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The E-Expectations of College-Bound High School Seniors and Their Parents
Stephanie Geyer@StephGeyerVice President
Noel-Levitz
Lance Merker@LanceMerker
President and CEOOmniUpdate
Use our hashtag to add your thoughts to the nationwide conversation!
#eexpect
Finding answers since 2005
Visit any partner site to find the latest studies, including the “2014 E-Expectations Report: The Online Preferences of College-Bound Seniors and Their Parents” white paper and trend reports for our recent international student studies.
See also: 2014 E-Recruiting Practices Report available at noellevitz.com
E-Expectations research
Web
Mobile users and your web resources
E-communications
E-communications resources and preferences
Social
Social media trends and opportunities
E-Expectations 2014: Focal points
Telephone survey of 1,001 high school seniors and 533 parents of high school seniors
• Facilitated in March and April 2014
• List source: National Research Center for College and University Admissions (NRCCUA)
• 95% confidence interval
• +/- 3% margin of error
Methodology
About the students
Gender GPA Parents attended college
47%Male 42%
A 33%No
53%Female 49%
B67%Yes
8% C
1% <C
2.00%7%
10.00%
20%
1%37%
14.00%
10.00%
Students: Ethnicity
American IndianAsianAfrican-AmericanHispanicMiddle EasternWhiteOther/Multi-racialNo response
Students: Enrollment stage
Prospects 13%
Inquiries 7%
Applicants 31%
Accepts 49%
Students Parents
14% 15%
49%39%
26%29%
11% 17%
Within past 3 monthsWithin past monthWithin past 7 daysEarlier today
When was the last time you looked at a college or university website?
E-communications
Resources and preferences• Interest, influence, and
reliability− People
• Email• Text messages• Paid advertisements
E-Expectations 2014: Focal points
62.2%
37.8%
50.5%49.5
%
To learn about colleges and universities, I prefer…
Phone calls and print materialsWeb-based resources
2014 Students 2014 Parents
41%
59%
58%
42%
I’m more likely to consider schools that use…
Traditional communication
Email, texts, or social media
94.3%
5.6%
89.9%
10.1%
If I have to choose to look at a school’s website or Facebook page, I’ll opt for…
Website
Facebook page
Interest in communications resources
Campu
s tou
r
Send e
Colleg
e fair
s
Call ad
mission
s
Ask vi
a soc
ial
Textin
g
IM ch
ats
Web
cast
even
t
Web
cam ch
ats0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Seniors2013 SeniorsParents
College
Web s
ite
Email mess
ages
from a
specif
ic co
llege
Genera
l colle
ge pl
anning si
te
College
ratin
g site
s
College
rank
ing mag
azine
s
Facebo
ok po
sts fro
m a sp
ecific
colle
ge
Twitter p
osts fro
m a spec
ific co
llege
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
2014 Students 2014 Parents
.edu
Influential resources in the college search process
What resources are most reliable?
97%85%
80%
53%
97%
81% 78%
49%
89%
75%62%
41%
Seniors2013 SeniorsParents
Inbox (6,755) Starred Important Direct Mail Drafts► Circles
• 93% of seniors use email at least once/week compared to 82% of 2013 seniors and 77% of parents
• 98% of students and parents will open a message from a school they’re considering
• 60% of students and 43% of parents will open messages from unknown schools
Email use is up!
Two-thirds are checking email on a mobile device at least once a day
DailyS: 47%P: 47%More than once/day
S: 19%P: 18%
Few times/week
S: 14%P: 10%
Less than once/monthS: 9%P: 18%
Once/weekS: 9%P: 6%
Few times/monthS: 3%P: 2%
S – StudentsP – Parents
What are they doing with your messages?
Save in inbox
Place in folder
Forward to family
Print Delete Forward to another account
83%
43%
23% 21%
13%10%
75%
49%
40%34% 33%
16%
SeniorsParents
Paid Interactive Marketing
Top Ads by Clicks
2014 E-Recruiting: Using Paid Advertising? 4-year public
4-year private 2-year
Pay-per-click ads on search sites like Google, Bing, or Yahoo 37.2% 32.1% 28.6%
Pay-per-click ads on Facebook 31.0% 35.9% 37.1%
Small increase in clicks
31% of students and 19% of parents have clicked on your paid ads
Google Facebook Other (not search)
Yahoo Bing Other (search)
45%
32%
13%
6%1%
4%
50%
22%
5%
12%
3%6%
38%33%
16%
4% 4% 5%
Seniors 2013 Seniors Parents
Those certain to attend are least likely to look at ads
Name recognition garners clicks
Recog
nized
name
Never
heard
of it
Might w
ant to
atten
d
Definit
ely w
ant to
atten
d
55%
19% 17%10%
44%
23% 26%
8%SeniorsParents
TextingROFL! TTYL
YES 52.7%
NO 47.3%
2014 Seniors
2014 Parents
YES 55.2%
NO 44.8%
I don’t want to be bothered with
commercial/ad texts
Texting is for family and friends only
No data plan
Phone not capable of texting
Too expensive
Not far enough in my search
Why not?
58.7%
26.8%4.7%3.9%
2.9%
2.9%
52.3%
34.7%3.3%3.8%
2.5%
3.3%
Willing to allow a college rep to send you text messages?
2014 Seniors
2014 Parents
Have received a text from:
A schoolAn individual
Both
Replied to any message
26.8%4.7%3.9%2.9%
34.7%3.3%3.8%3.3%
Experience with texts from schools
Web
Mobile users and your web resources• Perceptions• Content priorities• Mobile use• Form use on mobile
devices
E-Expectations 2014: focal points
67%
33%
59%
41%
69%
31%
57%44%
59%
41%
59%
41%
Seniors2013 SeniorsParents
Website experiences and quality perceptions
0.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
Students Parents
First content targets on college and university websites
Does college support attainment of career goals?Yes:• 87% students• 93% parents
How can you demonstrate value?
Academic program con-
tent
Testimonials Statistics (job placement/grad
schools)
Videos Calculators
29%
22%
16%18%
4%
33%
25%
32%
6% 5%
SeniorsParents
Seniors2013 Seniors
Parents
90%
78%81%
Regular access to a mobile device?
Smart phone Cell with web access
Tablet iPod® Touch
67%
14%
8% 5%
48%
21%
6% 8%
50%
12% 13%
3%
Seniors 2013 Seniors Parents
Smartphones more popular than ever
All the time If no PC available Rarely
40%
52%
9%
40%
46%
14%
28%
51%
20%
Seniors2013 SeniorsParents
Use of mobile devices for web browsing
How many have looked at a college site on a mobile device?
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
71% 69%
45%
Seniors 2013 Seniors Parents
What forms have or would students complete on their mobile devices from
your website?Cost calculator: 47%
Scholarship estimator: 47%Information request: 41%
Online application: 40%
Open house reservation: 57%Campus visit request: 55%Information request: 53%Cost calculator: 53%Scholarship estimator: 52%Online application: 38%
Forms they HAVE completed on a mobile device
Forms they WOULD complete
on a mobile device
Social
Social media trends and opportunities• Use of social media
channels• Facebook• Twitter• Google+
E-Expectations 2014: Focal points
Faceb
ook
YouTub
e
Instag
ramTwitte
r
Snapc
hat
+Vine
Pintere
st
Tumblr
iFunny
Linke
dIn
Stumble
Upon
Storify
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
2014 Seniors 2013 Seniors 2014 Parents
Student and parent use of social media resources
Faceb
ook
YouTub
e
Instag
ram
Linke
dIn
Pintere
st
Tumblr
Flickr
+Vim
eo
FourS
quare
Storify
Vine
Spotify
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
4-Year Private 4-Year Public 2-Year
Institutional use of social media resources
I don't post frequently, but look at my newsfeed at least once a day.24.5% 16.6%
2014 Seniors
2014 Parents
I post comments, photos, videos, or other content at least a few times a month.19.7% 16.9%
I post comments, photos, videos, or other content at least once a week.16.7% 21.6%
I don't post frequently, but I look at my newsfeed at least once a week.15.5% 15.3%
I don't post frequently, but look at my newsfeed at least a few times a month.13.3% 11.6%
I post comments, photos, videos, or other content at least once a day.10.3% 17.6%
Visited a college
Facebook page
51.4%
Clicked “Like”
35.7%
Visited a college
Facebook page
36.3%
Clicked “Like”
43.1%
12% increase in students following college Twitter feeds
• 37% of students follow a Twitter feed from a college or university (25% in 2013)
• In the 2011 E-Expectations study, just 5% of parents reported having Twitter feeds, which is now 15%
o 26% of parents are following college or university Twitter feeds
Twitter use
Overall Twitter Use
40%Seniors
26%2013
Seniors
15%Parents
E-Recruiting practices: Who uses Twitter?
68% of 4-year publics48% of 4-year privates
24% of 2-year institutions
More parents than students are adding college pages
• 14% of seniors added pages, down from 17% in 2013 and significantly lower than parents at 25%
• 19% of seniors have participated in Google+ Hangouts compared to 2013 at 13%
Google+ use
Google+
31%Seniors
5%2013
Seniors
19%Parents
Recommendations
With your website as the hub, pilot new options and watch data to sustain existing resources.
They are using all of the resources you offer. Talk directly to them. Invite them to engage in conversation.
Improving avenues into your website increases opportunities to engage via all of your digital channels.
Don’t settle for catalog text to promote your product. Work on each program section carefully and test!
Balance!Parents!
SEO matters
Exceptional content
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Complete the marketing cycle by measuring the success of each major initiative and pilot. Integrate your analytics and test new ideas.
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MatchAdapt
Measure and test Respect
their data
Questions?
Presenter contact informationStephanie Geyer, Noel-Levitz
• Voice: (303) 594-0370• Email: [email protected]• @StephGeyer
Lance Merker, OmniUpdate• Voice: (805) 484-9400• Email: [email protected]• @LanceMerker
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