my blog, Insights on Admissions Marketing:
Per my previous post, I thought I would share two examples regarding the Holiday E-Cards I have seen/received this season. I offer no commentary on either. I am simply providing them as examples you can review, to arrive at your own conclusions. Names and information about each institution have been removed. You can click on each to see a full size image of my screen capture on my post at Insights on Admissions Marketing.
Example #1:
Example # 2:
Please feel free to send me your examples too. Happy Holidays!
December 24th, 2007
I am also posting this to my blog, Insights on Admissions Marketing.
The struggle I have with participating in a group blog program is ensuring the relevence of the information I provide, in comparison to what everyone else has done over the course of the year and making sure not to simply repeat previous items. Obviously, this is especially difficult when you are the last blogger of the year! 
However, there is one item I haven’t seen covered at all (maybe I missed it?) since the start of 2007…which I found surprising. That is email marketing. Especially, with all the changes in email since earlier in the year (the release of Outlook 2007, changes in Yahoo and Hotmail), I thought I would share a few thoughts.
Email continues to be one of the most widely used outreach tools by Higher Education professionals and yet, is also the tool I see used to the least effect. Too many poorly formatted text emails…too many HTML emails that play by old rules and thus cannot get to a recipient’s in box…bad subject lines or general mismanagement of the campaign, messages that don’t respect the recipient and as a result create roadblocks to future success. Especially with changes by both ISPs (internet service providers) and programs such as Outlook 2007, the rules are evolving. Are you evolving with them?
Delivering to the InBox
As with all marketing, content still rules. But while it used to be enough to avoid being blacklisted and ensure you weren’t using “banned words” you were usually in the clear. That is no longer the case. ISPs and the technology they employ to eliminate spam have gotten more comprehensive and aggressive. ISPs are concentrating on WHO sends the email as much as they are on WHAT is sent. If your emails are opened regularly, then you are in the clear. But, if a large enough percentage of individuals mark your emails as SPAM, ISPs will trace that back to your sending domain and IP address. In many cases, they will then block any subsequent messages you send. As a result, even the normal process oriented messages and individual communications you send (or others send from the same IP) will be blocked, thus hampering your efforts in other areas. So, if the ISP doesn’t trust you, you aren’t going anywhere. And the ISP is only going to trust you if your recipients trust you. So, what to do?
1. Get their permission and make it easy to keep it: Make sure, every chance you get, to get the permission of your recipients. A big part of this can even be the lists you purchase. Only work with reputable vendors that qualify recipient permission. Avoid small, internet-based lead generators. They will be less likely to have qualified a recipients permission or even interest…both of which will leave your messages more likely to be perceived as SPAM. Also, make sure you make it easy for them to unsubscribe at any point, even if they have been receiving your emails successfully in the past.
The biggest mistake you can make is to not respect someone’s desire to stop receiving your emails. If you don’t make it easy…they will simply block you as SPAM, which is a much bigger concern for your future. So, make it easy…make it apparant and help the user out. In addition, make sure you are managing unsubscibes quickly/automatically whenever possible. Don’t make this a manual process where someone is pulling the name from a spreadsheet. That is too much work for your recipients and for you. Also, it increases the chance that the unsubscribe request may not be respected.
2. Respect your recipients: This is a two part issue. First and formost, send them relevent information in easy to consume pieces. Don’t send long, rambling emails talking about the advantages of your institution. Have a goal or piece of information to share, get it to them quickly and simply (in format, whether text or HTML) and then make it easy for them to find follow up information on your web site or a landing page. If appropriate, step recipients through a process of automatically generated emails that or only sent if previous steps are completed, allowing you to extend the dialog beyond a single message. If you cannot be relevant (from the recipient’s standpoint…not yours) and provide information with specific value, then you are setting yourself up to fail. In addition, wherever possible set expectations for e-marketing and stick to them. If you allow someone to subscribe to your weekly email newsletter, make sure to send it once a week and once a week only. If you tell me you will provide periodic updates on campus events, don’t send me messages every week. Failing to meet the recipients expectations that you have set is a sure way to end up in the SPAM file.
3. Last but not least, work with an experienced e-marketing partner on a robust platform. Make sure you review your campaign reports and ensure you are getting a good return and connection with your recipients. If not, move to another vendor that better suits your needs. Avoid sending large marketing campaigns from your own servers and IP addresses. It has the potential to cause you abundant issues down the road if you aren’t careful or if you do a lot of e-communications.
Have a great week!
December 17th, 2007
When I started as November guest blogger, I promised frank talk about web content management systems. Well, with a few hours left in the month, I want to make good on the promise.
Of all the web technologies, CMS causes the most visceral reactions and intense debates when I talk with web people – bar none. It’s a perennial love-hate relationship. Put two college web pros together in a room, and the first question usually is: What CMS do you use?
So let’s acknowledge the essentials: CMS is a necessity. It’s the glue that holds your website together. It provides the tools to manage a compelling site. It supports diverse website ecosystem (email marketing, analytics, etc.).
But, why is such a web “necessity” also a “necessary headache” on many campuses? What causes many CMS initiatives to fail in some way?
Welcome to The CMS Myth. Understanding it can help make your CMS project succeed.
What’s The Myth? I see it as a fundamental gap between the promises of CMS vendors (“Easy to integrate and use!” “Affordable!”) and the reality web pros experience in the trenches. This isn’t saying vendors are at fault. The Myth is more dramatic: CMS success is NOT about the technology. It’s about your plan, people and process.
Full disclosure: Along with some colleagues in ISITE Design’s CMS Practice, we launched a new blog at the Gilbane CMS Conference in Boston this week. It’s called The CMS Myth (www.cmsmyth.com), and it’s purpose is to shine a light in the dark corners of content management and to address the reasons behind most CM project failures.
The CMS Myth strongly believes in the power of web CMS to be a key enabler for achieving higher education online success. Done right, a web CMS can be the nucleus of your web strategy and lift up all of your online initiatives.
Everyone talks about adhering to best practices with their CMS, but in reality, many best efforts fall short.
So, to provide some baseline concepts to think about if you’re heading down a CMS implementation path (or, if you already run a CMS):
- “Content management” is a business process and a discipline; CMS is a software tool. You need both. But don’t equate one with the other.
- If you haven’t established a clear and coherent web strategy, get one. If you don’t have a strategy, don’t get a CMS. A CMS is not a web strategy.
- A CMS doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s a central part of a diverse website ecosystem. It’s frequently the glue that holds together various applications. So, think beyond the CMS.
- Plan ahead and document your plans for your web CMS. And when you’re done, plan some more. There’s no such thing as too much planning before you tackle a CMS project.
- All vendors say their CMS is easy to use. If you buy that, then also be prepared to invest in user training and mentoring – and potentially lots of it.
- You’ve probably spent way too many hours (months?) researching CMS features, price, and other criteria. Sick of sifting through RFP responses and feature matrix comparisons? Turn instead to trusted market observers (e.g. CMSWatch, Forrester, Gartner, Gilbane) who’ve done the heavy lifting and can deliver a valid short list of CMS systems that would meet your needs.
Certainly this isn’t a comprehensive list of things to consider to avoid CMS-related pitfalls - there’s a vast range of concepts to live by. But it’s a place to start and a chance to reflect before diving into a CM project. Best of luck for your online initiatives in 2008.
David Aponovich, CMS Strategist
ISITE Design
November Guest Blogger
November 30th, 2007
2007 is turning out to be a tipping point for many colleges and universities when it comes to their online budgets. Many web, marketing and admissions professionals have told us that, for the first time, they’re spending in excess of 50% of their marketing budgets on the online channel. One university tells us that is has completely flipped the ratio in 2007, directing 90% of their budget to online, and just 10% to traditional (offline) marketing. Our anecdotal discussions hardly amount to a rigorous research project. But we’d wager that the trend is more the norm than the exception at this point.
Exactly where schools are spending is worth a closer look. Among the areas of rapid web investment: online video creation and production. Campus tours, professor interviews and student talking-heads support a more personal, interactive web and these deliverables have morphed into great recruiting and retention tools.
Another area of new investment: staffing up website, marketing and communications teams to support the online mandate. One case in point from EduWeb 2007 is Norwich University, which indicated it has hired a full-time interactive recruitment management to focus exclusively on recruiting students leveraging new technology and media.
Finally, as more higher education dollars flow online, we’re seeing another effect, a move to shore up (or just plain establish) a true web analytics strategy to measure and quantify the success of all these online investments.
One unsolicited tip we gladly offer to readers of the EduWebBuzz blog is this: if you’re dipping your toe into the web analytics pool and don’t know where to start, try Google Analytics. The price is right (free) and provides substantial functionality if you’re trying to quantify your success and optimize your site.
Are you shifting your budget focus? Are you spending in new areas related to web? Submit a comment; we’d all like to know.
David Aponovich, CMS Strategist
ISITE Design
November Guest Blogger
November 21st, 2007
Higher ed web pros aren’t shy when it comes to describing online innovations – a big factor that makes EduWeb so appealing. It’s a good place to trendspot, determine what’s gaining traction, and see where your school fits on the web innovation curve.
That said, I thought it’d be well worth sharing key observations from EduWeb 2007. While not a comprehensive list by any means, these examples should spark strategic thinking as you plan for 2008 – or validate your approach.
And while we’re at it, take two minutes to post a comment. Which of these ideas are current/intended priorities heading into 2008 and why/why not? What do you consider the top three priorities for your college/university site?
With that, a few findings from EduWeb ’07:
Blogs
A year or two ago, the question “To blog or not to blog?” was a hotly debated issue in higher ed. At the time, a few bold schools were dipping their toes into the water. Today, it seems as if everyone’s in the pool. Strategies are evolving, but the authentic voices of trusted students, professors or college leaders are worth their weight in gold on the web. Blog-related questions floating around EduWeb 2007: “How many students do you allow to blog?” and “Do you censor/review posts?” For a best-practices lesson in blogging, check out Johns Hopkins University’s “Hopkins Interactive” site run by Daniel Creasy, senior assistant director of admissions.
Web Video
More and more, it’s a YouTube kind of world. Online videos, user-generated content, ‘authentic’ video interaction on your site set the table for genuine online engagement. Schools are rapidly adapting to use video to convey their message. For the cost of a handheld video camera and some bandwidth, schools can easily deploy student ambassadors to film a day in the life, a dorm tour, or a professor interview that grabs visitors’ interest. For a great ideas around using online video, see EduWeb presenter Mars Hill College’s TVMHC.
(While you’re at it, see Furman U’s Engage Furman admissions site with videos and student journals, a highlight of EduWeb ’06).
Analytics
With a larger percentage of college marketing budgets moving online, the need for a solid website analytics and online measurement plan is growing. An increasing number of higher ed web pros are adopting an active measurement and optimization strategy to connect effort to result and be more accountable. The good news is analytics tools are becoming more attainable in higher ed circles (Google Analytics = free). The best news: web practitioners we spoke with say they are starting to actually do something with those hefty analytics reports they’ve been running, using the data to make positive changes to their websites.
Web Governance
Ownership of web continues to be a hot button. From what we’ve seen, it’s often a political hot potato that leaves your web strategy suffering on the sidelines. Based on our discussions with in-the-trenches web folks, colleges that have clearly identified roles and responsibilities and internal collaboration between departments are having more success online. Many participants highlighted effective partnerships between communications, admissions and information technology. Others who were struggling grumbled that it was simply getting in the way of getting things done.
Message control
One of the most compelling (and amazingly simple) ideas for improving your school’s online presence came during an opening keynote from Bob Johnson, higher ed marketing veteran. Johnson had one word for the crowd: Wikipedia. In a large percentage of cases, when you type a school name into Google, the first page of organic search results contains a link to the Wikipedia entry on said school. If the “you” is a 17-year-old high school student, this will be among the first things they read. So the message is: If your school does not have a Wikipedia page, create one – today. And if it does have one, edit it so it drives home the right message, the right links, and the right story about your school. If you don’t pay attention, someone will do it for you. But don’t expect to be the only one in control of your message online.
David Aponovich, CMS Strategist
ISITE Design
November Guest Blogger
November 8th, 2007
I know all of you are doing a great job at testing your site visitors on a regular basis through one-on-one usability tests, focus groups, and open feedback. But it is always nice to compare your site visitors with the general population. Pew has been providing great statistics for the past five years, but there are two higher education studies that have come out that need a quick peek.
- E-expectations. This ongoing study, by Noel-Levitz, James Tower, and NRCCUA, touches on the effectiveness of social networking, text and IM use, and online activities. A couple statistics of note: only 33% of prospects have used Facebook or MySpace to connect with current students; 27% have read a current student blog; and 44-49% would accept a text message from a college. This study focuses on how your prospective students want to be communicated with. It is important to remember that their entire online experience with you is not at your .edu.
- The Game Has Changed. This study, by UMass-Dartmouth and Eric Mattson, centers around the comfort level of online communication in admissions offices across the country. Their theory is that colleges and universities are adapting to social networks and online communication more quickly than corporations. I think this has to do with audience focus (of course), but let’s pat ourselves on the back for a second. Some interesting notes: 51% of admissions offices see online tools (blogs, message boards, social networking, online video, podcasting, and wikis) as “very important”; and individual student research is starting to sprinkle into admissions (26% use search engines and 21% use social networks to review a student…scary).
The rule, as always, is to take this research and compare it to your own information, but these two studies give a glimpse into both sides of the table: prospective students’ communication preferences and admission departments’ ability to adapt.
Happy reading.
Eric Hodgson
Content Management Consultant
hodgson.eric@gmail.com
September 3rd, 2007
