Beef Up Your Case for “Requesting More Information”
One of the problems plaguing many Admissions Directors out there are facing are phantom applications - applications submitted by prospective students who have never showed up on your radar before. With so much information available today, prospects don’t have to rely on admissions offices as much as their primary source of information about a school. This places the onus on admissions offices to make the case to their users about why they should bother getting their name added to a university’s mailing list. Here are some tips to increasing your online inquiries:
Make it easy to find and complete: Seems pretty basic right? Most schools get the first step wrong. They bury their request information form 3-4 clicks down in their website, and then if your prospects are lucky enough to find it they are overwhelmed with an ask for too much information. Your users should be able to find and complete the form without even thinking about it - it should be that easy.
What will they receive by completing the form? What does it mean to get on your mailing list? We know, but that doesn’t mean a 16-year-old has any idea. Preface the form by letting them know exactly what information they will receiving and when they should expect to receive it.
Why is requesting info different than what they will get on the website? The irony of this problem, of course, is that if your website is doing its job than prospective students don’t need to request a viewbook to get all the information they need! So make the case - what additional benefit will your students receive by giving up their personal information to get on the mailing list? If there is no additional value, you may want to rethink your marketing strategy and look for ways to enhance it.
Utilize the “thank you” page: Once your users have submitted the form, what’s next? Although this doesn’t have to do with getting users to fill out the form, it will enhance their overall experience. People like to be guided. Utilize the “thank you” page that your users land on after submitting the form to discuss next steps or guide them to other areas of your website were more information about their interests is available.
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February 19th, 2009
All good ideas - I will be forwarding this to our Enrollment Management group . . . . I think we miss the mark - especially with the “Thank you” page.
February 19th, 2009
Fantastic post! Once again, it is important that universities look to the corporate sector and see what techniques are being utilized in these explicitly for-profit businesses to enhance lead generation.
A lot of corporate sites have learned this lesson (and yes, a lot of others haven’t). I’ve been working to convince my people here of this for awhile now.
February 19th, 2009
Great points- thank you!
What are your thoughts about schools not posting as much information as possible on the website thereby forcing students to request more information (and in the process provide all of their contact info)in order to get the details they are looking for?
I previously worked for a college that did that and it drove the prospective students (and parents) crazy because there was almost no information on the website beyond a few pictures… and a HUGE request more information button!
February 19th, 2009
Hi Nikki,
I think my thoughts are exactly the same as yours - it’s just a bad idea! If people WANT information on the web, they are going to find it at thousands of other schools out there that will give them what they want. I think in this day and age, it’s almost an immediate disqualifier, unless you have an unbelievable brand (which most schools don’t).