How, What & When to Do It

Communicating With Prospective Students – Simple, Yet Many Get It

Wrong

PRESENTERS

Rachel RollinsMarketing Coordinator

rrollins@envisageinternational.edu

Roxana TuncAssistant Director

rtunc@calpoly.edu

AGENDA

‣ Filling the admissions funnel

‣ Best methods of communications

- How, what and when

‣ Social media and messaging app platforms

‣ Open Discussion – What is your communications plan??

THE ADMISSIONS FUNNEL

Prospects

Inquiries

Applicants

Admits

Enrolled

FILLING THE FUNNEL• How:

● In country reps

● Education fairs

● School’s website

● Agents

● Portal sites

● List buys

● Advertising

● Social media

● Students & Alumni

Prospects

Inquiries

Applicants

Admits

Enrolled

Cal Poly: Before and After

2016 vs 2017

YTD increase in number of applications 123%

Increase in website visitors 164%

Increase in number of returning visitors 80%

Increase in file completion rate: 47%

Recruitment & Admissions Funnel

• Online presence

• Fairs & Exhibitions

• Memberships & Partnerships

• International Rankings

Brand Building

• High school visits & Seminars

• Lead Generations

• Contact Purchase

• Communication Flows

• Social Media

Application Generation

• Enrollment & Yield

• Melt StrategiesAdmissions

Recruitment & Admissions Funnel

• StudyUSA: 648,000 visitors a month

• Envisage International Corporation (EIC): 848,500 visitors a month

• CollegeWeekLive: 175,200 visitors a month

• Fairs & Exhibitions

• Partnerships

Brand Building

• College board

• TOEFL

• Website inquiries

• Other lead generation websites

Application Generation

• Communication Plans

• Admission Process StreamlineAdmissions

Guiding principles

• Live Where and When Your Audiences Live

• Keep Them Coming Back For More

• Listen, Listen, Listen

How:

• Emails

• Calls

What:

• Your chance to begin to develop relationship

• Gather more information about your school

• How to apply

When:

• Initial contact ASAP - No more than 24 hours

• Ongoing communication weekly moving to monthly

INQUIRIES

Prospects

Inquiries

Applicants

Admits

Enrolled

Before you start:

Place Product

Price Promotion

4 P’s

Place:

Web: Exclusive vs InclusiveAccessibilityHierarchy & ResponsibilitiesWebsite Goals

Social Media: Where Students “Live” OnlineInteract & EngageGo MobileTime / Target Messages

Print : Who is Your Audience? Be Consistent: BrandingFunctionsBe creative

Emails:Be personalCall for ActionsListen, React, measure

Product:

Web: General informationHeavily brandedInspire Curiosity: call for action

Social Media: Each has its own functionLocal Social MediaEngage

Print :For older audienceHeavily branded5 second span of attention

Emails: Be personalCall for ActionsListen, React, measure

EMAIL COMMUNICATIONThe Good

Prospects

Inquiries

Applicants

Admits

Enrolled

EMAIL COMMUNICATIONThe Ugly

Prospects

Inquiries

Applicants

Admits

Enrolled

EMAIL COMMUNICATIONThe Ugly

Prospects

Inquiries

Applicants

Admits

Enrolled

How:

• Email

• Phone

• Social

• Messaging Apps

• Video Conference

What:

• Feeling welcomed

• Next steps

• Housing options

• Campus life

When:

• As needed for deadlines

• Personal and campus based touch points

APPLICANTS

Prospects

Inquiries

Applicants

Admits

Enrolled

How:

• Email

• Calls

• Social (invite to class of 2021 FB group)

• Video conferencing

• Mail (Swag!)

What:

• Congrats and welcome

• Deadlines

• What to expect when get to campus

• Housing

When:

• As needed for deadlines

• Personal and campus based touch points

ADMITS & ENROLLED

Prospects

Inquiries

Applicants

Admits

Enrolled

Communication Flows @ Cal PolyCultivation flow Welcome

Stay Connected

Introduction to College/Department

Cal Poly Rankings

Life at Central Coast

Cal Poly's Alumni

Learn by doing

International Diversity at Cal Poly

Student Life

Application generation flow Application start date

International Student Application Process

Application infographics

Application Q&A

“Learn by Doing” message

Application deadline reminder

Application processing Flow Application post submission: Keeping applied students

interested in Cal Poly

International Application documents

Why Cal Poly?

Cal Poly Rankings

Life at Central Coast

Learn by doing

Yield Flow: Students Department welcome

International Center welcome

SDSMT Example Emails

Dear «firstname»,

Keep these dates in mind when making travel plans and

sign up soon:

1. International Student Orientation

a. *August 17 from 9 am to 3 pm and August

18 from 9 am to 12 pm

b. *You MUST attend both days

2. Transfer Student Orientation – Friday, August 19

3. Register for these orientations on the Standard

Fall Checklist

If you have any further questions, contact us.

Thanks,

SD Mines Ivanhoe International Center Staff

SDSMT Example Emails

Dear «firstname»,

When are you arriving in Rapid City? Once

you have made your travel plans, please fill

out our online arrival form.

We offer FREE airport pick-up and free

temporary housing. These options are on the

form. Please note: We do not offer temporary

housing for married students bringing their

spouses.

Keep orientation dates in mind when

making travel plans. It is mandatory for

you to attend these orientations.

Thank you,

SD Mines Ivanhoe International Center Staff

Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Weibo

1. Social media platforms are targeted to current students but gives

awareness to potential students

■ Up-to-date contact information

■ Overview of school and International program

■ Have a variety of post

2. Follow students that have requested to follow you

■ Good indicator of quality leads

CREATING AWARENESS WITH SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

Why do we use it?

1. Create awareness to start filling funnel

2. To help students evaluate your program

3. To communicate with students

4. To align application deadlines with

marketing

USING SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

TURN INQUIRIES TO APPLICANTS WITH MESSAGING APPS

Boost conversations with inquiries by using a mix of marketing

Messenger Apps – Facebook messenger, WhatsApp, WeChat, Viber and LINE

• Free to use internationally • Can create groups or rooms based off where students are in the application funnel or

degree interest• Take advantage of sharing links, documents and personalization

According to GlobalWebIndex, 75% of internet users today use some sort of a messaging app.

“For more than 500 million users in China, [WeChat is] essentially The Everything App.” – David Pierce at

Wired

MOST POPULAR MESSAGING APPS IN EVERY COUNTRY

April 2016

Skype and Youtube Live Streaming

When:

•When students are inquiries, applicants, admitted or enrolled

•To give more information about your school.

How:

•Share the event through email marketing and messenger apps

Why:

• Face-to-face

• Provides more guidance

• Can determine quality leads to follow-up with

VIDEO CHATS

FINAL TIPS

• What do you need in a successful communications plan?

1) A plan to contact prospective Students quickly

• According to the Harvard Business review, responding to leads within an hour generates 7x the meaningful conversations than those that wait even an hour later.

2. An ongoing communications strategy

• Cannot stop at one email. A continual lead nurturing plan needs to be developed.

3. Using the right method to reach students

• Email, social, chat, phone….. and more emails….

4. Always deliver a relevant message

• Based on where they are in the funnel

Alejandro submitted at 12:50 pm

Alejandro submitted at 12:50 pm