The Client:
Well established University located in Southeastern United States.
The Business Challenge
University wanted to streamline their marketing efforts to help grow in person visits and drive an increase in applications. Additionally, they wanted to make sure they were maximizing their recruiting given the accelerated movement to on-line activity due to reduced on-site visits, in-person interviews, etc.
There has been an unprecedented shift in how consumers engage with businesses. Younger consumers who are digital natives, expect their brand interactions to be targeted and personalized given their familiarity with and awareness of the data marketing tools available to organizations–including institutions of higher learning.
The Solution
Given the amount of data available to the university, the team was able to append relevant data to potential students’ files. Combining the available data with the student’s decision-making process, allowed us to build an Automated Marketing Campaign based on certain trigger points and business rules that mirrored the steps/path the recruitment process would follow. A comprehensive on-line and direct mail matrix was developed to increase on-line/on-site visits and on-going communication/interactions with students.
Results for Client
The Automated Marketing campaign significantly exceeded the University’s recruitment goals. As part of the multi-channel effort, e-mails were sent to the students to arrive simultaneously with personalized direct mail. Personalized landing pages (PURLS) were leveraged to collect additional information (i.e., what major the student preferred). Social media ads via Facebook and Instagram were coordinated with the mailings, and non-responders were retargeted with another touchpoint. The omni-channel marketing effort dramatically increased awareness, response rates and ultimately the number of applications submitted to the university.