Student Engagement with Marketing & Communications

Student Engagement with Marketing & Communications

A guide to successful student outreach to maximize impact and participation AN ACTION REPORT FOLLOWING THE

Survey of Financial Education Practices at Graduate and Professional Institutions and Programs BROUGHT TO YOU BY

FEAC

A ccess L ex I nstitute Financial E ducation A dvisory C ommit tee

www.AccessLex.org

AN ACTION REPORT FOLLOWING THE

Survey of Financial Education Practices at Graduate and Professional Institutions and Programs SEE ALSO:

Social Media Business Best Practices

FEAC

Financial Education Advisory Committee

AccessLex InstituteSM recognizes the need to provide graduate and professional students high-quality and timely information to help them fully understand the impact of the debt they incur, while in school and throughout their lives.

In an effort to fill that need, AccessLex formed its Financial Education Advisory Committee in 2014. This Committee is critical in helping to address the unique and specific needs of this student population and will —through review, analysis and research — assist AccessLex in meeting those financial education and literacy needs.

In its inaugural year, the Committee worked to better understand the financial education practices of schools serving graduate and professional students. Through the deployment of a qualitative survey to student financial aid offices, the Committee learned that schools are overwhelmingly providing financial education to the graduate and professional students they serve, but opportunities exist to expand access to meaningful, effective financial education.

The Committee is currently working to respond to survey findings and expand access to graduate and professional focused financial education. The Committee, comprised of the skilled leaders listed below, welcomes your input and suggestions.

2015 COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Bryant Anderson | Senior Director of Student Services, Illinois College of Optometry Susan Bogart (Vice Chair) | Director, Financial Aid, The Pennsylvania State University, The Dickinson School of Law Robert Coughlin | Director of Financial Aid, Harvard Medical School John Garcia (Chair) | Financial Aid Director, Michigan State University College of Law Mathiew Le | Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, University of Washington School of Law Tracy Simmons | Assistant Dean, Admissions, Diversity Initiatives & Financial Aid, University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law Jill Stone | Director of Financial Aid, Yale Law School Wendy Vonnegut | Director of Legal Studies, Methodist University

© 2017 AccessLex Institute.

CONTENTS

5 Introduction 6

Marketing: A Bookend Approach

9

Messaging Your Program

11

Consider Incentivizing

Sample Communications: 12

Sample: Announcing a Video Series

13

Sample: Program Reminders for a Video Series

16

Sample: Concluding a Campaign for a Video Series

17

Sample: Announcing a Workshop/Event

18

Sample: Post-Program Follow-Up Communication

3

4

The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service sells itself.

PETER DRUCKER

Introduction If Peter Drucker is right, you’re in luck: in the world of financial literacy education and the students who so desperately need it, you are already the expert. You have spent quality time­— often one-on-one — with your students, learning their concerns, aspirations and needs.

Think back to those quality conversations you’ve had with students. What common questions, concerns and habits emerge? What can you remember about your students’ methods of communicating, thinking, problem-solving, researching and decision-making? Maybe most students email you late at night, because that’s when they have time. Maybe while sitting in your office, they often text message their parents for quick details about their scholarships or loans. Maybe students all start with the same puzzlement: why do they need to understand other repayment plans when “Standard” sounds just fine to them?

By analyzing common threads in your student contacts, financial aid teams can begin to transform individual students’ needs into key insights about their market.

Those insights can unlock exactly how, and with what, you’ll most successfully reach your students.

The Financial Education Advisory Committee (FEAC) has years of expertise developing successful programming for financial literacy education on college campuses and for alumni. Throughout this report, you’ll find examples and insider insights from FEAC members, as they explore how to apply broad marketing concepts to the specific use-cases of financial aid offices around the country. With these insights, the Committee hopes to relieve the burden of uncertainty and experimentation often towed by financial aid offices, and ensure that you head to the marketing microphone knowing just what to say, and how to say it.

5

Marketing: A Bookend Approach Marketing is a key component to a successful financial literacy program, because without it, even the best content won’t reach the people that need it. Yet marketing is often one of the last considerations during program development. The dominant thinking is: “Our content and materials must come first; once we have that, we’ll figure out how to tell students about it.”

Of course, having excellent content is critical, but content and advertising are inextricably linked on the path to success. For students to be receptive to your content, it must be as appealing as it is educational. And you can’t develop a program that your market will find appealing without talking about marketing early in program development.

Marketing considerations are, therefore, the bookends of program development: they should be evaluated both first and last (and if possible, continually through the process). If you aren’t asking, “What will make students interested in this program?” early in the process, you’re doing your program — and the students who need it — a disservice.

Once marketing has launched for the program you’ve created, it requires persistence and flexibility — two characteristics that require time. For this reason, even the best marketing plans often gather dust on a shelf once the initial program champions move on to other projects. Time is a luxury an understaffed office can’t afford.

So, how will your office keep up with the energy-intensive task of getting the word out?

Saturation In marketing, it is said that it takes seeing or hearing something four (four!) times before we’ll act upon it. Think about the last movie you went to see in a theater: you likely saw a trailer on television (at least once), scrolled past an ad online, saw someone rave about it on Facebook, and a friend at dinner asked if you’d seen it yet. You likely heard the name or plot of that film four times before you purchased a ticket.

This means that marketing isn’t just about having an enormous email list of 10,000 students and hoping for a 20 percent return on one announcement.

A small list targeted strategically and multiple times can result in even better participation numbers.

For the best techniques to reach adequate market saturation, we turn to our FEAC members who offer these proven approaches: • Use multiple communication channels. Unless you’re giving away free pizzas, it is not enough to simply email an announcement. Email can remain your primary communication

Unless you’re giving away free pizzas, it is not enough to simply email an announcement.

FE AC 20 15

6

source, as it continues to be statistically most effective.* But, if you have access to other mediums, maximize them. Examples may include something as lowtech as printed posters on campus (and don’t forget local hangouts!), or as tech-driven as posting on social media For every $1 spent like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and more. With on email marketing, permission, phone numbers you collect can be both the average return on texted and called.

investment is $44.25.

• Frequency is key. Work backwards from your event or launch, E X AC T TA RG E T 20 14 and plan multiple announcements to your lists, consistently using the name of your program but highlighting a different feature each time. As readers are motivated by different things, a communication that highlights that the program is “Free!” might be more or less valuable to a reader than a communication that highlights the expertise of your presenters, or the convenience of your event location and time. All of these “angles” are great ways to make your case for participation and attendance over multiple communication instances.

• Segment your audience, if possible. Push different messaging to contacts who: • still have not registered, to remind them that registration is still open or attendance is still an option; and • have already registered, to keep the time and place in their minds, and to preview the content to keep their interest high and ensure their RSVP turns into actual attendance.

Divide and Conquer The best-laid, multichannel, long-term marketing plans are often abandoned due to lack of time and resources to execute their lofty ambitions. That’s why an essential part of marketing strategy is ownership — who is going to design, write, manage, publish and track each piece?

With smaller teams and tighter budgets than ever, schools must be creative about who they consider a marketing resource, to divide and conquer the job. FEAC recommends that you tap the other resources on campus that might have a leg up on the kind of outreach you wish to do, and the credibility you need to be heard.

• Develop Promotion Partners. If opportunities exist to promote your program in association with other offices or departments at your institution, take advantage of these collaborations. Look for other offices that might already be communicating with students, particularly at required events like orientations.

Other offices might be sending students event calendars, newsletters or ongoing communications. Adding a link to your program on their website or simply hanging a flyer in their office will get the information out in alternative ways.

7

• Identify still other departments that might not have communication resources, but may be willing to act as active co-sponsors of your program based on its benefits to current and graduating students.

Potential partners may include Career Development, Student Affairs/ Services, and Alumni Affairs, to name a few. Connecting your program to a name that students recognize will help legitimize it.

• Consider an endorsement from a prominent faculty member or student leader. The student body president or a reknowned, published faculty member giving a nod to the value of financial literacy and the difference it will make in a student’s future, could give more credibility to your program and speak to students’ cravings for the celebrity “wow” factor.

• In addition to administrative offices, engage student groups and organizations in program promotion. The strongest endorsement for your program will come from students’ peers, and making these connections may open doors to group meetings where you’ll be invited to present, advertise and educate.

Who can spread the word?

Expertise

Reach

YOU

Promotion Partners

Financial Aid Office Staff

+

Student Groups & Orgs

Credibility Endorsements or Campus Individual “Celebrities”

Co-Sponsor Team/Entity Partners

Increase your promotional resources to address the credibility and outreach volume that your office might not have.

8

Messaging Your Program Messaging is different than marketing. While marketing dictates the tactics used to get your program in front of your target audience, messaging is what you’re actually going to say while using those tactics. It is more strategic than describing the who, what, when and where. Messaging is about distilling the best, core, key features of your program that make it worthwhile and attractive, and staying focused on those points in all communications. Messaging is important for focus, but also for efficiency — you have just a few seconds or a few words to grab your audience’s attention. You want to be sure those moments and words are spent on the very best of what your program is and does.

While you might write a long description of your program fit for a grant proposal or a workshop catalog, a well-crafted message plan will curate a long description of your program and highlight a few key elements:

Unique Benefits

Target Audience

Your Mission

Call to Action

What are you offering that can be found nowhere else?

What will be the epic result of this program? How will it change the world? Think big.

Who should be paying attention?

Who needs your program the most?

If I’m interested, what should I do to join up/get involved/attend?

CRITICAL TO SUCCESS

What do you want people to do as a result of your communication?

FEAC recommends that messaging be crafted with these elements in mind: • Explain the value. Describe how the student will benefit from the program — both in the short term and in the long term. At the end of the program, show how you delivered on that promise.

• Always emphasize ease and simplicity. One thing we know will always attract a customer is a product that is easy to use or partake in. Make your program sound and feel easy. Be sure it can fit into a busy schedule, then say so! If students are being asked to watch a video that is just five minutes long, share that minimal time commitment in your messaging. If students are being asked to attend a session that is scheduled for 30 minutes or an hour, emphasize that the session will end on time.

• Summarize what students will personally gain. For any program, list the intended outcomes, and make it personal by using “you will” language, not “students will” language.* Examples for a loan repayment session might be: 1. understanding their loan portfolio; 2. knowing the options available to them in repayment; or 3. having real strategies to pay down loans in the most effective ways.

Consider using a marketer’s most hypnotic words in your messaging: imagine, which reduces resistance to an idea and promotes optimistic thought; you, which lulls the listener and makes your message feel tailored; and because, which helps an audience understand why and gives them confidence.

A DA P TE D FRO M K I SS M E TR I C S

9

• Acknowledge that loan repayment can be a complex and confusing process and that your program is a resource to clarify that process.

• Use “hooks.” Use an email subject line or start your ad with a clever phrase or intriguing question, like Did You Know? statements or Frequently Asked Questions. These will initially engage students to read further in the communication. For example: “Did you know there are eight loan repayment options available on your federal loans? Find out which one might be right for you at the Loan Repayment session next week.”

“Who can I contact regarding my loans?” The National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) is where all of your loans and servicers are listed. To understand how to access NSLDS, watch Module 1 in our loan repayment video series.

Of course, the strongest messaging will include objective peer testimonials. We live in a review economy, where word-of-mouth, fivestar ratings and send-to-a-friend is worth its weight in gold. Harness the power of “Would you recommend this?” by using FEAC’s advice and including testimonials right from the start: • Share comments from previous attendees with words that support your message. A testimonial that talks about the expertise of the presenters may be useful if experts are your unique benefit, but if your 30-minute webinars are on-demand for students, seek testimonials that speak to convenience.

• Let peer pressure work to your advantage. Share the number of students who have signed up within a call to action for those who have not yet. After the first program and before the next, send out communications or updates that emphasize how many classmates have participated in the modules. You might try phrasing like “Over 200 students have already RSVP’d — don’t miss this event!” or “40 of your peers have watched Video 1 and ensured their best financial future. Will you be #41?” (Then, use those student testimonials to verify the value of the program.)

10

Consider Incentivizing Offering tangible “incentives” has proven successful at a number of institutions as a way to encourage engagement. Incentives can take many forms:

Competitions between participants

Feature specific participants

Token economies (points, badges, leveling up)

Giveaways based on luck/drawings

Referral bonuses

FEAC recommends that you consider these questions before offering an incentive to participate: •

Is an incentive necessary to get students on your campus to participate?

•

What is allowable and appropriate given your own institution’s regulations and policies?

•

Will something as simple as a paper Certificate of Program Completion be motivational to your students?

•

Review your budget. What type of incentive is financially feasible?

•

What does your student body value? Food, technology, access to faculty, public acknowledgement among their peers?

•

Should the incentive be offered to the entire group that completes the program, or will one student at random be chosen? What different effects will this have?

•

Are there any other campus offices or institutional services that can offer you an in-kind service (free) for your incentive? Examples might include a dinner with a faculty member, a free meal through dining services, or a one-on-one loan repayment consultation session.

INSIDER TIP: Not sure what incentives will appeal to your students? This is a great question to ask in your program planning stage, perhaps with a focus group or small sample of students.

Even if you don’t end up incentivizing, you can learn important things when you ask students, “What would it take for you to participate in something like this?”

11

Techniques in Action FIG 1. Announcing a Video Series PURPOSE:

MEDIUM:

Email

AUDIENCE:

Current Students

TECHNIQUES:

Messaging; Calls to Action; Emphasize Ease; Unique Benefit; Mission

TO: studentbody@university.edu FROM: financialaid@university.edu SUBJ:

Loan repayment just got easier

Understanding student loan repayment just got easier.

Introducing a NEW! video series:

Federal Loan Repayment 101

WATCH NOW >

With just three to five minutes across seven useful topics, you’ll understand and develop a personal loan repayment strategy.

Here is how it works: 1

Click here to access the video series.

2

Take our short pre-quiz to see what you know!

3

Watch the videos at your own pace, as many times as you like.

4

Complete the post-quiz to see how far you’ve come!

Why watch? Loan repayment is complex! We’ll help you navigate the process and make the right choices both for your short-term and long-term financial future.

What will you gain? You’ll understand how to obtain information about your overall federal loan portfolio, review what federal loan repayment options are available, and develop a plan to pay down your loans in the most effective way.

On your terms. You’re a busy student, but that doesn’t mean your loans don’t need your attention. We’re offering this important information in a video-based series to meet your needs and schedule. Each video is three to five minutes.

Questions? Contact the Financial Aid Office at (phone) or just reply to this email.

12

FIG 2.

PURPOSE:

Program Reminders

MEDIUM:

Email

AUDIENCE:

Current Students

TECHNIQUES:

Frequency; Hooks; Calls to Action; Emphasize Ease

TO: studentbody@university.edu FROM: financialaid@university.edu SUBJ:

A better decision in five minutes or less

Did you know there are eight Federal Loan repayment plans?

And that you’ll have to choose the plan that’s best for you?

Make a better, more informed decision in just five minutes with

Federal Loan Repayment 101

WATCH NOW >

With just three to five minutes across seven useful topics, you’ll understand and develop a personal loan repayment strategy and pick the plan that’s best for you.

GET STARTED > Includes a quick pre-quiz to see what you know TO: studentbody@university.edu and what you’ll need to know!

FROM: financialaid@university.edu

Why watch? Loan repayment is complex! We’ll help you navigate the process and make the right choices both for your short-term and long-term financial future.

INSIDER TIP: Early in your campaign, repeat the fine print. A student might not have read your first email, but something about the second or third one might get them to open it. Keep the background information there so they aren’t left wondering what the program is all about.

13

FIG 2. cont’d.

PURPOSE:

Program Reminders

MEDIUM:

Email

AUDIENCE:

Current Students

TECHNIQUES:

Frequency; Hooks; Calls to Action; Urgency

TO: studentbody@university.edu FROM: financialaid@university.edu

SUBJ:

Do you know what you owe?

Where do I find out what loans I have?

The National Student Loan Data System, or NSLDS, is where all of your loan information, servicers, interest rates and more are stored.

Learn how to access NSLDS in just three minutes:

WATCH NOW >

INSIDER TIP: Create some urgency. Make obvious the answer to this question: Why are you sending me this, now?

TO: studentbody@university.edu FROM: financialaid@university.edu

SUBJ:

Class of 2016: You’re 30 days away from having to repay.

Loan repayment is only 30 days away. Are you ready?

Our video series will prepare you for repayment day, and help you develop a personal strategy for your financial future.

WATCH NOW >

14

FIG 2. cont’d.

PURPOSE:

Program Reminders TECHNIQUES:

MEDIUM:

Email

AUDIENCE:

Current Students who have not watched videos yet

Frequency; Hooks; Calls to Action; Endorsement; Segmentation

TO: studentbody@university.edu FROM: financialaid@university.edu SUBJ:

65% of your friends have watched this

So far, 65 percent of the Class of 2016 have watched the Federal Loan Repayment 101 video series. They now have the information they need to pay down their student loans in the most effective way.

There is still time for you to watch and learn, and make more informed decisions about your loans.

WATCH NOW > Includes a quick pre-quiz to see what you know and what you’ll need to know!

Why watch? Loan repayment is complex! We’ll help you navigate the process and make the right choices both for your short-term and long-term financial future.

What will you gain? You’ll understand how to obtain information about your overall federal loan portfolio, review what federal loan repayment options are available, and develop a plan to pay down your loans in the most effective way.

INSIDER TIP: Try to think like a student. Anticipate what they’ll find appealing, or boring, and try to spin the more mundane features of your program into something exciting or valuable.

For example, call your assessment a “survey” or “quiz” (less alarming than a “test” or “assessment”). Use words like “includes” or “featuring” so your quiz sounds like a bonus section that gives students more insight and value, as opposed to an unpleasant chore or time-drag.

15

FIG 3.

PURPOSE:

Concluding a Campaign

MEDIUM:

Email

AUDIENCE:

Current Students

TECHNIQUES:

Endorsement; Call to Action; Value/Mission Realization

TO: studentbody@university.edu FROM: financialaid@university.edu SUBJ:

Five minutes well-spent

Over 80 percent of the Class of 2016 watched the Federal Loan Repayment video series. Based on your pre- and post-quiz results, you will be some of the most informed and prepared borrowers we have ever graduated. Now that was time well spent!

Still have questions?

AccessConnexSM is here to help.

A free service for students, AccessConnex provides on-demand, oneon-one loan repayment counseling and other financial information for graduate and professional students. Get help now at 844-755-HELP (4357), via Live Chat at AccessLex.org, or by email at AccessConnex@accesslex.org.

TO: studentbody@university.edu

CALL NOW >

FROM: financialaid@university.edu The Financial Aid Office can also assist you in your preparation for repayment. Reach out with your questions and use our office as a resource both now and in the future!

(PHONE) financialaid@university.edu www.university.edu/financialaid

INSIDER TIP: Always, always continue the conversation. There are many ways you could do this — previewing upcoming events, linking to great videos or resources online, inviting continued questions by providing contact information — but always make sure the conversation is fueled and encouraged after this specific program campaign is over.

16

FIG 4.

PURPOSE:

Announcing a Workshop

MEDIUM:

Email

AUDIENCE:

Current Students

TECHNIQUES:

Mission; Call to Action; Incentive; Easy Sharing; Hooks

TO: studentbody@university.edu FROM: financialaid@university.edu SUBJ:

Questions about loan repayment? You’re not alone.

Creating a personal loan repayment strategy is challenging. Rise to the challenge at our free “Loan Repayment — Pick Your Plan” workshop with [Name of Presenter] from [Presenter Affiliation]!

Thursday, October 15 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. in Lecture Hall #127

Lunch Provided for Free!

RSVP to reserve your seat > Loan repayment can be a complex and confusing process. Let us help you navigate this process and make the right choices both for your short-term TO: studentbody@university.edu and long-term financial future. See you there!

FROM: financialaid@university.edu What will you gain? [Name of Presenter] will help you understand your overall loan portfolio, review what repayment options are available to you, explain what rights and responsibilities you have as a borrower, and ultimately help you develop a plan to pay down your loans in the most effective way.

Questions? Contact the Financial Aid Office at (phone) or just reply to this email.

Invite a friend >

INSIDER TIP: Always include a link to share, forward or invite a friend. Make it easy for recipients to make the event social.

17

FIG 5.

PURPOSE:

Post-Program Follow-Up

MEDIUM:

Email

AUDIENCE:

Students who attended

TECHNIQUES:

Mission/Value Verification; Testimonials; Peer Pressure; Hooks

TO: studentbody@university.edu FROM: financialaid@university.edu SUBJ:

We feel better already

After today’s Loan Repayment — Pick Your Plan workshop, we know your readiness to repay has skyrocketed. We covered the options, but most importantly, we reminded you that you have options, and you have a chance to make a choice that supports your individual financial goals.

Still have questions? The Financial Aid Office is always available to meet with you for individual repayment counseling based on your specific loan portfolio and goals. We also have dozens of helpful resources and guides to give you, for free.

MAKE AN APPOINTMENT > (PHONE) TO: studentbody@university.edufinancialaid@university.edu www.university.edu/financialaid FROM: financialaid@university.edu Want to see it again or refer a friend? We will repeat this workshop on April 1 in our spring term. Mark the date down now and look for details on the time and location of the session at the start of next term!

INSIDER TIP:

18

Be timely about a follow-up email; some say it should be in attendees’ inboxes 10 minutes before the end of the session. Even if you’re not that quick, make sure it doesn’t wait more than 4 hours. To do this, it should be written and staged to go to your attending audience before the session happens.

19

Have a student engagement tip to share? Send it to ContactUs@accesslex.org or Tweet it @AccessLexInst.

Happy program planning!

We’re here.

To help you get there.

With over 30 years of experience helping borrowers successfully navigate loan repayment, we’ve advised thousands of students just like yours. Our team of expert financial education counselors work closely with students to provide clear, unbiased information to set them on a sound financial path.

And the best part? It’s completely free.

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