In this Q&A blog, Caitlin Way, Marketing, Recruitment, and Admissions of the Trulaske execMBA program dives into how hosting webinars has helped drive engaged and qualified prospects.
Why did Trulaske execMBA decide to start hosting webinars?
Because we’re targeting audiences across the US, we’d been hosting webinars for years that were functioning as virtual information sessions. Typically, we’d push these out to our email list and see very meager attendance. These webinars were helpful to a few, but we wanted to reach a larger audience.
Our idea to offer value-added presentations was inspired by the continuous shift in higher ed from outbound to inbound marketing and recruitment strategies.
How were the webinar topics decided?
The topics we’re using this year are based on sessions included in our curriculum – specifically as part of our Professional Advancement Series. We’ve taken what’s presented in the curriculum as a more intensive exercise/workshop and condensed it to a preview. We chose topics that could easily be pared down to a few simple takeaways.
Of course, using our curriculum content in this way is a double-edged sword. It means that we must update sessions every year and keeps us on our toes. Since the goal of the Professional Advancement Series was always to include the most current and relevant content anyway, it works really well.
What topics/themes has your target audience been most responsive to?
We’ve only hosted a few so far, but the most popular topics are those that clearly demonstrate value to the attendee. While the goal on our end is to increase awareness of the program and ultimately convert leads to applicants, we make sure that these webinars are not sales-y.Topics related to leadership, career development, and teamwork have performed well.
What tactics have you used to promote webinar registrations?
A good number of registrations have come from our prospect mailing list. I find this most telling, since this is the same list that was receiving invitations to those virtual info sessions mentioned above. It really speaks to the interest level and the expectation of receiving something more valuable than a Q&A session.
We are also promoting registrations with a number of paid tactics. Currently, we’re promoting webinars on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter by targeting users who fit our ideal audience (executive level positions, interests in professional development and more). We’ve also used this tactic to re-engage with prospects or webinar visitors.
Tell us how these users compare to users inquiring directly about your program.
Some of them are less ready to buy, and that’s okay. These users registered because of their interest in the topic, not (necessarily) in our program. Many of them turn out to be qualified for the execMBA, but some don’t. We don’t mind – maybe they have a supervisor, uncle, or friend who’d be a great fit and they wouldn’t have known about Mizzou’s executive MBA if they hadn’t attended that leadership webinar.
Of course, preparing these sessions requires more work than the standard overview of the program and Q&A. To see an ROI on that work, we must know that those attending and benefiting from the webinars are mostly qualified candidates for our program. As we polish our processes and content, the plan is to start offering some presentations to select groups. Eventually, only those who engage with us will be invited to participate in exclusive webinars.
What’s your follow up process with webinar attendees?
Providing a recording of the webinar has been a really effective follow-up. Rather than sending it out to everyone who attended, we have attendees request it. This helps us determine who’s really engaged and willing to interact with us. We also send segmented messaging to those who attended and those who missed, providing info about the program and encouraging them to get in touch with us if they’re interested. After that, they’re integrated into our normal prospect communication flow.
Besides generating additional prospects, how else has hosting webinars benefited the Trulaske execMBA?
By increasing awareness, and along with that, building credibility. The first step is to let people know that the University of Missouri has a hybrid executive MBA. The second step is to demonstrate its value. The execMBA now stands not only for a flexible MBA, but also for relevant, current content.
For an institution considering starting a webinar program, what advice would you offer?
Definitely plan ahead on content and start slow. We’re doing four value-added webinars this year, and I wouldn’t recommend starting with much more than that unless you have a huge surplus of content. This fall, I’d also like to try having some guest presenters for variety. Finally, I also recommend having a small takeaway associated with the webinar. For us, condensed self-assessments have worked well. Maybe it’s a worksheet or even an outline of key presentation points. I think providing a file keeps the audience engaged and makes them feel like they’re walking away with something.
What do you think will be the next big strategy for finding qualified and engaged prospects?
As targeting options become better across many platforms, I think we’ll be able to pinpoint our audiences even more in terms of digital advertising and especially remarketing. If we don’t start with quality, we can’t expect it further down the funnel. From there, in the competitive executive MBA space, I think it makes sense to keep the qualification and engagement processes as personal as possible. For us, that means deploying a team of student ambassadors to help with engagement. As online education becomes more common, it’s important to show early on in the prospect experience that we’re still a high-touch, interactive program. Getting a qualified prospect on the phone with a team member – or even better, a student or alum –demonstrates that value.
For more new and next ideas on recruitment and engagement, checkout some of the webinars Converge has hosted.
