This document summarizes the results of a mystery shopper study of lead communication plans for online and blended programs at colleges and universities. The study evaluated several aspects of the lead process, including the ease of finding and filling out request for information forms, automatic form replies, thank you pages, and follow-up communications. The key finding was that while many schools have forms that are easy to find, the forms often request irrelevant information and schools do not follow up well with potential students after receiving the information. The document concludes by offering best practices for an effective lead process, such as making forms simple to fill out on any device and setting clear expectations for next steps in follow-up communications.

1. How Do You Stack Up?
Mystery Shopper Results of Lead Communication
Plans for Online/Blended Programs

2. 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

3. 3

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:

7. 7
KEY FINDINGS

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

9. 9

10. 10

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

12. 12
Form Fields

13. 13
Mobile Experience

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

15. 15

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%

17. 17
Auto-reply Email
Subject Line
From Name
Reply-To
Personalized Content

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

23. 23
BEST PRACTICES &
RECOMMENDATIONS

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

27. WWW/EMSINFOVISIT
http://emsinfo.hobsons.com/mystery-shopper-study
• Fill out the form to be included in
the second round of the study.
• Receive a report of your institution’s
results.
Exclusive OfferWEBINARATTENDEES