Enrollment Marketing and Academic Lead Generation

PRLog (Press Release) – Apr 11, 2007 – As colleges and universities are tasked with  creating more enrollments and reducing costs ,  these institutions look for ways to market to more students while incurring less cost. One technique that some schools have been employing for some time now is buying "leads". A lead is simply a form that an individual fills out online--it may contain information like first name last name, address, etc. Many businesses exist that can provide this type of consumer information that fits within the target age group specified by the school.

Buying Education Leads
There are a few problems that colleges and universities  face when buying leads; by far the largest is the "bad lead", which means that the consumer information that the school purchased did not result in a sale. This can occur for a variety of reasons; it may be that the information on the contact form was incorrect, or it could be that the person is simply not interested in academia. Whatever the case may be, colleges and universities will most likely not be aware of the quality of the lead until after the follow up process has begun.

Converting Education Leads
To address this,   Direct Response Enrollment Marketing  vendors sell leads, and take it upon themselves to follow up on the leads as well. This removes a large portion of the risk that colleges and universities normally shoulder when buying leads: schools no longer have to worry about paying for leads that don't convert, because they can outsource the education lead generation process, as well as the education lead conversion process. Colleges and universities only pay for "hot-transfers" or applications. This ensures that lead-quality will not be an issue.

In order to follow-up on leads, Direct Response Enrollment Marketing agencies employ   Academic Advising Centers  that contact prospective students, and help students to apply. Enrollment Specialists work at these centers, and are employed by the agency, but they perform all of their work on behalf of the school. They use scripting that has been approved, and they are selected for employment according to rigorous criterion that demand a thorough understanding of academia and sales.

Outsourcing the Education Lead Conversion Process
Some schools express concern that they will be represented accurately by these Enrollment Specialists; advisors have successfully completed so many campaigns, they have a proven track record in accurately representing colleges and universities without sacrificing academic integrity.

There are other benefits to contracting a Direct Response Enrollment Marketing agency to generate and convert education leads. The most notable benefit is the fact that Direct Response Enrollment Marketing agencies are able to track which campaigns yield the highest student retention rates. Eliminating advertising channels that tend to attract students that "fall off" is just one way that Direct Response Enrollment Marketing agencies can improve student retention.

Summary
Colleges and universities that buy leads have the option of purchasing a follow-up-marketing cost for an additional cost. By outsourcing the  Follow-up marketing , colleges and universities place the burden for success and lead quality on the shoulders of the Direct Response Enrollment Marketing agency. Outsourcing the follow-up marketing process also results in increased student retention.