May 2010 Newsletter
e-Marketing: What It Is and How to Make it Work for your School
Welcome back to the ed2go Marketing Series! Our focus this month is on helping you generate more enrollments and building a better presence of your ed2go programs. In this issue, we shift our focus to e-Marketing, which is simply defined as marketing products or services over the Internet. We've highlighted some creative e-Marketing efforts along with sharing some of the valuable resources we have available to jump start you own e-Marketing campaign. You'll also find a few tips from our friends at the LERN Organization to get you on the right track.
Welcome Shoppers!
We've all been to Web sites before to either shop for products or services or to learn more. Each of us probably have our own list of favorite Web sites, but they all share one commonality; they have the information we are seeking, and they make it easy to find that information. If you have to click too many times to find what you are looking for, you're likely to abandon your search. It's no different for your students, or potential students, who are looking for your courses.
It's commonly known that your department's main page should not only be an information source but is also your storefront for students looking to enroll. (Speaking of your department, it's very important that it is easy to find it from your school's home page). We advocate minimizing the number of "clicks" students use to find the ed2go content and making it very clear that these courses are offered online. In our webinar on catalog marketing we suggested that you "Take a look at your present catalog with an extremely cold, critical and unsympathetic eye. In other words, from a prospective student's view." Do the same thing for your Web site. If a student searches "ABC Community College" and ends up at the home page, how hard is it for them to find your department and your courses? Once the student finds your department, how easy is it for them to find what they need?
Although over two million students have chosen ed2go in the past, the ed2go brand name is new for many prospective students. Highlighting ed2go Online Courses and Career Training Programs as convenient, affordable, and quality online learning goes further than simply listing the hyperlink: ed2go courses. Other good examples include; Online Courses, Online Learning, Online ed2go Courses, Online Career Training, etc. You get the picture. If you need assistance giving your page a little more 'pop', we've put together an html template for you to utilize. Click here for the example.
Partner Web site Showcase
Here are some real-world examples of partners who have put their own e-Marketing tactics to work. One of the common themes here is a smooth transition from the .edu pages to the ed2go hosted enrollment portal.
Foothill-De Anza Community College
The current start date is very clear for the 6 week Online Courses and Course departments are linked directly into their Online Instructions Center. This is a simple and effective course splash page. They are a consistent Top 10 partner, using a heavy print marketing campaign and a consistent web campaign.
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
The ed2go Online Instruction Center is embedded within their website, providing a seamless transition to the enrollment portal. By doing this, the school experienced significant enrollments right away without print advertising. Print marketing followed with another recognizable boost in enrollments.
Santa Rosa Junior College Small Business Development Center
This site has a very clean display and good use of the left hand navigation. Following through the links will take you to the registration page within their Online Instruction Center. This operation does not have a print marketing campaign; however, they do rather well considering the lack of press.
Edmonds Community College
This school uses an excellent drill down technique that lands students deep within their ed2go page. Edmonds Community College revamped their print marketing campaign and web marketing campaigns, netting a combined 150%-300% growth in enrollments year over year.
Banners
If you're able to expand your Online Course Promotions to other areas of your site but are limited on space availability, banners are a popular option. ed2go has both static and dynamic banners of multiple sizes for your consideration. These are located at your Online Administration Center under the Marketing link. You can also find web logos at the marketing section of your Online Administration Center.
e-Mail Marketing Strategies
The LERN organization recommends that you put together a one year e-Marketing plan. Although catalogs remain the strongest enrollment source, e-Marketing should be a part of your evolving revenue generating strategy. e-Marketing remains one of the most cost effective means of reaching your customers on a regular basis and should complement your traditional print efforts, not replace them.
An important part of this plan is building and managing an email list. If you haven't done so already, begin asking permission from your students to contact them in the future so you can reach them with new courses, popular courses, or other topics that may strike their interests. Gathering relevant demographic information such as age, profession, and purchase history can help you craft the right messages. That's right, you can send multiple specific messages to different groups based on some of these demographic indicators you are collecting. An example is a promotion for the Making Age an Asset in your Job Search Course targeted at Boomers.
An email blast can be highly targeted, so make a habit of finding out whom your best customers are and consider sending them specific messages. Within this best customer group, you can drill down to seven or so subgroups based on the identifiers of your choice (typically age, profession, etc.). It's recommended to seek out a third party mailing client to help you achieve maximum results. Keep in mind there are important tracking metrics to consider such as your Open Rate, Click Through Rate, and Conversion. The mailing client will help you address the basics, but you can involve your webmasters if you would like to implement advanced reporting. Also, consider using Google Analytics to see where your students are going and if they enroll once reaching your Web site.
You'll need to find your sweet spot for the number of messages being sent out, but a good starting point is once a month. Keep the messages simple and as easy to navigate as possible. The timeliness of your email during the week is an interesting facet as well, earlier in the week around mid morning seems to work the best.
Press Releases
What's better than having an article written in your local paper about your department and programs? Press Releases are a great way to get the word out to your customers and prospective clients, and they don't cost anything! If you are not familiar with how to write a press release, you can find samples at the Marketing Link of your Online Administration Center. All you need to do is locate the contact information for your local media and publications and send it to them.
e-Catalogs & e-Brochures
As a best practice, you should always provide your URL and online registration information on your print marketing collateral. You can give your current print catalog or brochures superhero powers by adding links from your Web site giving students access to even more information about your courses. ed2go is working on some brand new brochures for you to do some cross promotions with… stay tuned! ed2go's one page flyers are a good framework to model an email or PR piece after. Check out an example of our latest Green Training Flyers.
Social Media
Keep an eye on social media such as Twitter and Facebook. In this issue we discuss how social media can work for you along with social media marketing guidelines. In addition, the October 2009 newsletter also contained social media information Again, here are a few tips that you can do now:
- Grab your Twitter name now and lock in a Facebook vanity URL: www.facebook.com/yourschoolname
- Use loyalty to accelerate enrollments
- Don't forget, it's important to take time to listen to your students
- Provide students a platform where they can be social
- Find your community: are they on Facebook or Twitter?
- Use videos to highlight your school
- Make posts and tweets relevant to entice students to share
- Let your students provide customer service for other students
We hope you found this information helpful. We will be holding an e-Marketing webinar in the upcoming weeks to provide you with a more in-depth look, so please watch your email for the day and time. As always, your Account Manager is available to assist you in how e-Marketing can work for you.
