I presented a pre-conference intensive session this afternoon on paid search marketing and cultivation strategies to yield those inquiries into enrolled students. Here are the main take-aways:
- First and foremost start by identifying your enrollment objective (be as specific as possible), develop supporting strategies, and THEN select corresponding technologies.
- Next, articulate your target audience (or persona) and do so in a way that helps you starting thinking like them
- Select keywords and phrases that your persona would actually search, consider where and when they'll be searching and target your ads accordingly.
- Link ads to landing pages that have a web form on them. This is not the time to link to a general web page. Your objective is usually some sort of enrollment growth, so you need to capture leads. Do so by linking your ads to a web form.
- Use an offer strategy to compel students to raise their hand to express interest.
- Then, consider how you're going to cultivate those leads once they self-identify. Here are a few things that work well:
- Use that thank you page! Deliver your offer, direct them back to relevant areas of your website, and let them know how you'll be following up in the coming days and weeks.
- Have staff follow up via phone with all leads generated. I'd recommend no longer than 24 hours to call them (for-profit institutions are responding in under an hour).
- Consider only sending your catalog and other larger mailings to prospects who have self-identified online.
Ideas on other ways to use paid search to generate and then cultivate inquiries for community colleges? Post your comment below.
Also, I had several questions come up in the session that I told attendee I'd research. I'll post answers here as I find them.
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