Is Higher Education Marketing Software Transformational?

Higher Education Marketing Software is Revolutionizing the Business Model of Universities and Colleges Across North America by Accelerating the Student Recruitment Life-Cycle…

Are your current higher education marketing strategies and stand alone CRM systems keeping you from thousands of dollars every semester?

You better read this. Especially before your boss does. If not, well, let’s just say you’re bound to have a very tough time looking smart in your next team meeting.

So that’s why I’m here: To fill you in on the “need-to-know” details, effectively enabling you to make much more money with your higher education marketing strategies. Interested yet? Great! Let’s cut to the chase…

As a higher education marketer, your lifeblood is attracting and retaining students. Continuing education students should be of particular interest. (They’re lifelong consumers learners, after all.)

Anyway, effectively… attracting and retaining… continuing education students requires successfully manging the student life-cycle. This should not surprise you, yet.

See, most higher educations marketers know what to do: Target prospective students, engage them with a personalized rich media experience and compel them to take action (read: enroll). Easy as 1-2-3! Right? And the faster you can execute this student recruitment cycle, the more effective you’ll be at marketing. Or so the story goes…

Higher Education Marketing Theory vs. Practice

Yes, we all know the process. That’s not the problem. In theory, higher education marketing is easy. Everyone thinks they’re an expert. But in reality, nobody has an unlimited supply of more money, more time and more energy… so… what’s the answer?

Higher Education Marketing Success: Work Smarter

Look, the rate-limiting step in higher education marketing isn’t actually the student recruitment life-cycle. Nope. You’re much more restricted by legacy main campus systems and procedures. It’s the architecture that’s slowing you down… like some sort of institutional quicksand. You’re using archaic and isolated tools to try and market to savvy post-secondary students. It’s an uphill battle. Want to get hip to the new way to do things? Well, here it is.

It starts by eliminating the most tedious and time consuming aspects of higher education marketing. Here’s an illustration, to finally show you a time saving solution.

The Future of Higher Education Marketing is Technology

Naturally, a lot of higher education marketing is done online. Tech savvy students trust Google to show them the best options. But most marketers agree, publishing higher education courses and program content to your website is a (time-consuming) challenge. And getting seen on Google seems a mystery.

You might have bulky CMS or CRM systems that restrict you to main campus legacy software (which isn’t designed for the agility of continuing education). Or worse, you’re left trying to hammer out HTML code… where one single typo means site-wide disaster. How much easier would it be if course content was published dynamically? Simply copy and paste from the calendar. Then format with a few mouse clicks. 3-week-long tasks now take 3 minutes. Are you starting to see the power of smarter tools? I hope so. Because it gets better…

Automate Annoying Technical Tasks with Higher Education Marketing Software

Use technology: Save time. Not only does the best higher education marketing software remove strain from your schedule by expediting tedious website changes, it automatically executes on highly technical specifications you probably never even knew about. For example, robust higher education marketing software not only automatically produces consistent branding across all campus web pages (without requiring HTML knowledge), but it also allows for automatic search engine optimization (SEO). Thus, in addition to providing non-traditional continuing education students with a very compelling and consistent rich-media experience, today’s leading higher education marketing software tags courses and installs dynamic XML sitemaps. But what does all this technical jargon mean to you? Well, basically you are giving students the best chance of finding you through Google. I hope I don’t need to explain a sales funnel…

Getting Seen on Google is the First Step to Increasing Revenue

This is because students will typically use search engines to find information on potential courses and curricula of interest. The technical SEO functionality included in premium higher education marketing software enables prospective students to easily find your beautifully designed (and search engine optimized) website. Now, the fun really gets started. Yes, I said fun.

It’s fun because there’s a lot less time squandered on administrative minutia. The best higher education marketing software is designed to proactively engage students with enticing automated reminders and give you amazing analytics. The collection of real-time data is a very powerful tool. Ambitious marketers might call it a game changer.

Your Flexibility to Student Demand Will Soar!

Here’s what I mean. If a course is about to lose a ton of money, you know to cut it, increase marketing to break-even or run a loss leader. Only you know the right choice for your school. And even then, it probably depends on circumstance. But the one thing we do guarantee is… with the collection of real time data and automatic analytics… there won’t be any surprises.

Your Peace of Mind is a By-Product of Robust Marketing Workflows

You’ll always be in the know. The best higher education marketing software empowers you by providing information at your fingertips. Picture this: With the click of a mouse you could understand (in real time) exactly which piece of collateral converted your prospective student. No more guess work. Now you use validated feedback to refine your messaging and focus on the material that converts. You get more money per year per student. And chances are, it’s much easier than what you’re doing today. But the profits don’t stop there.

When students experience an easy and personalized online portal they become more engaged. More engaged students are more likely to complete their courses and re-enroll for future education (read: revenue). They also feel as though they have choice and access, – something students are increasingly demanding of higher education institutions.

Actually, astute marketers in higher education have already begun to use our software to proactively engage students with automated reminders. This keeps the academic commitments at the forefront of the crowded student cerebellum. Now, I’m sorry to bring you face-to-face with this reality. But the bare bones of the matter are: If you send today’s students an email reminder about their midterm and how it fits in to their personal learning and career goals, well, you can expect higher engagement, success and loyalty. That means more money. Now that’s a scalable business solution.

And as you collect more data about learner preferences and profiles, it becomes even easier to target upcoming course offerings to continuing and higher education enthusiasts. You fuel student success, and then loyalty. All that said, I’m afraid there’s still one thing that can derail even the most dedicated higher education marketer…

Higher Education Marketing Made Easier: Deep Integration

How many user names and passwords do your students have? Main campus administrators need one record. Your boss wants a dashboard view of the most important facts and figure. The data you provide must be perfect. Otherwise, you suddenly find yourself liable to an audit. You really don’t want that kind of headline, I’m sure. Bad press is real.

But if you employ the right higher education marketing software… you’ll never lose sleep over this again. Yes, with a certified audit-compliant, real time roll-up reporting system in place the best higher education marketing software erases worry in the minds of marketers. Our best-in-class software programmers work day and night around the clock to meticulously ensure the details are taken care of. This way, you’re free to focus on what you love. Marketing!

With one record that extends and integrates with all of your main campus systems you only need to input data once. Pre-programmed workflows take care of the rest. Software ensures that once you’ve done your duty, the right data is always in the right place at the right time. Breathe easy.

Why Higher Education Marketing Software Matters

You should know by now. I mean, you’ve read this far, right? But here’s the summary.

Basically, higher education marketing software takes care of the dirty details. You’re free. Focus on differentiating your school experience; instead of being bogged down by minutia. Enjoy what you do.

Meanwhile, Destiny One connects your front and back office in a way no other continuing education management software is capable of… you enroll more students each semester, you even impress your boss. But most of all, you transform the way learners experience higher education.

Now, these business solutions might not be for everyone. If you have a small school, and aren’t interested in expanding, you can still profit from higher education marketing best practice described in this post. But if you’re part of a state system, interested in cashing in on the continuing education cash crop or serious about supercharging your marketing yields this software is for you. So what’s the next step?

How to Cash-In On Higher Education Marketing

If you are interested in seeing exactly how the best higher education marketing software can change your job, your school and your revenue, please schedule a virtual tour. Simply click here and let us know the best time to get in touch and hear about your higher education marketing dreams. Book a tour of Destiny One.

Posted by Jeff

Note: This post is part of the continuing education software best practice blog series. Click here to read more.