Gil Rogers and Michael Stoner have written an informative paper about where prospects and professionals agree—and disagree—on enrollment, marketing, messages and channels. What’s interesting are the gaps between what the pros think they know and how actual students really feel. These days, there are so many ways to reach out to prospective students, but which ways are truly acceptable from a student’s perspective? You’d be surprised. This paper is a great read in just the way it approaches the area of social media, outreach, the current college admissions landscape and all of this in light of the last decade of evolving technologies. There’s an excellent essay that starts it off, followed by a slew of interesting myths that draw on data from more than 1,000 students and scores of admissions officers, all very current, readable and enlightening. Check it out.
[…] One question asked: how do teens prefer to be contacted on their smartphones? Teens overwhelmingly said email, at 65%, with phone calls coming in second at 20%. In contrast, 39% of admissions officers believe teens want to receive texts from them, and only 2% thought phone calls would be of interest. From an admissions standpoint, misreading what potential students want out of a communication relationship is problematic. For example, colleges that contact students in ways that seem overly casual—like texts or social media—can be off-putting or even confusing. […]
[…] One question asked: how do teens prefer to be contacted on their smartphones? Teens overwhelmingly said email, at 65%, with phone calls coming in second at 20%. In contrast, 39% of admissions officers believe teens want to receive texts from them, and only 2% thought phone calls would be of interest. From an admissions standpoint, misreading what potential students want out of a communication relationship is problematic. For example, colleges that contact students in ways that seem overly casual—like texts or social media—can be off-putting or even confusing. […]