Posts Tagged ‘higher ed marketing’

Yes! You Can Differentiate Your College Without a Big Investment in Time or Money

June 20th, 2017

You have probably heard this question hundreds, maybe thousands, of times from prospective students or their parents: “Tell me about your school.If you’re like most in the world of in admissions, you’re going to start ticking through a list of the benefits that make your college special.

You might say, “We’re a small school and, because of that, we’re able to give you a high level of personal attention.

Or,

We’re a large school and, because of that, you’ll enjoy a diverse student population and a wide choice of academic programs.

Or,

You might talk about your highly respected faculty, or your winning sports teams, or outstanding student spirit, or your stellar internship opportunities, or a myriad of other fine attributes.

You could list many things. And they would all be perfectly good reasons for a student to enroll at your school.

But, here’s the problem:  The students and parents you’re talking to are hearing the exact same thing from every other college they are considering.

Ouch!  That hurts, doesn’t it?

The data is very clear on this issue, however. For example, in a recent co-sponsored national study 64% of college-bound students said that campus tours look and feel the same. That’s just one of the many times that college bound students and their parents have told us that it is becoming increasingly difficult  to differentiate one college from another because colleges aren’t demonstrating their unique qualities in a way that is meaningful to the students they are recruiting.

Often, when the topic of “college differentiation” is discussed it is in the context of a campus-wide image re-branding; generally a lengthy and expensive undertaking.  However, we believe you can take a simple step today and begin immediately differentiating your college in a highly-effective way.

Kick-start the  process that will make your college stand-out in the crowd.

Think about all of the things you say about your college and all of the reasons you know that a student might select your school. Write every one of them down. Now, consider each item on your list and ask the team: “Are our prospective students hearing the same thing from any other college?” Be brutally honest.

If you think other colleges are likely to be saying the same thing that you’re saying about yourself, cross it off your list. At the end of the exercise, count how many items you have left.

We frequently do this exercise in our Interactive Counselor Training Workshops at college campuses all over the country. And, I can tell you that, in most cases, the big list of “reasons why to attend” gets whittled down to nothing. Then, we challenge the counselors to identify those characteristics that are genuinely special about their school.

This exercise serves two purposes:

  • First, it forces you to realize the attributes that you profess are not really distinguishing you at all.
  • Secondly, it forces you to be introspective and discover what truly makes you exceptional among the many choices available to prospective students and parents.

I guarantee that in many ways your college is truly distinctive. You just have to recognize those attributes and effectively articulate them so that students and parents will see you as being unique and desirable.

I highly recommend watching Simon Sinek’s September 2009 TEDTalk. It’s become a classic because it forces leaders, organizations, and people within organizations to “start with why.” It’s based on Sinek’s belief that people don’t buy “what you do.” They buy “why you do it.” You can watch his TEDTalk by clicking HERE.

The answer to increasing enrollment in the face of the many challenges in higher education today lies in taking an entirely student-centric approach to recruiting where the admission office and counselors realize that “it’s not about the institution – it’s about the student.”  This is powerful when put into practice. Through our Interactive Counselor Training Workshops, we spend a great deal of time changing the focus of admission counselors. We see their transformation and improvements in productivity. Most importantly, we see changes in the recruiting process that exposes students to the information and experiences that truly interest and excite them.

Summer is the ideal time to train and motivate your staff. Email or call me if you are interested in how we can help you have a powerhouse admissions team. And, if you want to join a prestigious group of colleges and universities that are exploring how to best harness the emotional connection that drives students to enrollment, click here for information about of our new co-sponsored study, Emotional Motivators. This study is based on the adage: “Facts tell. Emotions sell.” Students want and need facts and information about the colleges they consider. But their college selection decision will hinge on how they FEEL about the school they’ll ultimately enroll in. This study will tell you how they feel about you relative to the other colleges they considered (or chose to attend).

Continue the conversation on Twitter @LongmireCo.  We hope you will subscribe to Versions of Conversion for regular tips and techniques. For more information about Longmire and Company’s Interactive Counselor Training Program, click here.

Rick Montgomery is as an Enrollment Strategist at Longmire and Company. With over 20 years in higher education marketing, he brings an innovative approach to helping colleges and universities meet their enrollment goals. Rick can be reached at 913/492.1265 x.708 or via email at rmontgomery@longmire-co.com.

Take the Quiz: How Knowledgeable Are You About the Students You Are Recruiting?

June 13th, 2017

Even the most seasoned admission professional gets surprised sometimes. And, we predict that you may find a few shockers when you take this quiz based on input from over 50,000 college- bound students.  Our national co-sponsored studies dig deep into the minds and hearts of the students you are recruiting to get answers to the questions that no one else thinks to even ask.

If you want actionable data you can use immediately, check out the national co-sponsored higher education study we are launching now:  Emotional Motivators. This study is based on the adage: “Facts tell. Emotions sell.” Students want and need facts and information about the colleges they consider. But their college selection decision will hinge on how they FEEL about the school they’ll ultimately enroll in. This study will tell you how they feel about you relative to the other colleges they considered (or chose to attend).

You should get in as a co-sponsor! There is still time. You can get a deeper level of insight on the pool of prospective students you were/are working for 2017 and get a clear understanding of how you were or weren’t tripping their trigger. You can click here for a video with all the details.

Continue the conversation on Twitter @LongmireCo. For more information about Longmire and Company’s Interactive Counselor Training Program, click here.  Subscribe to Versions of Conversion today so you don’t miss any of this highly-valuable information.

Rick Montgomery is as an Enrollment Strategist at Longmire and Company. With over 20 years in higher education marketing, he brings an innovative and dynamic approach to helping colleges and universities meet their enrollment goals. Rick can be reached at 913/492.1265 x.708 or via email at rmontgomery@longmire-co.com.

Do You Really Know What Students and Parents Think About Your Campus Visit Experience?

June 8th, 2017

First, let me share some data. Then I’ll extend an invitation that I think you’ll want to accept.

The Data:

Colleges do not differentiate themselves through their tour and visit programs, students say. In our national co-sponsored studies, and through focus group research we conduct, 60% of students say that campus tours are “all the same,” and they don’t consider that a good thing. Students tell us that most don’t generate any more or less excitement than all of the others they experienced.

The key reason, students tell us, is that most tours focus on the college and its attributes without consideration for the student’s specific interests. This is especially so in group tours. In contrast, students who receive one-on-one tours where the focus is on them and what they want, tend to see the campus visit experience as a demonstration of the college’s personal interest in them.

Ask yourself:  Do our tours and visits capture the magic that is unique to OUR college?  Does the visit feel personalized to the interests of the student? 

In our recently released study, “Hidden Influences,” over 18,000 college bound students were asked what they remembered seeing or experiencing on a campus visit that made a college especially attractive to them. Two primary themes emerged. Students were enamored with the campus itself (which they described in many different ways) and the students (both prospective and current) they observed and interacted with on their visit.

Students most frequently express their appreciation for the campus less in terms of physical attributes and more in emotional attributes such as the “feel” of the campus, “atmosphere” and “vibe.”

Interaction with current students on a campus plays a critical role in their college selection decision. It gives them a feel for what their life will be like if they enrolled. Prospective students respond very favorably to current students who are friendly, enthusiastic, happy and welcoming.

Ask yourself:  Are visiting students given a variety of opportunities to interact with each other and current students in a positive environment?

When prospective students were asked what they remembered seeing or experiencing on a campus visit that made a college especially unattractive to them, the same two primary themes emerged: the campus and students/people.

Interestingly, though, their comments about things they find unattractive are notably more visceral than their comments about things they find attractive. They describe campuses as “gloomy,” “dreary,” “dirty,” “run down,” “desolate” and “empty.” They describe students as “snooty,”“unhappy,”“unfriendly,” “mean-spirited” and “rude.”

It’s hard to imagine that any student would enroll in an institution at which they had such negative emotional responses as described above.

During a campus visit about one-half of prospective students see and experience things about the college that they find unappealing. This finding may be expected since all students are not going to like everything they see at all of the campuses they visit. What is more concerning is that only 13% of students say that an admission counselor ever inquired if they had seen or experienced anything the student found unappealing or concerning about their campus.

Ask yourself: Are you asking your visitors if they saw anything they didn’t like? Simply asking, “How was your tour?” isn’t enough. Probe for the specifics of what they did and did not like. If you don’t ask, they won’t tell and you will never know the real reason they didn’t enroll.

Perhaps the most important questions you can ask yourself are:

  • Is your campus visit program resulting in greater yields?
  • How well do you use this golden opportunity to cement the emotional commitments of prospective students and their parents?
  • Do you accurately measure the results of these visits and the impact on enrollment?
  • Is every campus representative well-trained in their role?

The invitation:

After our last two co-sponsored studies, we wondered: Just how much and how precisely are colleges capturing the thoughts and opinions of students and parents after their campus visits? Are they capturing truly relevant data, or are they capturing data that doesn’t prove to be all that useful in helping them improve their campus visit experiences in the hearts and minds of prospective students?

So, out of curiosity, we asked a number of our clients to let us see the “post-visit” surveys they use. They were more than happy to have us review and comment on them.

In a nutshell, the surveys were mostly boilerplate. With questions like “Were we helpful?. Or, “Did you see everything you wanted to see?” Or, “Can you see yourself enrolling here?” Etc. Etc.

The questions on these surveys did not measure CHANGE in a student’s view of the college. Or dominant EMOTIONS that were or were not instilled in students and parents as a result of the visit experience. Or how the visit experience COMPARED to other campus visit experiences the student had with other colleges.

We’d like to look at are larger number of “after-visit” surveys in use at colleges across the country. We’d like to see how they can be improved.

So, if you’d like to send us your campus visit survey please do! (Don’t worry, it won’t be shared with anyone.) We’ll take a look at it along with others we receive. We’ll then share with everyone the best, most incisive, most actionable, and most creative questions we see. There is no cost for this!!

Send your campus visit survey to Bob Longmire by CLICKING HERE. You may want to leave your contact information in case Bob has a question or suggestion specific to you.

Shifting gears:

I hope you’ll check out the national co-sponsored higher education study we are launching now:  Emotional Motivators. This study is based on the adage: “Facts tell. Emotions sell.” Students want and need facts and information about the colleges they consider. But their college selection decision will hinge on how they FEEL about the school they’ll ultimately enroll in. This study will tell you how they feel about you relative to the other colleges they considered (or chose to attend).

You should get in as a co-sponsor! There is still time. You can get a deeper level of insight on the pool of prospective students you were/are working for 2017 and get a clear understanding of how you were or weren’t tripping their trigger. You can click here for a video with all the details.

Continue the conversation on Twitter @LongmireCo. For more information about Longmire and Company’s Interactive Counselor Training Program, click here.  Subscribe to Versions of Conversion today so you don’t miss any of this highly-valuable information.

Rick Montgomery is as an Enrollment Strategist at Longmire and Company. With over 20 years in higher education marketing, he brings an innovative and dynamic approach to helping colleges and universities meet their enrollment goals. Rick can be reached at 913/492.1265 x.708 or via email at rmontgomery@longmire-co.com.

[Video]: Resources You Can Use Now to Finalize ’17 and Ensure a Successful ’18

May 23rd, 2017

As summer approaches, enrollment managers and admission directors expand their focus to critical issues like professional development, marketing planning, research and pre-enrollment service initiatives. Meanwhile, many colleges are still in the throes of making their 2017 class.  According to the recently released NACAC College Openings Update, over 500 colleges and universities are still accepting applications from prospective freshman and/or transfer students for the upcoming fall term.

Wherever your institution falls on this wide spectrum of future planning, we have a number of free tools and resources available to you. On our website and YouTube channel you’ll find an ever growing list of admission counselor tutorials aimed at making your counselors even better at their jobs. You can also download the complete reports from our each of our national co-sponsored studies that dive deeply into the hot-button issues that impact your enrollment.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get even more. There you’ll find tutorials, up-to-date market data, and a wealth of actionable information to help you with your recruiting efforts, today and in the future.

Our most recent video (below) introduces you to the national co-sponsored higher education study we are launching now:  Emotional Motivators. This study is based on an old adage: “Facts tell. Emotions sell.” Students want and need facts and information about the colleges they consider. But their college selection decision will hinge on how they FEEL about the school they’ll ultimately enroll in. This study will tell you how they feel about you relative to the other colleges they considered (or chose to attend).

You should get in as a co-sponsor! There is still time. You can get a deeper level of insight on the pool of prospective students you were/are working for 2017 and get a clear understanding of how you were or weren’t tripping their trigger.

Be sure to check out our Counselor Training Tutorials. At the heart of our highly-acclaimed Interactive Counselor Training Workshop is a proven model of communication that counselors tell us is transformative. The model is simple and highly effective. Adopt this straightforward method and you will see greater success in your recruitment efforts. Our ever-expanding tutorial menu includes sessions covering these high–impact topics from the popular workshops we conduct at college campuses across the country:

Counselor Training Series Overview: Longmire and Company believes that the conversations between prospective students and the colleges they are considering can be much richer and more fruitful for both. Having rich conversations with prospective students provides you with a greater understanding of each student’s unique needs, preferences, motivations, and how they will make their college selection decision.

CHECK OUT THESE VIDEOS ………

The Counselor Training Series is just the beginning of the valuable free video tools available to you. Again, check out our YouTube channel for more tutorials, powerful data from national co-sponsored studies and interviews with some of your peers.

As I mentioned earlier in this post, PLEASE consider getting involved in this new co-sponsored study we’re launching. You’ll benefit from it! Previous co-sponsors get involved year after year because it’s inexpensive and they get insightful and actionable information.

Email or call me if you are interested in how we can help. Continue the conversation on Twitter @LongmireCo. For more information about Longmire and Company and the tools we have to offer, click here. Be sure to subscribe to Versions of Conversion today so you can stay up-to-date.

Rick Montgomery is as an Enrollment Strategist at Longmire and Company. With over 20 years in higher education marketing, he brings an innovative and dynamic approach to helping colleges and universities meet their enrollment goals. Rick can be reached at 913/492.1265 x.708 or via email at rmontgomery@longmire-co.com.