Strengthening the ongoing, fruitful partnership between AllCampus and the University of Florida, the UF School of Music has chosen us as the marketing and enrollment agency of record for the online Master of Music in Music Education program!
AllCampus has worked with UF in the past to expand the reach of programs offered by the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), the College of Medicine, and the College of Health and Human Performance. We’re very proud to enhance this partnership further and continue helping the UF expand its online enrollments for these programs.
The online Master of Music in Music Education (MMME), a program accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), helps students grow as both musicians and educators and succeed in today’s music classrooms. The curriculum consists of both theoretical and practical coursework, exploring the latest research in the field, new content delivery methods, and advanced concepts in music. Designed and led by UF’s expert instructors, the program is a perfect fit for a variety of music educators, whether they direct a school band, teach general music, lead other school-wide music classes, or act as a private instructor.
The University of Florida’s dedication to academic achievement and ongoing leadership is demonstrated by the University’s numerous awards, including top-tier national rankings in U.S. News & World Report, and its place as the official, preeminent institution of higher learning in the state. We’re looking forward to partnering with UF once again to bring the MMME program to a wider, national audience.
Click here to learn more about the online Master of Music in Music education program.
AllCampus is very pleased to announce our partnership with the George Washington University and the Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering, one of the oldest and largest departments of its kind in the country, to promote their online graduate degree programs!
AllCampus will provide full student enrollment support and marketing services for the online Master of Science in Engineering Management and Master of Science in Systems Engineering programs. Both programs are designed to support the EMSE Department’s mission of preparing the next generation of technical leaders through constant adaptation to the changing landscape of engineering. Offering affordable, hands-on access to one of the nation’s foremost academic and research institutions in an entirely online format, each program is perfectly suited to aspiring engineering leaders. The George Washington University is ranked among the top 60 universities in the country and the top 100 engineering schools according to U.S. News & World Report.
Located in the heart of one of the largest and most comprehensive technology centers in the nation, the GW EMSE department harnesses strong connections to influential institutions to deliver a unique combination of research, teaching, and public service. Since 1954, the Department has been a force for leadership in engineering management and other interdisciplinary areas, as one of the nation’s first dedicated programs in these fields. The department has contributed not only to the modern technological landscape through leading research, but also through inventive initiatives working with the Department of Homeland Security, the D.C. Water Resources Research Institute, and NASA, among others.
Unless you happen to work in search engine marketing (like we do), it’s pretty easy to overlook Google releasing an update to the algorithm that determines search engine results. While major updates happen every so often, the algorithm is quietly adjusted almost constantly to keep the highest quality, most useful web sites at the top of the results pages for millions upon millions of searches.
Most of the time, these updates – even the larger ones – pass by without changing things around too much. But the most recent update could have a massive impact on websites for everything from small businesses to major universities.
On April 21st, Google announced the rollout of what’s been ominously dubbed the “Mobilegeddon” update. This change is meant to boost the rankings of web pages that are “mobile-friendly”, or that can be viewed easily from a smartphone, while negatively impacting the rankings of those that don’t have specific mobile design tools in place. While the update only applies to searches that come from smartphones, with mobile web traffic now outpacing desktop traffic in volume, this could mean a pretty dramatic hit to incoming visitors for those left unprepared.
Why Could This Be a Problem for Your School?
For the sake of example, imagine that your department offered an online MBA program and had a page (or pages) dedicated to offering prospective students information about the degree. Several thousand people search for either “online MBA” or “MBA programs” or some variant thereof every month, which is a large potential pool of new enrollments that are already interested in pursuing an MBA.
Ranking on the first page for such a competitive search term isn’t easy, but following “mobilegeddon”, it’ll likely be near impossible to engage smartphone users if your relevant web pages aren’t prepared for mobile traffic. If your pages aren’t mobile-friendly, regardless of where you ranked previously, Google will instead send search engine users to other related web pages that are. This means that instead of capturing a massive market of potential students, you’ll be left missing out as competing institutions with mobile designs take hold of the top spots.
Even if the “mobilegeddon” update hadn’t happened, not having sites that are programmed to adapt to mobile visitors (or a dedicated, separate site with a redirect for those using smartphone browsers) has a significant, negative impact on the user experience – not to mention its effect on whether or not they pursue your program.
A 2012 survey published by Google found that if mobile users encounter a site with usability issues, 61% of them will move on to another site immediately. On the other hand, if their experience is positive and easy to use on a smartphone, 67% of visitors are more inclined to engage with the featured service or product. With the increased emphasis on mobile traffic and the overall shift towards smartphone browsing, it’s safe to assume that these numbers have only increased over time.
Suffice it to say that not making your sites and web pages mobile-friendly could potentially have a clear, adverse effect on new enrollments.
How to Prepare
For .edu domains, especially in cases where schools and departments have each developed their own unique websites, this can be a somewhat tricky issue to resolve from a logistical standpoint. The update doesn’t analyze sites as a whole, but scans individual pages for mobile formatting, meaning that each page needs to be set up to handle traffic from smartphones. The reality is that many schools may not have the resources to undertake this kind of project, or it may take months to coordinate between departments and make the necessary changes. Meanwhile, it’s very likely that sites that aren’t prepared for Google’s mobile update will see drops in traffic within the next few weeks.
That’s where we come in. At AllCampus, we’ve always believed in the power of the mobile audience. As a result, we have a great deal of experience ensuring that web pages are mobile-friendly.
Regardless of whether you’re seeking the help of an external partner, if you’re concerned about the status of your own pages, the first step is use this tool to scan each page in question and identify any potential issues. These are just some of the things that Google looks for when determining whether or not a page is mobile-friendly:
1. A defined, responsive viewing area
Nowadays, the devices people use to browse the internet vary widely in terms of their screen size, which means each page has to adjust its sizing and viewable area to account for smartphones, 30-inch desktop monitors, and everything in between. Google scans for lines of code that dictate how a page should respond to mobile users in terms of sizing. This applies to the design and layout of the site as well as text. Everything should scale to suit various sizes and remain legible without requiring pinch-zooming or sideways scrolling.
2. Easy-to-use spacing for touchscreens
If you’ve ever used a site that isn’t mobile-friendly on your smartphone, then you’ve likely encountered the infuriating process of accidentally tapping on the wrong link, going back, zooming in to make the links larger, precisely lining up your finger with the desired button, missing again, and on-and-on it goes until you leave the site in a huff. A frustrating experience like this will almost certainly turn away potential students. Well-designed mobile sites leave plenty of space for fingers to navigate the site without bumping into unwanted links.
3. Doesn’t use flash for animations or other content
When the internet was still fairly young, animations (and even entire websites) coded in a programming language called Flash were incredibly popular. Since then, Flash has become outdated, replaced with the cleaner, more contemporary CSS, Javascript, and HTML. What’s more, the majority of mobile web browsers are incapable of loading any Flash whatsoever, so videos, animations, and other content that depend on the language won’t load. This is one of the biggest problems facing older sites trying to adapt to the mobile-centric web climate. Having elements of your site coded in Flash will not only hurt your rankings in Google, but will also limit what content visitors can actually load on their smartphones
It may be a complex problem to solve, but the value inherent to maintaining a strong, mobile-friendly user experience is absolutely immense. Not only will this help engage with mobile users, which now comprise the majority of web traffic, but now, with this mobile-focused update, it’ll also help you stay well-placed in search engine rankings. “Mobilegeddon” isn’t the end of the world, certainly, but being unprepared might cut you and your program off from a large potential audience.
To learn more about AllCampus and what we can do for your school’s online programs, click here.
The University of Arizona College of Engineering and College of Education have both selected AllCampus as their partner in promoting comprehensive, varied online programs!
The College of Engineering, one of the 50 best engineering schools in the nation according to U.S. News & World Report, has contracted AllCampus to promote its entire catalog of online graduate programs. This includes master’s-level and certificate programs in a wide array of professional disciplines, from engineering management to mining and geological engineering. The College’s reputation for pursuing invention and supporting new ideas has earned UA a place of special regard in the engineering world.
We’ve also formed an exciting partnership with the UA College of Education to drive new enrollments to 3 of their programs, including the Teach Arizona Master of Education, an on-campus/online hybrid program offered at the Chandler, AZ site designed to help students fulfill the Arizona state requirements for becoming a licensed teacher. Other programs include the Master of Arts in Special Education – Disabilities, and the Graduate Certificate in Reading Instruction, both aimed at helping current educators build on their existing skills in supporting students with distinct, specialized learning needs.
Since its founding in 1885, the University of Arizona has stood as a national leader in practical education that helps students achieve incredible things. The Colleges of Education and Engineering both benefit from this same heritage of innovation, research, and bold thinking, equipping students with the skills and knowledge they need to shape the world in boundless ways.
We look forward to applying our proven marketing expertise to helping the UA, one of Arizona’s online land grand and research institutions, build national awareness for all of its online graduate programs!
For more information about these programs, follow the links below:
All Campus, LLC is proud to announce our partnership with the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business and their new Online Master of Business Administration (MBA) program.
The program, focusing on emerging online business topics such as internet analytics, social media, virtual teams, and entrepreneurial thinking, is accepting applications now for the first class to begin in fall 2015.
The 21-month program will provide students with a foundation in all core areas of business, and is grounded in analytics and communications from beginning to end. Led by renowned members of the USC Marshall faculty, online coursework will be conducted primarily in an asynchronous format, with weekly synchronous seminars conducted by faculty via webcam and a one-time, one-week on-campus event. This format enables students to enjoy a flexible learning experience that features real-time interaction with faculty as well as educational content that can be viewed at any time.
The curriculum was created specifically for the program, rather than just taking traditional in-classroom content and putting it online. As such, the Online MBA incorporates live action cases, interactive exercises, and virtual team scenarios that are well-suited to the virtual learning environment.
AllCampus is proud to support both the program’s launch and its continuous growth by providing creative design and enrollment services.
For more information on the USC Marshall Online MBA, please click here.
Creating an Enrollment Strategy That’s Personal, Engaging, and Connects Online Learners to Your School
For many adult learners, especially those without experience in digital education, online programs might seem somewhat detached from the rest of the school. Given that students might never interact with faculty members or their peers in person, their concerns are easy to understand.
One of the ways to counteract this worry is to lend a personal touch to the recruitment and enrollment process, getting to know each candidate intimately and introducing them to the school. When advising and marketing teams work together to create messaging that welcomes students, connecting to them as people with goals and backgrounds of their own, it can strongly influence their decision as they seek to choose a school.
Striving to develop a direct relationship with each interested candidate during the admissions process can truly separate your institution from the pack. This is increasingly important as attracting students to online programs becomes more and more competitive. The challenge is doing this through digital tools and telephone calls as opposed to in-person interviews and other techniques used for on-campus programs.
So, how do you connect with prospective online students and demonstrate your commitment to their aspirations?
Know Your Student
Ultimately, the foremost consideration will always be empathy. Understanding your students—their background, the academic experience they’re searching for, their career aspirations, even their daily schedule—is the first step towards creating powerful, individualized messaging.
The best way to reach this understanding is by gathering information from every potential student. Whether it comes from inquiry forms on your website or direct conversations with candidates, data is critically important to building an outreach plan that works.
But having a firm grasp of students’ personal background is only one component of the process. The other is closely analyzing how they consume your materials. Which pages on your site are visitors most engaged? Are they more interested in reading a brochure about the program or a guide exploring the careers your program will help them pursue?
Online analytics and testing tools have become so sophisticated that almost every interaction a student has with program materials can be tracked and examined. Expert use of these tools can offer immediate insight into what drives student interest, providing a scientific, objective guide to what messaging tactics will resonate most.
Understand the Student Experience
Before you implement anything, it’s important to clearly map out the basics of your college’s current communication strategy. This can help you see the process from each candidate’s perspective and create a plan that’s both streamlined and compelling.
Working with both the marketing and enrollment team, you can ask the following questions to get things started:
What means of contact are used from the time a prospective student inquires about the program (or initially visits your website) through application, acceptance, and attendance? How long do each of these stages typically last?
Who is reaching out to prospective students – one admissions representative or several? Is it just the admissions team or does your marketing department also play a role?
What messaging is currently being utilized for each stage? Is it consistent across all materials? Is the information focused on the whole university or the college, department, or specific program?
What tracking and data is available? Are you able to examine things like number of calls made, frequency of emails, or email open rate?
This process can be time consuming, but it’s essential to have a complete picture of your communication strategy to identify any areas that could be made more pleasant and engaging for the student.
Identify Areas for Refinement
Once your current student recruitment process is clearly understood and mapped out, it’s much easier to see any holes or areas for improvement. For instance, maybe advisors are pointing prospective students to an online application without following up to provide assistance. You might realize that interested students are receiving emails from your marketing team that mirror the personal outreach sent by advisors, overwhelming the student and clogging their inboxes. In some cases, you might discover that high-level communications are being sent to students that are unrelated to the program about which they inquired.
Once you have the opportunity to review the communication strategy as a whole, you will be able to identify communications that can be added, improved, or completely cut out of the process. You’ll also be able to explore opportunities to refine your targets and keep messaging personal, streamlining the process and creating a connection with potential students.
Personalize Your Messaging
In a perfect world, every communication a prospective student receives would be relatable to them, focusing on their program of interest, their segment (alumni, corporate partner, new inquiry, international, etc.). Realizing that this is not always possible, consider the following methods to help your admissions process feel a touch more personal:
1. Be Proactive – This might seem obvious, but many schools either don’t have the resources or don’t make an active effort to engage directly with every prospective student over the phone. This can leave applicants feeling disconnected and unimportant, which may result in them being unconvinced that your institution is right for them, or committed to their success. We recommend proactive outreach via phone with supplemental emails. Messaging included in these emails should vary based on the student’s situation and current place in the process. Has the potential student been contacted by advisors about the program? In that case, it can be beneficial to send them further information, maybe about faculty members and other selling points to develop their connection to the school and keep them interested. On the other hand, that kind of communication won’t prove effective if they still haven’t learned even the most basic information about their program of interest.
2. Maximize Your CRM System – We often find that Customer Relationship Management databases are under-utilized by universities at the department-level. Customization of a CRM system can allow for the capturing of more refined inquiry data, which you can use to further personalize communications. For instance, if your program has specific concentrations or specializations, and you can capture that information from a new student inquiry, it can be very effective to create messaging that reflects that. The customization of a CRM may also allow you to set up specific campaigns that are triggered by a student’s level of progress towards application submission automatically. Think about deploying communications based on the day, time, or even a change in status (e.g. from inquiry to contacted) to further solidify your personalized strategy.
3. Take Advantage of Automation & Templates – Automation and email templates often go hand-in-hand with a CRM. Advisors can only account for so much volume by way of personal emails, which necessitates that their efforts be complemented by automated emails. As previously noted, however, the more you can customize your CRM system to accommodate an individual’s characteristics, the better. Examine your contact strategy to determine what can be automated and what needs to be taken on by an enrollment representative. In our experience, templates that can swap out messaging and imagery depending on a prospective student’s status are also effective.
4. Use Multiple Channels of Communication – Though email and phone calls are the standard these days, it’s important not to neglect good, old-fashioned direct mail. This can be a great nurturing device as students move through the admissions process. Consider ways in which these communications can be personalized to your individual student, whether you’re sending them a postcard reminding them about the upcoming registration deadline or a letter from an advisor or faculty member.
Another (often lower cost) option to consider is re-targeting through advertising mediums like Google AdSense. This allows you to engage with those who’ve already visited your site and compel them to pursue the program further through focused messaging. Maintaining top-of-mind awareness of your brand and tailoring ad copy accordingly can be a useful tool in converting students from a prospect to an attendee.
5. Think About the Little Things – Whether it’s a signed note from the admissions team, a personalized item shipped to the student’s home as a welcome to the program, or a simple Skype conversation, sometimes little things can have a big impact in a student’s opinion of a school. Gestures of caring and dedication, no matter how small, can demonstrate your university’s ongoing commitment to its students and their success.
Putting Your Plan Into Practice
Without campus visits, orientations, and recruitment seminars at your disposal, it can seem nearly impossible to form significant connections with both incoming and current students. In our experience, however, with some cooperation between outreach teams, a comprehensive understanding of your communication strategy, and the will to see the admissions process from the inquiring student’s perspective through data, schools can create messaging that engages online learners effectively and personally.
With each of our clients, we’ve faced first-hand the challenge of putting a personal, friendly face on interactions with prospective online students. Sometimes the solution is simple. In several cases, just the switch between talking directly to the audience in communications (“You’ll learn…”) instead of indirectly (“Students learn…”) can liven up content and help create immediate connections and inquiries. However, we’ve found that advanced, ongoing experimental testing and thorough analysis of visitor behavior are the only truly effective means of discovering what captures an audience’s attention. In our experience, the ideal outreach strategy lies at the intersection of creativity, knowledge of your audience, and proven, data-driven tactics.
Considerations like this, and the tips above, can help you start to build a strategy that shows students everything your school has to offer.
Click here to learn more about how AllCampus can become your partner for student recruitment and enrollment.
AllCampus will be an exhibitor at the Online Learning Consortium International Conference in Orlando, Florida from October 29th-31st!
If you’re planning on attending the conference, be sure to stop by Booth #140 to discuss how we can help your school drive increased enrollment in online programs.
Our CEO, Joseph Diamond, along with Executive Vice President of Revenue Kyle Shea, and Academic Program Advisor Dr. Kenneth Nanni will be in attendance
Join AllCampus at the Annual Sloan-Consortium International Conference on Online Learning for our session entitled, “Leveraging New Data-Driven Marketing Technologies to Impact Student Enrollment”. The conference will take place from November 20th – 22nd at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
