College Prospect Survey 2016

Answers on marketing to digital natives, from the students themselves.

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There has never been a more complex time to compete for college prospects. A generation of

digital natives is transforming how media is consumed, expecting messaging to be served up

how, when and where they’re prepared to absorb it.

When it comes to prospects connecting with the right college, however, we still believe the

“why” is the most essential factor in creating that affinity.

One of the most common sayings we hear from college students on why they chose a school is

“it just felt right.” It's important to understand the factors that influence this gut-level

response, both digitally and in-person. Unfortunately, what little research exists on the subject

is outdated, which is a surprise considering the significant changes happening each year in the

college prospect process.

Put simply, we need better data. Tuition increases, escalating debt and parental scrutiny of

long-term return on investment all underscore the need to justify the most significant

financial investment many families have made. Premium investments will follow premium

interactions and it is critical to understand what is driving the prospect’s behavior every step

of the way.

Overview

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To comprehend the various aspects of a college’s “curb” appeal, we commissioned a survey

that looked at two aspects of the prospect journey: content and the on-campus visit.

Whether it’s a Facebook post, a Snap or a college information session, the right message at

the right time will make the difference in reaching the prospects colleges really want. We

segmented the teenage college prospect journey into three stages – Prospect, Inquiry and

Courtship. In broad terms, the three parts of the admissions funnel move someone from

general awareness to consideration set (application) to finalist (admission through enrollment).

As you know, there is significant overlap and gradation within each part of the process and we

address this throughout our survey.

We offer the survey results, our takeaways and recommendations as a guide. We hope it

sparks conversation among your colleagues, inspires you to get to know your prospects better

and provides some tangible takeaways that you can put in to action.

Overview

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We surveyed 328 current high school juniors and seniors, all of whom are planning on

attending a four-year non-profit university. The survey included 15 different Illinois

high schools from relatively equally distributed socioeconomic strata. Here are the

highlights of the demographics surveyed:

• Gender - 58.4% female, 40.6% male

• 63.6% know what they plan to major in

• Number of schools plan on or applied to

– 37.7% - 4-7– 34.0% - 8-10– 17.5% - 1-3– 9.7% - 11-15– 1.3% - More than 15

• Number of college info sessions attended

– 45% - 1-3– 28.7% - 4-7– 10.0% - More than 15– 8.7% - 11-15– 8.1% - 8-10

Survey Demographics

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Prospect phase

The prospect phase is the earliest stage of the college selection process. During this step, prospective students are actively seeking information to rule your university in or out of their consideration set.

Analysis

1. Online searches are the key driver of awareness.

Web search (31.2%) came in number one as the method by which prospects first become aware of a college. When you combine college ranking website (12.8%) with web search, 44% of prospects first discover you through some type of online search.

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Analysis (cont.)2. Word of mouth plays a large role.The second greatest factor in awareness of a particular university was conversation with a family member or friend (29.7%).

3. Social media isn’t yet relevant at this stage.Only 6.1% of prospects first became aware of a prospective college through social media. Even sports on television (7.1%) outranked social media as a prospect’s first point of contact.

This may, of course, be a chicken or the egg scenario: quality social interactions are predicated on quality social content – since so few prospects look at social media at this stage, marketing departments aren’t prioritizing the creation of engaging social content; this, in turn, keeps prospects from seeing it as a source.

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Actions to take1. Pay attention to SEO

Most of you are keenly aware of the power of search engine optimization (SEO) and some ways to implement paid and organic strategies. Our survey results further prove that the war for winning “Best colleges for [insert subject matter here]” is on.

There are a few easy methods for improving this crucial tactic:

Survey current freshmen on search termsFor example, what specific search terms did they start with and why? Were college ranking sites truly the first stop or was that an intermediary step after a general search query?

When it comes to social media (which is also a signal to search engines), what would it have taken for them to notice you on social media at this stage? On what platform? In what context?

Look at your Google Analytics accountAs much as those “(not provided)” entries allow, look at which keywords are pointing traffic your way.

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Actions to take1. Pay attention to SEO (cont.)

Buy branded keywords on paid searchIf you’re not buying paid ads on your university’s name, others might be – if this is the case, when a prospect searches for you, they’re immediately served up an ad for a peer institution.

If you need help with any or all of these aforementioned top funnel search tactics, we’ll be happy to connect you with some trusted resources.

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Actions to take2. Develop quality content

Before writing a bunch of blogs or creating myriad videos, create a content strategy that delivers on your school’s messaging goals. Ensure all content is targeted and on-brand.

Here are some tips for improving your content strategy:

Divide content by stage in the journeyIt’s wise to hold your prospect’s hands through the college selection process. Provide relevant content to them for their journey and associate your brand with that content. This involves understanding which types of messages belong on which platforms, which we’ll discuss later in this report. However, it starts with easing their anxiety.

Consider admissions-specific division of contentPeople are looking for information customized for their stage in the cycle. Overall, institutional marketing may not be addressing their concerns with enough frequency. Consider creating various streams of content – some directed at admitees, others at promoters (which helps guide word of mouth).

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Actions to take2. Develop quality content (cont.)

Provide value, not advertisingProducing posts like “10 things college freshmen wish they knew when trying to find their dream school” or “5 tips to help you make sense of the college search process” featuring authentic student insights is likely to connect better than images of your leafy campus with a generic tagline.

By being the curator of helpful content, you benefit by association. Remember, it has to be authentic. While calls to action are acceptable, you must remember to provide value by answering their questions about the process first.

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Insider’s adviceConverge Consulting

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We met with Converge Consulting, a leading

Higher Ed digital inbound marketing firm, to get

their insights on the survey results. Founder Ann

Oleson, President Jay Kelly and VP of Content

Strategy Megan Bys all weighed in.

The Converge team is seeing an increase in

schools being more strategic and focusing on

calendar-driven content strategies, a critical

must for small schools with small digital media

teams. The more sophisticated schools are

embracing a swath of digital media tools to

measure, iterate and improve upon serving the

right message to the right audience.

And though social media didn’t resonate with

our survey takers in this stage, Kelly

recommends that clients “increase paid social

media as part of their paid advertising strategy”

while noting that they’re seeing institutions pay

more attention to social media lower down the

funnel.

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Inquiry phase

Prospective students move into the Inquiry phase after engaging or showing some type of interest in your university. At this stage they are looking to find the college with the best fit.

Analysis

1. Safety, feeling like I belong socially and academic reputation are essentialsWhile many of the following factors were neck-and-neck, those top three were key. The only topic they significantly downplayed was a university’s impressive alumni.

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2. Social media is still a secondary concernThough its relevance is greater here than at the top of the funnel, less than one-third of prospects (28.0%) look at a university’s social media accounts before applying, compared to the 47% of prospects who reportedly do not. In a follow up question, approximately one-third of respondents agreed that a university’s social media presence gives them a sense of the campus culture.

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Analysis (cont.)

Actions to take1. Address their influential factors

Use your owned channels to guide students through the challenging college search process.

Create content on your side that addresses their influential factors. Answer the questions they’re looking for, being cognizant of how they would phrase these search terms.

Show, don’t tell It’s all about content authenticity. You can show stats about job placement, or you can produce first-person video essays from young alumni to tell your story for you. You can try to describe campus culture, or you can let your best promoters – current students – do it for you.

Know how behavioral traits affect their decisionsThink of user-generated content as your prospect’s version of “word of mouth.” Content created by their peers is seen as trustworthy and may help prospective students better connect to the message.

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A recent study of Millennials says they trust information received through UGC (user-generated content) 50% more than information from other media sources, including TV, newspapers, and magazines. And in terms of purchase decisions, UGC is 20% more influential on Millennials than other media.

Actions to take2. Segment your message by audience

Identify where your audience is connecting with youIf admitted students are utilizing your social media accounts to find school-specific information, focus your content around their needs instead of around prospects’ who are likely only looking at your website to answer their general collegiate questions.

Audit your social media accountsStart by reviewing your social accounts to see how much content is Prospect/Inquiry phase-focused versus Courtship phase-focused. Ensure that your social media messaging geared toward the early stages of the admissions funnel is proportional to how much students in these stages check your social media accounts.

Segment your messagingKnowing that your many social media platforms are home to different audiences with different wants and needs, develop a plan to deliver each of those audience groups the information relevant to them.

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38% of respondents check school social media accounts after they apply.

Insider’s advicePrinceton University

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“Princeton will continue to use Snapchat as a storytelling platform to

reach current and prospective students whereas Instagram Stories

presents an opportunity to share Princeton’s story to a global

audience.”

Jessica Fillinger, Social Media Specialist, Princeton

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Courtship phase

The Courtship phase –traditionally cited as the applicant-admit-acceptance parts of the higher education funnel –extends from the post-application process through enrollment. It overlaps with the Inquiry phase because prospects may be visiting campuses earlier (depending on student). For simplicity, we’ve emphasized the social media strategy and on-campus visit in this step.

Analysis

Social media becomes increasingly important in later stagesFacebook is overwhelmingly the platform of choice (43.1%) on which prospects want to engage with universities. Instagram was a distant second (17.5%) to Facebook and only slightly ahead of Twitter (15.6%), while the real surprise came with Snapchat ranked fourth (9.1%) in our survey. Respondents who answered other indicated either they don’t want to engage with a university via social media period or they would prefer to connect by email.

The campus visit is the single greatest driver of conversionA whopping 78.2% of prospects cite a campus visit as increasing their likelihood of attending that college. We’ll dig in on the specific factors that move the needle below.

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Analysis (cont.)

Information sessions are uniformly uniformExactly 50% of respondents agreed (46.3%) or strongly agreed (3.7%) that college admissions presentations are interesting. Significantly less (20.8%) agreed (19.9%) or strongly agreed (.9%) the presentations are unique. This presents tremendous opportunity for institutions willing to be creative trailblazers to separate themselves.

Old standbys continue to be essentialThe majority of prospects ranked five of the seven factors as very important or essential, with feeling welcomed and faculty carrying a lot of weight. It’s of little surprise the application process and financial aid top the charts in importance on a campus visit; questioning and assessing such a large investment is a big priority.

The surprise to us was how high feeling welcomed by the staff ranked. It was the second highest ranked in the essential category, outweighing faculty. Also very important or essential: Tour guides, campus beauty and emotionally engaging stories that allow prospects to vet their fit with the institution.

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Actions to take1. Audit your on-campus experience

Put your staff into the role of prospects for a day and audit the experience:• How well are you hitting those influential hot buttons? • Is your staff making a remarkable, welcoming impression? • How are you showcasing your faculty in an engaging way that

appeals to students? • How are you enhancing curb appeal of the campus visit? • Are you soliciting and using feedback from prospects regarding

your tour guides? • When was the last time you went on your own tour? • How are you sharing stories that will help prospects identify

and connect with the culture?

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Actions to take1. Audit your on-campus experience (cont.)

We conducted a qualitative focus group with college coaches from the Illinois-based Schuler Scholar Program. Collectively, these counselors personally visit 60 private liberal arts colleges per year as they guide primarily minority, first-generation collegegoers on their journey.

We specifically talked about the key factors that create lasting impressions for prospects. A handshake, “thank you for coming” and greeting at the door all prove to be differentiators on today’s tours. The same goes for small group breakouts with personalized conversations and emotionally engaging storytelling by tour guides versus flowery propaganda.

Giving people the feeling that they are expected and welcomed will put you in the top percentile.

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Actions to take2. Dare to be different

Highly engaged prospects want to soak up your stories. They want to be emotionally engaged and know what it’s like to actually attend class and live on campus – not just absorb stats and facts.

There is an element of “the message is the medium” for college information sessions. Be personal. Show your unique culture, don’t tell it. Make the information session entertaining, personal and, yes, even customized. Your ability to create the “it just felt right to me” sentiment for prospects comes down to this day.

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Actions to take3. Invest in social, but consider platform/voice

Social media for college prospects is rapidly evolving. Most schools are still using their one primary college master brand account for all things. Some have added a university admissions-specific presence to further hone the message and increase relevancy for prospects. The next step is taking inventory of your admissions-specific content and crafting a plan both from a subject matter perspective and over time on a content calendar – segmenting it by Prospect, Inquiry and Courtship phases, as well as platform.

In order to produce videos for your teen prospects, you must consume content as they do. Step one in channeling your inner teen: Subscribe! How often are you viewing Snapchat stories per day? The average teen is checking stories hourly. Spend a week doing this and you’ll quickly pick up on platform trends.

For example, Michigan is hyper-focused on Snapchat at this phase and the primary driver is access to authentic “day in the life” content. The primary platforms that prospects are asking colleges to pay attention to – Snapchat and YouTube – are video-based and lend themselves to emotional engagement.

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Create calls-to-action. Invite prospects to follow you on social media.

Insider’s adviceUniversity of Michigan

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We shared the social media results with

University of Michigan social media manager

Yasin Id-Deen for his feedback and insights.

According to him, Michigan’s Snapchat focus is

primarily the late Courtship phase – once

Michigan is a strong finalist for a prospect,

particularly for incoming freshmen.

The authenticity of Snaps of arts, culture and

especially day-long event coverage like their

spring festival boast the highest engagement.

They realize it is indeed a tool for prospects to

gain insights into what a day in the life is like, so

the focus is on engaging current students and

assimilating new ones.

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Big takeaways

Use this as information, not THE informationConsider doing your own research because every school is different – and while our sample size is statistically relevant, it is still from a single market in Illinois.

Customize and personalizeFrom Converse sneakers to iPhone cases, practically everything is customizable. Your prospects have grown up in this environment and expect a certain level of personalization. Look for ways to create one-of-a-kind, authentic experiences for your prospects and their families.

Keep an eye on social mediaWhile our results indicate social media has yet to become a major force in the early stages of the higher education admissions funnel, we believe it’s only a matter of time. As our insider Yasin Id-Deen says: “You have to remember for most of these teens, YouTube isn’t their second screen, it is their first.”

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Thank you for taking a look at our survey and analysis. We’d love to be able to expand our sample size to more schools, so if you have a high school or group to recommend, please email us.

We will provide the specific results to the institution as well as the total of results received to date.

Just email jay@teamworksmedia.com.

Jay SharmanCEO / Founder TeamWorks Media312.829.8326 x230312.446.9435 (c)

www.storiedu.com@StoriedU

www.teamworksmedia.com