The Minute

LinkedIn's Findings from a Survey of Hundreds of Students and Alumni

Written by The Enrollify Team | 10/28/19 11:00 AM

LINKEDIN’S FINDINGS FROM A SURVEY OF HUNDREDS OF STUDENTS AND ALUMNI: According to LinkedIn’s study, prospective students aren’t always ready to hit “search” on search engines when beginning the process to decide to go back to school. A key finding suggests that hitting home the value of a program or educating a prospect on industry trends that parallel program offerings is crucial to engage students within their unique timelines and decision-making process. The report goes on to mention that nurturing leads post-inquiry is critical; 70% of un-nurtured leads end up enrolling elsewhere. But if schools message prospective students 3+ times after collecting their information, enrollment rates double.

Why you should care: Promoting open houses, student testimonials, webinars, information sessions, and application deadlines on LinkedIn and in lead nurturing communications is critical for success. LinkedIn’s report shows us that taking a holistic approach to the student journey and conveying true value to prospective students is key to convert leads in the “research” stage.

WHAT ARE DEEPFAKES? DO THEY HAVE A ROLE IN MARKETING?: You might have heard about deepfakes – videos that are manipulated in subtle, undetectable ways to give an audience the impression of a real, authentic video. Snapchat’s face-swap filter, for example, is a basic example of a deepfake. Deepfakes are negatively characterized for their spread of misinformation, but this new trend may actually present positive opportunities for marketers (if done right). Using the “likeness” of someone in a deepfake needs to be coupled with their consent and permission. Otherwise, there are serious legal ramifications.

Why you should care: For enrollment marketers looking to get ahead of the marketing trends, deepfakes could provide just the opportunity if done right (permission and consent is key!). Plus, depending on the costs associated with creating a deepfake, it could be significantly cheaper than shooting a new video altogether. Imagining a marketing strategy leveraging a famous faculty member or alumni with a recruitment video using a deepfake isn’t all that unrealistic (again, if done right!).

HOW TO HUMANIZE YOUR FACEBOOK MESSENGER CHATBOTS: You may know that Facebook has chatbot functionality that can be used by your organization’s Facebook page for eCommerce, Customer Support, and even Lead Nurturing purposes. But now that chatbots have become mainstream, humanizing your Facebook chatbot can make a world of difference. Crafting your Facebook chatbot so that it remembers users, conversations, and interests is crucial to fostering a personalized experience for the user. Also, implementing images, GIFs, or even emojis throughout the interaction can help improve the user experience and overall engagement with the chatbot.

Why you should care: For enrollment teams looking to improve personalization and humanization across digital assets, chatbots are a great way to do so. Once a prospective student visits your program’s Facebook page, having a chatbot that answers basic questions about the upcoming Open House or offers educational resources from your digital resource library can help nurture those leads.

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Each week, The Enrollify Podcast equips you with insights into how the latest trends in marketing and technology are affecting enrollment managers. Every episode is designed to inspire new, creative ideas for how to optimize the resources you have to generate the results you need.
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