11
Austen Kelso
VP, Enrollment Product Owner, RNL
Advancing Undergrad
Enrollment Conversion
Tactics
Andrea Gilbert
Chief Solutions Officer, RNL
Jason Isaac
Creative Director, RNL
22
Overview
• Defining the Marketing Funnel
How Each Segment Has Its Place In The Funnel
• Channel Specific Tactics
Adjusting Your Messaging Based On Delivery
• A Mobile First Approach
Building for A Modern World In The Palm of Your Hand
• IRL From RNL
A Real-Life Approach
3
Defining The
Marketing Funnel
How Each Segment Has Its Place In The Funnel
4
Defining The Individual Segments of Engagement
Search
Applicant Cultivator
Admit
Marketing
Inquiry Marketing
Consider each of your
segments as a different point
in your communication
funnel that drives your
prospects closer to the point
of conversion. This allows
your team the freedom to
develop a more pointed
conversation along with a
consistent approach to your
messaging within the
segment.
Note: A prospect can convert at
any stage of the funnel.
5
Methods to attract prospective students through targeted digital advertising
and personalized experiences
• Engage students with relevant content to promote learning and curiosity.
• Convert cold prospects into inquiries by communicating on various content topics
(Academic, Cost & Aid, Student Life), encouraging email engagement, and exploring campus
offerings.
• Utilize an omnichannel approach to reach students across multiple channels and provide
immediate access to additional relevant content based on their interests.
Search and Engagement Techniques
Secondary Goal: Increase awareness, drive website traffic, provide information, convert
prospects, and drive campus visits
6
Techniques to enhance lead generation and capture prospective students'
interest
• Solicit survey responses to inform resource allocation and tailored communication during
the inquiry stage.
• Qualify inquiries by encouraging completion of the e-survey, combining survey results
with ForecastPlus data to identify interested and likely applicants.
• Drive survey completion through outreach emails to help campuses allocate resources
effectively.
• Provide tailored print and email materials to students who complete the survey,
addressing their specific concerns and preferences.
Inquiry Marketing Strategies
Secondary Goal: Engage and build affinity, create awareness, convert inquiries to applicants, and
drive campus visits
7
Nurturing strategies to maintain
engagement and encourage applicants to
move forward in the enrollment process
• Deliver engaging and relevant content across
multiple channels during the late summer/fall
of senior year to drive application submissions.
• Target content towards showcasing reasons
to apply to the institution and covering
essential aspects.
Applicant Cultivator Tactics
Secondary Goal: Create awareness, engage and build affinity, qualify the inquiry pool, and drive
campus visits
8
Strategies to convert admitted students into
enrolled students through tailored
communications and onboarding processes
• Solicit survey responses to inform campus
resource allocation.
• Qualify the admit pool by completing the e-
survey and combining results with ForecastPlus
data.
• Use survey results to allocate time and resources
effectively and influence the enrollment of the
correct student groups.
Admit Marketing Solutions
Secondary Goal: Engage and build affinity, qualify the admit pool, apply for aid and scholarships,
convert to deposits
9
Channel Specific
Tactics
Adjusting Your Messaging Based On Delivery
10
Preferred Communication Channels
for High School Students
55%
90%
11%
5%
0%
19%
1%
54%
91%
12%
9%
4%
22%
4%
34%
93%
25%
4%
6%
28%
3%
Direct mail Email Parent/family
portal
Social media Telephone Text message Apps specific
to institutions
10th grade 11th grade 12th grade
RNL, Ardeo, & CampusESP (2023).
2023 Prospective Family Engagement
Study. Ruffalo Noel Levitz
11
The Omnichannel Approach
• Targeted at building
your funnel and telling
high-level narratives
that spark curiosity or
support existing
storylines.
• Develop your
individual ad sets
based on those specific
purposes.
• This channel
continues to push the
conversation in an
easy-to-digest way.
Ultimately allowing
your school to stay
on the mind with
relevant information
to your prospects.
• Best suited as a low-
funnel tactic that
supports and offers a
point of reference
during decision-
making.
• Print also provides
versatility and can still
build top funnel
awareness.
Digital Advertising Email Marketing Direct mail
Accounting for Channel Specific Messaging Tactics
12
1%
19%
68%
10%
Every day At least once a week Whenever they have
important information
to share
At least once a month
Key Points of Success
• Cadence – How much is too much
• Content – Be specific with your message
• Email UX/UI – This is more than a message
Building Effective Email Campaigns
Note: Consider what data you have
and how you interpret it.
RNL, Ardeo, & CampusESP (2023).
2023 Prospective Family Engagement Study. Ruffalo Noel Levitz
13
The Purpose Behind Each Message
• Don’t confuse your audience. Your message should
be short and to the point.
• Having a specific goal for your email allows you to
test and understand the effectiveness and
placement in the cadence.
• How to interpret the data correctly to make
informed decisions.
– Consider multiple data points
– +5% or greater is effective
Content Pillars And Their Role
Academics
Application Process
Admission
Requirements
The Cost
Financial Aid &
Scholarships
RNL, Ardeo, & CampusESP (2023).
2023 Prospective Family Engagement Study. Ruffalo Noel Levitz
14
How To Make It More Than Just An Email
• Increase responders and enrollment by
connecting students to your campus community.
• Utilize variable video content and your existing
data to generate personalized videos at scale.
• Create an immersive experience that brings your
brand directly to the viewer while expanding your
reach.
Supporting Messaging and Functionality
74%
Use an online community where
students can interact
82%
Are watching videos when
researching universities
73%
Use virtual tours or virtual reality
experiences
RNL, Gigg, ModernCampus, Plexuss, & StudentBridge (2023).
2023 E-Expectations Trend Report. Ruffalo Noel Levitz.
15
Controlling The Narrative With Multiple
Messages
• It’s okay to have multiple conversations within
the same email. However, they should connect
to the same overarching idea.
• Hit them with a big sell or your primary idea in
your header. At a glance, they will decide if your
message is worth their time.
• Break up the information with graphic
elements or layout adjustments.
Messaging Hierarchy
16
How To Handle The Need for Multiple Links
• Is a button needed in your header? Yes and No. Users have
been programmed to know that headers are clickable.
However, a button can help notify your viewer that you
have different CTAs to drive to various locations.
• Feel free to utilize different link types. You can use
traditional buttons, ghost buttons, or text links. All of them
carry varying levels of visual weight.
• Get creative and go beyond traditional emails. You can
leverage expanded web page UX/UI tactics in your email
wireframes.
Applying Hierarchy to Multiple CTAs
17
A Mobile First
Approach
Building for A Modern World In The Palm of Your Hand
18
Why A Mobile First Approach Is
Important
• On average, Americans check their phones
once every 4 minutes.
• Among Americans aged 18 – 29,
61% use Gmail.
• About 75% of Gmail users access their
email on a mobile device.
• Don't just make your email mobile-friendly.
More than half of all internet users are on a
mobile device.
Usage Statistics
Phone usage sourced from
https://elitecontentmarketer.com/screen-time-statistics/
Gmail statistics sourced from
https://emailanalytics.com/gmail-statistics/
19
Using Best Practice UX/UI
• Design for vertical instead of horizontal.
– Hot Tip: users will engage with vertical
assets on the desktop at the same
frequency as assets with
horizontal formatting.
• Stop the endless scrolling. This is
another reason we need to control the
amount of information in each email.
• Don’t be afraid of multiple buttons and
links.
– Hot Tip: Don't forget about link
hierarchy
• Build for speed and beauty.
Formatting for Email
20
Updating Your Approach for Conversion
• 63% of students will interact with digital advertising
during their search.
• Search and social ads show the largest source of
engagement across all channels.
– Half of social media users prefer video over other
types of content.
– 91% of Instagram Users watch videos weekly.
– Instagram videos that are around 26 seconds long
receive the most comments.
– Build and Shoot for social.
Formatting for Digital Advertising
53%
Google Search
50%
Instagram
39%
YouTube and TikTok
Where Are Students
Clicking On College Or
University Ads?
RNL, Gigg, ModernCampus, Plexuss, & StudentBridge (2023).
2023 E-Expectations Trend Report. Ruffalo Noel Levitz.
Video statistics sourced from Sprout Social, a leading social marketing platform
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-video-statistics/
21
IRL from RNL
A Real-Life Approach
22
Enhanced SSE Creative
An Improved User Experience
Partner Integration
Applied Where Applicable
• Digital Student Engagement
• Personalized Video
• Parent Engagement
• Virtual Experiences
More effectively display
and leverage the value of
these services
Standard Content Pillars
Academic, Student Life, and
Affordability
• Build emails around topics
most important to prospects
• Written in brand voice and
student mindsetbased on
message's relevant funnel
stage
Measure content impact across
different campaigns
Improved UX
Expanding Executions for Enhance
User Experience
• Focused linking strategy
• Greater diversity of hero
images across
sequence emails
• Tighter content and
design choices
• Mobile-friendly design
• Improved visual hierarchy
23
SSE Creative Updates – Jo | So Search
2020
NEW
24
SSE Creative Updates – Jo | So Search Mail
2020
NEW
25
SSE Creative Updates – Inquiry Marketing Emails
2020
NEW
26
SSE Creative Updates – App Cultivator Emails
2020
NEW
27
SSE Creative Updates – App Cultivator Mail
2020 NEW
28
Looking Toward
The Future
29
Expanding for an Ever-Changing Audience
Sneak Peak
30
Q & A
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Thank you
