Download this webinar for free: http://mstnr.me/2bMtwrb We know that teens are connected, that they love their devices, and that they look at our websites on their smartphones. But does that mean that they want to be texted by a college? Are they creeped out when they’re followed on Facebook or Instagram by an admissions officer? What, exactly, are they looking for on your website: cool images or simple information about your majors? Using data from surveys of teens engaged in the college search and choice process collected by Chegg and data from enrollment professionals collected by mStoner Inc., we’ll explore where the perspectives of these two groups converge — and where they differ. Then, we’ll discuss how marketers can leverage this knowledge in engaging with this critical audience. What You Will Learn: • What teens consider to be the top sources of information about colleges • Effective ways to get in touch with teens • Where to focus your time and energy in marketing to teens

1. Mythbusting Admissions
9 June 2016

2. Michael Stoner
President, mStoner
Michael.Stoner@mStoner.com
@mStonerVT
Gil Rogers
Director of Enrollment Marketing, Chegg
gil@Chegg.com
@GilRogers

3. Today’s
Agenda
1. About this study
2. Myths and realities
3. Suggestions for action
4. Discussion & questions

4. #mStonerNOW
Myths? Or realities?

5. #mStonerNOW
1. Prospects hang on admission officer’s every word.
2. The higher your institution’s ranking, the more impressed
teens are.
3. Social media is an awesome channel for engaging teens who
don’t know our institution.
4. Admission officers don’t understand how teens use their
phones.
Myths or realities?

6. #mStonerNOW
5. Search works. Really.
6. Facebook is dead to teens.
7. Teens love it when you contact them on social media.
Myths or realities?

7. #mStonerNOW
Prospects hang
on an admission
officer’s every word.

8. #mStonerNOW
Admission officers said teens value a conversation
with admission officers at a college…
before deciding to
apply
after deciding to
apply
after applying
after being
accepted
71% 79% 77% 72%

9. #mStonerNOW
75%
said college fairs are not that influential in
deciding where to apply
66%
said college reps visiting their
school were not that influential
Only 45% of teens value a conversation with
admission officers at a college.

10. #mStonerNOW
• Gut feeling about campus & students: 79%
• The tour: 78%
• Student tour guide: 71%
• Admission officer’s presentation: 45%
• Organized meeting w/current students: 40%
• Sitting in on a class: 28%
• Overnight stay: 29%
• Athletic event: 24%
Teens pay attention to …

11. #mStonerNOW
The higher your ranking,
the more impressed
teens are.

12. #mStonerNOW
Admission officers think teens check US News &
value rankings …
before deciding
to apply
after deciding
to apply
after applying
after being
accepted
72% 20% 14% 11%

13. #mStonerNOW
What teens say …
⅔ indicate rankings are extremely useful
when researching colleges
say that rankings are influential
when deciding where to enroll77%
16%

14. #mStonerNOW
Social media is an awesome
channel for engaging teens
who don’t know your
institution.

15. #mStonerNOW
never heard of heard of, not considered
email 18% 29%
phone call 12% 23%
social media 30% 26%
brochures &
pamphlets
33% 12%
text messages 4% 5%
virtual event 4% 5%
Of all these ways to reach teens, admission officers
think social media works well …

16. #mStonerNOW
prefer social as the first point of contact
Half of teens use official social media for the
college they’ve applied to. But (only)
They use official social media as an information source that informs
their decisions. They prefer to engage with current students.
4%

17. #mStonerNOW
70%
say that social media
conversation influences
their decision about where
to enroll
research
decide where
to enroll
Facebook 10% 33%
Twitter 4% 15%
YouTube 7% 8%
Instagram 5% 15%
Snapchat 3% 7%

18. #mStonerNow
Admission officers don’t
understand how teens use
their phones.

19. #mStonerNOW
of admission professionals
say teens primarily use
smartphones to research
colleges
73%

20. #mStonerNOW
What teens do on their phones
what admission officers
think teens do
what teens say they do
visited a .edu website using mobile browser 87% 81%
texted w/ a college rep 65% 14%
took a virtual tour 73% 33%
submitted an application 50% 35%
scheduled a campus visit 83% 40%
asked questions on social media 74% 13%
live chat with a college rep 36% 7%

21. #mStonerNOWimage source: Instagram,#collegemail
Search works. Really!

22. #mStonerNOW
Admission officers believe that communications from
colleges that teens hadn’t previously heard about will have
some influence on their decision to apply to those colleges.
believe it will have
“some effect.”
23%73%
believe reaching out to teens who
haven’t heard of their colleges will
have a “big effect”

23. OMG! HaHaHaHa!
!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!

24. #mStonerNOW
21%
of students say it made
any difference to them
(and that’s down from
24% in 2014).
59%
of students with GPAs 3.6+
read less than half of their
unsolicited mail

26. #mStonerNOW
Facebook is dead to teens.

27. #mStonerNOW
⅓
Fewer than ⅓ of admission
professionals believe students use
Facebook when deciding where to
enroll.

28. #mStonerNOW
of teens say they use
social media when
deciding where to enroll
67%⅔
of teens used Facebook when
researching college; half used
it to research colleges they
applied to

29. Facebook YouTube Instagram Twitter Pinterest
20%
46%
48%
62%
67%
14%
31%
28%
49%
60%
6%
19%
41%
58%
2012 2013 2014
Social media reality = fragmentation!

30. #mStonerNOW
Teens love it when you
contact them on social media.

31. #mStonerNOW
Admission officers believe …
said teens were open to being contacted through
Facebook
72%
said are open to contact through Twitter71%
said teens were open to contact through Instagram50%

32. #mStonerNOW
of teens prefer social media as an initial form of
contact.
4%
75% more than 75% say they are interested in
talking to admissions on a social channel
But teens say …

33. #mStonerNOW
Some advice about reaching teens …
• Your website is really important. Make sure it’s responsive.
• Teens pay attention to your official social channels: they use them to
learn about your institution, but may not engage with you there. So
make sure they’re up to date and that there’s engagement happening.
• Teens use their mobiles to engage with friends. Not you. In general,
they’re not interested in texts or other communications with
colleges, especially those with whom they don’t have a relationship.

34. #mStonerNOW
Some advice about reaching teens …
• But: It’s OK to text teens or reach out to them on a social channel—
as long as they reach out to you on that channel first.
• Teens use apps like Snapchat to engage with friends, not with you.
• There’s no silver bullet for connecting with teens. Don’t get caught
up in a technology arms race.
• Don’t be everywhere until you can be awesome everywhere you are.

35. Download the white paper
about this research:
mstnr.me/AdmissionsMyths