Best Practices in the Promotion and Marketing of Online Programs

Brenda Harms

Senior Vice President

Converge Consulting

Benchmarking Best Promotional

Practices for Marketing Online

ProgramsRalph Elliott

Vice Provost and Professor of

Economics Emeritus

Director, Seminar Marketing Institute

Copyright 2009-2013

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Agenda for Online Program Marketing

Marketing Model for Online Sales

Types of Online Programs

Creating Landing Pages that Convert

Segmentation for Follow-up

Email Drip Marketing to Close the Sale

Market with a Memory for Future Sales

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Use Two-Step Marketing to Convert Prospects into Inquiries and Inquiries

into Customers

Clients Customers

Inquiries/Leads

Prospects Suspects

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Types of Online Programs

Webinars

Individual Online Courses

Certificate Programs (credit or non-credit)

Undergraduate Degrees

Graduate Degrees

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Think of Your Landing Pageas a Funnel

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Landing Page Stats

It’s estimated that up to 50% of visitors to landing pages will bail in the first 8 seconds

Average landing page conversion rate is around 2 to 5%

How do you increase landing page conversions?

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How to Increase conversions at Your Landing Page

1. Make sure you articulate what the visitor is going to get - Perhaps it is a copy of your new catalog or a promotional brochure

2. Have bullet points - that provide information making the page easier to scan, highlighting the important details

3. Tell the visitor - how the they are going to receive the requested information

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How to Increase Conversions at Your Landing Page

4. Typography should be hierarchical - so the eye can quickly pick out what elements of the page are most important

5. The CTA is clearly positioned and concise - keep barriers to entry low; making it more likely the user will complete sign-up

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6. Social Media Sharing - if these links distract users from the process of signing up, you’re damaging the effectiveness of your page

7. Copy - does it focused on the organization and not the user? Don’t ‘we-we’

8. Self-serving copy is a turn-off for users - Make sure you tell users how they will benefit to ensure a positive response (WIFM)

Have Copy that Appeals to All Communication Styles

ANALYTICAL DRIVER

AMIABLE EXPRESSIVE

LOW RESPONSELOW

ASSERTIVE

HIGH ASSERTIVE

HIGH RESPONSE

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9. Mandatory and non-mandatory information - make sure it is clear what the minimum requirements are when completing the form

10. Limit the number of requested “fields of information” on the landing page

11. Have a call to action that - “Get updates on future webcasts” rather than the generic and intimidating “Sign Up”

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12. Multiple Sign-up buttons - having buttons at the top and the bottom of the page means the CTA is always available, whether the user reads all the supporting information or not

13. For Long Landing Pages - where the top of the page disappears when you scroll, having multiple buttons is a must

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14. Sample content preview on whitepapers - will help the users to gauge the usefulness and make the page more engaging

15. Good Video - Studies from eyeviewdigital.com report up to 80% improvements in conversion

http://www.eyeviewdigital.com/documents/EyeView-White-Paper-Making-Video-Accountable.pdf

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16. A Side Benefit - is properly optimized video can be 53 times more likely to reach the front page of Google search results

17. You may have a progress indicator form - that lets visitor know there are 3 steps and where they are in the process

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19. Have a Nice Mix of Bullet Points - coupled with detailed descriptions for those who need to dig deeper

20. Sweepstakes - such as a the free prize giveaway as an add-on will lift conversions

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Use the Four (4) Great Motivators: Fear, Guilt, Greed,

ExclusivityYou may not get into the program

Don’t you owe it to your family

Bottom-line gains from taking the program

Enrollment is limited to ‘First come, First serve’

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Greed…One of the Four Great Copy Motivators

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21. Newsletters - are great way to engage prospects

22. White Papers - are the granddaddy of content used to create conversions

23. Use Ebooks - as an incentive when you ask for a lot of information

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Know Your Data Base & Allocate Follow-up Accordingly

Know Your Data Base & Allocate Follow-up Accordingly

High Recency Low

Mon

etar

y Va

lue/

Activ

ity

High

Low

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Following Up on Leads

Lead nurturing is the process of cultivating leads not ready to buy

Leads are segmented based upon profile characteristics

Nurturing keeps prospects engaged by using drip marketing

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Following Up on Leads

Use progressive profiling where you incrementally ask contacts for additional information

Contacts are much more likely to share information about themselves during the first 24 hours they are engaged with you

Remember: Prospects have probably contacted several other providers

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"Early impressions

are hard to eradicate

from the mind.“

-Saint Jérôme

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A Few Thoughts About Recruitment….

There is no perfect recruitment model

Nearly every school or business has an opportunity to do a better job in recruitment by following a process

Personalization of even “canned emails” makes it a bit better

How you recruit - or IF you recruit - is not a reflection on how “good” you are

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A Few Thoughts About Recruitment….

Technology - depending on the level of complexity - is crucial

Even without technology some process can be put in place

Process and accountability is what is lacking in most recruitment shops

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Most Embarrassing….

The empty envelope

Wrong name

The goofed up phone message

Those who never followed up

The unexpected answered phone call

Duplicate emails

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Most Embarrassing….

Typos

Un-kept promises

The 30+ day wait time

The sense from our secret shopper many institutions just weren’t that interested in her

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Greatest Successes….

Emails from people (included names)

Offers to connect students to financial aid, academic deans, and career services (For-Profit)

Free webinars on navigating financial aid

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Greatest Successes….

Open house invites on finding your next job, resume writing, and finances

Personal hand-written notes tucked in with a mailed packet

Consistent process

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Current Process….

How is a lead handled?

Does it differ depending on the type of lead?

Is there a clear process and expectation (that is written down) that all those following up on leads uses?

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Nothing Happens by Accident….

Process

Process

Process

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Recommended Process….

Build the relationship

Understand the motivation

Determine barriers

Evaluate their level of seriousness

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Present a customized picture of your product

Create urgency

Remove barriers – educate

Close the deal

Continue to recruit your current clients

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Build the relationship

Leverage key questions that allow you to connect with the individual

People love to talk about themselves – let them

Identify and ask key questions

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Understand the motivation

New job

Success at work

Want my kids to be proud


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Determine barriers

Money

Time

Lack of support


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Evaluate their level of seriously

Have they considered this before

Does anyone know they are talking with you

Is there outside support (or motivation) for your conversation with them


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Present a customized picture of your product

Limit your information to what they have told you they need to know

Leverage examples of others like them you have helped

Use information from key questions

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Create urgency

Leverage motivations

Pull heart strings


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Remove barriers – educate

Road blocks are often larger to the person who isn’t sure what they really look like

Anticipate the obstacles that most of your prospective clients face


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Close the deal

When a client is ready to buy there is no waiting

Continue to sell the choice they have made

Beware of buyers remorse

Be prepared to help them overcome the resistance they will now face

Ask and leverage information from key questions

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Continue to recruit your current clients

There is no loyalty

People are savvy consumers and will not tolerate poor treatment

Leverage what you know about your clients to re-engage them and get them to re-invest over and over with you


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Redefine Your Process….

“The way I’ve always done it”

Moving from good to better…

Letting go of what is comfortable

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Redefine Your Process….

Challenging yourself to do what feels foreign

Pushing the envelope of your own success

Listening more – talking less

The importance of process

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Suggested Recruitment Approach….

Adult inquires – Day 1

Personal connection (email, phone, personal note) within 24 hours

Follow-up contact (call) – Day 6

Follow-up contact (email) – Day 10


Follow-up contact (email or call) – Day 21

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Suggested Recruitment Approach….





Follow-up contact (maintenance) – holiday/newsletter/special announcements

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Telephone Follow-Up to Prospects

Pre-call Planning

Interest – Creating Opening Statements

Effective Questioning

Sales Recommendations

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Telephone Follow-Up to Prospects

Getting Commitment (Closing)

Addressing Resistance (Objections)

Wrapping Up and Setting the Next Action

Attitude and Self-Motivation

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Following Up on Leads with Email

Email open & click through rates are a good place to start evaluating your engagement process.

The 'welcome to our organization' will be the most important email you will send. Open rate is twice the regular open rates. Make sure your include an irresistible offer.

When inviting people to contact you, put a person name and email address

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Following Up on Leads With Email

Let the 'subject' line be the key benefit of your offer

Put the name of your organization along with your name in the 'from line.’ You could also include your signature at the bottom of the email. Two signatures out perform one signature.

Personalize the email by putting in the recipient's first name. Personalize by mentioning something you know about the reader. Essentially, market with a memory.

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Put several links to your website above the fold. Many recipients preview your email without actually opening it, so give recipients a chance to click-through at the top. Statistics say as many as 75 - 85% use only their reading pane.

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Use a number of eye-catching devices in your body copy. For example, use bullets, bold type, along with highlighting. Keep sentences to around 14 words. Make sure you don’t 'we we' on your customers. Instead use lots of 'you' copy.

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Use appropriate images to build credibility and interest

Have a photograph of the faculty member and let the email come from them

Use a banner at the top that picks up the theme on your website

Make sure you have multiple 'calls for action’

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Include your unsubscribe link; and when people click the link, ask them to complete a short survey on why they are leaving your database

Your goal is to get ideas for reducing ‘opt outs’

Optimize your emails for mobile viewing

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Keep in mind that after the third email to the same person, design loses its appeal. Therefore, your email should be more text or copy intensive for repetitive mailings to the same target audience

As a rule, you should avoid Mondays and the first day after holidays for your email marketing

Keep your emails to around four paragraphs maximum

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Delete hard bounces right away and soft bounces that repeatedly say 'mailbox is full'...a sign of an abandoned email address. Do not delete temporary bounces

Segment future emails based on who has been opening your emails during the last six months, or year, and those who have never opened your emails

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Use a special emails to wake up dormant leads, customers or addresses

Provide a 'we missed you offer' or 'an online survey' with a completion incentive such as a lottery drawing for a $500 Amazon gift certificate.

Copyright 2009-2013

Questions? Comments?

Concerns?Thank You!

Education

Best Practices in the Promotion and Marketing of Online Programs