Let’s take a trip back in time. We’re willing to bet you remember your childhood home phone number, but not your first cell phone number. Or that you easily recall your third grader teacher’s name, but not your study hall teacher in high school. Childhood memories are visceral and vivid, albeit random.
Many community college marketing efforts start by targeting high school students, but by the time they hit their junior and senior years, they are already getting bombarded by colleges looking to achieve the same goal. Community colleges have to play the long game to sink into the minds of prospective students and effective relationship building pays off when students are finally ready to make that first call.
Graduate Communications has seen it first hand. While we haven’t helped colleges reach elementary-school children (yet!) we do want to share some of the ways we’ve been able to leverage relationship building to encourage conversion.
Call-Backs with Future BUILT
Orange County Community Colleges’ Future BUILT campaign prompts potential students and their parents to make inquiries, some more serious than others. But every lead is worth pursuing, which is why the Future BUILT team has implemented a structured call-back routine for every website and chat query.
A bilingual student support professional or marketing specialist makes the initial contact then directs them to the right college or person to get them enrolled. Prospective students love the attentiveness from the Future BUILT team, and they can opt to have their communications over email and text, for maximum convenience. This approach has resulted in hundreds of new students enrolling in classes Orange County community colleges.
When Luz H. needed student aid help, she relied on the Future BUILT team to get her over the finish line. “Thank you very much for all your attentiveness. You are very kind. People like you are few and far between,” Luz shared with her point-of-contact.
Secret Shoppers
As part of another Future BUILT initiative, Orange County Community Colleges and Graduate Communications embarked on a quest to look at best-in-class colleges and universities among the nation that are known for their progressive marketing and student onboarding services.
Together we examined their:
- Websites
- Request-for-information tools
- Communication/follow-up tactics
- Social media
- Student success/acquisition programs
Our deep-dive into the operations of these institutions revealed that personalized, interactive communications with students yielded the most success with prospective enrollees. The full report of our findings can be read here, but here is a summary of what worked, and what you should be doing.
- If you aren’t already implementing these tactics, start now:
- Review your request for information and communications follow-up process
- Diversify your social media
- Embrace the possibilities
- Use marketing ambassadors/street teams to accomplish a more robust social media plan
- TikTok is your mascot as a brand representative
- Create the moment even before admission
- Aim high for big gains
- Ask if it’s time to invest in a CRM system
- Embrace the start anytime model
- Support retention with guided pathways and course mapping
Sometimes we’re too entrenched in the process to see what prospective students see. By taking a purposeful approach to examining your marketing and communications, you can uncover gaps in service and areas of improvement. That introspection can help build stronger relationships–ones that students will remember for years to come.
How a Holistic Communications Strategy Can Improve Enrollment
