Marketing Metrics and Research

Market-Based Data-Driven Decision-Making Market Information and Research Information before Thinking, Thinking before Action.

The Importance of Market Information

“See” from customer perspective

Objective test of intuition/experience

Builds consensus for planning/actions

Prioritize

Identifying gaps between where we want to be, and where we are, precedes decisions. Without good information about markets, leadership is guessing, not managing!

Marketing Information Resources

Website

www.nais.org Loads of statistics

www.americandemographics.com Data and stories about trends of many kinds

www.easidemographics.com Info re local population demographics

www. Public school data sources

www.claritas.com Population projections($)

www.ama.com Amer Marketing Association site; membership in AMA includes free web seminars

Books

Marketing Management – Good MBA marketing text by Philip Kotler and now also Kevin Keller (with Fox also did a book some years ago entitled “Strategic Marketing for Educational Institutions”)

Guerilla Marketing; Guerilla Advertising – Both by Levinson and Godin

Positioning; Bottom-Up Marketing – Both by Ries & Trout

The One to One Future – Peppers and Rodgers

Why Bad Ads Happen to Good Causes – Print advertising principles and non-profit examples. E-mail request to [email_address]

Marketing Independent Schools in the 21 st Century – NAIS book, and other available at nais.org

Processes Improved by Solid Market Information

Achieving Desired Admissions Results

?-Year Strategic Planning

Accreditation

Production of Brochures, Web etc

Fundraising Campaign

Information Priorities

Internal Data and Analyses

Benchmarking

Demographics

Competitor Profiling

Inquiry-to-App-to-Enroll Decisions

Satisfaction

Image/Brand

Alumni Preferences

Admission Data

Enrollment History

Admission Activity Statistics (Longitudinal)

Inquiries (Leads, Hard and Soft, inappropriate)

Campus Visits / Interviews

Applications

Applications Completed

Non-persisters (DNCP)

Entrance Testing Averages, Distributions

Admit / Deny / Waitlist

Enrolled (Refused)

Reenrolled (Retention)

Benchmark Admission Statistics

NAIS Stats

Regional Accreditation Agency

School Consortium Stats.

Admission Process Validation

Entrance Testing Validity Study

Application to School Success Study

School Population Distributions

Geography

Race, Ethnicity and Religion

Special Interest Distribution (Art, Hockey, Comm. Service)

Extra-support distribution (reading skills, study habits, etc)

Source: NAIS/Looney

Institutional Research

School Promotional Stats

College Placement

College Testing (A.P., SAT, ACT, etc.)

Notable successes (sports champions, college merit scholarship)

Notable Alumni facts

Notable Faculty facts

Financial Aid

Total Aid by Category, Longitudinal

Aid (Tentative, Offered, Accepted, Refused) by Category

Enrolled student Need, Grant, Gap Statistics

Source: NAIS/Looney

Common Metrics for Key Marketing Objectives

Success with Prospects

Inquiries per Application

Applications per Opening

Proportion of Accepted Students who Enroll

Current

Attrition Rate (esp due to dissatisfaction)

% of Seniors Admitted to a Selective College

Parent AF Participation Rate

Former

Alumni Participation Rate

Dollars Raised

Critique of Internal Data for Marketing Decision Making

Inconsistent counting/reporting (homework)

Superficial Analyses

e.g. by boarding or day; by financial aid offer

Useful data or reports not available to decisionmakers

Lack of validity testing of ratings system

Longitudinal data maintenance and access

Little data on competitors

Under-investing in maintaining alumni contact info

Benchmarking

Informative exercise if you:

Have appropriate comparables

Are using reliable indices—i.e. two people given the same data would come up with the same value

Competitor Benchmarking aka Profile Analysis

Product Focused Profile 35% 34% 27% 38% % Students on Financial Aid Endowment/Student $4.2 Million Aid Budget $7 Million Awarded $5.2 Million Awarded $470 Million Endowment n/a 1500 applications 2,000 applications Applications/% Admitted $25,450 $22,000 $22,940 $23,400 Day Tuition $29,925 $30,000 $31,590 $30,100 Tuition/Board 545 500+ 400 500 Campus Acreage No affiliation Protestant No affiliation No affiliation Religion 19 31 32 30 Foreign Countries Represented 36 42 38 45 US States Represented 8% Day/92% Boarding 20% Day/ 80% Boarding 30% Day/70% Boarding 27% Day/73% Boarding Percent Day/Boarding 9-12, PG 9-12, PG 9-12, PG 9-12, PG Grades 52% 50% n/a 50% Boys 48% 50% n/a 50% Girls 555 1,015 850 1,080 Enrollment Hotchkiss Exeter Choate Andover

24 35 21 38 Sports Programs 7 n/a 240 220 # Honors Courses 24 33 25 33 # AP Courses n/a n/a n/a n/a SAT Math n/a n/a n/a n/a SAT Verbal n/a n/a n/a n/a SAT Combined 100% n/a n/a n/a College Placement % 12 12 12 13 Average Class Size n/a 50% 90% 95% Faculty Resident on Campus 5:1 6:1 8:1 6:1 Faculty:Student Ratio Median Teacher Salary 72% 90% 74% 75% Faculty with Advanced Degrees 120 180 114 222 # Faculty Hotchkiss Exeter Choate Andover

Promotion Focused Profile None None Invitation to Open House in applicant’s home state mailed 15 days after Viewbook. Off-Campus Open House Invitation Tour invitation included in cover letter Tour invitation included in cover letter Invitation mailed 5 weeks before event. Campus Open House Invitation 96 page viewbook mailed 3 days after inquiry with 3-page welcome letter Welcome letter & viewbook mailed 10 days after inquiry. Course catalog online 191 page viewbook; instructions for online application all mailed within 3 days of inquiry Welcome Letter; Viewbook; SAT schedule Exeter Choate Andover Contacts Reminder E-mail None None None Promo Item None None None School Newsletter Video mailed 3 weeks after Viewbook None None Video/CD None 3-page letter from Exeter student. Very well written. None Follow Up Letter None Admissions deadline postcard mailed 4 wks before deadline. Post card reminder about application and SAT schedule. Interview required. Post Card Exeter Choate Andover Contacts

Yes Calendar Yes Yes No Yes Yes Event Invitations Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Newsletters Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Annual Fund Solicitations Do you distribute any of the following by electronic means Yes No No Fall 2005 No No No Solicitation Lists Yes No No No No Yes No Donor Lists Yes Yes No Fall 2005 No Yes Yes Class Statistics Yes Yes No Fall 2005 No Yes Yes Volunteer Information No Yes No No No No No Stewardship Reports Archival No Soon Yes No PDF Yes Alumni Magazine No Soon 2005 No No No No Annual Report Electronic/Online Communication Pieces 1.0% 10.0% 10.0% 12.0% 11.0% 11.8% 15.0% Coded no communication or solicitation 55.7% 42.0% 58.0% 58.3% 63.0% 47.1% 48.0% Alumni with an Email Address 4.0% 6.5% 8.0% 5.0% 15.0% 4.2% 5.0% Alumni Lost Post 50th Reunion Biographic Data Development Benchmark

Demographics

What do your students come from?

On which zips are you dependent?

What has been the historical rate of growth of school-aged children?

Is that rate projected to increase, decline, remain steady?

Demo example Table continues with all zips from which school draws students

NOTE: Actual values have been changed.

Primary Research Research involving the collection of data.

The Quality-Cost Trade-Off

The Cost of Improving Survey Sampling Precision 1% (Assumes $10 per interview) Precision: Sample Size: Wack – Ivy-MIT-Stanford Development Conference 2005

Researchable Questions thru the Customer Lifetime

Community Survey: What is our awareness level and reputation in the community?

Prospect Survey: What is our image among HHs w/kids? What happened to inquiries not applying?

Education Opinion Leaders: What are our strengths/weaknesses relative to alternatives?

Matrics and Non-: What factors drove their decision?

New Families: How well informed? New ideas for improving admissions process?

Current Families: Areas of satisfaction/ dissatisfaction? Image?

Attriters: Why leaving the school?

Faculty/Staff: Areas of satisfaction /dissatisfaction? Image?

College Admissions: Views of our school?

Graduating Seniors: Views of college counseling assistance? Degree of loyalty?

Print/Web Analytics: What is the depth/breadth of “readership”? Content interests?

Young Alumni Tracking: College performance? Favorability of recollections?

See Independent School Magazine, Fall 2004, which includes description of annual tracking study introduced at Choate in 2002 by JTWack & Company.

Alumni: Degree of connectedness? Donor and volunteer interests? Philanthropic behaviors? Image? (among many other questions)

Quantitative vs Qualitative (e.g. survey) (e.g. focus group)

Breadth

Precision: “What percent….”

Compare groups

Depth

“ Disaster check”

Hear perspectives

Reaction to tangibles

Explore

Before, or after, a survey

The best approach and design depend on the questions; quant and qual are not merely substitutes for one another. Method Comparisons

Cost Components of a Major Research Project

Design (Buyer Undervalues Importance)

Instrument Construction (Questionnaire, Moderator Guide)

Data Collection (Method and Magnitude)

Analyses

Written Report

Oral Presentation

RFP process was not designed for the purchase of intangibles, and virtually ensures sub-optimal research design.

Budget Approximations for Common Methodologies

Web Survey Mania

Benefits

Low data collection costs

Rapid feedback

Self-tabulating (totals only)

Concerns

Spam filters

“ Anybody can do it.”

Pollution

Representativeness of sample

Question Why did some respondents not receive my survey? Answer If you send your survey using the list management tool there is the possibility that spam filters at the recipient's organization or email domain are blocking mail from xxxxx.com. From xxxxx.com’s (a commonly used survey service) Help Questions

Web Surveys Sample a Subset of Alumni Who are in Many Ways Unrepresentative of the Alumni Body as a Whole Values of seven schools

Web Surveys Yield Higher Estimates of Degree of Engagement Stratified design, values adjusted by year of graduation

Magazine Readership vs Website Visits by Alumni Cohort 400 Telephone Interviews – Boarding School Alumni

Community or Prospect Survey Awareness Measure High share-of-mind; market leader

What private schools can you name?

Have you heard of ____?

Image/Brand Profiles

Useful Presentation Format for Contrasting Segments’ Perceptions

A, B, and C could be:

Competitors

Segments

Constituencies

Time

Market Position Market Perceptions of 5 Schools

Differentiation and Importance Determine Choice and Can Guide Messaging Similar/Important Different/Unimportant Similar/Unimportant Different/Important Challenge Students Community service Discipline Teacher Quality Alumni Leadership Opportunities Most Determinant Least Determinant Strategy: Create Differentiation Strategy: Crow Strategy: Increase Importance Strategy: Yawn

Take Another Look at NAIS Chart

% of Non-Matriculants Rating Your School ‘Excellent’ Focus here? Based on the Non-Matric results only, what would we improve?

Compare Non-Matrics to Matrics ! ! ! ! Here’s the gap

Quadrant Analysis Example: Parent Survey Results

Key Questions for Attrition Interviews

1. What initially attracted you to the school?

2. What were the primary reasons for enrolling your son or daughter here?

3. What aspects of the programs satisfied or exceeded your expectations? (Please be specific.)

4. What aspects of the programs failed to meet your expectations?

5. What factors finally dissuaded you from re-enrolling your child?

6. What factors would encourage you to return to the school?

7. Any other comments you would care to make?

Will they tell the truth?

Communications Effectiveness

Readership

Brochure design

Web site design, utilization

Tracking Studies % = College respondents Not informed Somewhat informed Very informed “ How informed are you about Harvard today?” 1994 1994 1994 1997 1997 1997 2001 2001 2001

Alumni Surveys

“ I only hear from you when you want money!”

Permit the school to “hear” from other than the usual suspects

Yield engaging content for alumni mags

Examples of Alumni Survey Topics

College performance, career

Information Sources

Use of website, readership, other alumni

Purposes interested in supporting

Philanthropic behavior

Program preferences

Likelihood of giving in the future

Image, compared to when attended

Compare donors vs non-, by class/decade

The End The following information about qualitative methods and other research issues are provided as a resource. Please feel free to discuss with Jeff. Other information about marketing and research can be found in the Q&A section of www.jtwack.com

The Key Research Decisions: Provided as a resource: Please feel free to discuss with me.

Tips for Better Information

Don’t do it all at once

Quality costs

Think, don’t simply imitate

Leverage the process

Right question, right time

Bridge information-planning-execution

Elements of Focus Group Costs

Design: Who? How many in group? How many groups?

Recruiting: $50-$75 per

Facility Costs: $200-$1,000

Food: $200

Incentives: ~$50 per

Transcription: $250

Management, moderating, top-line report fee: $1,500-$4,000

--------------- =

Single group of 10: $3,000-$8,000

Doing Effective Focus Groups

Planning

Location decisions

Define problem, translate to questions

Prepare topical guide

Open with general

Flag priority topics

Recruiting Decisions

Who’s to participate?

Composition/mix important?

Incentive or not?

More than one group?

Moderating

Introduction

Confidentiality

Purpose

Moderator style

Controlling “flow”

Prompting out-of-box thinking

Survey Tips

Questionnaire Design Issues

Simplicity and length

Open or closed end-ed

Even or odd scales

No opinion options

Interpreting

Highlight typed transcripts

Report range of opinions

Quotes

Caution re tentativeness of conclusions

Non-written reports

Number of Respondents

The more the better

The greater the fraction the better

Precision follows law of diminishing returns, e.g.

10 -> +/-30%

50 -> +/-14%

100 -> +/-10%

400 -> +/-5%

Sample Size Precision

Mail / Web versus Phone

More info/dollar

Less expensive for

very large samples

Better for open-ended questions

Less intrusive

 Faster

 Less self-selection

 Can fix if not working

 Probing, clarifying

Sources of Imprecision

Nonresponse bias

The lower the response rate, the greater the concern

Are nonrespondents likely to differ?

Invest to reduce nonresponse

Multiple mailing/attempts

Ease of return e.g. return envelopes

Confidentiality

Statistical assessment/adjustment

Do-It-Yourself Gauge Adapted from The Wall Street Journal

Calculate Real Costs of Do-it-Yourself

Break down the project tasks

(e.g., design Q, collect data, tabulate results, report)

Figure #hours/days, multiply by your hourly wage and benefits = Costs

Add costs of materials

Add #2 and #3 = Total Dollar Costs

Calculate Psychological Costs (answer each on a 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree scale)

We would enjoy doing the project ourselves.

We could do it as well as the person who would be hired.

The time consumed won’t preclude doing more important tasks.

We are confident about making deadlines.

There is little risk if it is messed up or wrong.

Lack of confidentiality will not impede respondents’ cooperation.

Total the score on the previous slide

7-15 points: Strong case for contracting out

16-26: If the psychological costs exceed the difference between the cost to do it yourself and cost to contract it out, don’t do it yourself

27-35: Do it yourself, even if you can easily afford to hire it out.

Marketing Metrics and Research

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