Build the Brand but Will They Come?

Illinois Association of College Admission Counseling

May 2, 2012

Presented by:Lor i Greene, Director of AdmissionTim Heuer , Director of Enrollment Systems Research and ReportingNicole O’Connell, Director of Enrollment MarketingEr in Moriar ty, Associate Director of Admission

Session ‘Take-Aways’

• Develop an understanding of how research and data drive decision-making

• Examine Loyola’s approach to integrated marketing in undergraduate admission

• Learn how to enhance marketing techniques with a focus on digital media

• Understand the importance of planning and execution of communications

Loyola University Chicago

• Founded in 1870, Loyola is the nation’s largest private, Jesuit university

• Four campuses and two centers• Total Enrollment: 16,040 (9,747 undergrads)• 70 majors, 70 minors across 10 Schools• 58% students from Illinois; 55% Catholic• 34% students of color, 33% first generation• Total Cost: $45,230 annually

Enrollment Goals

• University Strategic Plan 2010-2015– Become a premier undergraduate university in Chicago, offering a

transformative educational experience in the Jesuit tradition– Become a recognized national and international leader in the preparation of

professionals in health, law, business and other service professions– Become a leader in research in the fields of health sciences, social justice and

ethics, children and families, and select programs in the humanities and the social sciences.

• Enroll 2000-2100 Freshmen and 500-600 Transfers• High Ability Student Focus• Economic impact

Tactical Approach

• Place, Programs, People, Promotion • Campus Construction and New Programs• Staffing/Structure

– Undergraduate Admission/Enrollment Operations– Enrollment Systems Research and Reporting– Enrollment Marketing– Financial Aid

• Operational budget and resources• Marketing strategy refinement year-to-year

ESRR– Enrollment Systems, Research, and Reporting is an

“internal consulting group” charged with providing Enrollment the ability to perform high level information analysis.

– Research Projects• Influencer Analysis

– Secondary research to identify best social media practices (Facebook/Twitter)

– Identify “Influencers” – those bloggers, micro-bloggers, and publications that have greatest impact.

February 2011ESRR

Loyola University Chicago | ESRR

College Admissions & Financial Aid News Cycle

5

• Jump into the existing cycle, good opportunities for coverage.

High Coverage

Medium Coverage

Low Coverage

Research Projects (cont.)– Scholars Focus Groups

• Focus groups of current LUC Honors students to understand admissions experience of high ability students

– Tuition Price Elasticity• Survey and Focus Groups• Determine appropriate tuition pricing• Understand messages that are most important to

prospective students• Determine where in the enrollment cycle to

communicate messages• Identify messages that resonate with different segments

Academicexcellence

Academicscholarships

Affordablecost

Financial hardship

guarantee

Accessible faculty

Careerplacement

Service-learning,rigorous studyand research

Core curriculum

Develops successful,responsible leaders

Teaches criticalthinkingGraduate school

placement

Excellent careerdevelopment

centerInternship

opportunities

Chicago Competitive science /business program,honors program

First-year experience

program

100+ study abroad programs

Justice and faith

Largest JesuitUniversity

Multi-cultural

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%Importance of attribute

Perc

eptio

ns o

f Loy

ola

Price Elasticity Study: Loyola ImageryStudents who plan to apply

9

Critical strengthsCritical gapsSupporting role

Research Projects (cont.)– Admitted Student Survey

• Exhaustive survey of admitted students– Students who matriculated to LUC– Students who matriculated to other higher ed– Students who did not matriculate

– Content Analysis• Analysis of the content of LUC messages to determine

messages communicated during prior cycle• Analysis of message wording, density, timing• Used to refine message strategy to priority segments

Content Analysis

Multi-Channel Marketing

Print Web E-mail Video Mobile Social Media

Web

New Visitor Traffic FY11-12

Print

QR Code Data

Active QR Codes Feb/March

Scans Total Scans % of total

ScansApply Series Total 181 1406 12.9%

Humanities-Sonal Shah 14 25 56.0%Sciences-Brian Sweis 10 28 35.7%

Social Work-Nicholas Framularo 4 8 50.0%Social Sciences-Laura Morales 8 25 32.0%Interdisciplinary-Alana Joyce 6 16 37.5%

Business-Zach Morrison 13 27 48.1%Road Piece-Wickel Titalom 12 77 15.6%

Road Piece-Juan Bottia 22 62 35.5%Road Piece-Asma Kadri 27 155 17.4%

Road Piece-RFI 23 153 15.0%Life at Loyola 27 157 17.2%

Academics-Experiential Learning 2 101 2.0%Academics-Honors Video 6 136 4.4%Academics-LUROP Video 2 83 2.4%

Academics-Sizzle Reel 5 353 1.4%

E-mail

Video

Social Media: Facebook

Profile Picture

Strategic Posts

Measuring the ResultsClass of 2016

Month over Month Quarter over Quarter

Metric Definition Dec 2012 Jan 2012 Change Q4 2011 Q1 2012 Change

New LikesThe number of new people who have liked your Page (Unique Users) 286 354 23.8% 686

Total Likes Lifetime The total number of people who have liked your Page. (Unique Users) 712 1035 45.4% 712

Avg Daily Talking About This

The daily avg number of people sharing stories about your page. 23 33 43.5% 15

Avg Daily Total Reach

The daily avg number of people who have seen any content associated with your Page. (Unique Users) 643 1132 76.0% 407

Total Engagement

The total number of people who engaged with your Page. Engagement includes any click or story created. (Unique Users) 1859 2880 54.9% 3682

• ROI: it’s imperative to keep track of efforts

Social Media: Blogs

Social Networking Pages: Twitter

New Visitor Metrics

Segment FY2009 – 2010 vs. FY2010 -

2011 New Visitor s Growth

FY2010% of total new

visitor s

FY2011% of total new

visitor s

LUC.eduBroadband -4.81%Mobile +292% 1.2% 3.6%

UndergraduateBroadband -10.8%Mobile +223% 1.3% 4.5%

Mobile: Web

User Content – What Does the [mobile] Audience Want?

• Tuition / Financial Aid information• Scholarship info• Request more info / Register for event• Academic program listings• Calendar of events• Application process summary

Mobile SMS

Mobile SMS Data

Mobile Database Metrics MF PlatformTotal Mobile Database Subscribers 8,047Opt-outs 12Opt-ins via RFI 32

March Outbound Text Campaigns Date Sent Count URL HitsConversions

as %Opt-outs

(up to 3 days after)

Opt-outs as % of Count

Loyola Weekend Promo 3/2/12 1,883 1 0.05% 4 0.21%Loyola Admit Text 3/19/12 209 4 1.91% 0 0.00%Loyola Weekend Reminder/Agenda 3/21/12 605 202 33.39% 0 0.00%Loyola Weekend Follow-up/Deposit 3/29/12 458 0 0.00% 0 0.00%

Communications Planning

Planning• Three stages of planning with Marketing:

– Annual summer planning where we lay out the major apply print series and other major campaigns throughout the fall semester and discuss what worked, what didn’t work, and where we can improve

– Monthly planning to make sure we are on track with what we need to accomplish in the course of the month with the various audiences and identifying the key messages needed and the timing of each

– Weekly planning to ensure emails, text messages, FB messaging, letters, etc, are in production and tested for timely execution

Staff Resources

• Assistant Director• Admission Counselors

– Transfer communications– Student telecounselors– Student bloggers

– Everyone pitches in on Facebook

Execution of Communication Flow• Constant contact with our Enrollment

Operations Team – Where we are with data entry and mail entry– Where we are with out going communication pieces– Give them a heads up on major out going communication projects so

we can prioritize, if need be

• Supervisor counselors that help in setting up and sending letters and emails– Weekly emails to indicate what communications go to which audience

and on what day – Also provide the monthly calendar and post on a shared drive as a

reference– Weekly review of student telecounselor calls

Key Communication Changes for 2012

• Change our approach to our Admitted Student Portal

• Use Facebook as our main social networking site

• Increase in text messaging for key messages and audiences

• Build out mobile sites• Revamp email campaigns• Change in print strategy

Text Messages • Expanded where we collect text numbers and started asking

students if they were interested in text messages earlier than senior year

• Samples from Fall Semester– Apply Push text with sizzle video – Admit text with congrats video

• Loyola: Congratulations! You have been admitted to Loyola University Chicago. You will receive a packet with next steps in the mail soon http://bit.ly/sWg44m. Text STOP to end.

– Open House text with link to mobile rsvp– Open House thank you for attending text– Jr Rambler Day text with link to mobile rsvp

There is always an opt out but few have opted out.

Change in email campaigns

• Consistent in the brand and built up the video and social media platforms in each email

• Constantly review open rates and click through rates to make sure we are on target with our messaging

• Further segment various populations

Key to Success: Flexibility

• Try to work two weeks ahead by looking at year to date data to anticipate communication needs

• Will review weekly call lists and move things around based on numbers and data

• Will look at open rates of emails to see how parents and students are responding to messaging and what topics trigger them to click for more information

Second Key to Success: Collaboration• Residence Life• Financial Aid• Interdisciplinary Honors Program• Business Honors Program• Learning Communities• Pre-Collegiate Summer Scholars• Departments of Student Development and Multicultural

Affairs• First Year Experience and Student Orientation• University Ministry• All the colleges and schools, as well as specific departments

(Ex: Biology with their Biology Boot Camp)• Alumni Relations

Action Steps• Budget Creatively• Determine hidden talents on staff i.e. Who is a

content creator? Who is your tech guru?• Know your next step in regard to digital media

i.e. customize Facebook pages, Twitter, add social media buttons to all communications

• Be mobile-friendly and optimize websites and landing pages. i.e. build the opt-in database

Action Steps continued

• Create communication flow by identifying target audiences; utilize multi-channel calendars for planning and identify ‘type’ of communication

• Work to integrate all communications channels • Do you have resources you haven’t already

utilized? i.e. student blogs, video library• Be flexible

Did it work?

May 1 outcome for Fall 2012

Questions?

Build the Brand but Will They Come?

Presented by:Lor i Greene, Director of AdmissionTim Heuer , Director of Enrollment Systems Research and ReportingNicole O’Connell, Director of Enrollment MarketingEr in Mor iar ty, Associate Director of Admission

IACAC Conference May 2, 2012