Cultivating a Class Through Events

The following is excerpted from a blog by Spark451, a Jenzabar Company.

Spring is a busy time in the admissions event world, with calendars filled with admitted student days, open houses, spring break weeks, financial aid workshops, and more. Trying to stay in front of several different audiences, at different funnel stages, is not easy — all while external factors are complicating an already busy time of the year.

Having worked on campus in an admissions office for 15 years, I remember feeling the importance of those admitted student days, the drive to get deposits, to help students make their final choice. In our most recent College-Bound Student and Parent Surveys, we had some interesting findings

• 28% of students knew they had found the right school after their first visit.
• 25% of parents knew an institution was the “right fit” for their student when they first visited.
• 38% of students visited campus before applying.
• Both students and parents listed “campus appearance” in their top 5 enrollment decision drivers.

Visits are a powerful tool — this is not breaking news. What can get lost in the spring shuffle, though, are those first-time visitors. As we can see from our surveys, that first impression can be very powerful. Students who have visited will move through the funnel at a higher rate, and ultimately, be more likely to enroll.

Students who are visiting your campus want to connect with your institution. Prioritization — choosing how and when to spend resources to have the most impact on the right students — can be a challenge. A tool like Spark451’s Predictive Model can help use data, including campus visit and engagement metrics, to help you prioritize. Our predictive model analyzes several data points and segments students into categories with likelihood to enroll. In addition, Spark451 will identify student clusters that share common attributes, which can lead to new recruitment opportunities and segmentation.

Here are four ways to help optimize campus events. You can read the full article here.