Improve Your Info Sessions with Targeted Promotion & Follow Up
•Download as PPTX, PDF•
0 likes•153 views
Mickey Baines of Fourth Dimension Partners provides tips to improve information sessions and challenge existing approaches. Key steps include targeting the right audience, careful planning, effective promotion, and follow up. The presentation outlines questions to consider for each step, such as understanding the perspective of prospects and their interests/needs, whether the event is for inquiries or applicants, and customizing all communication. It emphasizes practicing for online sessions and making presentations dynamic. Fourth Dimension Partners helps schools reimagine recruitment around current consumer behaviors.
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (20)
Similar to Improve Your Info Sessions with Targeted Promotion & Follow Up
Similar to Improve Your Info Sessions with Targeted Promotion & Follow Up (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Improve Your Info Sessions with Targeted Promotion & Follow Up
- 1. Improving Your Information Sessions 4 Key Steps to Challenge Your Approach Presented by Mickey Baines, Fourth Dimension Partners October 27, 2015
- 2. Goals & Agenda We have 60 minutes; let’s use all we can of the time. What’s my angle? What we will do; what I won’t do. Answer your questions.
- 3. Expectations Let’s be clear: I’m not here to give you a magic potion that will give you 50-100 new prospects at your info session. I’m NOT a witch doctor. To be clearer:
- 4. ME
- 5. Not ME
- 6. ME
- 7. My Mini-Me, But NOT ME
- 8. Framing your mindset. Understand your goals. (not your enrollment goals) Is one of your goals in attending this event to significantly increase your attendance? Do you need to tweak a few things, or re-imagine your event? Are you trying to go form 5 to 30 attendees? Are you trying to go from 12-20 attendees?
- 9. Why is attendance down? Do students search, inquire, apply and enroll in schools the same as they did 10 years ago?
- 10. How do you engage prospects now? Have your advertising media, advertising and marketing messages and application processes followed suit?
- 11. Take-Away #1: Targeting You must view your event through the eyes of your prospect. Answer these questions: What does she see, think, hear, feel when she comes across your information promoting the event? What does she see, think, hear, feel when she arrives to the event? What do you want her to see, think, hear or feel?
- 12. Who should attend your event? New Inquiries Older Inquiries Applicants A combination of new/old prospects Combination of applicants & prospects Segmented events for each group 18% 10% 4% 2% 61% 6%
- 13. How many attend your event? New Inquiries Older Inquiries Applicants A combination of new/old prospects Combination of applicants & prospects Segmented events for each group 9.3 11 5.2 10 14.3 16.4
- 14. Does your target group matter? How does content for new prospects differ from applicants? Interest levels may be different Readiness to enroll may be different While inquiries & app’s need to know about similar topics, what they need to know about each topic may differ. Otherwise you may skip important info for prospects Or bore applicants with info they already know.
- 15. Take-away #2: Planning Are you hosting an Information Session or an Open House? Does that even matter? What’s the difference?
- 16. Impact of the time of year High Interest; Early Consideration. High interest; Ready to enroll. Low Interest; Early Consideration. Low interest; Ready to enroll. Enrollment Cycle InterestLevel
- 17. Take-Away #3: Promoting How should you promote your event? Your target group dictates media. Your timing may dictate assertiveness. New Inquiries vs. Current Inquiries Understand your target group? What differentiates the interests of an applicant more than an inquiry? Why is it important she attend - NOW?
- 18. Evaluate an email susan, Here’s a cool tagline... For MBA University! At MBA University, you can go back to school and still balance your important work and home commitments. MBA- U also offers flexible scheduling with evening, weekend, and online classes in accelerated time frames available in multiple start dates. Plus, we offer plenty of advantages for working professionals: - expert faculty and instructors - hands-on learning experiences that boost your career - a network of successful alumni - a degree from a University employers trust - competitive tuition MBA-U can prepare you for the life and the career you want. MBA-U makes it easier for you to pursue your degree, with personalized support and flexible class options. It’s easy to become part of our learning community, and now is the time to learn more. Please join us for an Open House on November 5, 2015 from 5:30-7:30, and we’ll help you take the next step to get enrolled.
- 19. Evaluate an email susan, Here’s a cool tagline... For MBA University! At MBA University, you can go back to school and still balance your important work and home commitments. MBA-U also offers flexible scheduling with evening, weekend, and online classes in accelerated time frames available in multiple start dates. Plus, we offer plenty of advantages for working professionals: - expert faculty and instructors - hands-on learning experiences that boost your career - a network of successful alumni - a degree from a University employers trust - competitive tuition MBA-U can prepare you for the life and the career you want. MBA-U makes it easier for you to pursue your degree, with personalized support and flexible class options. It’s easy to become part of our learning community, and now is the time to learn more. Please join us for an Open House on November 5, 2015 from 5:30- 7:30, and we’ll help you take the next step to get enrolled. Is this customized in anyway? Is this for an inquiry or an applicant? What will I get from the event that I don’t already know? Will I get to the call-to- action for the event before deciding not to read?
- 20. Evaluate an email Hi Susan, I wanted to invite you to MBA U’s Open House next Thursday. I know it’s a crazy time, but we keep things informal and you can drop in any time between 5:30-7:30. We’ll have some veggies, cheeses and snacks for you and your children to hold you over until dinner, and we also have students from our elementary education program hosting activities for children to give you the time you need to ask important questions. We can get your questions answered in 20-30 minutes. Click here to RSVP. Sincerely, Mickey PS – Still can’t make it? Just reply, and I can set up a time to chat with you individually.
- 21. Take-Away #4: Pre-Event Follow-Up How should you follow-up with your prospects? I email reminder with directions – day before or morning of. I call the day before. (Staff assigned to prospect).
- 22. Take-Away #4: Planning Follow-up What do you want your attendees’ next step to be? Do they explicitly know that before they leave? Is your follow-up designed specifically to help get them to that point? Inquiries may need to apply; applicants may need to send official transcripts.
- 23. Take-Away #4: Post-Event Follow-Up How should you follow-up with your prospects? How many of you have a comm plan exclusively for attendees of an event? That may or may not include automated messages attendees & NO-Show’s Call both groups.
- 24. Bonus: 6 Tips for Online Info Sessions Do NOT allow a faculty or staff member that has never taught a “live” online class or presented in a live online session to speak for more than 1 minute during an online info session - without much practice first. If a presenter is not an established and frequent presenter, force her/him to practice presenting with the webinar equipment in front of a live audience prior. Limit slides with bullet points.
- 25. Bonus: 6 Tips for Online Info Sessions Stand while you present. (Would you choose to sit in a face-to-face presentation?) If you aren’t dynamic, you’re dead. Record the session, and give to a 3rd party to listen and provide feedback.
- 26. About Fourth Dimension Partners We help schools re-imagine their entire recruitment process around the “new” consumer behavior. We help re-create info sessions, communication plans, marketing initiatives, individual email messages, individual voice mail messages, staff meetings – you name it – any and everything you currently do – and convert it into more effective engagement activities. We do it through advising you through it, coaching along side you, of completely for you.
- 27. About Fourth Dimension Partners Questions What didn’t we cover that you expected us to? What are you least confident in understanding? Please hang around for 3 minutes to answer the short survey. It should launch as we end, and if you miss it, you will get a follow-up email asking you to complete. (It’s only a few questions!) Contact us: Mickey Baines - 484.525.0550 mickey@fourthdimensionpartners.com http://www.fourthdimensionpartners.com
Editor's Notes
- I’m not spending 40 minutes here and then pitching you with a hook. I’m also not trying to get 90 min of material into 60. Our goal is to get you to consider new, different ways to use these events to engage prospects. You may re-think a portion or all of your event. We will look at many ways to improve your events; we will nto spend an hour looking only at how you can return to the level of attendance you had 10 years ago.
- We will look at many ways to improve your events; we will nto spend an hour looking only at how you can return to the level of attendance you had 10 years ago.
- So before we move one, I need you to have a gut-check – right here. Right now. Are you looking to tweak a few things, or do you need more serious changes? Because if it’s the latter, let’s get that frame of mind in place so you’re more open to what you nee to do to accomplish your goal.
- How do we know that? What data do we have to support that? You have it. How many people attended your open house 10 yrs ago? You want it again, and that’s why you’re here now. I couldn’t host a webinar on this topic 10 yrs ago. GIVE AN EXAMPLE of the Single Mother! If you market your program as “adult friendly”, what does the single mom who has a 4 year-old think when you host you’re event when her 6-yr old should be doing homework, dinner and bed?
- How do we know that? What data do we have to support that? You have it. How many people attended your open house 10 yrs ago? You want it again, and that’s why you’re here now. I couldn’t host a webinar on this topic 10 yrs ago. GIVE AN EXAMPLE of the Single Mother! If you market your program as “adult friendly”, what does the single mom who has a 4 year-old think when you host you’re event when her 6-yr old should be doing homework, dinner and bed?
- You must answer those questions first. It will help you clarify what you say to her to convince her not that she wants to come, but she NEEDS to come to this event. What tone do you want to set once she arrives? If you plan this event with others on campus, then take your next to last planning meeting and spend it exactly where you host it. Look at the parking lot. How far does she walk? How does she know where to go? What does the entry way look like when she walks in? Why does this matter? Because it determines ho carefully she will listen and receive what it is you are sharing… If you’re considering buying a house, and don’t like what you see when you pull up in the driveway to see it for the first time, how difficult is it for the realtor to convince you it’s the home of your dreams?
- While thre isn’t an absolute correct and incorrect answer, you must think about your answer in how you promote the event, AND how you present the event when they arrive.
- Imagine if you have a fin aid rep present for an undergrad program. An applicant needs to be told to complete the FAFSA if they haven’t already. An inquiry may not want to hear that or she may feel pressured.
- Conversation at RACC.
- When are you expecting your converted prospects to enroll? Don’t promote an event as get ready to enroll, if your next start is over 2 months away. You also don’t want a room full of folks early in the process if you begin next week. Interest level impacts how much info they want about you Enrollment cycle when they should be attending your event
- ONLINE ADS: Generate softer leads. You need to follow-up with those that RSVP. TIMING: July ads are more intrusive, so you may need more to ensure your message gets in their hands.
- An inquiry may need to know what she needs to get enrolled, whereas an applicant has already learned that (Hence she has begun her application). An October event may be more about learning what it takes to be an adult in college, whereas a January event may be about getting you enrolled to finish your degree.
- An inquiry may need to know what she needs to get enrolled, whereas an applicant has already learned that (Hence she has begun her application). An October event may be more about learning what it takes to be an adult in college, whereas a January event may be about getting you enrolled to finish your degree.
- An inquiry may need to know what she needs to get enrolled, whereas an applicant has already learned that (Hence she has begun her application). An October event may be more about learning what it takes to be an adult in college, whereas a January event may be about getting you enrolled to finish your degree.
- An inquiry may need to know what she needs to get enrolled, whereas an applicant has already learned that (Hence she has begun her application). An October event may be more about learning what it takes to be an adult in college, whereas a January event may be about getting you enrolled to finish your degree.
- An inquiry may need to know what she needs to get enrolled, whereas an applicant has already learned that (Hence she has begun her application). An October event may be more about learning what it takes to be an adult in college, whereas a January event may be about getting you enrolled to finish your degree.
- What do you do if you don’t have dynamic on your staff? Either don’t host it online, or hire someone to do it for you!
- What do you do if you don’t have dynamic on your staff? Either don’t host it online, or hire someone to do it for you!