Brenda Harms
Senior Vice President
Converge Consulting
Benchmarking Best Promotional
Practices for Marketing Online
ProgramsRalph Elliott
Vice Provost and Professor of
Economics Emeritus
Director, Seminar Marketing Institute
Copyright 2009-2013
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Agenda for Online Program Marketing
Marketing Model for Online Sales
Types of Online Programs
Creating Landing Pages that Convert
Segmentation for Follow-up
Email Drip Marketing to Close the Sale
Market with a Memory for Future Sales
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Use Two-Step Marketing to Convert Prospects into Inquiries and Inquiries
into Customers
Clients Customers
Inquiries/Leads
Prospects Suspects
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Types of Online Programs
Webinars
Individual Online Courses
Certificate Programs (credit or non-credit)
Undergraduate Degrees
Graduate Degrees
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Think of Your Landing Pageas a Funnel
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Landing Page Stats
It’s estimated that up to 50% of visitors to landing pages will bail in the first 8 seconds
Average landing page conversion rate is around 2 to 5%
How do you increase landing page conversions?
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How to Increase conversions at Your Landing Page
1. Make sure you articulate what the visitor is going to get - Perhaps it is a copy of your new catalog or a promotional brochure
2. Have bullet points - that provide information making the page easier to scan, highlighting the important details
3. Tell the visitor - how the they are going to receive the requested information
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How to Increase Conversions at Your Landing Page
4. Typography should be hierarchical - so the eye can quickly pick out what elements of the page are most important
5. The CTA is clearly positioned and concise - keep barriers to entry low; making it more likely the user will complete sign-up
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How to Increase Conversions at Your Landing Page
6. Social Media Sharing - if these links distract users from the process of signing up, you’re damaging the effectiveness of your page
7. Copy - does it focused on the organization and not the user? Don’t ‘we-we’
8. Self-serving copy is a turn-off for users - Make sure you tell users how they will benefit to ensure a positive response (WIFM)
Have Copy that Appeals to All Communication Styles
ANALYTICAL DRIVER
AMIABLE EXPRESSIVE
LOW RESPONSELOW
ASSERTIVE
HIGH ASSERTIVE
HIGH RESPONSE
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How to Increase Conversions at Your Landing Page
9. Mandatory and non-mandatory information - make sure it is clear what the minimum requirements are when completing the form
10. Limit the number of requested “fields of information” on the landing page
11. Have a call to action that - “Get updates on future webcasts” rather than the generic and intimidating “Sign Up”
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How to Increase Conversions at Your Landing Page
12. Multiple Sign-up buttons - having buttons at the top and the bottom of the page means the CTA is always available, whether the user reads all the supporting information or not
13. For Long Landing Pages - where the top of the page disappears when you scroll, having multiple buttons is a must
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How to Increase Conversions at Your Landing Page
14. Sample content preview on whitepapers - will help the users to gauge the usefulness and make the page more engaging
15. Good Video - Studies from eyeviewdigital.com report up to 80% improvements in conversion
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How to Increase Conversions at Your Landing Page
16. A Side Benefit - is properly optimized video can be 53 times more likely to reach the front page of Google search results
17. You may have a progress indicator form - that lets visitor know there are 3 steps and where they are in the process
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How to Increase Conversions at Your Landing Page
19. Have a Nice Mix of Bullet Points - coupled with detailed descriptions for those who need to dig deeper
20. Sweepstakes - such as a the free prize giveaway as an add-on will lift conversions
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Use the Four (4) Great Motivators: Fear, Guilt, Greed,
ExclusivityYou may not get into the program
Don’t you owe it to your family
Bottom-line gains from taking the program
Enrollment is limited to ‘First come, First serve’
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Greed…One of the Four Great Copy Motivators
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How to Increase Conversions at Your Landing Page
21. Newsletters - are great way to engage prospects
22. White Papers - are the granddaddy of content used to create conversions
23. Use Ebooks - as an incentive when you ask for a lot of information
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Know Your Data Base & Allocate Follow-up Accordingly
Know Your Data Base & Allocate Follow-up Accordingly
High Recency Low
Mon
etar
y Va
lue/
Activ
ity
High
Low
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Following Up on Leads
Lead nurturing is the process of cultivating leads not ready to buy
Leads are segmented based upon profile characteristics
Nurturing keeps prospects engaged by using drip marketing
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Following Up on Leads
Use progressive profiling where you incrementally ask contacts for additional information
Contacts are much more likely to share information about themselves during the first 24 hours they are engaged with you
Remember: Prospects have probably contacted several other providers
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"Early impressions
are hard to eradicate
from the mind.“
-Saint Jérôme
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A Few Thoughts About Recruitment….
There is no perfect recruitment model
Nearly every school or business has an opportunity to do a better job in recruitment by following a process
Personalization of even “canned emails” makes it a bit better
How you recruit - or IF you recruit - is not a reflection on how “good” you are
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A Few Thoughts About Recruitment….
Technology - depending on the level of complexity - is crucial
Even without technology some process can be put in place
Process and accountability is what is lacking in most recruitment shops
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Most Embarrassing….
The empty envelope
Wrong name
The goofed up phone message
Those who never followed up
The unexpected answered phone call
Duplicate emails
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Most Embarrassing….
Typos
Un-kept promises
The 30+ day wait time
The sense from our secret shopper many institutions just weren’t that interested in her
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Greatest Successes….
Emails from people (included names)
Offers to connect students to financial aid, academic deans, and career services (For-Profit)
Free webinars on navigating financial aid
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Greatest Successes….
Open house invites on finding your next job, resume writing, and finances
Personal hand-written notes tucked in with a mailed packet
Consistent process
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Current Process….
How is a lead handled?
Does it differ depending on the type of lead?
Is there a clear process and expectation (that is written down) that all those following up on leads uses?
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Nothing Happens by Accident….
Process
Process
Process
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Recommended Process….
Build the relationship
Understand the motivation
Determine barriers
Evaluate their level of seriousness
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Recommended Process….
Present a customized picture of your product
Create urgency
Remove barriers – educate
Close the deal
Continue to recruit your current clients
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Recommended Process….
Build the relationship
Leverage key questions that allow you to connect with the individual
People love to talk about themselves – let them
Identify and ask key questions
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Recommended Process….
Understand the motivation
New job
Success at work
Want my kids to be proud
Identify and ask key questions
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Recommended Process….
Determine barriers
Money
Time
Lack of support
Identify and ask key questions
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Recommended Process….
Evaluate their level of seriously
Have they considered this before
Does anyone know they are talking with you
Is there outside support (or motivation) for your conversation with them
Identify and ask key questions
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Recommended Process….
Present a customized picture of your product
Limit your information to what they have told you they need to know
Leverage examples of others like them you have helped
Use information from key questions
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Recommended Process….
Create urgency
Leverage motivations
Pull heart strings
Use information from key questions
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Recommended Process….
Remove barriers – educate
Road blocks are often larger to the person who isn’t sure what they really look like
Anticipate the obstacles that most of your prospective clients face
Use information from key questions
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Recommended Process….
Close the deal
When a client is ready to buy there is no waiting
Continue to sell the choice they have made
Beware of buyers remorse
Be prepared to help them overcome the resistance they will now face
Ask and leverage information from key questions
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Recommended Process….
Continue to recruit your current clients
There is no loyalty
People are savvy consumers and will not tolerate poor treatment
Leverage what you know about your clients to re-engage them and get them to re-invest over and over with you
Use information from key questions
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Redefine Your Process….
“The way I’ve always done it”
Moving from good to better…
Letting go of what is comfortable
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Redefine Your Process….
Challenging yourself to do what feels foreign
Pushing the envelope of your own success
Listening more – talking less
The importance of process
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Suggested Recruitment Approach….
Adult inquires – Day 1
Personal connection (email, phone, personal note) within 24 hours
Follow-up contact (call) – Day 6
Follow-up contact (email) – Day 10
Follow-up contact (call) – Day 16
Follow-up contact (email or call) – Day 21
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Suggested Recruitment Approach….
Follow-up contact (email) – Day 30
Follow-up contact (call) – Day 45
Follow-up contact (email) – Day 60
Follow-up contact (email) – Day 90
Follow-up contact (maintenance) – holiday/newsletter/special announcements
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Telephone Follow-Up to Prospects
Pre-call Planning
Interest – Creating Opening Statements
Effective Questioning
Sales Recommendations
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Telephone Follow-Up to Prospects
Getting Commitment (Closing)
Addressing Resistance (Objections)
Wrapping Up and Setting the Next Action
Attitude and Self-Motivation
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Following Up on Leads with Email
Email open & click through rates are a good place to start evaluating your engagement process.
The 'welcome to our organization' will be the most important email you will send. Open rate is twice the regular open rates. Make sure your include an irresistible offer.
When inviting people to contact you, put a person name and email address
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Following Up on Leads With Email
Let the 'subject' line be the key benefit of your offer
Put the name of your organization along with your name in the 'from line.’ You could also include your signature at the bottom of the email. Two signatures out perform one signature.
Personalize the email by putting in the recipient's first name. Personalize by mentioning something you know about the reader. Essentially, market with a memory.
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Following Up on Leads With Email
Put several links to your website above the fold. Many recipients preview your email without actually opening it, so give recipients a chance to click-through at the top. Statistics say as many as 75 - 85% use only their reading pane.
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Following Up on Leads With Email
Use a number of eye-catching devices in your body copy. For example, use bullets, bold type, along with highlighting. Keep sentences to around 14 words. Make sure you don’t 'we we' on your customers. Instead use lots of 'you' copy.
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Following Up on Leads With Email
Use appropriate images to build credibility and interest
Have a photograph of the faculty member and let the email come from them
Use a banner at the top that picks up the theme on your website
Make sure you have multiple 'calls for action’
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Following Up on Leads With Email
Include your unsubscribe link; and when people click the link, ask them to complete a short survey on why they are leaving your database
Your goal is to get ideas for reducing ‘opt outs’
Optimize your emails for mobile viewing
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Following Up on Leads With Email
Keep in mind that after the third email to the same person, design loses its appeal. Therefore, your email should be more text or copy intensive for repetitive mailings to the same target audience
As a rule, you should avoid Mondays and the first day after holidays for your email marketing
Keep your emails to around four paragraphs maximum
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Following Up on Leads With Email
Delete hard bounces right away and soft bounces that repeatedly say 'mailbox is full'...a sign of an abandoned email address. Do not delete temporary bounces
Segment future emails based on who has been opening your emails during the last six months, or year, and those who have never opened your emails
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Following Up on Leads With Email
Use a special emails to wake up dormant leads, customers or addresses
Provide a 'we missed you offer' or 'an online survey' with a completion incentive such as a lottery drawing for a $500 Amazon gift certificate.
Copyright 2009-2013
Questions? Comments?
Concerns?Thank You!