College student recruitment is changing at an unprecedented rate. To keep up with how business is conducted in the modern world, universities across the country are embracing and using marketing automation to recruit their next crop of students — this includes marketing to grad students.
So, what exactly is marketing automation?
In its simplest form, automation technology enables companies (or universities) to communicate with their prospects in a more simplified and effective way. With the technology, a piece that is sent to a prospect is triggered by an action that prospect has taken — giving information that is most relevant to the prospect at that time.
Examples of marketing automation for a college or university:
- Failure to Finish An Application: What if student X makes it halfway through his or her application but then doesn’t submit? Marketing automation technology would allow you to use this action as a trigger to send the student a follow-up email, text or phone call.
- Retargeting with digital ads: We’ve all been there. We go to a site, get distracted, and then leave. Retargeting ads are shown to people who have visited your site. These ads could be shown to them anywhere from Facebook to Weather.com. Not only is this method great for getting students back to your site it also builds brand awareness.
- Repeated visits to a page: College students are doing more and more of their grad school research online, searching university websites and looking for the right program for them. If a student visits your MBA Program page three times in one week, that action could trigger a popover on your site that says, “Need more information about applying for our MBA program? Click here.”
Some stats on why marketing automation works:
- Time Saver: Eighty-six percent of marketers said “ease of use” was the most important factor when choosing a marketing automation platform,” according to the digital marketing company, Regalix. The technology can help streamline graduate recruitment approach.
- Higher Quality Prospects: Research done by the firm Pepper Global states that a main benefit of marketing automation is the ability to generate more and better quality leads.
- Nurturing Prospects: The consulting firm Forrester Research says, companies that do well at nurturing their prospects, generate 50 percent more commitment ready leads. For graduate schools, this means finding more prospective students who will thrive in your programs.
So there you have it. Marketing automation is on the upswing and may be the perfect technology to help you strategize marketing to grad students.
By Kristen Fisher, Brand Manager, Capture Higher Ed
