naccap 2010 - email marketing for admissions

Email Marketingfor Admissions:

It’s not dead, it’s just different.

Kevin Corr, Director of Sales

slideshare.net/targetx

Access this presentation:

More optionsMore choicesMore money

More infoMore clutterMore speed

More STRESS

Is email dead?

Nope.But it has changed.

ReasonsContent

Mom & Dad

Do they read email anymore?

Social technologies like text messaging relegated to friends.

“Remember, you’re not

their friend.”

“Communicate with Old Folks”

Email has aged well (believe it or not)

Is it still cool?

"Sure. It's just not the same way it was when it was the shiny new toy

that every marketer was scrambling to implement as the

1990s faded away."

-- Wendy Roth, iMedia Connection

http://www.imediaconnection.com/printpage/printpage.aspx?id=26242

Email has evolved...

“Email is once again all about the conversation”

"Email began as a one-to-one medium."

"But marketers quickly recognized its value as a one-to-many model and began treating email messages as if

they were electronic catalogs and sales circulars."

1:1

“These days, the most effective approach is a one-

to-some model”

More messages Smaller groups

PersonalizationRelevance

The next level

1. Markets are conversations.

2. Markets consist of human beings, not demographic sectors.

3. Conversations among human beings sound human.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is helping to

make messages much more targeted and personalized.

Stop talking at me like you don’t know

who I am!

“If you haven’t already” “applied”

“registered”“visited”

“Email today is about each individual recipient -- how to gain and retain

their trust, send them messages they find more valuable, and market to them where they are, regardless of browser, platform or device. Email isn't just about email anymore."

-- Wendy Roth, iMedia Connection

Try and provide value to the student at their

current stage -- rather than just trying to push

them through to the next.

Marketing may be collective, but buying is

personal.The Cluetrain Manifesto

“Not only is marketing no longer one-way, it’s not even two-way. It’s a conversation

between you, me and everyone I’m talking to about what we’re

talking about.”

Email also remains the best way to communicate with working adults looking at part-time graduate and

undergraduate programs.

They say you need to definitively answer your readers' three

biggest questions or risk losing them:

Alex Madison and Lisa Harmon, Email Insiderhttp://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=125599

8seconds

1. What is this email about?2. Why should I care about it?3. What should I do about it?

1. What is this email about?2. Why should I care about it?3. What should I do about it?

“Strive for a balance of copy and

imagery that gets the message across

without overwhelming the reader.”

“Work towards a design that

guides recipients' eyes exactly

where they need to go.”

Not a catch-all solution

Your “Toolbox”

Your “Toolbox”

Old Me!a is the best way to promote

New Me!a.

Think more like a publisher

(not a marketer)

“Don’t chase the tools. Chase the goals.”

-Howard@BlueFuego

Great online content is:

Brief ShareableUseful

Personal Fresh

Relevant to Your Goals

Tips

1Know your role.

When to use email?

Event invites/remindersConfirmations

SurveysNotifications

Process Updates

Promote new (valuable)content

on your site

2Get to the point.

“We are a nation of email skimmers and scanners, looking for something relevant

while hovering over the delete button. Give your readers every opportunity to

hang in there until they find something they like.”

-- Ray Ulmer, TargetX

Throw Shakespeare

out the window.

Skip the introKeep it shortSay it once

No blocks of textDesign to skimBold key words?

Exercise: What’s the point

of this email?

Make that your 1st sentence.

“You’re invited to attend our Open House

on October 24th.”

Which words can you delete?

3Make the call.

Call to action?!

“Make sure your most crucial

information -- especially headlines and

calls-to-action -- is kept above the fold.

Remember that people often read just

headlines and CTAs.”

“Use easy-to-find,

straightforward CTAs that tell

people exactly what will happen

when they click.”

Set it offBoldLink

Center?

4Inform your subjects.

DescriptiveClever

“Hook and label”Key words first

A/B test

No spammy words DON’T SCREAM

Don’t repeat school nameDon’t merge first name

“Don’t Miss Out”“Last Chance”

“We’re Waiting”“Check this out”

“Open House Invitation”

“Take our campus visit survey”

“Missing transcript”

“Chat with us today”

Citation

5Don’t trust the media;)

Prospects (especially parents) often have images

disabled.

Proceed as if the images aren’t

rendering.

Does the message still make sense?

Is it readable?

6Easy on the html.

Too much html :

Screams“marketing”+

Hurts deliverability

Keep the focus on the call to

action

We’re past the point of “html for its own sake”

(Keep it simple stupid;)

7Test. Test. Test.

LinksMultiple Browsers

A/B SplitSubject Lines

The best way to determine frequency

& timing

Know your audience.

“A lot of what can be counted doesn’t

count, and a lot of what counts

can’t be counted.” -Albert Einstein

8No magic day or time.

Have a plan.

5/21 1st Email  

5/27   Plain-text followup

6/9   2nd Email

6/16 Plain-text followup

6/16   Link and Instructions

6/19   “Day-of reminder” 6/22 Link to video and slides

Date Message Audience

Did not view/interact

Did not view/interact

RegistrantsRegistrantsRegistrants

All

All

The followup should be part

of the plan.

How much is too much?

What stage?WIIFM?

9Court the ‘rents.

Are you collecting

email addresses?

Inquiry CardsApplication

Campus Visits/EventsWebsite

http://www.scu.edu/family/parent-email.cfm

Parent Content:

Address Cost Process

Personalize Notifications

10Segment and personalize.

ParentsGuidance Counselors

“Local”Alums (for Grad Schools)

Consider Plans For:

Bonus!

Be a tease.

Use the “P.S.”

Yield?

Graduation

Summer Movies

Packing Lists for College

Advice from Recent Graduates

Favorite High School Memory/Teacher?

Favorite Book/Song/Band

Which dorm will you be in?

Source: The Lawlor Group

"You just don't know for sure whether

students are coming until you see the

whites of their eyes and their butts in the

seats."

If we have a mantra for the summer, it's

"stay in touch with your prospects"

Touch points don’t matter if you’re

not building relationships

What will you do differently?

www.targetx.com/webcasts

www.targetx.com/shelfari

slideshare.net/targetx

Access this presentation:

Kevin Corr, Director of Sales

Thank You!