Archive for 'Data'

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How to do more with less

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Since I started at TargetX, I would say that I’ve talked to over 200 schools about student recruitment and how technology can assist them. When I have these conversations about the latest trends and tools, I find that we often return to a common topic — the economy and budget. Which usually shifts the conversation to ROI, data-driven decision making and how to do more with less.
CT article

Clearly my friends on campus and I are not the only ones talking about this. An article in the February edition of Campus Technology magazine explores 7 different aspects of customer relationship management (CRM) technology that colleges and universities are using to ...

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Categories: Cloud, Cloud Computing, College Recruiting, CRM, Data, Enterprise CRM, Return On Investment

The application sensation

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Curious how most admissions offices are faring in the midst of a decline in traditional, college-bound teens? Apparently, not too bad according to some recent data shared by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC). Students are applying to more colleges than in years past and fighting for coveted spots at selective schools.

Caralee Adams of Education Week shares some stats and highlights from a recent NACAC webinar series entitled “The State of College Admission” that includes data from the upcoming 2012 College Admission Report (set to be released on November 28th).

Panelists from the webinar, like Katy Murphy, director of college counseling at ...

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Categories: Applicants, Data, NACAC

Lessons learned from the Cloud

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Last week I joined 10,000 of my Salesforce friends at Cloudforce in NYC. If you aren’t familiar, Salesforce is a cloud computing company and Cloudforce is one of their annual, regional conferences. It was a day packed with product announcements, client success stories and information sessions.

And even though as a product implementation specialist at TargetX, my favorite part of the day was geeking out in the “developer theater” – I also found the client success stories featured in the opening keynote were both remarkable and thought provoking. Companies like GE, Toyota and Coca-Cola are using the Salesforce.com platform in incredible new ways.

Listening to executives speak about their innovations, strategies and successes, I couldn’t help but draw ...

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Categories: Branding/Marketing/Recruiting, Cloud, Cloud Computing, Conferences, CRM, Data

Avoiding data paralysis

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When I conjure up characteristics of a typical admissions professional, I immediately think of words like friendly, knowledgeable, professional, fun-loving (remembering NACAC 2011). My first thoughts aren’t about leveraging financial aid, predictive modeling or data integrity.

Being responsible for data can be a scary thought, even to those “techie” people in admissions who claim to love it. One hazard that CRM expert Mark Miller warns about is data paralysis. Sometimes knowing that all the data is out there waiting to be put to good use can be enough to stop you in your tracks. So, let’s talk baby steps.

Miller offers three suggestions for bringing things under control:

1. Favor smart data over big data. What data ...

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Categories: Branding/Marketing/Recruiting, CRM, Data, Uncategorized

Tracking trends

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Keeping up with what’s happening in higher education is easier said than done. So when articles like Nancy Griesemer’s “15 College Admissions Trends Worth Watching” comes out — it’s perfect for “on-the-go” counselors and directors of admissions.

Griesemer’s 15 trends come from the 2011 State of College Admission report provided by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC). This collection of data from NACAC, the College Board and the federal government makes up a comprehensive document with significant information about college admissions. Here’s just a sampling of Griesemer’s list and what it means for admissions:

The total number of high school graduates is down. We’ll continue to see this decline through 2015. Enrollment and retention offices will be working ...

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Categories: Applicants, Branding/Marketing/Recruiting, Change, Data, Social Networking, Tracking

Eliminating the phone relay

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Mobile access to the Internet (and in particular, to Customer Relationship Management — CRM) has expanded significantly over the last decade. According to a recent Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) forecast, “Last year’s mobile data traffic was three times the size of the entire global Internet in 2000.”

And those numbers are only expected to rise. Cisco’s VNI forecast goes on to predict that by 2015, “There will be 788 million mobile-only Internet users” and, most shockingly, “There are 48 million people in the world who have mobile phones, even though they do not have electricity at home.”

With Internet accessibility reaching beyond even the power-grid itself, colleges and universities are faced with a tremendous opportunity: Embracing mobility allows higher education to ...

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Categories: College Recruiting, CRM, Data, Mobile

Trust the Cloud

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As a child, I thought that the people I saw on TV were actually inside my parents’ TV and that the musicians I heard on the radio were actually inside the radio. And why not? When you’re three years old, Occam’s Razor is rule number 1: the simplest solution must be the right one.

I now see similar behavior in my own daughter. We regularly video chat with my sister, who lives out of town. Each time we chat, my daughter inevitably looks behind the thin laptop screen, trying to connect the image on the screen with the reality of our dining room. I imagine she’s thinking, “Ok, I see her from here, but where IS she?”

Recently, a lot of folks ...

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Categories: Cloud Computing, College Recruiting, Data

Who are we recruiting?

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The 2010 Census offers some perspective on changing demographics in the United States and insights into “who” we are recruiting.

Advertising Age compiled five facts they feel every marketer should know. This is valuable information that every admissions office can learn from:

1. There are 1.2 million fewer children in the Northeast and Midwest than there were in 2000. This represents a 3.1% decline for the Midwest and a 5.5% drop for the Northeast, which will greatly affect the recruitment efforts of institutions whose primary audience lives in these declining regions. Now may be the time to consider reaching out to regions beyond your typical recruitment territories.

2. Minority populations grew eight times faster than the majority white, non-Hispanic population. Expect to see ...

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Categories: Data

Understanding Undergraduates

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You may have a good idea of what your institution’s student population (prospective or current) looks like — but how about your understanding of the undergraduate student population nationwide?

Learn more about the college students of America by visiting the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study snapshot of the 22 million undergraduates that attended college in 2007-2008. You might be surprised by what you see — including, but not limited to, undergraduates over 30, the percentage of students attending for-profit institutions and the household income breakdown.

The student population will continue to shift. Does this open up new opportunities for your institution? Do you see any concerns with the changing demographics? The more knowledge you have, the more successful you can be ...

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Categories: Data, Research, Uncategorized

The data doesn't lie

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Demographics are the foundation of student recruitment and enrollment strategies. Understanding your prospective students requires a sense of what they want and who they are. In one of the most difficult recruitment cycles, colleges and universities must work smarter not harder to find best-fit students.

Last week’s Free on Friday Webcast was hosted by our very own Jeff Kallay, vice president of consulting and Paul Hamborg, president of Enrollment Research Associates and national authority on demographic data. Jeff and Paul talked about why demographics are important and ways to use them when building your enrollment strategy. Student, parent and adult/graduate demographics were discussed, and both Kallay and Hamborg provided sound advice during a hectic enrollment climate.

Shifts in the number of minority ...

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Categories: Data, Free on Friday Webcasts, Research, Webcast

Here comes the cloud

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You already live in the cloud and, if you’re like most people, don’t even realize it. Every time you check your webmail, store photos on Flickr or contribute to a report in Google Docs, you’re using “cloud computing” — the newest buzz phrase in the ever-evolving world of bits and bytes.

The “cloud” is a poetic reference to the Internet. The idea is that you can perform your computing tasks by going online anytime, anywhere — and not have to rely on software, hard drives, servers and other components that are costly, unwieldy and inefficient.

Cloud computing is altering the way companies do business, but higher education has been lagging behind. That may be changing, however, if you listen to reports coming ...

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Categories: Cloud, College Recruiting, Data, Mobile

XpertTip No.95: Data disasters

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Last week I received a pretty nice email from CVS Pharmacy explaining how easy it would be to transfer my prescriptions online.

It was well-designed, with a nice graphic and very clear call to action. It even had a coupon at the bottom offering me $5 off my next purchase. Score.

One major problem: I’m already a CVS customer! I’ve been getting my prescriptions filled there for at least a decade.

Naturally, I was annoyed. I felt taken advantage of — just another name and email address on some list somewhere. Didn’t these people care that I’d been a long-time client? A loyal customer? Who the heck is in charge of this operation? Do they ...

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Categories: Data, Database Fields, Email, Email Campaign Ideas, Experience Economy Stuff

XpertTip No. 79: My dirty little secret

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I feel like we’re pretty close, so I’m going to let you in on a dirty little secret of mine.

I am really, really bad with data. Horrible even.

I’m a former-admissions-person-turned-marketer. I can write, edit, promote, present and pontificate — just don’t ask me to import and export;)

Granted I was not hired to manipulate data, but come on, I’m the one who writes the tips, right?

Truth be told, I start to glaze over when the talk turns to adds, replaces, appends and other things of that nature. I understand things on a macro level, but when it comes down to details, I’m definitely out of my league.

Which is why I’m constantly running down to visit Laura and Dara from our support ...

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Categories: Data, Email, Uncategorized

XpertTip No. 54: Is your website working?

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Research shows that 84% of students are using the college’s website most heavily in their college search (Eduventures, 2007).

These days, you can’t deny the importance of investing heavily in your school’s web presence.

But tracking the return on your website investment isn’t easy; comparatively it can make filing your taxes seem simple and straightforward.

While tools like Google Analytics and WebTrends can help, page visits and click-throughs only tell us part of the story.

Sometimes anecdotal feedback can help fill in the blanks when it comes to the effectiveness of your website. Are you asking for it?

Here are a few opportunities you may be missing to invite feedback:

  • Provide a link right on the page for visitors to comment and/or make content requests.
  • Ask visiting ...
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Categories: Data, Research, Tracking, Uncategorized, Web Traffic, Your Website

XpertTip No.15: Automate your uploads

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This week’s tip continues our conversation on data management (I know, I know, try to contain your excitement;) We can talk about something more fun and exciting next week — but for now, we’ve got to talk data. (Didn’t you learn about eating your veggies before you can have dessert?)

Managing your data is probably the most important subject I can help with, as it sets the foundation for all successful marketing efforts.

So let me introduce today’s focus: XML, or Extensible Markup Language. It could just change the way your office operates completely (and for the better).

If you’re not familiar, XML is the language that facilitates moving data across different information systems (eliminating the need for manual imports and exports). Think ...

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Categories: Data, Database Fields

XpertTip No.14: Avoid GIGO — update your database fields

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When it comes to database management, no saying rings truer than “garbage in garbage out” (or “GIGO” as I like to say;)

Avoid GIGO syndrome and take a moment to review the fields in your database this summer. Are they accurate and current? Do you have extra fields that you never use for sending email? Keeping a tight list of the specific fields you use will keep your data clean and save time when scheduling your next broadcast.

Don’t forget to update the values for your fields as well. Whether you have a new counselor on staff or a brand new major, make sure these changes are made if they are part of your database structure (and while you’re at it, change ...

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Categories: Data, Database Fields, Summer Projects

XpertTip No.9: Don't just collect. Analyze.

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Data collection has been a major focus of recruitment marketing over the last decade. The emergence of online, interactive tools revolutionized the industry by providing real-time reports detailing prospective student behaviors. We now have instant gratification when it comes to tracking metrics. (It’s ok to admit that you’ve sent an email and immediately clicked over to watch the “viewed html” numbers climb. I’m probably doing the same thing as you read this…) Simply put, we have the power to collect more data than ever before.

While all of this sounds great, there is an inherent problem in hoarding so much data. We’re not taking the time to analyze it.

While tackling all of your data analysis requires ...

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Categories: Campaign Intelligence, Data, Tracking