"It takes about 90 days to obtain the average conversion rate, however by constantly monitoring the percent in deactivated leads it is easy to determine whether the campaign will be successful."
Angela Siegel

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Angela Siegel

Cost-effective strategies to boost lead quality and conversion

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PEOPLE WITH IMPACT INTERVIEW - Angela Siegel, online marketing manager at Grand Canyon University

Recently, increased attention has been paid to higher education marketing strategies as marketing and student affairs officers grapple with new challenges. From rising student acquisition costs, to changing student expectations, to historically low retention rates, we invited Angela Siegel, online marketing manager at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix and veteran marketer in the higher education field, to share her insights.

Q: Despite limited technology resources and a restricted budget, Grand Canyon University has developed and implemented cost-effective online marketing strategies that have dramatically boosted lead quality and conversion rates. What are the key strategies that have proved most effective in achieving this end?
Angela Siegel:

1. Manage the integrity of your brand. Gaining control of your university’s brand and remaining consistent is extremely important. Establish branding and standards to maintain the “one voice” and same look and feel across the web and other marketing avenues. This helps students from confusing your school with another and validates your school as a legitimate one. It is possible to maintain the same branding and standards while changing marketing strategies to keep up with the market and remain competitive.

2. Track your leads. It is incredibly important to track which leads are converting, as well as the rate of invalid leads on a bi-weekly basis. Grand Canyon University uses a CRM database that holds not only campaign codes, but also affiliate and sub-affiliate codes for the Internet vendors. This data indicates the percentage of people who have enrolled so you know where to best spend your dollars.

Additionally, within a week or two (rather than a month or two) of launching a campaign, you can determine its effectiveness by looking at the percentage in deactivated leads and make alterations to produce desired results. It takes about 90 days to obtain the average conversion rate, however by constantly monitoring the percent in deactivated leads it is easy to determine whether the campaign will be successful.

3. Establish a good relationship with vendors/lead gen partners. University marketers and lead generation partners share the same goal - maximizing communication will yield increased revenue for both sides. Meet with your lead generation partners regularly so they know which strategies are effective and ineffective. Provide a report that captures a vendor’s overall conversion rate and invalid conversions by discipline, and how they compare against average conversions and ROI, then amongst various degree offerings. Providing lead generation partners your affiliate codes will help them determine the variables that are influencing the conversion rate. With proper attention and good rapport, you can develop a flourishing partnership that pays dividends.

4. Share data with your enrollment counselors. Attend meetings at least once a month with enrollment counselors and encourage open communication. Do not have a prepared agenda, simply treat the meetings as question and answer sessions to help counselors understand what’s happening in marketing. Share how leads are being generated - it can change how enrollment counselors work their leads. For example, a counselor may feel that leads from a particular company have a low conversion rate and therefore is not inclined to actively pursue the leads. As a marketer, you may find that the leads are in fact converting well – possibly triple industry standards. This helps counselors focus their efforts, resulting in increased conversion rates.

5. Maintain flexibility. Variables and services offered through lead gen partners are ever-changing. A campaign that produced minimal results one month may flourish the next month – try to not count anything out. Keep in touch with what’s current and what’s new – after all, consumer preferences and the field can change in an instant.

Angela Siegel, online marketing manager at Grand Canyon University

Grand Canyon University is a private, Christian University that offers online and campus-based Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs in business, education, nursing and health sciences, and humanities and social sciences. Grand Canyon University has approximately 12,000 undergraduate students and working professionals enrolled in online courses. To learn more about Grand Canyon University, visit http://www.gcu.edu/.

See an index of all the "People with Impact" Interviews

Additional sections of this journal address student recruiting and student retention. We have also placed all articles with a common theme of online education and distance education programs in a separate portal. New articles will be posted each Monday, please check back by bookmarking this site or placing a link to this Innovative Practices in Communicating with Students portal.