Converge is proud to offer a variety of resources for iModules’ clients:

• Join over 100 members of the higher education community who have connected with us in our LinkedIn group specifically related to Google Analytics for Higher Education Marketing

 
Conference Presentations
 

• AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education (November, 2012): Investigative Analytics: Deciphering the Mystery of Data-Driven Decision Making
  Who is visiting your web site? Are they arriving from social media sources, search engines, or targeted campaigns? Are they engaging with your site and completing desired actions? How can your Analytics data help you achieve your web site goals (increasing the number of inquiries, applications, and visits) as well as engage your audience more effectively? Join Converge Consulting as their team presents a compelling case study that depicts how colleges and universities can enhance their marketing efforts by developing analytics-based user personas, tracking the effectiveness of email campaigns, and determining which site visitors arrived at their web sites via social media channels.

• Analytics for a Better Experience

  Every website has a purpose (at least, it should). How clear is your site’s purpose? How easy is it for users to act in ways that accomplish your goals? By properly utilizing Google Analytics, you can better understand what is working and what needs improvement. This presentation will show you how to use analytics to build a better user experience and accomplish your website goals. You will learn how to determine which pages are successful in achieving your goals, where improvements can be made, and how to optimize the weak pages so that they more effectively guide the user to your goal.

• Optimize Your Multi-channel Campaigns for Maximum Impact

  What you can track, you can measure. What you can measure, you can improve. By incorporating a few simple steps into your campaign planning, you can measure and optimize your campaigns. This presentation will show you how to begin with strategy, measure success more effectively, and boost your progress. We will examine how to use Google Analytics effectively so that you no longer need to guess regarding what is working. You will be able to continue doing what works confidently and eliminate unnecessary components.

• Social Media Analytics: A Value-Focused Approach

  This Social Media Analytics: A Value-focused Approach presentation was presented at the Social Media working group at DePaul University. The presentation focuses on how to use Google Analytics to inform marketing decisions in general, and with an emphasis on social media analytics. Other analytics tools are presented. Advanced Segments and Google Analytics Dashboard creation are discussed.

 
View our most popular blog posts related to Google Analytics:
 

• Katy Perry and Google Analytics: The Ultimate in Experience Marketing

  

 
 
 
 

• Web Analytics Training for a Better User Experience

  

 
 
 
 

• We’ve Got Google Analytics (and I Have a Treadmill in My Basement)

  

 
 
 
 
Review our service offerings (and download a document describing them in more detail from the link below) including:

 
• Strategy: Quantitative and Qualitative Research, Marketing Strategy, Social Media and Blog Strategy
• Execution: SEO, Paid Online Advertising, Content Development, Landing Page Development, Hubspot Consulting
• Analysis: Google Analytics Consulting and Training, Hubspot Analytics

 
Converge has partnered with colleges across the United States, including DePaul University, Columbia University, Rice University Jones Graduate School of Business, Notre Dame, and many others. Contact us for more information on how we can help.
 

For 84% of Colleges and Universities, Traditional Marketing is Not Enough!

Times have changed and so has the effectiveness of certain marketing methods. Heard enough about PPC, PPL, CPM, etc? Next Generation Recruitment Marketing is about your target audience finding you and generating quality inquiries.

Utilize the web as the hub of your recruitment efforts so that your target audience finds you!

Rethink your Recruitment Marketing Efforts by effectively using SEO, Social Media, and Google Analytics.

Join us in Boston on February 4th and 5th at the Omni Parker House Hotel!

Instructor Nicole O’Connell and the team from Converge have put together two days full of strategic resources and applied exercises that will help you transform your marketing. Nicole is Director of Marketing and Communications at Loyola University. She is responsible for driving enrollment through the development of strategic integrated marketing and communications campaigns. Her recent initiatives include a significant brand revision for undergraduate enrollment, the launch of a new undergraduate website, the rollout of a multi-tiered social media and mobile marketing platform, and implementation of a comprehensive SEO content strategy.

Register Today to Receive an Early Bird Discount of $100! Early bird ends January 15th.

• Day 1 + 2: $600 (Early Bird Rate is $500)
• Day 1 or 2: $400 (Early Bird Rate is $300)

Group discounts available: If you purchase two registrations, you will receive the third registration free!  Contact us for more information on specific group registrations.

Register for this two-day workshop taught by experts in the field to learn how to generate more visits to your web site and fine-tune your online efforts by:

Due to popular demand, Converge Consulting is proud to offer a workshop to help with continuing education of the non-profit community on the use of Google Analytics to drive online marketing strategy. The Google Analytics 101 (beginner) 201 (more advanced) workshops are open to anyone who works for a non-profit organization. The two day workshop will help you gain a better understanding of how to use Google Analytics in ways that will inform your marketing communications, online presence, social media engagement, and content strategy.

Converge consultant, Rick Allen, is the facilitator. An experienced online marketer who has worked at Emerson College, Boston College, Brandeis University, and Babson College, Rick also founded a web site called meetcontent that focuses on content sustainability for higher education. He is an accomplished manager of complex web-related projects, with ten years experience in creating dynamic web identities for knowledge-centric organizations. His areas of expertise include: Google Analytics, written and oral communication, web publishing, web content strategy, communications strategy, graphic design, project management, and technology training. Rick has worked with Converge on numerous projects focused on Google Analytics and content strategy for colleges and universities.

You can attend one day or both days (cost per day is reduced if both sessions are attended).

The workshop format is collaborative and will be conducted via an innovative and interactive format of lecture, questions, and hands-on exercises.

You will take home all slides/handouts from the workshop and connect with a new group of colleagues who share similar business goals and challenges.

The workshop agenda is as follows:

Google Analytics 101:Day One

• Introduction to Web Analytics
• What is web analytics?
• How is web analytics used?
• Google Analytics Fundamentals
• How it works
• Interface overview
• Basic metrics
• Understanding visitor dimensions and website behaviors
• New vs. returning visitors
• Visitor loyalty vs. recency
• Understanding how people navigate your site
• Understanding traffic sources and campaigns
• Understanding where site visitors come from
• Assessing direct and referral traffic
• Assessing organic and paid search traffic
• Introduction to campaign tracking
• Assessing web content
• Understand what content users care about
• Methods for assessing content quality
• Introduction to goals, funnels, and conversions
• Understanding Goal reports
• Setting up goals and funnels
• Finding actionable insights
• Discovering and assessing content problems
• How to identify meaning metrics

Google Analytics 201: Day Two

• Understanding website goals and key performance indicators (KPIs)
• How to define KPIs that measure website goals over time
• Profile and filters overview
• Understanding accounts and profiles
• Profiles vs. filters
• Advanced segmentation and custom reports
• Using advanced segments
• Creating custom advanced segments
• Creating custom reports
• Advanced goals, events, and campaign tracking
• Overview of goals, events, and campaign tracking
• Planning for and setting up goals, events, and campaigns
• Assessing engagement
• Landing pages and bounce rate
• Site Search
• Event Tracking
• Best Practices for Inbound Marketing Measurement & Optimization (SEO / PPC / Social Media)
• Analytics Intelligence and custom alerts
• Automatic intelligence alerts
• Creating custom alerts
• Creating a sustainable web analytics strategy
• The role of governance and measurement
• Re-evaluating website goals and KPIs
• Building a data-informed culture

One-Day Cost (Google Analytics 101 or 201): $400
Two-Day Cost (Google Analytics 101 & 201): $600

Workshops run from 9:00-4:00 daily (lunch is provided).

Upon sign-up, you will receive a confirmation email with all details.

For additional questions, please email Ann Oleson at ann@convergeconsulting.org

Sign-Up Here to Attend in Chicago on October 25 & 26

Massachusetts Hall, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

According to an April 2, 2012 Deutsche Bank report on online education, diversification of marketing channels in terms of recruiting new students reduces financial risk. Maintaining a balance among referrals, corporate channels, community colleges, military, traditional media, inbound organic search, and purchased leads was cited in the report as essential to reducing volatility. Analysts perceived 10% to 25% exposure to purchased leads as a safe percentage while they viewed exposure of 50% or more as risky. The higher the exposure to purchased leads,  the more difficult it becomes for a university to control its destiny.

Traditional schools need to pay close attention to these analyses and spend wisely so that recent improvements in market share versus online schools continue. These brick-and-mortar institutions need to take control of their recruiting processes in a way that minimizes overexposure and maximizes brand recognition. Many analysts feel that brand recognition is one of the key drivers behind recent gains in market share for traditional colleges and universities.

One of the keys to effective marketing is the ability to track and measure expenditures across channels at the campaign level and in real time. The web should serve as the hub of a school’s marketing efforts. Creating segmented campaigns with unique landing pages and inserting QR codes on mailed pieces that are intended to drive recipients to the web are two methods that can help institutions start to track and measure marketing expenditures more effectively and efficiently. Similarly, utilizing email applications to track clickthrough and open rates as well as driving people to an institutional web site via social media channels enable more robust campaigns in terms of channel utilization, management, and analysis.

Diversifying the marketing mix, leveraging brand recognition, understanding ROI per channel and per campaign, these are the ways to:

• Attract more visitors
• Attract the right visitors
• Control user experience once prospects land on your site
• Measure your marketing across campaigns and channels
• Continue what is working
• Discontinue what isn’t working

Among the three donor persona segments (Champions, Friends, and Acquaintances), Friends are the most philanthropic in an overall sense. Unfortunately for colleges and universities, Friends tend to be more committed to donating to other organizations which they support. Thus, their alma maters are not their top philanthropic priorities.

In terms of motivation to give, Friends tend to donate out of  a sense of obligation whereas Champions donate out of a sense of passion. Where Champions tend to value the benefits and recognition associated with donating, Friends don’t care about seeing their name on a brick or about peer recognition associated with their giving. They would rather receive a thank you note from a Dean for their financial support.

Despite the fact that Friends are philanthropic in nature and supporters of their alma maters, 56% of them have never donated to their colleges and universities. Furthermore, only 7% of Friends’ total philanthropic donations are allocated to their alma maters. On average, the Friends who do give donate an average of $197 per year. 24% of Friends gave to their alma maters within the last twelve months.

In our national study of donor motivation, Friends were the largest segment, totaling 36% of the 2050 respondents. Clearly, the Friend segment represents an enormous opportunity for colleges and universities in terms of fostering engagement and giving. In terms of communicating with Friends, messages should focus on ways that the institution is making a difference in the community and in the world. Messages and appeals targeted toward Friends should highlight programs that help the homeless and faculty who are working on cures for cancer. Overall, Friends want to see how their alma maters are working to solve the big problems related to health and human welfare.

To learn more about the Friend segment as well as Champions and Acquaintances, please download the following white paper.

Although specific social media applications have different followings in terms of demographics and are used to communicate for different reasons, the fact is that social media has tremendous implications for our personal and professional lives. If you think that Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin have zero business value for you and your institution, you might want to reevaluate your position. Not only does social media need to be a part of your college/university’s marketing plan, but it needs to be approached thoughtfully, strategically, and systematically.

It is critical to follow trends in usage, demographics, and popularity to understand where your prospective students are spending their time online. Take a look at the following graphics that present statistics pertaining to Facebook and Twitter:

Are you currently conducting social media listening? If so,  how are you doing it?