E expectations for HighEdWeb 2014

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The E-Expectations of College-Bound High School Seniors and Their Parents

Stephanie Geyer@StephGeyerVice President

Noel-Levitz

Lance Merker@LanceMerker

President and CEOOmniUpdate

Use our hashtag to add your thoughts to the nationwide conversation!

#eexpect

Finding answers since 2005

Visit any partner site to find the latest studies, including the “2014 E-Expectations Report: The Online Preferences of College-Bound Seniors and Their Parents” white paper and trend reports for our recent international student studies.

See also: 2014 E-Recruiting Practices Report available at noellevitz.com

E-Expectations research

Web

Mobile users and your web resources

E-communications

E-communications resources and preferences

Social

Social media trends and opportunities

E-Expectations 2014: Focal points

Telephone survey of 1,001 high school seniors and 533 parents of high school seniors

• Facilitated in March and April 2014

• List source: National Research Center for College and University Admissions (NRCCUA)

• 95% confidence interval

• +/- 3% margin of error

Methodology

About the students

Gender GPA Parents attended college

47%Male 42%

A 33%No

53%Female 49%

B67%Yes

8% C

1% <C

2.00%7%

10.00%

20%

1%37%

14.00%

10.00%

Students: Ethnicity

American IndianAsianAfrican-AmericanHispanicMiddle EasternWhiteOther/Multi-racialNo response

Students: Enrollment stage

Prospects 13%

Inquiries 7%

Applicants 31%

Accepts 49%

Students Parents

14% 15%

49%39%

26%29%

11% 17%

Within past 3 monthsWithin past monthWithin past 7 daysEarlier today

When was the last time you looked at a college or university website?

E-communications

Resources and preferences• Interest, influence, and

reliability− People

• Email• Text messages• Paid advertisements


62.2%

37.8%

50.5%49.5

%

To learn about colleges and universities, I prefer…

Phone calls and print materialsWeb-based resources

2014 Students 2014 Parents

41%

59%

58%

42%

I’m more likely to consider schools that use…

Traditional communication

Email, texts, or social media

94.3%

5.6%

89.9%

10.1%

If I have to choose to look at a school’s website or Facebook page, I’ll opt for…

Website

Facebook page

Interest in communications resources

Campu

s tou

r

Send e

mail

Colleg

e fair

s

Call ad

mission

s

Ask vi

a soc

ial

Textin

g

IM ch

ats

Web

cast

even

t

Web

cam ch

ats0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Seniors2013 SeniorsParents

College

Web s

ite

Email mess

ages

from a

specif

ic co

llege

Genera

l colle

ge pl

anning si

te

College

ratin

g site

s

College

rank

ing mag

azine

s

Facebo

ok po

sts fro

m a sp

ecific

colle

ge

Twitter p

osts fro

m a spec

ific co

llege

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

2014 Students 2014 Parents

.edu

Influential resources in the college search process

What resources are most reliable?

97%85%

80%

53%

97%

81% 78%

49%

89%

75%62%

41%


Email

Inbox (6,755) Starred Important Direct Mail Drafts► Circles

• 93% of seniors use email at least once/week compared to 82% of 2013 seniors and 77% of parents

• 98% of students and parents will open a message from a school they’re considering

• 60% of students and 43% of parents will open messages from unknown schools

Email use is up!

Two-thirds are checking email on a mobile device at least once a day

DailyS: 47%P: 47%More than once/day

S: 19%P: 18%

Few times/week

S: 14%P: 10%

Less than once/monthS: 9%P: 18%

Once/weekS: 9%P: 6%

Few times/monthS: 3%P: 2%

S – StudentsP – Parents

What are they doing with your messages?

Save in inbox

Place in folder

Forward to family

Print Delete Forward to another account

83%

43%

23% 21%

13%10%

75%

49%

40%34% 33%

16%

SeniorsParents

Paid Interactive Marketing

Top Ads by Clicks

2014 E-Recruiting: Using Paid Advertising? 4-year public

4-year private 2-year

Pay-per-click ads on search sites like Google, Bing, or Yahoo 37.2% 32.1% 28.6%

Pay-per-click ads on Facebook 31.0% 35.9% 37.1%

Small increase in clicks

31% of students and 19% of parents have clicked on your paid ads

Google Facebook Other (not search)

Yahoo Bing Other (search)

45%

32%

13%

6%1%

4%

50%

22%

5%

12%

3%6%

38%33%

16%

4% 4% 5%

Seniors 2013 Seniors Parents

Those certain to attend are least likely to look at ads

Name recognition garners clicks

Recog

nized

name

Never

heard

of it

Might w

ant to

atten

d

Definit

ely w

ant to

atten

d

55%

19% 17%10%

44%

23% 26%

8%SeniorsParents

TextingROFL! TTYL

YES 52.7%

NO 47.3%

2014 Seniors

2014 Parents

YES 55.2%

NO 44.8%

I don’t want to be bothered with

commercial/ad texts

Texting is for family and friends only

No data plan

Phone not capable of texting

Too expensive

Not far enough in my search

Why not?

58.7%

26.8%4.7%3.9%

2.9%

2.9%

52.3%

34.7%3.3%3.8%

2.5%

3.3%

Willing to allow a college rep to send you text messages?

2014 Seniors

2014 Parents

Have received a text from:

A schoolAn individual

Both

Replied to any message

26.8%4.7%3.9%2.9%

34.7%3.3%3.8%3.3%

Experience with texts from schools

Web

Mobile users and your web resources• Perceptions• Content priorities• Mobile use• Form use on mobile

devices

E-Expectations 2014: focal points

67%

33%

59%

41%

69%

31%

57%44%

59%

41%

59%

41%


Website experiences and quality perceptions

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

Students Parents

First content targets on college and university websites

Does college support attainment of career goals?Yes:• 87% students• 93% parents

How can you demonstrate value?

Academic program con-

tent

Testimonials Statistics (job placement/grad

schools)

Videos Calculators

29%

22%

16%18%

4%

33%

25%

32%

6% 5%

SeniorsParents

Seniors2013 Seniors

Parents

90%

78%81%

Regular access to a mobile device?

Smart phone Cell with web access

Tablet iPod® Touch

67%

14%

8% 5%

48%

21%

6% 8%

50%

12% 13%

3%


Smartphones more popular than ever

All the time If no PC available Rarely

40%

52%

9%

40%

46%

14%

28%

51%

20%


Use of mobile devices for web browsing

How many have looked at a college site on a mobile device?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

71% 69%

45%


What forms have or would students complete on their mobile devices from

your website?Cost calculator: 47%

Scholarship estimator: 47%Information request: 41%

Online application: 40%

Open house reservation: 57%Campus visit request: 55%Information request: 53%Cost calculator: 53%Scholarship estimator: 52%Online application: 38%

Forms they HAVE completed on a mobile device

Forms they WOULD complete

on a mobile device

Social

Social media trends and opportunities• Use of social media

channels• Facebook• Twitter• Google+


Faceb

ook

YouTub

e

Instag

ramTwitte

r

Snapc

hat

Google

+Vine

Pintere

st

Tumblr

iFunny

Reddit

Linke

dIn

Stumble

Upon

Storify

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

2014 Seniors 2013 Seniors 2014 Parents

Student and parent use of social media resources

Faceb

ook

Twitter

YouTub

e

Instag

ram

Linke

dIn

Pintere

st

Tumblr

Flickr

Google

+Vim

eo

FourS

quare

Storify

Vine

Spotify

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

4-Year Private 4-Year Public 2-Year

Institutional use of social media resources

I don't post frequently, but look at my newsfeed at least once a day.24.5% 16.6%

2014 Seniors

2014 Parents

I post comments, photos, videos, or other content at least a few times a month.19.7% 16.9%

I post comments, photos, videos, or other content at least once a week.16.7% 21.6%

I don't post frequently, but I look at my newsfeed at least once a week.15.5% 15.3%

I don't post frequently, but look at my newsfeed at least a few times a month.13.3% 11.6%

I post comments, photos, videos, or other content at least once a day.10.3% 17.6%

Visited a college

Facebook page

51.4%

Clicked “Like”

35.7%

Visited a college

Facebook page

36.3%

Clicked “Like”

43.1%

12% increase in students following college Twitter feeds

• 37% of students follow a Twitter feed from a college or university (25% in 2013)

• In the 2011 E-Expectations study, just 5% of parents reported having Twitter feeds, which is now 15%

o 26% of parents are following college or university Twitter feeds

Twitter use

Overall Twitter Use

40%Seniors

26%2013

Seniors

15%Parents

E-Recruiting practices: Who uses Twitter?

68% of 4-year publics48% of 4-year privates

24% of 2-year institutions

More parents than students are adding college pages

• 14% of seniors added pages, down from 17% in 2013 and significantly lower than parents at 25%

• 19% of seniors have participated in Google+ Hangouts compared to 2013 at 13%

Google+ use

Google+

31%Seniors

5%2013

Seniors

19%Parents

Recommendations

With your website as the hub, pilot new options and watch data to sustain existing resources.

They are using all of the resources you offer. Talk directly to them. Invite them to engage in conversation.

Improving avenues into your website increases opportunities to engage via all of your digital channels.

Don’t settle for catalog text to promote your product. Work on each program section carefully and test!

Balance!Parents!

SEO matters

Exceptional content

More recommendations

Web content value propositions with email messages, landing page text, and social media posts.

Make sure that your email messages and website perform beautifully for mobile users.

Complete the marketing cycle by measuring the success of each major initiative and pilot. Integrate your analytics and test new ideas.

Explain how you will use their personal data. Be clear on how you will communicate. Force a recorded opt-in for text users.

MatchAdapt

Measure and test Respect

their data

Questions?

Presenter contact informationStephanie Geyer, Noel-Levitz

• Voice: (303) 594-0370• Email: [email protected]• @StephGeyer

Lance Merker, OmniUpdate• Voice: (805) 484-9400• Email: [email protected]• @LanceMerker

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

E expectations for HighEdWeb 2014

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