mobile marketing in higher education: challenges and opportunities

Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 1

Mobile Marketing in Higher Education:

Challenges & Opportunities ©Robert E. Johnson, Ph.D. 2011

SUNYCUAD – 2011 Educational ConferenceSaratoga Springs, NY

June 8 - 10, 2011


Part I: An Overview

Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 3Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

6 perils with anything online…

People are impatient







Key Strategy Issue:

Why should I put scarce resources into mobile

marketing?


The critical answer…

Website experience shapes brand perception…


Growing expectation…

A “mobile friendly” website


Major reason people go to any website…

Complete a task


Top mobile task challenges for higher education?

For recruitmentFind academic program listInquire about enrollmentApply onlineDirections to campusCheck application status

For AdvancementSubmit a class noteRead a class noteMake a donationRegister for class reunionReunion event details


Mobile App vs. Mobile Website

Mobile App– Different apps for different devices– How will people find your app?– Not easy to update– Higher performance possible/Easier use

Mobile Website– Access from any mobile device– Can find using “search”– Easy to update– Will perform as well as you build it/Not great

right now


The Golden Rule…

5 seconds to connect


Which connects best in 5 seconds?(People sent here from a QR code ad)


Make things easy on mobile is a special challenge…

“The Internet should work like it does on PC screens.”


Can we meet this challenge?

“As you go to site XYZ it will automatically create a single-column, mobile-friendly view that has navigation scaled to produce videos or slideshows so users won’t have to pinch or scan or scroll or download an app for everything.” – Robert Z. Samuels, director of mobile product

development, New York Times


The NY Times on mobile…


Part II:Tales from the Research

(1) Pew Internet & American Life Project, (2) E-Expectations, (3) Jakob Nielsen,

(4) CCI web visitor surveys


1. Pew Internet & American Life Project

“Mobil Access 2010” May 2010 Research Report

http://bit.ly/cqxi6D


New 2010 questions, 18+ years…

Do you use your phone to…– Send a photo or video? 54%– Access a social networking site? 23%– Watch a video? 20%– Purchase a product? 11%– Give to a charity? 11%


“Young adults” 18 to 29…

Heavy use of “mobile” in many areas…– Send/receive text messages… 95%– Take a photo.. 93%– Access Internet…

65%– Send/receive email… 52%– Use social networking site… 48%

Still low in some areas– Purchased a product… 20%


2. E-Expectations Survey 2010

College bound high school seniorsNoel-Levitz & friends

http://bit.ly/dvQldm


Mobile-related findings…

24% would drop a college after a poor web experienceMost desired content:– Information on academics… 54%

List of academic programs… 28%– Cost related information… 30%

Surprise? – 23% have searched college websites from

smartphones◄


Most desired interactive tasks…

The top 4 favored online tasks:– Online application… 91%– Campus visit request form… 77%– Cost calculator… 68%◄– Online course catalog… 67%◄


Text vs. email messages…

70% will give an email address to a college– 43% as an inquiry– 36% as an applicant

78% use text messaging– 67% said no contact from colleges– 15% said text OK from an admissions rep

they were working with◄


3. Jakob Nielsen

“Mobile User Experience Is Miserable” July 2009 Alertbox

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/mobile-usability.html


Reason for optimism…

Task success was higher at sites designed for mobile access…– 64% task completion at “sites for mobile”– 53% task completion at regular websites

Larger screen = more success– Regular cell phones… 38% success– Regular smartphones… 55% success– Touch screen phones… 75% success◄


4. Customer Centric Index (CCI) web visitor surveys in 2011

“If we a had mobile application, what kinds of information would you like to access or

tasks would you like to complete…”?


Private university… 259 responses


Community college… 717 responses


Part III: Mobile Marketing in Higher

Education


1. Direct marketing focus…

Inquiries from mobile at Kettering University


The first image… while it loads


At the site… who fits at Kettering


Very simple enrollment inquiry…


Immediate email response…


Email links to admissions entry page…http://www.kettering.edu/futurestudents/


2. Task oriented home page design…

Focus on internal & external users is a special challenge…


A task-oriented home page…


No “finger flicking” here…


Easy to scan academic majors…


Clean, simple program page…


3. Text messaging to increase enrollment conversion…

Text messaging each month as the recruitment cycle unfolds


Marketing potential of texting…

Identify most promising early inquiries Increase conversion from a group with

high conversion potential


Key: Opt-in database…http://www.stmarytx.edu/admission/?go=mobileupdates


High interest students said “OK”…

% of inquiries opting for text updates…– 4% (1,416 of 35,606)

% of applicants opting for text updates…– 42% (1,140 of 3,720)

% of deposits opting for text updates…– 47% (269 of 578)


Overall Inquiries Text Update Subscribers0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

10.4%

80.5%


Perc

ent w

ho a

pplie

d

Yield: Inquiry to Applicant

Overall inquiries Inquiries who opted-in for text updates


Overall Inquiries Text Update Subscribers0.0%

2.0%

4.0%

6.0%

8.0%

10.0%

12.0%

14.0%

16.0%

18.0%

20.0%

1.6%

19.0%


Perc

ent w

ho d

epos

ited

Overall inquiries Inquiries who opted-in for text updates

Yield: Inquiry to Deposit


Not yet applied for admission…

“Be early, catch the worm. Submit ur admission application by Jan 15 for priority consideration. Get info at www.stmarytx.edu/admission.”


Join our online community…

“Cre8 a profile on the St Marys online community at www.BeARattler.com by Feb 1 to be entered to get ur $200 enrollment deposit waived!”


Register for Orientation…

“Bob, R u ready 4 Orientation? Sign-up is now open. Go to https://gateway.stmarytx.edu. We R lookin 4ward to seeing u on campus!”


Part IV: Future Mobile Marketing

Challenges


Provider challenges…

Multiple providers build “walled gardens”…– Apple– Google – Blackberry– Microsoft

Multiple standards for ads, apps, displays– More cost to implement mobile program


Legal challenges…

Must have consent for SMS messages– Even if someone has already signed for email

Visible “small print” cost disclosures– Verizon agreed to 12 pt. font settlement

Likely: easy to find, understand “stop sending” option


Technical challenges…

Usability…– Visitor experience will determine success– NY Times is right… “easy as access from a

PC” is the goal– We are not there yet– But we are moving in that direction– Nielsen smartphone research is encouraging


Management challenges…

Content… – Content is added to websites, seldom

removed– Most web content is irrelevant to most people– Silly to make all “traditional” website content

“mobile friendly”… no resources for that– But what content to leave behind?– Will that decision hinder mobile-friendly

websites?


Video challenges…

Might be an important element, but…– Data plane expense might limit use past

“early adopters”– Video done for regular websites may not play

well on smartphones– Video users will demand rapid play


Part IV:Sources of Information to Follow


Mobile Marketing Association…http://mmaglobal.com/policies


Mobile Marketer… http://www.mobilemarketer.com/


Mongoose Research…http://www.mongooseresearch.com/


Jakob Nielsen Usability Report…http://www.nngroup.com/reports/mobile/


Bob Johnson’s marketing blog…http://www.bobjohnsonblog.com/mobile-marketing/


Mobile in Higher Ed blog…http://www.dmolsen.com/mobile-in-higher-ed/


MIT Open Source code for mobile…http://sourceforge.net/projects/mitmobileweb/


Thank You!

Bob Johnson, Ph.D.President

Bob Johnson Consulting, LLCMarshall, MI 49068

248.766.6425 [email protected]

Customer Carewords Website Research www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com

mailto:[email protected]

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