building a marketing strategy to attract post-traditional college students

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CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC Building a Digital Marketing Strategy to Attract Post- Traditional Students Bruce Douglas, CEO EducationDynamics CALEM 4/6/17

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CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

Building a Digital Marketing Strategy to Attract Post-Traditional Students

Bruce Douglas, CEO EducationDynamics CALEM – 4/6/17

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

Laying the Groundwork For Your Marketing Plan to Attract

Post-Traditional Students

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CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

Target Audience – Post-Traditional StudentsKnow Key Facts About Your Target Audience

• Market Size – 40% of all students enrolled in higher ed

• Sex – majority are female, almost 70%

• Age – range 19-54, average undergrad is 29, grad is 33

• Family – more likely to be single, have fewer children

• Race – cross-section, but majority are non-minority

• Work Status – majority hold either full or part-time jobs

• Pre-Existing Credits – about 80% have already

• Financial Status – independent from parents, need aid

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CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

Focus on What is Important to Post-Traditional Students

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Know What Drives/Motivates Your Target Audience

• How Looking to Study? – increasingly prefer online learning, 90% rate online classes better or the same as campus class

• Why Looking to Study? – improve/change employment

• What Crucial Post-Graduation? – high job placement rate

• What Are Crucial Enrollment Decision Factors? – Tuition, reputation & convenience

• Features of Online Classes? – 82% prefer written vs. audio assignments, 78% prefer frequent short quizzes vs. less frequent exams, 59% prefer assignments due at the end of the week

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

Create Your Value Proposition for Post-Traditional Students

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Know How to Distinguish Your School With Your Target Audience

• What do you offer to your target audience?

• Does this meet their needs?

• Is this unique and distinct from your competition?

• Can you easily articulate it to your target audience?

• What is the best means of articulating it?

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

Why It Is Critical to Utilize Multiple Digital Marketing

Channels

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CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

Search Engine Optimization (SEO/Organic Search)

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The Process of Earning Traffic to

Your Website Through “Natural” or “Free” Search

Results on Google, Yahoo, Bing, and

Other Search Engines

94% of All Search Clicks

are to Organic Search

Results,33% of Which Go To

the #1 Result

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

SEO – The Four Essential “Legs” to Success

To Succeed, Deliver on Each Critical Area

• Excellent/Relevant Site Content – both “Head Terms” AND “Long Tail” Search Phrases/Keywords

• A Site That Can Easily Be “Found” by Search Engines – Great Technical Site Structure

• Extensive Links to Highly Reputable Sites

• A Comprehensive Presence on Social Media

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CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

SEO – Pros and Cons

• Pros• No Direct Cost • Very Targeted Traffic • High Converting• More Trust-Worthy than “Ads”• Creates an Aura of Authority

• Cons• It Takes Time (6-12+ months) • No Guarantees of Success • Must Be Continually Updated/Optimized

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CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)/Paid Search

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The Process of Gaining Website Traffic by

Purchasing Ads on Search Engines

6% of all Search Clicks

are to Paid Ads

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

Paid Search – Pros and Cons

• Pros• High Intention & Targeted Traffic • Quick Results • Consistent Traffic• Easily Trackable and Measurable• Huge Volume Potential• Easy To A/B Test• Only Pay If Consumer Clicks on Ad

• Cons• Time Consuming to Set Up and Manage• Can be Very Costly• Can be Very Competitive

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CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

Display and Social Advertising

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Graphical Advertising/Video That Appears Next to Content on Web Pages, Mobile Applications, E-mail..

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

Display and Social – Pros and Cons

• Pros• Huge Reach• Builds Brands• Lower Cost Per Click Than Paid Search • Remarketing of Website Visitors • Easy to Track and Measure• Targetable by Demographics

• Cons• Lower Conversion Rates Than Paid Search• Little to No Intent, Likely Lower Quality Traffic• Higher Risk; Usually Purchased as CPM (cost/thousand)

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CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

Affiliate Marketing

Performance-Based Marketing Where An Institution Compensates a 3rd Party Marketing Company For Each Inquiry

Generated by the Affiliate’s Marketing Efforts

Pay Per Action TypesPay Per Lead

Pay Per InquiryPay Per ClickPay Per Sale

Pay Per DownloadPay Per Call

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CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

User is Tracked and Labeled as a Successful Conversion!

User submits

RFI

User Clicks On

Ad

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Affiliate Shows Ad

on Website

Affiliate Marketing – Partner Types

1. Traffic Sent to School and Conversion

Happens on School Site

2. Entire Consumer Interaction Takes Place

on Affiliate Site and Conversion Sent to

School

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

Affiliate Marketing – Pros and Cons

• Pros• No Upfront Marketing Expenditures• Only Pay on Desired Results• Easy to Outsource • Additional Brand Exposure

• Cons• Affiliates Must Be Actively Managed and

Metrics Traced Very Closely• “Rogue” Affiliates Can Damage Brand and

Increase Liability

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CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

Television

• Very Large Reach

• Frequency is Critical

• Essential for Branding

• Targeting is Crucial

• Lifts Effectiveness of Other Marketing Channels

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No Marketing Channel is More Effective in Driving Awareness and Improving Branding

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

Television – Shifting Consumer Consumption

• Netflix• Hulu• Apple TV• Chromecast• YouTube• Amazon Prime• HBO Now

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Mobile Devices and Web Enabled Televisions are Rapidly Shifting How People Consume “Television”

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

Mobile Marketing Implications

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You Can Not Truly Succeed Without Mobile Marketing• 51.2% of Website Visits Are On a Mobile Device• Every Aspect of Your Sites, Including Your Forms, Must Be

Mobile Optimized, Preferably Built Specifically for Mobile

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

Other Brand Driven Channels

Utilize Numerous Marketing Channels If You Can Do So Cost Effectively

• Radio – traditional and internet

• Print – newspapers, magazines, free standing inserts…

• Outdoor/Billboards – including transit

• Sponsorships – sports, charities…

• Event Marketing – actual presence at events

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CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

Television/Branding – Pros and Cons

• Pros• Reinforces Other Marketing Channels • Reaches Wide Audience Very Quickly • Creates Branding & Grows Awareness• Uses Sight, Sound and Motion • High Converting and Well Qualified Audience

• Cons• Can Be Very Expensive• Difficult to Do Clean A/B Testing, Takes Time to Make Changes• Difficult to Track Results For Each Spot Run • Takes Time to Get Desired Results

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CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

E-Mail Marketing

E-Mail HAS to Be Part of Everyone’s Marketing Mix

• Consumers Purchase From E-Mail – 44% of adults

• Personalized E-Mail is More Effective – 29% higher open rates, and 41% higher click-thru rates

• ROI is Very High – for every $1 spent on email marketing, the average return on investment is $38.43

• Marketers Love E-Mail – 75% believe most effective tactic for awareness, acquisition, conversion, and retention

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CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

E-Mail Marketing – Pros and Cons

• Pros• East to Track Results• Easy to Test• Further Establishes Brand Awareness• Very Low Cost • Easy to Produce and Personalize and Target• Can Message Many Prospects with Same Message at Same Time

• Cons• Heavy Consumer In-Box Clutter• Low Open and Click-Thru Rates• Unsubscribe Rates are Increasing

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CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

Testing and Properly Measuring All Results Are Critical to

Optimizing Your Marketing

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CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

The Importance of Testing

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Test, Test Some More, Then Keep Going!!

• Why Is It Critical To Test? – provides quick, measurable results

• What is A/B Split Testing? – every other site visitor sees your current experience (“A”) v. what you are testing (“B”)

• What Do I Test? – copy, creative, positioning…calls to action!

• How Often Do I Test? – as often as you can, so long as results are statistically significant

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

Measuring Success – Conversion Rates

Define What Conversion Metrics are Important to You

• Website Conversion Rates = Leads/Visits

• Application Conversion Rates = Applications/Leads

• Enrollment Conversion Rates = Enrollments/Applications

• Start Conversion Rates = Starts/Enrollments

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CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

Measuring Success – Revenue Statistics

Revenue per Student (RPS)

$500 per Credit X

40 Credit Hours per Student

= $20,000 Revenue per Student

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Revenue per Site Visit (RPV)

$400,000 Net Revenue /

10,000 Monthly Site Visits

= $40 Revenue per Site Visit

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLCCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF EDUCATIONDYNAMICS, LLC

Measuring Success – Cost Metrics

CPS v. Cost Per Lead (CPL)

$45,000 Marketing Spend / 1,000 Leads Generated = $45

CPL

1% of Leads Become Starts = 10 Students

= $45,000 / 10 Students = $4,500 CPS

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Cost Per Start (CPS)

• Define Your Overall CPS Target (e.g. $3,500)

• Define Your Paid Media CPS Target (e.g. $4,500; takes into account X volume of free starts from SEO)

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