MARKETING
Considering that, it isn’t surprising that almost every
for-profit school surveyed (99 percent) indicated they are focusing on ways to increase their direct/organic inquiry generation this year. In fact, the majority of for-profit schools are significantly increasing their investment in digital channels like paid search, SEO, social media, targeted display and mobile. Despite the current trend, many experts believe that maintaining much lower CPE for organic inquiries may be very difficult–or even impossible - as marketers are pressured to grow their inquiry volume through these channels, and more competition will drive increase media costs through competitive bids and online placements. “To be done at scale, successful online marketing and
inquiry generation requires a significant level of expertise, tracking and analytics,” according to Michael Ferree, Director of LeadsCouncil. “Without these skills and tools in place, you risk much higher cost-per-enrollment metrics overall. It is quite possible that next year’s survey shows higher CPEs in the organic channel as schools try to take on more of the enrollment marketing function in-house.”
NOT-FOR-PROFITS MOVE OUTSIDE THEIR RECRUITMENT MARKETING COMFORT ZONE When it comes to not-for-profit institutions, some strik- ing similarities appeared in both challenges and changes in marketing and recruitment tactics. Te large majority (75 percent) of not-for-profit schools surveyed are look- ing for ways to diversify their revenue stream by targeting new geographic areas for recruitment, while more than half (55 percent) are focused on growing their continuing education enrollment.
However, the most dramatic shift in enrollment
marketers seems to be a move away from traditional marketing methods. Te large majority (84 percent) of not-for-profit higher education marketers in our study agreed that traditional marketing methods alone, such as print campaigns and direct mail, are not enough to achieve their enrollment goals. As a result, they are seek- ing out more innovative, cost-effective ways of accessing potential students and marketing new programs. One of the ways that these schools are adjusting their
marketing and recruitment tactics to a changing market is by maintaining, or in many cases, decreasing their investment in conventional methods of recruitment mar- keting. In particular, tactics like print ads and direct mail are taking a hit, with the majority of schools reporting that they are maintaining or decreasing spending in these areas (84 percent and 79 percent, respectively). Instead, like their for-profit counterparts, not-
for-profit schools report increased spending in online marketing tactics. In particular, schools seem to be investing in areas like email marketing (84 percent of respondents indicate they are maintaining or increasing spending here) and social media (89 percent are main- taining or increasing spending). Furthermore, when compared to last year, it is
apparent that not-for-profit schools are attempting to diversify the channels used for recruitment marketing. In particular, mobile marketing and targeted display are both seeing more attention, with 32 percent of survey respondents indicating increased spending in mobile, versus only 14.5 percent in 2011, while schools report- ing increased spending in targeted display went up 16 percent year-over-year. Tis increased focus on online marketing and
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