Consider These Areas Before Setting Your Enrollment Marketing Budget
As you prepare your budget for the next fiscal year, here are several key factors to evaluate when assessing your marketing spend and overall effectiveness.
Key Question: Are you struggling with your return on ad spend? Are you generating the volume and quality of leads needed to grow your online and graduate programs?
The prospect journey has undergone seismic shifts, competition has intensified, and the array of available tools has expanded. As a result, marketers are planning with greater uncertainty than ever before.
Successful higher education marketers today—and tomorrow—recognize that the space between initial awareness and the consideration stage (desire) is critical. This makes both direct-response and inbound marketing strategies essential. However, simply participating isn’t enough. Universities that excel in this area will gain a significant competitive advantage.
At Education Connex, we believe there are seven key areas to consider when evaluating your marketing spend and effectiveness. We call it the Art of Spending Wisely. (And what boss doesn’t appreciate that approach?)
1. Evaluate Your Existing Digital Media Mix
When it comes to driving marketing growth, self-awareness is essential. Are you overly invested in awareness-focused media that is difficult to track, measure, and monetize?
A healthy digital media mix, in our view, includes approximately 50% of inquiries coming from organic and inbound sources. If you’re not achieving that level of lead volume, the strategies below can help.
2. Assess How Your Calls-to-Action (CTAs) Are Performing
Are you effectively measuring and tracking inbound calls with proper source attribution? Which CTAs are working well, and could you introduce additional ones?
Many universities lose out on up to 25% of potential lead volume due to weak or missing CTAs. Addressing this single issue alone can deliver meaningful progress. We’re helping clients across all these areas, but we see the biggest opportunities in increasing web traffic and improving on-page conversion rates to drive more inquiries and applications.
3. Optimize Your Web Pages
Do your landing and program pages include a Click-to-Call option (especially for mobile users) and a prominent phone number? These small additions can significantly boost inquiry volume from both SEO and PPC campaigns.
Remember: If you can capture it, you can measure it. If you can measure it, you can improve it.
4. Commit to Driving More Calls and Chats—Not Just Clicks
We all enjoy the endorphin rush of strong click metrics at the end of the month. But inbound calls and live chats typically convert better than digital form submissions alone. The ideal scenario? More of both.
Historically, success was measured primarily by Request for Information (RFI) form submissions. Today, the model has shifted toward generating higher web traffic and converting on-page visitors using multiple response options, including phone calls, live chat, and chatbots.
5. Be There in the Moment: Prioritize Inbound Calls and Live Chats
Prospects expect immediate access to information and answers—anytime they reach out. The benefits of prioritizing phone and chat interactions include:
- Higher intent and conversion rates: Most people don’t enroll (or make any major purchase) without speaking to a real person.
- Increased inquiries: Prospects can make immediate contact, leading to better conversations and stronger conversions.
- Greater trust and data collection: People feel safer sharing personal information during a live conversation. Phone interactions also allow you to gather valuable “soft” data that’s often missed in other channels.
- Competitive advantage: You can engage prospects lower in the funnel who are ready to talk, bypassing much of the competition.
- Deeper engagement: Unlike online forms, live conversations let you read tone of voice, reactions, and verbal cues—helping you build rapport and create a positive, memorable experience.
- Higher enrollment: Boosting lead conversion and enrollment productivity benefits both your institution and the prospective student.
Our team at Education Connex can handle inbound calls and live chats 24/7. We’re U.S.-based and staffed with experienced professional admissions personnel.
6. Master Speed-to-Lead and Persistent Follow-Up
Conversion rates are dramatically higher when you respond within the first five minutes of a prospect expressing interest—often cited as up to 8 times higher compared to slower responses.
Disruptors like Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) have built success on rapid response times, sometimes answering new leads in under a minute and effectively eliminating competition. Prospects now expect lightning-fast replies as a baseline.
If your team can’t respond immediately, we can help.
Persistent follow-up is equally important. Most schools stop outreach after the first week, but ongoing, multi-channel nurturing (voice, email, text, and print) is essential. A strong service-oriented culture and consistent strategy set high-performing programs apart.
7. Evaluate Your Paid Media Performance
While there is a role for targeted outbound marketing—primarily Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and branded display—the following elements are critical for success:
- Your unique value proposition and messaging must be clearly defined.
- Paid media should support and elevate your organic and unpaid web traffic.
- Channel selection should be driven by historically strong Cost Per Enrollment (CPE) performance and measurable return on marketing investment.
Bottom line: Today’s enrollment marketers must build brand equity by creating high-quality content that attracts prospects and fosters genuine relationships aligned with the student journey. The central question every piece of content should answer is: “Why choose us?”
If Your Results Are Falling Short—Consider a New Partner
Tired of the same old Online Program Management (OPM) providers, enrollment services firms, or agencies offering expensive solutions that underdeliver?
Call Education Connex. No hype, no gimmicks—just sound strategy and affordable, results-driven enrollment solutions.
You work hard to generate leads. Let us help you convert them and deliver the ROI you deserve.