Marketing Distance Education in the U'S'

1
Marketing Distance Education in the U.S.
May 25th, 2007 Cor Vink, President and
CEO Ashworth University
1 of 28
2
Chinas Top 25
The 25 of the population in China with the
highest IQ is greater than what of the North
American population?
B. Total population

• Top 25 of the population
• Total population

2 of 28
3
U.S. Education Spend
Nintendo invested 140 million in research and
development in 2002. How much did the U.S.
federal government spend on research and
innovation in education?
A. Less (than half!)

• Less
• More

3 of 28
4
Baby Boom?
During the course of this presentation 60 babies
will be born in the U.S. How many babies will be
born in India?
B. 351

• 127
• 351

4 of 28
5
Largest English Speakers
What country is the number one English-speaking
country in the world?
B. China

• India
• China

5 of 28
6
2010
The top 10 jobs in 2010 didnt exist in 2004.
Former U.S. Secretary of Education Richard
Riley.
6 of 28
7
Outdated Material
Half of what students learn in their first year
of study will be outdated by their third year of
study.
7 of 28
8
Student Preparation?

• We are currently preparing students for
• Jobs that dont yet exist
• Technologies that havent been invented
• Solving problems that dont exist today

8 of 28
9
Who is ?
investment

• Nationally accredited correspondence and online
  learning company established in 1987
• Formerly
• Affiliates
• Offer the following types of education
• Career Diplomas
• Associate/Masters Degrees
• High School Diploma

9 of 28
10
Who is ?
74 Programs 400 Courses 150,000 active
students 10,000 monthly enrollments 1,700
monthly graduates
10 of 28
11
Who are the distance learners?

• 61 Female
• 25.7 average age
• 30,000 average
• income

11 of 28
12
The Hispanic Market

• 52 of Hispanic
• immigrants have
• less than a high
• school education
• U.S. Hispanics
• will increase
• 63 by 2020
• 12 million U.S.
• illegals will
• become legal

12 of 28
13
The Military Market

• Government
• pays up to
• 4,500 each year
• Active duty,
• Reserves and
• Veterans
• Half a billion dollars
• spent each year for
• 1.4 million active
• military

13 of 28
14
The 50 Market

• By 2010, 1/3 of the
• workers in the U.S. will
• be over the age of 50
• There are 77 million
• U.S. Baby Boomers
• who will soon be 50
• Andthey are Internet
• savvy

14 of 28
15
The International Market
15 of 28
16
The International Market

• 500,000 International students in the U.S.
• India (13), China (11)

16 of 28
17
U.S. Marketing for Distance Education
For-Profit marketing leans heavily on Internet
and Internet Search terms.
49 Internet 12 Internet Search 32 TV 7
Other Just under 50 of tuition fees is spent on
marketing, promotion and admissions.
17 of 28
18
Internet Marketing

• Methods include
• Search engine optimization
• Pay per click advertising
• Banner advertising
• E-mail marketing
• Affiliate marketing
• E-mail viral advertising

18 of 28
19
Search Engine Marketing

• Optimization
• Make improvements to a web site's structure and
  content
• Increase visibility of a website in search
  engines
• Low cost yet high yield
• Pay per click
• Sponsored search engine listings
• Companies bid for higher rankings in search
  results

19 of 28
20
Search Engine Marketing

• Social media
• Place ideas or ads within online communities
  (MySpace, YouTube, etc.)
• Viral marketing
• Video Search Marketing
• Strategically place short video clips on websites
  (YouTube, etc.)
• Picked up by search engine spiders
• Promoted through internal rating systems

20 of 28
21
Should we contact all leads?

• Ashworth receives over 1 million
• leads each year
• The average cost to send
• promotional material per lead
• varies between 2 and 5
• Sending the full line of promotional
• material would be costly
• We need to know which leads will
• most likely convert

21 of 28
22
Modeling
Modeling is the act of analyzing customer
behavior and trying to find commonalities. Modeli
ng is like profiling, but it is action oriented.
e.g. Low converting demographics will be
excluded from higher cost promo. Informed
predictions will be made by use of current and
historical data. This method can also be used
for students.
22 of 28
23
Modeling and Distance Education

• Modeling
• Can predict a student life cycle
• Can segment by
• Program
• Location
• Gender
• Age
• Down Payment
• Enrollment Date

23 of 28
24
Using Modeling to find the Platinum Student

• Who enrolls for the most profitable programs?
• What the lifetime value of a student will be?
• Where the highest quality leads are coming
• from?
• When students are about to stop
• studying/paying?
• How to identify and address servicing issues?
• Which students are most likely to re-enroll?

24 of 28
25
Relationship Marketing

• Relationship Marketing is an
• approach that focuses on developing
• a series of transactions with
• consumers.
• Know the customers needs at each
• point of the life cycle
• Marketing should not end, once the
• enrollment occurs

Source Najmuddin Shaik, Ph.D., Marketing
Distance Learning Programs and Courses A
Relationship Marketing Strategy
25 of 28
26
Examples of Relationship Marketing Media

• Email
• Newsletters
• Instant Messages
• Forums
• Blogs
• Live Chat (Audio/Video/Text)
• Podcasts/Vodcasts
• RSS feeds
• Internet Television

26 of 28
27
Summary

• New markets are emerging in the
• U.S.
• U.S. distance education relies on
• Internet Marketing
• Search optimization is the most
• effective and low cost method
• Student data is at your fingertips

27 of 28
28
Summary

• Using modeling on your leads/students
• is a golden opportunity
• Creating a student profile is just the
• first step
• Knowing students life cycle is
• important
• Engaging and retaining current
• students will provide long term profit

28 of 28