Imagine a mid-size, private university, call it Opportunity University, gearing up for a recruitment push in Vietnam – a new target market for the institution. Excited by the potential and the green light from the provost, the nimble international recruitment team of two assembles a marketing campaign targeting what they assume to be their typical international prospects: high school students motivated to get a liberal arts education at a US institution that will lead to future career success.
The standard international student profile, right? (Wrong, but we’ll get to that.) Running on a tight budget and timeline, they repurposed a campaign strategy that had previously proven successful with the Indian market (a dominant source of students for their computer science graduate programs). The response, however, was not what they had hoped.
The errors of this somewhat exaggerated story highlight a critical marketing misstep: relying on shallow persona development. Not thinking this stuff through can lead to serious marketing misses. Anyone who takes a simple bullet list of traits and runs with it (high school student, career-minded, uses WhatsApp, seeking international education) is not taking their role as marketer seriously.
Personas often get a bad rap from jaded marketers who have seen the process based on simplistic stereotypes and then relied on as a holy grail. We hear you! We are not seeking Hollywood stereotypes here.
But well considered personas do align your broader marketing team so that your communications speak with a consistent integrity to each potential student segment. Well-crafted personas are all about internal team alignment around a common voice and marketing approach.
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Unlike the fictitious Opportunity University, institutions that think critically and dive deep into student persona analysis understand that the development of multidimensional profiles is foundational to successful student recruitment strategies. They get that personas, when thoughtfully crafted, can anchor the entire marketing team around a coherent, effective, audience-centered strategy. It’s a north star for guiding marketing tactic selection, content development, design, student interactions, and marketing execution which includes selecting recruitment channels.
The process of creating marketing personas itself helps dissect the complex student decision-making process by considering the target audience’s lifestyle, challenges, media consumption habits, and underlying motivations. It is so much more than a surface demographic dig. What you uncover during the process can lead to really compelling marketing that will resonate with your prospects because you will have firm insights into their mindset, influencers, and ultimately, their choices.
On more than one occasion we’ve seen the persona discovery process actually lead to market retreat because the more intimate understanding made it clear the audience and programs on offer weren’t a good fit after all. Better to find out in the early stages than committing to a no-win grind. A sort of check and balance of your strategy.
Complex persona development is the kind of thing large consumer packaging companies are so good at. During one of our internal innovation sessions the Intead team got into a discussion about how understanding your audience plays out. One quick case study was P&G’s “Thank You, Mom” campaign from the 2012 Olympics (London). If you don’t recall what we’re talking about, see the link below. Let us know your reaction. Tip: grab tissues first.
So much emotion, and yet, all they were selling was laundry detergent and other basic goods. They knew exactly who their target audience was and why they used their products. And no, it wasn’t to simply keep clothes clean. The tagline lays it out, "It takes someone strong to make someone strong. Thank you, Mom." Suddenly, I have this urge to buy Tide. But I digress…
The lesson here is the student journey to your institution is so much more complex and life altering. Just imagine what a thoughtful, well-understood persona could do for your student recruitment. Read on for our tips (pass them on to your team) …
What Exactly is a Persona?
We actually get a version of this question a lot. A persona is a profile of an imaginary individual that encapsulates the demographic and psychographic characteristics of a distinct, and hopefully dominant, segment of your target audience. Institutions typically have a number of personas that represent different audiences, often segmented by country, academic level and interest, economic capacity, etc. You can create personas based on existing students and alumni and their parents and primary influencers. You then apply that perspective to marketing to your prospective students. Done right, it keeps all of your communications to each student segment on task.
Simple example: Your Saudi Arabian prospective student does not receive the email content playing off a Valentine's day theme designed for your US prospective students.
Dive deeper into the basics of persona development here.
Putting Personas to Work
Developing student personas for edu marketing is a proven strategy for enhancing enrollment marketing efforts and can significantly improve engagement, content customization, and ultimately, enrollment conversions. Various studies have shown as much. A few stats for the data-minded:
- The use of marketing personas can make websites 2-5 times more effective for users (HubSpot)
- 71% of companies that exceed lead goals have documented personas – that’s compared to 37% that meet goals and 26% who miss them. (Cintell)
- 56% of companies generated higher quality leads using personas (Marketing Insider Group)
- 82% of marketers who build buyer personas improve their value proposition more effectively (ITSMA)
A few stats to help you convey the value to the data minded (colleague, provost, etc.). Here's the thing: the real power in personas is in how you put them to work. A few ideas follow.
Your goal: enhanced content customization
How personas help: Personas help you tailor your content. Everything from website copy (landing pages) and social media messages to webinar and lead magnet topics can take their lead from well-crafted personas to speak more directly to the motivations and concerns of the group you’re trying to influence. This level of customization makes the content more relevant and engaging, making it more likely for your audience to take the desired action. Plus, it will guide you to the correct social and chat-based platforms for your varying audiences.
An example: Your persona research shows the ideal prospect in your target country of Brazil speaks English as a second language, is independent, a recent high school graduate, entrepreneurial-minded, is adventurous, prefers Instagram and WhatsApp, is interested in business, has financial capacity but will feel pride if offered a merit scholarship. You see a strong desire for personal achievement, independence, and confidence in social settings. You use this information to inform every decision, from ad images, download offers, webinars, nurture emails, and chat group topics, all designed to engage and build connections.
Your goal: Improve engagement and conversion rates
How personas help: Your aim: "You had me at hello" (cue: Renee Zellweger).
Look, if you don’t really know who it is you’re talking to, why should they listen? Well-researched personas help you cut through the surface-level introductions and speak directly to their aspirations or pain points. When you do this, you are much more likely to build rapport with prospective students and their families.
Your goal: Student-driven decision-making
How personas help: Persona development is not just about improving immediate enrollment numbers (though that may be your priority). Personas also foster a deeper understanding of student needs which smart universities will use for marketing but also help inform programs and services that help both recruitment and retention (read this as student success).
An example: You’ve found that many of your prospective graduate students bring a spouse and young child and this information is part of your student persona. Your recruitment marketing team incorporates into their communications a series of supportive images of families and mentions your campus childcare options including your undergraduate babysitting network. Less content about the oh-so-fun nightlife and more about taking care of family responsibilities while getting a degree. (And maybe a hint that there is a social life here ; -)
Investing in Persona Development
Persona development feeds the heart and soul of your marketing strategy. And, tempting as it might be to dust off an old campaign and put it into action for a new (and different) market, don’t do it. It was developed for people who are experiencing entirely different circumstances.
What works? Digging into persona discovery with an experienced team who gets it. Be in touch: info@intead.com.
And if you want to see the 2-minute P&G 2012 Olympics commercial click HERE. (Trust us, you do! And then share a heartfelt thank you to your mom wherever she may be.)
