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NAGAP Presentation - Holly Acito Sara Langston (FINAL FINAL)
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Transcript of NAGAP Presentation - Holly Acito Sara Langston (FINAL FINAL)
Increasing Applicant Engagement and Yield Through Email
Communication
2015 NAGAP Annual ConferencePresented By: Holly Acito & Sara Langston
● AAU
● Carnegie Classification: Comprehensive Doctoral
● Public Research University
● 13 Schools, 3 Campuses
● Population: 30,000 (10,000 graduate students)
Graduate EnrollmentManagement Services (GEMS) ● Central enrollment support office in a
decentralized admissions environment
● Interacts with administration, faculty, staff and students
● Staff dedicated to internal communications, coordination of external communications, data analytics and reporting, event coordination, record cleanup and maintenance
● Over 300 post-baccalaureate level degree programs
● Current Graduate Enrollment: ~10,000
Graduate School of Education (GSE)
● Centralized Admissions
● 4 academic departments
● Interactions with students, faculty, staff
● Staff dedicated to application processing, recruitment & student services, data analytics, enrollment management
● Clearinghouse for enrollment reporting and data
● Over 60 programs (Adv. Certs, Master’s, Doctoral)
● 12 Online programs
● Current Enrollment: ~1,500
Learning Objectives:
● Identify critical touch points between acceptance and enrollment
● Utilize internal resources to increase engagement and yield
● Learn how to write engaging email content
● Identify key performance indicators for email communication
Situation Analysis
● No central CRM system within UB● Central graduate application system (homegrown
system for UB)● Manual follow up - very time extensive ● Used Excel files to manage lists● Difficult to keep track of communications
(specifically because of rolling deadlines)
How could we be more timely in messaging?How could we create a communication plan that would be applicable to so many different programs?How could we be more efficient?
Objectives:
1. Reach an acceptance confirmation rate of 95% by Fall 2016
2. Increase accept-to-enroll yield by 4% by Fall 2016
Improve email performanceIncrease the number of people who confirm
acceptanceIncrease yield
Why create an email communications plan?
“Where do you tell people to send important calendar items, documents, or discussions about important topics, either for work or home? Our guess is that ‘Facebook’ wasn’t your answer. It was probably email.”
– Jason Falls, Digital Strategist and Co-author of “The Rebel’s Guide to Email Marketing”
Plan Construction
DemographicsDomestic
vs. International
BehaviorsNot Confirmed
vs. Confirmed
4 Communication PlansDomestic Not Confirmed
Domestic ConfirmedInternational Not Confirmed
International Confirmed
Plan Construction
How do we get accepted students to enroll?
Email Construction
Gather Information
Identify Calls to Action
Choose a Channel
Write Content
Set Timing
& Frequency
Launch & Measure!
Email Construction
Gather Information
Identify Calls to Action
Choose a Channel
Write Content
Set Timing
& Frequency
Launch & Measure!
Confirm Your Acceptance
Register For Classes
Activate your UB Account
Take Our Survey
Email Construction
Gather Information
Identify Calls to Action
Choose a Channel
Write Content
Set Timing
& Frequency
Launch & Measure!
Email is not dead.Of Americans age 12 and over who are active online, 94% cite email as one of their regular activities. (Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project’s Generations 2010 report)
Jay Baer, Social Media Speaker, Author and Coach, says that 58% percent of adult Americans check email first thing in the morning. (Source: MarketingSherpa 2013 Email Summit)
Email generates nearly a 2X return compared to other channels. For every dollar spent on email marketing in 2011, there was a $40.56 return. Compare that to other channels, such as search engine marketing, which is the next closest at $22.44. (Source: Direct Marketing Association and Smart Data Collective)
Email Construction
Key Attributes of Engaging Email
TrustworthyRELEVANT
Gather Information
Identify Calls to Action
Choose a Channel
Write Content
Set Timing
& Frequency
Launch & Measure!
Email Construction
Key Attributes of Engaging Email
TrustworthyRELEVANT
COORDINATED
Strategic
Gather Information
Identify Calls to Action
Choose a Channel
Write Content
Set Timing
& Frequency
Launch & Measure!
Conversational
Familiar header
Clear CTA
Consistent sender and valid address
Examples:
UB Branding
Examples:
UB Branding
Coordinated Communication
Keeping accepted students engaged without being overbearing!
What is the secret formula?
There isn’t one.
Gather Information
Identify Calls to Action
Choose a Channel
Write Content
Set Timing
& Frequency
Launch & Measure!
What do I measure?
What is “good”performance?
• Open Rate• Click Through• Bounce Rate
• Surveys• Email Responses
Gather Information
Identify Calls to Action
Choose a Channel
Write Content
Set Timing
& Frequency
Launch & Measure!
Quantitative
Qualitative
Source: Metric: Industry Average:
Mailchimp Open Rate 23.15%
Click Through 3.11%
Bounce Rate 0.71%
Constant Contact Open Rate 26.30%
Click Through 8.22%
Bounce Rate 8.16%
Silverpop Open Rate 26.2%
Click Through 5.8%
Bounce Rate 3.7%
Hobsons Open Rate 12.55% - 30.90%
Click Through 2.33% - 4.08%
Bounce Rate Unknown
Smart Insights (UK) Open Rate 19.26%
Click Through 2.26%
Bounce Rate Unknown
Inbox Swag “Thank you Sara! You have been most helpful and are great at your job!”
“Sara,
Thank you so much! I was able to log in. What is expected
of me now? I looked at my status and it already said
accepted/admitted. Is there anything additional that needs
to be completed? Again, thank you for your time.”
“Hi,
Thank you so much for working with me through this application process. I have one more questions, now that I am accepted and I have activated all the links. How do I figure out who my advisor is? I would like to register for my Spring 2015 class but I am unsure which would be the best and would like to consult with my advisor.”
Key Performance Indicators
● Acceptance Confirmation Rate● Accept-Enroll Yield● Objective is to increase Confirmation
Rate and we are
QuestionsContact Us:Holly AcitoCoordinator of Recruitment Communications & Admissions Services
Graduate Enrollment Management [email protected]
Sara LangstonAssistant Director for Student Services & Administration
Graduate School of [email protected]