You just had a great recruiting year for incoming students at your college or university. You’re called into a planning meeting, and your superiors congratulate you on the success, which spills right into the need to replicate and beat those numbers next year. If this sounds familiar, you are not alone!
Marketing teams in industries across the board are operating at full tilt, and It feels like from the top they are screaming for more! More ads, more videos, more blogs, more content — and more activity IS needed to spark this growth.
You are ready to roll up your sleeves and take the challenge while you wait for them to drop the unlimited money bag at your feet. Wait – that happens right? Well, the first part is correct: they want more, but the second includes the windfall of an increased or unlimited marketing budget does not. They assume that you can do more, with the same or with less – and you feel stuck.
This is not unique, nor is it hopeless. Marketing automation and a CRM (customer relationship manager) may be your saving grace. It is like having a personal assistant and someone to keep you accountable for relaying content and collecting information from your audience so that you can continue to engage and interact with your prospective students. It will help you meet them where they are via email and social media with a consistent and constant message to keep them engaged through personalization – all with automation.
Imagine this scenario: You attend a college fair and come across a few high school sophomores who show genuine interest in your programs. The only problem is, you don't have enough time to keep in touch with them because your focus is primarily on juniors and seniors. However, what if there was a way to constantly remind them about the greatness of your programs and keep them updated on exciting new developments?
As they engage more, your system gathers more valuable information, allowing you to initiate personal connections with individuals who are already familiar with your institution. With the data you have on them, turning a cold lead into an interested prospective student becomes much easier.
The exciting news is that you have the ability to achieve more with less. It might involve reallocating some of your funds that are currently being spent on traditional marketing methods, such as purchasing lists, sending postcards, or distributing pamphlets that often end up scattered on the floor after a college fair.
There are numerous marketing automation platforms available that offer a zero to minimal cost of entry, allowing you to get started easily. While these platforms may have limitations, they provide a great starting point. If you can demonstrate productivity with them initially, it becomes more feasible to request funds to unlock the premium features.
By making use of these platforms, you can streamline your marketing efforts and consolidate them into one central hub. You can track the engagement and response you receive from your content, and make adjustments based on the feedback and data you collect.
With the help of automation, you can manage a larger number of prospective students in your pipeline simultaneously, while still providing them with a personalized experience. This data-driven approach will showcase a tangible return on your investment, which your administration will appreciate and support. And who knows, it may even lead to the financial resources you need to expand your efforts.
While it can be challenging to do more when your budget remains the same, marketing is all about finding the right strategies and tools to work smarter, allowing you to overcome these obstacles.