personalization on higher education websites – the new competitive advantage

Personalization on Higher Ed Websites

March 7, 2017

The New Competitive Advantage

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• 50 minute webinar + 15 minutes for questions and answers • Ask questions through the Zoom Control Panel • Tweet during the webinar with #mStonerNow • Please fill out the post-webinar evaluation • Check your inbox later this week for the webinar recording and slide deck

The Plan

Piero Tintori CEO and Founder, TERMINALFOUR

@pierotintori

Greg Zguta Technical Lead, mStoner

@gzguta

Personalization…foran Amazon voucherplease.

The Question:

What percentage of Amazon.com’s revenue is generated

by its recommendation engine?

The Answer:

35% of revenue generated by personalized recommendations.

Source: http://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/how-retailers-can-keep-up-with-consumers

Agenda1. Personalization Overview

2. Examples for Higher Ed

3. Prerequisites

4. Planning Steps

5. Questions

Overview

Web personalization results in the delivery of relevant and tailored content and navigation to meet the unique

needs of specific individuals or audience segments based on their demographics, behaviors, and actions.

PERSONALIZATION

Vincent O’Malley, TERMINALFOUR

“What do I do to stop my rage, when everyone wants to be on the homepage? There’s a solution I use; maybe you do as well? It’s the wonderfully accommodating carousel.”

https://www.terminalfour.com/blog/posts/-the-web-content-merry-go-round-.html

The Goal

We want you to understand how personalization connects with your content strategy and technology so your institution can position itself to start using website personalization.

Business Case

• Undergraduate and post graduate student recruitment • Alumni fundraising • Student and staff engagement

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78%–

of high school students report websites shape

their perception of an institution

15%–

of prospective students apply on

their first visit

> 54%–

of eventual applicants visit

institution websites five times or more

before applying

42%–

increase in Personalized calls

to action conversions

From the Marketo Campus Technology Whitepaper “2016 Trends in Higher Education Marketing, Enrollment, and Technology”

Examples for Higher Ed

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Personalization Examples

• Persona segmentation features • Topic of content targeting • Geo based targeting • Behavioral Targeting • Source or referral targeting (social, mobile, etc.) • A/B Testing for optimizing UX

In Browser Examples

Overview

Browser LocationFrom a server variable

Browser location

Value:

“New Zealand” or “Australia”

Segment

Browser location

Value: “Fiji”

Course search cookie

Value: “Undergraduate”

“Undergraduates,

Fiji, OZ & NZ”

Persona

Course SearchFrom a cookie

Our Terminology

Visitor: A user visiting the site

Indicator: Single type of data collected on the visitor to base the segment on

Segment: A named subset of the indicator data

Persona: A named collection of segments used to describe a possible visitor

Personalized content: Content that is written / produced for a particular persona

Voltaire Santos Miran, CEO, mStoner

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

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Summary

With great power comes great responsibility: • Personalization offers terrific potential to help achieve goals • Great complexity is a potential pitfall • Appropriate readiness is key

Personalization ….fortwo books,please.

The Question:

What percentage of content watched on Netflix is driven by their personalization engine?

The Answer:

Source: http://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/how-retailers-can-keep-up-with-consumers

75% of Netflix watched content comes from personalized recommendations.

Prerequisites

1Conversions MeasurementContent Management

2 3

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Content Management

• Content management system • Governance • Content strategy

– • Single content management

system • Has a flexible set of defined

templates • Content re-use strategy

implemented • Structure for media file

management• Structure for media file

management• Defined taxonomies for

content re-use• Naming conventions for

content

– • Established authority for

who owns top level website content

• Senior leadership are committed to the plan

• Resources are in place dedicated to creating content and managing the website

• Processes and workflow to manage content are in place

• Wild west has been (mostly) tamed

– • Content policies, processes,

and guidelines are in place.• Information architecture

planning and implementation takes place.

• Editorial calendars are in place to keep content updated

• Content creators have training in key aspects of content creation

Content Strategy:Governance:Content Management:

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Transactions/Conversions

• Third party system integration • Ability to measure • Calls to action

Conversions– • Request information forms• Campus visit scheduling• Contact a counselor• Engagement with academic

programs• Applications• Explore a particular

degree offering

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Measurement

• Google Analytics tracking • Event tracking • Goals/conversions • Campaigns • A/B Testing

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Why Measurement is so Important

• Personalization is high effort • Must have a way to assess success • Need to ensure efforts produce

good and avoid harm • Refining and evolving a

personalization approach requires feedback

Planning for Personalization

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SegmentPOSSIBLE SEGMENTS

Geographic

Device or browser

Frequency and recency

Visitors to key areas (landing pages, programs)

Demographic

• Audiences

• Narrow focus

• Highest value

• Validate with Google Analytics

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Identify Conversions

For any audience segment you want to personalize:

• What conversions should the visitor complete? • Are the conversions already being tracked? • Does baseline data exist to compare before/after efforts? • What result do you desire from visitors seeing personalized content?

Ensure you have measurable conversions to evaluate your efforts.

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Choose a Personalization Tool or Technology

The right tool depends on your situation. Generally:

• CMS-based tools integrate with content • Third-party tools plug into your existing website • The ability to start small and grow is key • No one size fits all • Skills and resources of your team matter

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Create Personas

• Start with priority audience segments • Craft real world use cases • Start small • Craft content for personas PROSPECTIVE

UNDERGRADUATEALUMNI ACCEPTED

UNDERGRADUATEINTERNATIONAL

GRADUATE STUDENT

INTERESTED IN NURSING

STUDENT ATHLETE

INTERESTED IN ARTS

FREQUENT VISITOR

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Design Personalization Experience

• Define calls to action and conversions • Create and design the content and presentation • Test the experience and verify it works • Deploy the personalization experience and measure performance • Revise and refine the experience based on results

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Final Thoughts

Remember the prerequisites: • Content management • Transactions/conversions • Measurement Start small • Lightweight segmenting and personas Measure, test, refine • Never skip measurement

Piero Tintori CEO and Founder

TERMINALFOUR

@pierotintori piero.tintori@terminalfour.com

Mallory Wood Director of Marketing

mStoner

@mallorywood

802.457.9234 mallory.wood@mstoner.com

Resources

• Check out more resources from TERMINAL FOUR: https://www.terminalfour.com/resources/

• Download Mythbusting Websites: On-Demand Presentation and White Paperhttp://mstnr.me/MythbustingWebsites

• Ready to improve your .edu?http://mstnr.me/SiteCheckup2017

Greg Zguta Technical Lead

mStoner

@gzguta

314.884.1803 greg.zguta@mstoner.com

Questions & Answers

m storytellers, experience crafters, brand builders