World University Rankings Seminar, University of Edinburgh - 10th March 2008

Engaging “Generation Y” Engaging “Generation Y” through Online Marketingthrough Online Marketing

Ian LynesIan Lynes

Online Business Manager, QSOnline Business Manager, QS

Online marketing

• Promote

– Reach global market– Use institutional and other ‘voices’

• Optimize

– Reduce administration– Utilise staff expertise effectively

• Engage

– Tune messages by segment– Be responsive to applicants

• Measure

– Track marketing campaigns– React to market changes

Agenda

• Engaging “Generation Y”– Who are they?– International differences– Lifecycle marketing– A balanced approach

• Online marketing mix– Web sites– Search engines– Banners– Networking, Wikis, Blogs & Answers– Videos and podcasts– Virtual worlds, avatars and bots– E-mail

• Online applications

10th March 2008

Who are “Generation Y”?

• Impatient

• Team players

• Hungry for feedback

• Don’t hold back

• Fearless of technology

• Seek stimulation

• Believe in themselves

• Sceptical

• Street smart

Who are “Generation Y”?

• 97% own a computer

• 94% own a cell phone

• 76% use Instant Messaging.

• 15% of IM users are logged on 24 hours a day

• 34% use websites as primary source of news

• 28% own a blog and 44% read blogs

• 49% download music using file sharing

• 75% of US students have a Facebook account

• 60% own portable music or video device e.g. iPod

Source: Connecting to the Net.Generation: What Higher Education Professionals Need to Know About Today's College Students, Reynol Junco and Jeanna Mastrodicasa (2007)

International differences

• Culture & etiquette– Greetings– Humour– Punctuality– Planning– Competitiveness– Organisation– Leadership

• Local references

• Currency

• Language

• Different online media– e.g. search engines China: Baidu 62% Russia: Yandex 62%

Source: “The Best of British” by Mike & Sarah Etherington, 1999

Charles was sure Chuck had said he should wear pants and suspenders

International English?

“International” meaning

Possible confusion Example

delay period of lateness F: period of time a three week delay

eventually after a time F / D: perhaps she will arrive eventually

interesting holding the attention F: profitable an interesting idea

qualified partial, conditional F: total a qualified success

quite very UK: not very he’s quite reliable

table put on the agenda US: take off agenda table a proposal

luck out have good luck SA: have bad luck we lucked out

look at read UK: revise, rewrite take a look at the report

hear hear UK: disagree I hear what you say

Source: Mind Your Manners by John Mole, 1998

“Invaluable political and psychological profiles of each nationality” - Business Week

Defining the message

• Proposition(s)

• Differentiators and USPs

• Value and evidence

• Messages to attract.. support.. convert

REPUTATION CAREER PLACEMENT

PROGRAMMES SPECIALIZATION

RoI RANKINGS

COST FINANCIAL AID

LOCATION CAMPUS

DIVERSITY VALUES

INNOVATION STYLE

FACULTY ALUMNI

Life-cycle marketing

INTERESTED

CANDIDATEENQUIRER

APPLICATION

STARTED

APPLICATION

SUBMITTED

PLACE

OFFEREDOFFER

ACCEPTED

Segmentation

• Select and prioritise the messages to fit market segment(s)

– Nationalities– Age groups– Education– Qualifications– Employment– Family– Finances– Interests– Expectations– Aspirations

Don’t forget their parents

• “Helicopter parents" are increasingly key influencers

• Millennials have a near-zero generation gap

• Parent-child co-purchase decisions are common

• Consider creating a parallel process to market to parents

Image source: Nordette Adams, blogher.org

Campus information

sessionsTraditional

toolsInnovativetools

Institutional voice

Print media (Brochures, flyers,

posters…)

Websites

Press ads

e-PR(online press)

Online ads(search advertising, banners, guides…)

Blogs, Chats, Forums, Wikis,

Podcasts…

Corporate blogs,chats, forums, podcasts…

PR(mags, newspapers…)

Fairs

Rankings, guides, (FT, QS, BW…)

Testimonies

Othersites

Balanced approach

Different voices

School site

Agenda

• Engaging “Generation Y”– Who are they?– International differences– Lifecycle marketing– A balanced approach

• Online marketing mix– Web sites– Search engines– Banners– Networking, Wikis, Blogs & Answers– Videos and podcasts– Virtual worlds, avatars and bots– E-mail

• Online applications

10th March 2008

Web site

• Design & navigation should reflect objectives and brand

• Landing page(s) should match visitor source & status

• Get visitors to return

• Get visitors to tell their friends

QS Scorecard

• Personalized ranking system, schools weighted on candidate criteria

• Unique value to prospective students

QS Scorecard

• Traffic from QS media partner web sites worldwide

• Captures candidate contact details AND interests– Monthly newsletter sent by QS– Data on matching candidates sent to sponsoring schools

Search engines

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

• Search engines all work differently and change frequently– 2 main factors: Web site itself and incoming links

• Ensure site is search engine friendly – but avoid using tricks– Titles, headlines, content, meta tags– Site maps used extensively by search engines– Page titles should also attract human users: clear & provocative

• Research keywords and phrases used by your prospects– 2 to 4 words usually less competitive– Include synonyms, plurals and misspellings

• Keyword tools– Wordtracker, Yahoo! Suggestion Tool, Google Tool– Look at search words contained in your traffic logs

• Links– Number, reputation and popularity– Industry hubs and directories– Press releases and free articles or feeds– Blogs, Forums and Social Networking

Paid Advertising

• Three common pricing structures– CPM: Cost per thousand impressions– PPC: Cost per click– CPA: Cost per action (e.g. affiliate partners)

• Keyword bidding– Typically 20 to 30 phrases or 300 to 400 “tail terms”– Use variety of word sequences and action words – Long terms (e.g. 4 words) offer better conversion rates– Use of others’ trademarks and names currently accepted

• Congruency of landing pages

Paid Advertising

• Numbers are important

Paid Advertising

• Relevant numbers are more important– TopUniversities.com: 1.2 million visits, 5.5 million impressions in 2007

Banner advertising tips

• Identify and measure objectives– Branding– Traffic– Conversion

• Media plan– Target market– Related sites– Sites with similar demographics

• Design– Clear message – 7 words or less– Eye catching but not obtrusive– Don’t overdo animation

• Test

Earning trust

User generated content

• Social networking– Facebook, MySpace, Bebo

• Professional profiles– LinkedIn, Ecademy, Naymz

• Bookmarking & voting– Digg, Stumbleupon, Del.icio.us

• Information, reviews & questions– Wkipedia, Yahoo! answers

• Blogging– Blogger (Blogspot)

• Rich media– YouTube, Flickr, iTunes

• Virtual Worlds– SecondLife, The Sims Online

User generated content

• And hundreds more

CHALLENGE:

BE AWARE

MONITOR

PARTICIPATE

RESPOND

User generated content

Networking sites

• Display personal information and updates

• Link with friends & expand personal network

• Share information, photos & opinions

• Messaging and chat

Networking sites

MySpace 192 million

Facebook 41 million

Bebo 34 million

LinkedIn 12 million

Doostang 250,000

Ryze 250,000

• Highly targeted and viral marketing possible – e.g 25k Facebook members at University of Edinburgh– “Beacons” from your site visible within friends newsfeeds

Researching candidates

Blogs

• Prospective students

– Read and share opinions and expert advice– Self-regulated; positive and negative comments

• Opportunities for schools include:

– Allow applicants the chance to engage and ask questions– Allow academics & alumni to add details of their experience– Increase profile of good-case-practices from your school

Would if they could

Have done

Read blog written by faculty member

83% 17%

Read blog written by current student

63% 30%Source:

Noel-Levitz, Inc – E-Expectations 1000 US College Students Class of 2007 Report

Wikis

• Collaboratively authored information - Open & free source e.g.– Wikipedia – one of the largest & most referenced web sites

WARNING: Blatant marketing not permitted

– Wikimapia – mark and annotate Google maps

Rich media

• Video – advertising, interviewing and profiling– Video has unique qualities – Take advantage of your location– Reduce distance barriers– Let the internet take the strain– Decrease your Carbon Footprint

• Podcasts– Audio visualise your web content– Use your alumni to share experiences

Bots, avatars and virtual worlds

• Second Life– 18-34 = 60%– Top countries

• United States• Germany• United Kingdom• Japan• Brazil• France• Italy• Netherlands• Canada• Spain

Bots, avatars and virtual worlds

• Second Life– Unproven as a marketing vehicle but offers new opportunities– Popular with academic institutions e.g. 50+ UK Universities– Recruitment example

E-mail marketing

• Define proposition(s) based on market segment and stage of lifecycle – Differentiators, USPs, value and proof points– Messages to attract – then support and convert

• Identify tangible objectives and measurements for each campaign– Branding– Conversion

• Message content– Keep it simple with a clear call to action– Ensure relevance of landing page(s)

• E-mail design– Keep it simple – limit use of images– Check spelling and grammar

• Privacy and security – Opt in / Opt out– Restrict access to personal data

E-mail marketing

• Technical considerations

– SPAM filters– Sending application and server technology– HTML or plain text (might the recipient be mobile?)– Use of images, links and attachments– Choose subject lines carefully

• Human considerations

– Choose subject lines carefully!– Time of delivery

E-mail example

• List segmented by: Nationality, Industry, Experience

• Subject: Meeting with XXXX School at World Grad School Tour in Shanghai on 16th November

Dear Carolina,

I would be interested in meeting with you at the World Grad School Tour in Shanghai on 16th November. Please do come and find me on the XXXXX table.

Our IT Masters are in heavy demand by top employers and last year’s alumni have already secured senior positions with companies including AAA, BBB and CCC. This clearly recognises the respect that a degree from XXXXXX has with employers, as well as the quality of our students.

I look forward to learning more about your career interests and discussing our programs with you in person. In the meantime, for a quick introduction please see www.xxxxxx.com.

Best regards,

Valerie

Agenda

• Engaging “Generation Y”– Who are they?– International differences– Lifecycle marketing– A balanced approach

• Online marketing mix– Web sites– Search engines– Banners– Networking, Wikis, Blogs & Answers– Videos and podcasts– Virtual worlds, avatars and bots– E-mail

• Online applications

10th March 2008

The role of online applications

• Identify key information about your prospects

• Focus resources on your preferred candidates

• Build relationship with candidate throughout their application

• Use a mix of communications media: e-mail, web status, mobile

• Streamline processing of applications– Faster response– Less resource

• Access to prospects in process of applying at key times

• Improve conversion rates

• Target resources on meeting diversity objectives

• Measure the results of your marketing activity

Online applications

• But we already have an application form

Online applications

• Market adoption

Source: QS Research – Web Survey

Online applications

Research suggests that responsiveness is the Research suggests that responsiveness is the single most important factor in choice of schoolsingle most important factor in choice of school

Number ofapplications

Time to respondto enquiries

QS TopApply

• Complete system for Candidate Recruitment Management (CRM)– Database of prospective candidates– Track and manage communications– E-mail marketing campaigns– Interview scheduling– Online application form(s)– Back-office for processing applications– Text and graphical reports

Prospect Manager Application Manager

Prospect Manager

• Relationship Management– Upload prospect databases – Track individual relationships– Target individuals and groups

• E-mail campaigns– Build e-mail templates– Schedule campaigns

• Reporting– Establish RoI– Understand trends

• Schedule interviews

Application Manager

• Online application form for candidates– World class customer service– Upload supporting documents– Reference requests– Online payment of application fee– Monitor application status

• Online back-office system for schools– Monitor application progress– Follow-up individuals and groups– Targeted e-mails– Process applications– Detailed reporting

Phases of online marketing

Individual IntegratedTransforming

Improving reach Improving effectiveness New opportunities

E-mail CRM Online applications

Web site Mobile messaging Web 2.0

Banner ads Search optimization Virtual worlds

Agenda

• Engaging “Generation Y”– Who are they?– International differences– Lifecycle marketing– A balanced approach

• Online marketing mix– Web sites– Search engines– Banners– Networking, Wikis, Blogs & Answers– Videos and podcasts– Virtual worlds, avatars and bots– E-mail

• Online applications

10th March 2008

Please complete the seminar feedback formPlease complete the seminar feedback form

For more information, please contact your QS Account ManagerFor more information, please contact your QS Account Manageror Ian Lynes, TopApply Business Manager:or Ian Lynes, TopApply Business Manager:

ian@qsnetwork.comian@qsnetwork.comOffice: +44 (0)20 7284 7259Office: +44 (0)20 7284 7259Mobile: +44 (0)7796 958106Mobile: +44 (0)7796 958106

Converting prospects into studentsConverting prospects into students

Thank you