Communicating with students on their Turf

COMMUNICATING
WITH STUDENTS
ON THEIR TURF
Matt Killday
VP Operations
Pinnacle Career Institute
Chris Carroll
EDU Marketing Manager
Gragg Advertising
COMMUNICATING
WITH STUDENTS
ON THEIR TURF
The complete guide to multi-channel
student communications.
AGENDA
How many channels does this picture box get?
Is it over yet?
Hi, I’m your prospective, current, student, graduate…
So… How do we do this?
– Mail
– Phone
– Email
– Chat
– Text Messages
– Social Media
• Takeaways
• Q&A
•
•
•
•
HOW MANY CHANNELS
DOES THIS PICTURE
BOX GET?
AVAILABLE CHANNELS
IS IT OVER YET?
STUDENT LIFECYCLE
Why do we only use these
tools in admissions?
USE ALL AVAILABLE
CHANNELS
THROUGHOUT THE
STUDENT LIFECYCLE.
DISCLAIMER…
• It’s not just about prospective students.
• Have you ever seen cool role-play?
HI, I’M YOUR
PROSPECTIVE,
CURRENT, STUDENT,
GRADUATE…
MILLENNIALS
Born between 1983 and 1992
More “hovered over” than
any previous generation
Multitaskers
Often saddled with
Entitlement
Generation label
Most technologically savvy generation in history
GENERATION Z
Born after 1992
Digital native
Often dubbed the
“Conflict Generation”
Most well educated and connected generation ever
TECHNOLOGY USAGE STATISTICS
75%
of students say
technology helps them
achieve their academic
outcomes
ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students
and Information Technology, 2012
EXPECTATIONS OF LEARNING
EXPERIENCE
• High levels of service
• Immediacy – On Demand
What’s a DVR for?
• Personalization of experience
• Connection to school community
IMMEDIACY
• Response time measured in minutes,
not hours
- Phone not often the preferred
channel choice
- Best to offer multiple channels
• 24/7 availability of info
- Web or, preferably, mobile
based platform
- Live support to complement
ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2012
PERSONALIZATION
• Offer all available channels
• Track each student’s engagement preference
• Utilize preferred method of engagement
throughout the student lifecycle
SO… HOW DO WE DO
THIS?
DIRECT MAIL
Pitfalls
• Cost per response
• “Antiquated”
Effective Usage
• Celebratory
• Hand Written Cards
• Events
• Announcements
• “Or Current Resident”
PHONE
Pitfalls
• No one has answered a number they don’t recognize since 1996
• Millennials and Generation Z don’t often have voicemail setup
Effective Usage
• After contact has already been established
• Tell them when you’re calling
• Tell them what number you’re calling from
EMAIL
Pitfalls
• Volume
• Trained to have a dummy email address
• Might only set up an email address to run apps on their phone
• Engagement rates approximately 15% for prospective students
and 25% for current students
Effective Usage
• Longer more complicated content
• Tracking
CHAT
Pitfalls
• In your face
• Requires instant response and dedicated staff
• Overly complicated conversations
Effective Usage
• Available and easy to use
• Trackable
• An option in all points of the student lifecycle
• Set up other forms of communication
TEXT
Pitfalls
• In your pocket
• Overly complicated conversations
• Compliance
– Double opt-in permission
– Monitoring
Effective Usage
• Available at all points in student lifecycle
• Available to all stakeholders
• Tracking
• Set up other forms of communication
SOCIAL MEDIA
Pitfalls
• Worlds colliding
• Compliance
– Professional pages vs. personal pages
– Monitoring and tracking
Effective Usage – The reason social medial is important to this
generation is they are all about community. Once you are a
part of that, it is an incredibly effective way to reach
prospective students, current students and alumni.
• Available at all points in student lifecycle
• Available to all stakeholders
TAKEAWAYS
TAKEAWAYS
• Utilize multi-channel communications to identify each
student’s preferred method of engagement.
• Track all interaction for compliance purposes.
• Track engagement preferences and utilize them throughout
the student lifecycle.
• Set channel specific communication guidelines.
• Enable all stakeholders access to all channels.
QUESTIONS
Matt Killday
VP Operations
Pinnacle Career Institute
mkillday@pcitraining.edu
816-226-8498
Chris Carroll
EDU Marketing Manager
Gragg Advertising
ccarroll@graggadv.com
312-848-2915