THREE PRIORITIES TO ENSURE FALL ENROLLMENT SUCCESS
Amid this time of uncertainty, higher education leaders are planning against the unknown. The unprecedented shift from on-premise to online learning will present both enrollment and subsequent budget challenges. Leading up to Fall Semester 2020, it is imperative for institutional leaders to have a clear line of sight into the brand position and strategies that bring meaningful impact in enrollment goals and revenue generation. At Ammunition, we are seeing three key factors that are impacting institutional planning:
- The flat enrollment goals or marginal single-digit increases are quickly becoming remnants of the past. Institutions are pivoting, out of necessity, to fully take programs online and will need enrollment gains that pay significantly higher dividends. Online enrollment growth must offset traditional, on-premise enrollment declines.
- There are currently, and will continue to be, numerous and unprecedented unknowns surrounding the future of higher ed.
- Higher ed has now proven that online is a core piece of future institutional enrollment. This new reality causes us all to realize that enrollment goals are more important than ever, and risk factors are increasingly unclear.
ENROLLMENT GOALS. THEN VS. NOW:
The fall headcount proves to be one of the most competitive and acknowledged of all measured institutional data points. Historically, academic institutions were considered wildly successful with single-digit growth rates, while others were satisfied with mere flat enrollment rates.
Today, we’re facing an extended summer melt that began in March. Fall enrollment goals are challenged by increasing threats, more than I’ve seen in my decades of experience. Why? Because students now have more online options to choose from and institutions are dealing with keeping degree plans whole in an online format. In addition, institutions have capital budgets and debt service that is already on the books and leaves its leadership scrambling to respond.
INCREASINGLY UNCLEAR RISK FACTORS:
Over the course of my career, I have partnered with institutional leadership, especially admissions and financial aid officers, to manage risks and deal with the unknowns regarding fall enrollment. Traditional risk factors were primarily around messaging in recruitment, timing in aid packaging and awarding, and improving personalized experiences for prospective students. But what we formerly knew to be mitigated risk factors now pale in comparison to what we face today.
The new era of risks in our online world include a disconnect in brand loyalty and meaningful engagements between faculty and students, as well as the unknown factors about institutional culture where social distance is measured in bytes and timezones rather than feet.
RE-ENGINEERING FOR ONLINE SUCCESS:
One known is that online programs will no longer be tertiary, but will become a centerpiece that help institutions reach enrollment goals and subsequent budget objectives.
As an agency, we are seeing an increase in requests for website redesigns and rebuilds in order to promote an increase in online enrollment. And we tend to find that the institutional web presence is only a minor factor in online enrollment growth. In order to achieve this growth, our most successful clients have focused on the following three critical priorities:
PRIORITY 1: DEVELOP STRATEGIC “PRODUCT” OFFERINGS:
Our experience has shown that ‘everything for everyone’ does not work in the e-learning space, and that putting every course and program online in an extremely crowded market space will not achieve enrollment goals and objectives. Developing a crystal-clear understanding of institution brand position and programs that are in demand by subsequent audiences is the first critical priority.
The unexpected interruption of the Spring 2020 semester forced many institutions to rush into moving all courses online. In order to achieve meaningful enrollment growth, however, institutions must strategically approach which degree programs and courses to offer in order to successfully compete in a close-to-saturated market. Institutions must only offer programs that are aligned to market demand in the online space, and eliminate the programs that are not.
PRIORITY 2: UNDERSTAND AUDIENCES & PERSONAS:
As with any market, it is important to understand the target audiences, both existing and new. Demographics, gender, location, etc., are all points of significance. But even more significant is the importance of understanding personas, or the who, the why, and the what. Understanding the needs of the audience, as well as their barriers and challenges, enables the institution to develop meaningful offerings and establish differentiation from competitors.
PRIORITY 3: BUILD CUSTOMER JOURNEYS THAT LEAD TO CONVERSION:
Once key programs are identified and personas are defined, the final critical priority is developing audience-focused customer journeys that result in lead nurturing and conversion. It is crucial to have a clear understanding of which messages should be conveyed in given channels (email, text, SEO, paid search, social, print, etc.) and have established a customer experience that seamlessly moves the prospective student through the pipeline, from interest to awareness, and from applicant to student.
WE’RE HERE TO HELP:
We are here to help. By bringing together our combined 40+ years supporting higher education and our deep understanding of brand strategy and contemporary lead generation, we, at Ammunition, are able and ready to help institutions transition to an online presence that leads to real results.
First we’ll conduct a performance and brand audit to understand your institution’s current state. Then we’ll build out a program focused on enrollment growth and mitigating risks during this time of change. The result? Growth.
But let’s start with a conversation.
