Designing an Unforgettable Student Experience - Live From The Engage Summit

Full Transcript

[00:00:00] Zach Busekrus: Hey everybody. Zach here from Enroll fi. So a couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend Element 4 51 s Engage Summit, which was a remarkable event that brought innovative higher ed marketing and enrollment leaders together to have in-depth conversations about the future of marketing, recruitment and retention.

[00:00:18] The entire event was a true class act, and I had the opportunity to sit down with some of the speakers from the summit for 10 to 15 minute recaps of their sessions. So over the next few weeks on the pod feed, you'll get a behind the scenes Listen to some of the greatest hits from this event. Be sure to check out the show notes for links to the full presentation slide decks from this event, as well as video recordings of.

[00:00:42] Each session. Also, if you are in the market for a new higher ed crm, I'd strongly recommend you give Element 4 51 a serious look. One of the things I like to say is that if Slate and HubSpot had a baby, it'd be Element 4 51. I've never seen an ed tech company [00:01:00] innovate so quickly and so intelligently, so be sure to ask the Element 4 51 team for a demo of how they are incorporating AI into.

[00:01:09] Each of their products. When you get that demo, go ahead and request it at Element four 50 one.com. Be sure to check out Bolt Bot. It is freaking incredible. I got a sneak peek of it at the Engage Summit and oh my gosh, the, it's just, it's just unbelievable. You can create com flows in seconds. It's truly remarkable.

[00:01:26] So enjoy this mini series and when you do get a demo of Element, be sure to tell them that Zach and your friends at Enroll Fi sent you their way. Alright guys, enjoy. These session recaps from the Engage Summit.[00:02:00] 

[00:02:04] All right, Allison, we are recording live from the Engage Summit produced by our friends at Element 4 51. You are fresh off a presentation. Well done. It was exceptional. 

[00:02:15] Allison Turcio: Thank you. It's so fun. I was so excited that they asked us to present and this is a great conference. Yeah, really 

[00:02:22] Zach Busekrus: cool. Yeah. Yeah, I was, uh, I was talking to some folks too.

[00:02:25] Earlier, and I'm, I'm like, they paid such great attention to sort of the hospitality component of it almost. Yes. Like the aesthetic of the actual place. The content's been really good, which is always the case at these events. And um, yeah, they, they crush it. More people should, you know, come to this and I'm surprised.

[00:02:43] I think they're gonna have to pick a bigger venue 

[00:02:45] Allison Turcio: next year. Oh. I don't think they're gonna fit here next year. Even though it's a great venue. So you're almost don't want it to get here. I know. Cause it's a really cool spot that they chose and how they did the setup, but I can't imagine it won't grow because they're doing such a great job.

[00:02:56] Zach Busekrus: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I, I wanted to talk to you [00:03:00] just quickly here. These are, we're doing these like fire. 10, 15 minute podcast kind of recaps. And, um, we can talk a little bit about your session, but selfishly, cuz we don't get a lot of in person time, I, uh, I wanted to just chat with you about how you ran marketing over the last year.

[00:03:17] Things that you've learned, how you're thinking about marketing for this next academic year. I mean, we're, you know, July 1st is by the time this podcast airs right? It'll, it'll, yeah. July 1st. Um, and you know, the fall is quickly approaching. So take us back to an experiment that you ran or a campaign that you tested out this year that worked really well that you are absolutely going to implement, if not exactly close to it in.

[00:03:46] Allison Turcio: Yeah, so at Sienna we have something called the Sienna Guarantee. Okay. And the Sienna guarantee is at least $57,000 in scholarships. And we often lead with that in advertising because we're addressing the number one thing that [00:04:00] everyone's worried about. Yeah. Number one, pain points. So, might as well just talk up, talk about costs right up front.

[00:04:04] Um, we guarantee that you'll graduate in four years, or we'll pay for the rest of your degree. Wow. We, um, guarantee a custom career experience for the student, whatever they wanna do that gets them on their career path. And so on the scholarship piece, what we, one of the tests we ran this year is, An emotional, more of an emotional ad that was sort of students talking about what Sienna did and meant to them.

[00:04:31] Okay. Versus the very rational of $57,000 scholarship guarantee. Yeah. Yeah. Interesting finding is that, um, the engagement and the clickthrough rate on the emotional one was higher. Okay. But the other ad. The guarantee ad pulled more FAFSA filers through. Interesting. Okay. So I think we learned something there that when you're at the be more at the beginning, you've got to adjust that [00:05:00] pain point.

[00:05:00] Yeah. It's what gets it into their head and it has more pull through. Yeah. But the emotional, and I suspect. We're still diving into the data, but I suspect that the emotional one resonated with the true believers that were in the pool. Yeah. And they got more interest, more interested, but the guarantee drives people who are on the fence Yeah.

[00:05:22] And pulls them through. So finding the balance between those two things. Yeah. Because we know that. College is a mix decision. Yeah. It's rational and emotional, so finding the balance of the right audience at the right time between those two things will be something that we implement this year. 

[00:05:40] Zach Busekrus: Yeah, yeah.

[00:05:41] And you know, and maybe it is just a seasonality thing. Like you run the more emotional, uh, uh, ad upfront for, you know, the first few months, and then when decision time rolls around you, you get, you know, practical and, and, and, or it's inverted. Right. 

[00:05:56] Allison Turcio: What you guys end up saying by audience, there might be a way for us to [00:06:00] have an understanding of.

[00:06:01] Who is already has a level of interest in the college and who is more of a fence sitter. Yeah. And, and think about those audiences in a more discerning and separate way. 

[00:06:12] Zach Busekrus: Yeah. Yeah. I love that. That's a, that's a very, very good example. Okay. On the, uh, the counter, right. What is, uh, what's something that you did this year in the team this year?

[00:06:22] You don't think you'll be replicating it next year and why? 

[00:06:26] Allison Turcio: So last year we ran, um, what we called, uh, summer Application Bootcamp. College Application Bootcamp. Okay. Which we had more 900 students sign up for. We ran it for two weeks. We did two live sessions with students on content. That was just helpful.

[00:06:41] Was none of this, by the way, was about Sienna. This was just about helping them get set up Okay. For the college admissions process and lower stress going into senior year, you know, take care of some of the stuff earlier on. Um, it lined up when the common app opened so that we actually helped them fill out their common app, had them all set up.

[00:06:56] We did essay reviews, all the, all this sort of stuff. And [00:07:00] that had a great application rate to Sienna, although we never talked about Sienna. It was over, it was around 50% that they applied content marketing in its purest form right there. It was content marketing and it was really, we were also trying to help with access and equity.

[00:07:14] We were trying to. Provide resources perhaps to school districts that don't have the school counseling resources that others do and try to fill in. Yeah. What some of those college admissions, um, information gap might be. So great on the digital side, we had added an in-person component at the end, like a celebration for having done this.

[00:07:35] Okay. And all this, we had so many people sign up and had a very bad show rate. Wow. So what we learned from that is that was value added. Hmm. They didn't need it cause they already got the value. Yeah. Interesting. And so that's something that we learned and didn't, but you know, the thing about us is we're not afraid to try.

[00:07:54] Yeah. We put it out there, we totally failed. Actually, the people who did come, they, uh, put [00:08:00] through to the college and enrolled at a really high rate. So it was still good for the small audience, but we had planned for a large event. Yeah. And sort of had to scale it down as we were going. The admissions team, they were brilliant.

[00:08:10] They made modifications sort of as, as on the fly as we were going, but it wasn't, there wasn't the roi. Yeah, yeah. It wasn't worth it. So they had already consumed the value and gotten what they needed from us. Yeah. And. They applied. Yeah. And so you didn't need the other, it was like he didn't need the extra, we were trying to add on the extra and, and in service of Yeah.

[00:08:31] The students and their families, but they didn't need it. Yeah. So I don't know how else we would've known in advance that we, that, that they didn't need it. But now we know. Yeah. So we won't do that again. You have to just kind of be attuned to that. Yeah, 

[00:08:43] Zach Busekrus: no, I am that, that is such a good example and it's important that you obviously continue testing.

[00:08:49] And I, what I love about that example in particular is I think sometimes, The, the temptation is we have to just do more. Right. Like, and, and you, you went in thinking you needed to do this, right? Yeah. Like this was, this [00:09:00] was obviously gonna be like super, super valuable and as you just said, they, they didn't need it.

[00:09:05] Right. So like, sometimes enough is enough, right? Yeah. And, and that's, that's should be encouraged everyone to 

[00:09:11] Allison Turcio: Yeah. That you, you can find just, just the right amount. Yeah. That's helpful to someone or needed by someone. You don't have to do more. And that helps us. We're all, none of us are working with all the resources we wish we had.

[00:09:22] So when you learn things like this, it helps you optimize those resources too. So, good lessons 

[00:09:26] Zach Busekrus: learned. Yeah. Yeah. I love it. Um, I wanna talk just a little bit about the presentation that you and the team just, and, um, it, you know, we, we had our key, we had a keynote speaker this morning that was talking about sort of what I would categorize as like over spectacle like marketing, right?

[00:09:41] Where like, You have, you know, a, a massive Eminem in the, in the shape of Lady Liberty, like, you know, being, being literally like pulled by the Statue of Liberty, right? You know, this, this gentleman like, worked with some of the most well known brands on some of the most comprehensive, like [00:10:00] huge campaigns essentially.

[00:10:01] And then you guys talked about this, but I would consider relatively like over the top campaign. I don't even know if you would've categorized it as that, that you ran. Um, in, in response to, I think it was the largest gift that Sienna had had ever received. Yeah. Can you, can you just tell us a little bit about that 

[00:10:17] Allison Turcio: story?

[00:10:18] Yeah. So the story behind that is we received a 35 million gift, which is by far the largest that college r I'm, I'm not sure about all colleges r i, but I think it's size. It's very rare. Yeah. Yeah. That we would receive a gift like this. And it's for a science expansion and we, it's such a great story to tell and such a proud moment for the college.

[00:10:38] We wanted to make it an experience in a moment that everyone in the community could feel good about. Yeah. But if we, we knew that if we just did the normal like press conference Yeah. Announced this donor that. That's not gonna serve our community, that's not gonna get the students and the faculty and everybody out to feel in this moment.

[00:10:56] Yeah. So what we did is we had this giant gift [00:11:00] box bill. It was around Christmas time. So we had this big giant gift box bill in our brand colors, put it out on the academic quad and we put, do not open until, I think it was December 14th. Yeah. And um, And also at the time that we knew this donor was happening, we knew that we were getting a live mascot.

[00:11:15] St. Bernard. His name is Balu, like from the Jungle Book. Okay. Balu. B A l o o. Because I've had people ask me, why is your, um, mascot called blue when you're green and gold? No, it's not blue. It's bolo Balu. Yeah. Yeah. But so, so we kind of combined to make this big moment of the announcement of Ballou and the big gift.

[00:11:33] And so we. We got attention by putting that box out there. The students I would crack up because I knew what was the, actually there was nothing in the box until that. Yeah, just before the event. Yeah. But I, walking across campus would hear them walk by. I'm like, and they're talking about what it would be.

[00:11:48] We took guesses via email about what they thought was in it and everything. Um, so when, when we opened the box, I actually ended up being in the box cause the owner got sick [00:12:00] that day. Oh no. And like that, Can you imagine if we, if the dog was not in the, we were like, what else could be in this box? So, um, I was in the box with the dog and took the, took the dog out.

[00:12:10] Um, so, but it was all, the whole idea was painting this experiential moment, um, for our community that they could, so they could feel good. Yeah, yeah. About being part of Sienna. Yeah, that's what it was. It was about feelings. 

[00:12:23] Zach Busekrus: Yeah. Yeah. And I would imagine, I mean, like, what, what I loved about the story in particular was, I'm sure you guys drew way more attention, and I'm sure students were, I'm sure taking, you know, photos of this box.

[00:12:34] It was all over their social media. I mean, in terms of just impressions and like buzz that you generated Yeah. Versus it being like, I. You know, a, a headline in the local newspapers, college gets 35 million gift, right? Like, and no one, no one cares, or, you know, very few pay attention to it. It's such a, it's such, it's something that like every school in some way, shape or form gets donations, right?

[00:12:53] Um, and capitalizing them on, capitalizing on that as like a [00:13:00] moment for community and a moment to attract press, uh, maybe even more press than you would have got otherwise is, is just a phenomenal thing. Like, and it's. It's relatively simple. You guys built this really huge present. It's 

[00:13:13] Allison Turcio: simple. It's honestly just thinking about it differently.

[00:13:16] It's just adopting a different mindset. Yeah. Yeah. It, the execution was not nothing special. 

[00:13:21] Zach Busekrus: Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's such a, such a great story. Um, Well, my, my last question for you, Allison, is, is really around, just as you think about yourself as a, as a hired marketing leader, and you think about the, the next year, the next even couple years, like what are some things that are for you?

[00:13:38] Like what are you paying attention to? How are you challenging yourself to, to grow as a marketer in the next couple years? 

[00:13:46] Allison Turcio: Well, I'm definitely paying attention to ai Yeah. And all that that can do for us and all that that means for us. And in terms of growth. Honestly, I feel so lucky that I host the application podcast because that's my growth.

[00:13:59] Hmm. [00:14:00] They having these guests on that tell their stories and share all that they've learned, I learned, yeah. So much from that. And, um, that made me, actually, I just started, I. I haven't even sent the first one out yet, but I started collecting subscribers for a newsletter I'm gonna put out that's called the Higher Ed Marketers Digest.

[00:14:15] And it's literally love it. Just a curation, a collection, because there's a lot of people putting out great information, great content that we can all learn from. Yeah. But all in different places. Yeah. So all I'm trying to do is do put it in one email so it's easy for people. Bullet points, probably. Yes.

[00:14:29] And then they can click through the right things. So I just try to learn from all of you who are listening here. I think we all have so much to learn from each other, and it's together that we can come together as an industry and make a difference. We have a lot of headwinds Yeah. Yeah. In this industry.

[00:14:45] So we cannot do this alone. Yeah. We have to come together, um, and make a stand for higher ed, and then make a stand for access and equity and together is how we're gonna do it. Oh, 

[00:14:54] Zach Busekrus: I, I love it. You're. You're, you're so concise with your words in like, the best possible way, Allison. That's [00:15:00] one of the things I actually like, really admire of you as a, as a very word person.

[00:15:04] I, I admire people that are really good at like, packing in value into, into short punches like that. So, so well said. Thank 

[00:15:11] Allison Turcio: you. I don't think I've ever had anyone say that to me, but I'm being concerned. No, it's, 

[00:15:16] Zach Busekrus: it's truth. It's the truth. Um, well folks, thanks for, uh, tuning into this quick little chat here.

[00:15:20] Again, this is part of the. Little recap series that we're doing on the summit powered by our friends at Element 4 51. And if you aren't already listening to Allison's podcast application, it's part of the Enroll five podcast network. You should absolutely go give it a listen. She brings on great guests, brings that same, you know, concise, value packed approach to her interviews.

[00:15:40] So we'll be sure to link that episode or that, uh, a link to the show in the show notes below. But Allison, thanks so much for, for your time. Thanks for coming to this event. Thanks for being here. Thanks Zach. Thanks for 

[00:15:50] Allison Turcio: sharing. This was my first time meeting Zach in person, everyone, so this has been really fun.

[00:15:54] Yeah, thanks for 

[00:15:55] Zach Busekrus: having me. She's even cooler in person than she is on Zoom guys, believe it or not. [00:16:00] Uh, thanks for your time, Allison.

[00:16:08] Hey y'all. Zach here from Enroll Fi. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Enroll Fify podcast. If you like this episode, do us a huge favor and hit that follow and subscribe button below. Furthermore, if you've got just two minutes to spare, we would greatly appreciate you reading a rating and a review of this show on Apple Podcasts.

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