4. Methodology
7,758 Colleges & Universities from IPEDS
Private, Non-profit, 4+ years
Approximately 900
• Focus on Graduate/
Online MBA
• Home Page .edu
• Program Page .edu
• Completed form
5. 5
Ease of finding RFI form on site
Evaluation Criteria
Ease of completing the form
Automatic form reply email
Thank you page
Process To Become A Lead:
6. 6
Evaluation Criteria
Appropriate timing for follow up comms.
Use of appropriate communication channels
Appropriate content in follow up comms.
Clear CTA that sets expectations of what’s
next
Communication Plan:
8. 8
1 – doesn’t exist,
7, 16%
2 – hard to find
from home page,
4, 9%
3 – hard to find
from program
page, 5, 11%
4 – can find it but
below the
fold/must scroll a
lot, 5, 11%
5 – clearly visible
when interacting
with all content,
24, 53%
EASE OF FINDING THE REQUEST
INFORMATION FORM ON THE .EDU
11. 11
1 - Form did not
exist, 7, 15%
2 - More than 5
fields all required,
19, 41%
3 - More than 5
fields only basic
information
required, 12, 26%
4- Less than 5
fields, 0, 0%
5 - Less than 5 fields with
errors to show when you
successfully completed or
errors, 8, 18%
EASE OF FILLING OUT THE FORM
14. 14
1 – No thank you
page, 11, 23%
2 – Thank you page
with no relevant
content, 17, 35%
3 – Thank you page
with minimal
content or a lot of
irrelevant content
and no clear next
steps, 10, 20%
4 – Thank you page
with digestible
content about
specific program
OR next steps, 10,
20%
5 - Thank you page with
specific digestible program
content, next steps
expectations clearly set, and
material they can view in the
meantime, 1, 2%
THANK YOU PAGE
16. 16
1 – No reply no
confirmation of
submission, 23,
47%
2 – Confirmation of
submission no note of
program or next steps
confirmation did not occur
automatically, 10, 21%
3 – Automatic
confirmation of
submission, no call
out on program or
next steps, 10, 20%
4 – Automatic
confirmation with
callout of program and
or next steps or other
resources, 6, 12%
AUTOMATIC FORM REPLY EMAIL
5 – Automatic confirmation with
confirmation of program of interest AND
next steps AND things they can checkout
while they wait, 0, 0%
18. 18
1 – No Follow up
Communication
(email nor phone for
2 weeks), 17, 35%
2 – Email only
follow up – 1 email
within 2 weeks, 10,
21%
3 – email and phone
call – 1 touch base
within 2 weeks , 6,
12%
4 – more than 1
email and or phone
call within 2 weeks
without
reply/response from
us , 10, 20%
5- First follow up
within 24 hours, and
then more than 1
additional email or
phone call within 2
weeks, 6, 12%
APPROPRIATE TIMING OF FOLLOW UP
COMMUNICATION
19. 19
1 – No Follow up
Communication no
channels used, 16,
33%
2 – only one channel
follow up very
minimal , 15, 31%
3 - use multiple
channels not
frequently, 12, 24%
5-use multiple channels
and seem to build on
each other. Content
length and topics are
appropriate for channel,
4, 8%
4 use multiple
channels but they
don’t seems to build
on each other , 2, 4%
USE OF APPROPRIATE AND EFFECTIVE
CHANNELS
20. 20
1 – No Follow up
Communication no
channels used, 16,
33%
2 – content not specific to
degree chosen nor state of
your process (ex: lead vs
engaged lead vs app vs app in
progress etc) , 19, 39%
3 - content degree
specific and
appropriate to stage,
builds on previous
content, 8, 16%
4 - content degree specific
and appropriate to stage,
builds on previous
content, written in
digestible format (ex:
bullets, clear subject line
and to line) , 5, 10%
5- content degree specific
and appropriate to stage,
builds on previous content,
written in digestible format
(ex: bullets, clear subject
line and to line), clear CTA
and next steps, 1, 2%
APPROPRIATE CONTENT IN FOLLOW-UP
COMMUNICATION
21. 21
1 – No Follow up
communication, 17,
35%
2 - No CTA - Long List
of Info, 3, 6%3 - CTA but Onus is on
Student to contact
School, 28, 57%
4 - Clear, engaging
CTA with onus on
school for next step,
0, 0%
5 - Clear, engaging
CTA with onus on
school for next step,
engaging/relevant
content, 1, 2%
CLEAR CTA IN COMMUNICATION THAT
EXPLAINS WHAT TO DO NEXT
22. 22
Many schools have a form that
can easily be found, but it is often
full of irrelevant information and
then they do not follow up well
once the information is provided.
Key Findings
24. 24
Easy to Find RFI form
Best Practices
Simple for that is easily filled out from any
device
Immediate Confirmation your information
was received
Automatic redirection to a Thank you
page that calls out next steps
Process To Become A Lead:
25. 25
Best Practices
Appropriate timing for follow up comms.
Use of appropriate communication channels
Appropriate content in follow up comms.
Clear CTA that sets expectations of what’s
next
Communication Plan:
26. Pat McGraw
Director, Consulting Services
pat.mcgraw@hobsons.com
Hannah Wilkey
Senior Market Research Manager
hannah.wilkey@hobsons.com
Chris McNamee
Vice President, Marketing
chris.mcnamee@hobsons.com
Auto-generated thank you email: email auto-generated in real time upon clicking “submit”
o Subject: “Thank you for your inquiry for….”
o From: Ensure it says school name or admission@schoolY.com.
o This email should be a live email people could reply to and that someone checks regularly so if someone does reply they get timely answers
o This email should be personalized including their name, their program of interest, as well as their enrollment counselors name and contact information (if known), and a callout of next steps and when the EC will be in touch next