Email marketing and CRM are powerful tools for enrollment management, but how do you use them effectively to nurture and convert your enrollment leads? In this article, you will learn some best practices for enrollment marketing that will help you attract, engage, and enroll more qualified students.
Before you start any email marketing or CRM campaign, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve. What are your enrollment targets, and how do you measure them? How do you segment your leads based on their interests, needs, and readiness? How do you align your marketing messages with your enrollment funnel stages? By defining your enrollment goals, you can create a more focused and relevant strategy for your email marketing and CRM.
One of the key factors for successful email marketing is creating content that resonates with your leads and motivates them to take action. You need to craft compelling subject lines, headlines, and body copy that capture their attention and address their pain points. You also need to use clear and concise language, avoid jargon and spam words, and include a strong call to action. Additionally, you need to personalize your email content based on your lead segments and their behavior, such as their location, program of interest, or previous interactions with your website or emails.
It's easy to say "personalize the content". But that doesn't simply mean a "first name" field. What it means is that the content is tailored to their interests and also their interactions with you. There is so much missed opportunity for tailored communications because the path of least resistance of the sender is merge fields.
Another important factor for effective email marketing is optimizing your email delivery, which means ensuring that your emails reach your leads' inbox and are opened and read. You need to follow some best practices for email deliverability, such as verifying your sender domain, complying with anti-spam laws, avoiding email bounces, and testing your email design and compatibility. You also need to optimize your email frequency and timing, which means sending your emails at the right intervals and the best times of the day or week for your leads.
To maximize the impact of your email marketing, you need to integrate it with your CRM system, which is the software that helps you manage your relationships with your leads and prospects. By integrating your email marketing and CRM, you can automate your email workflows, track your email performance, and measure your email ROI. You can also use your CRM data to segment your leads, personalize your email content, and trigger email campaigns based on your leads' actions or events.
The ultimate goal of your email marketing and CRM is to nurture your leads through the enrollment funnel, which is the process of moving them from awareness to interest to consideration to application to enrollment. You need to design your email campaigns to match each stage of the funnel, and provide your leads with the right information, value, and incentives to move them to the next stage. You also need to monitor your leads' behavior and feedback, and adjust your email strategy accordingly.
What I have found is it is all about the right message at the right time via the right channel; most importantly from the right sender. Yes, that's a lot of "rights" to get right. Students want to hear from faculty and current students ... Just not at the same time and on the same topics. It's important to understand this when crafting the plans and cadence of messages.
The final step of your enrollment marketing is to convert your leads into enrollees, which means getting them to submit their application and enroll in your program. You need to use your email marketing and CRM to motivate your leads to apply, and to support them throughout the application process. You also need to use your email marketing and CRM to follow up with your leads after they apply, and to confirm their enrollment and welcome them to your program.