Recruiting 2.1 – EduWeb Conference Day 2

Brian Niles, CEO of Target X presents a seminar on the revolution in student recruiting.

A quick survey of the room reveals that the mix of people is about even across web folk, admissions folk and marketing folk. So a good mix of people here.

Quick Philanthropic word: The Power of X, 1% of profit, 1% of the product and 1% of time is spent on philanthropic efforts.

There are three levels of dealing with students.

6,000 ft level – The Perfect Storm

• High school graduates, reduction in the number of students coming
• Generational Shift

Questions we’re asking:

Have you actively engaged parents?
Have you promoted the ROI?

College tuition and fees are still a very small piece of the consumer spending pie.
Questions we’re asking:
Will students go closer to home?
How will you encourage them to visit?
Will offering more online courses help?
Will your recruitment staff travel less?

Lending Crisis
Questions we’re asking:
What is your college/you doing to cut costs?
How is your financial aid strategy adjusting?
Are you prepared to answer questions about finanacial aid earlier?

600 ft level – The Shift of Control

The Internet

Millenials + the internet = ?

Traditional recruiting doesn’t work any more

· Ex. Viewbooks

Social networking is the new future of recruiting

· Sharing and connecting

22% of teens have uploaded a video they have created

9 hrs spent on social media per week

Email – what we use to talk to “old people”:

IM/SMS – casual written conversations with friends

64% believe advertising is dishonest or unrealistic

Marketing Immunity – 3,000 – 5,000 daily messages

6 ft level – Recruiting Revolution

Undergraduate Trends

• 71% of student start looking for colleges before junior year
• 13% start in 8th grade
• For >25% of colleges, admissions application was first point of contact
• 75% of time that a student researches, they are doing it online (2004 stat)
• 84% use the college’s website most heavily for research

Adult and graduate

· 64% prefer letters and print pieces

· 63% prefer email

· 71% use IM

Takeaway  – Preference for e-communication

Students want details on cost.

They desire to connect with faculty.

They want to be reached using new tools

Recruiting 2.0

You are no longer in control of the conversation – who, when, how

Differentiation and Distruption

How well have you articulated on your site how your school different? Why do we refer to other institutions as peers? They aren’t peers, they are competitors.

How are we different and how are we disrupting the process

Students make decisions based on four things:

Availablity,

Cost

Quality,

Authenticity

Quality – NO longer differentiates, difficult to define in higher education

Everyone looks the same

- Colleges not being true to themselves (inauthentic)

- A “me-too” product development philosophy

- Leadership not providing clear vision

PCCC100

- a hundred reasons that differentiate you (overkill, but right on the intent)

- define how you are different

Stories not Stats – People not Programs

Biola University

– great parent program and corresponding web presence

Facebook

- Kellogg MBA program (link)

Albright College

- got rid of viewbook, did a three time a year printing, just profile students (Faces)

- The stats were in the back, but inside, just profiled the specific students

- print and online integrated together, random student with profile at top

- Ning social network

- Also did Faces:Mentors that focus on faculty

71% say that the campus visit was the most trusted source of info

You must design the customer experience or the customer will design it for you - Tom Peters

Make the campus visit authentic, get rid of negatives (cigarrette butts), but also let the student stories come out

We are a Change Averse industry

Insanity, we are constantly doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result

Requires a change in campus culture

Retention begins with being authentic in recruiting

Are we truly putting what is authentic forward?

If we spend all our time thinking abotu what the other guy is doing, we will end up copying them

Suggestions

Power yourself with data & research

Talk to students – they’ll tell you

Trust your gut instinct

Calculate the ROI (when possible)

Ignore your competition – be who you are

Call them your competitors, but don’t let them define you

Students speak – survey link here

Don’t Flirt with Me – Study done for WSACAC 2008 presentation

About Recruiters/Admissions Counselors

“Most college gave to much a glossy image of themselves, the end result look the same.

If schools over advertise, there must be something wrong.

Be real, honest and straightforward.

You look desperate for a date, chill out.

If I’m not a candidate, leave me alone.

Reply to my requests more quickly

About Your Websites –

Hard to navigate

Outdated or unprofessional

Too busy or confusing

Too basic

Too many links

Today, the most important conversation is not the marketing monologue, but the dialogue between your audience

Wharton MBA (link)

Rethink the budget

Distrubution print vs web, on-campus vs off

Stop the “have to” activities (hint: start with travel)

Avoid the many online fads

Focus on what will work, not what always worked

Doesn’t necessarily mean additional funding

Start earlier

Brand recognition begins in freshman year

College search starts in sophomore year

Book List:

Beyond Disruption – Jean-Marie Dru

How to Drive Your Competition Crazy – Guy Kawasaki

The Business of Changing the World – Marc Benioff and Carlye Adler

Re-imagine – Tom Peters

The Overachievers – Alexandra Robbins

X Saves the World – Jeff Gordinier

Don’t Make Me Think – Steve Krug

Transforming a College – George Keller

Podcasts:

Story Corps NPR (link)

TWiT (link)

Ted Talks (link)

Onion Radio News (link)

You Look Nice Today (link)