Archive for the ‘Data Management’ Category

PURLs – Not an Accessory!

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

I often get phone calls from colleges requesting estimates for a campaign using Personal URLs (PURLs – e.g. “JohnSmith.YourCollege.org” – it’s what Facebook is doing with their vanity URLs: “facebook.com/JohnSmith“).

The conversation usually goes something like, “Can you give me the cost for doing 100,000 search mailers and emails with PURLs?” The PURL is being treated as an accessory or commodity, not as a powerful marketing tool. I will always politely decline to give costs for a campaign in this case, unless I know:

  • How is the PURL being utilized?
  • Why is someone going to respond using a PURL?
  • What happens when someone does respond to his/her PURL?
  • How are  PURL responses and activity being tracked?
  • How is the PURL tied in to the overall message of the marketing piece?
  • Is the PURL being utilized across all media channels: print, email, web?

If any of these questions do not have answers, then what you end up with is a campaign with a low response and low return on investment (and an admission or advancement office that never wants to use PURLs again!)

The personal URL is a powerful response mechanism which allows for relevant communication, total automation, tracking of all interest, and a call-to-action that can integrate all communications to increase response rates. However, if PURLs are only an accessory,  you won’t see an increase in response rates or significant return on investment. What’s most important is the strategy behind the technology.

Relevancy + Automation + Tracking = Success

Error: Unable to create directory /home/insidesp/public_html/thehigheredlink/wp-content/uploads/2012/05. Is its parent directory writable by the server? posted by Sean on June 24th, 2009
Posted in Admission, Advancement, Data Management, Enrollment Management, Marketing Strategy, My 2¢ | No Comments »

The End Around

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

The most common cause for many data quality issues is human error.

Although you may question how “The End Around”—a trick play in football—relates to data processing, I think it serves as the perfect metaphor.  First, a quick football lesson: the “end around” is a play where the Quarterback hands off the ball to a Running Back who then hands the ball off to a Wide Receiver who then tries to run down field. The likeliness of this play succeeding is slim because multiple hand-offs make the possibility of error more likely.

The same idea holds true when securing data quality of your prospects.

How many of your admission offices still use a BRC (Business Reply Cards) to gather information from prospective students? Imagine now your prospectives acting as the Quarterback who hand off the card (by mailing back to your admissions dept.) to a student worker (the Running Back) who will now type the information gathered on this card into the computer system (the Wide Receiver).

Many colleges use student workers as their data processors. These students working for minimum wage, many in an environment where they can sit listening to an iPod, are typing in the future of your institution. And even if your student workers are diligent, they still have the tough task of  interpreting handwriting.

Many institutions have tried to cut out the handwriting problem by offering an online form-fill. But if the form doesn’t interact directly with you computer system, you still need to retype data into the system, and you still run the risk of keystroke error.

So what’s the solution?

Develop an online portal that integrates with your data system to replace your BRCs. With an integrated system, you reduce costs because you no longer need to pay student workers, you can assure data quality using series of checks and balances programmed into the form, and you can have data the instant it’s sent (instead of waiting around for BRCs to return).

Check back next time for data related topics!

Error: Unable to create directory /home/insidesp/public_html/thehigheredlink/wp-content/uploads/2012/05. Is its parent directory writable by the server? posted by Andrew the Intern on June 23rd, 2009
Posted in Admission, Data Management, Web Programming | 1 Comment »

Clean Data, Your Most Valuable Resource

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

While many admission professionals realize that their applicant/inquiry pool is essential to maintaining relationships that lead to enrollment, many are not aware of the number prospects they lose due to poor data management.

A simple misspelling of a name could cost you a student. When I was looking at colleges, for example, I did the normal thing and filled out a series of business reply cards and online forms to request information.

When the brochures started rolling in, one of the school I was seriously considering spelled my name horrendously wrong, unrecognizably wrong. This college didn’t take the time to ensure a good first impression. It seemed like they didn’t care about providing me with the “personal attention” the rest of their communications promised. They quickly fell from the top of my list to the bottom.

When you rely on manual data entry, errors will occur. People’s names will be spelled wrong, majors will be input incorrectly, and at some point, you may end up looking incompetent  to someone. How many potential students could you be losing because a tiny data error?

More importantly, how can you eliminate errors with a minimal time and material costs?

Over the next few weeks I will be presenting a some tips to help you cleanse your data and prevent errors at the source.

So make sure to tune in and subscribe to theHigherEdlink if you haven’t already.

Error: Unable to create directory /home/insidesp/public_html/thehigheredlink/wp-content/uploads/2012/05. Is its parent directory writable by the server? posted by Andrew the Intern on June 11th, 2009
Posted in Admission, Data Management | No Comments »