Why are some universities seeing enrollment growth in 2024, while many continue to face declines? For those on the rise, the key often lies in the successful execution of higher education marketing strategies. Most institutions have adopted advanced student recruitment tactics, supported by multichannel digital marketing and robust student information systems. But if everyone has access to the same data types and uses the same marketing tools, why do some succeed while others lag?
The Data Disconnect
To better understand this divide, Everspring surveyed higher education marketing leaders to measure their marketing technology usage and the challenges they face. The results were telling. While over 84% of universities use enrollment management technologies—such as CRM platforms, marketing automation, and web analytics—the vast majority are unable to extract meaningful insights. More than 70% have not integrated these systems, leading to data silos, missed opportunities to improve performance, and disconnected teams working with data sets that tell an incomplete story.
The Cost of Disconnected Data
Data fragmentation leads to missed enrollment and recruitment opportunities, impacts the ability to enhance student success and retention, and ultimately has a significant financial impact. The student journey is complex with dozens of touchpoints, all of which higher education marketing teams are (or should be) collecting data from:
- Web Search
- Social Media
- Paid Ads
- Website
- Events
- Communication with Admission Advisors
- Application
- Financial Aid
If the data gathered across the student journey is not integrated, it’s likely that resources will be misallocated and opportunities to optimize the entire student lifecycle will be missed. A classic example of the impact of disconnected data is not tracking leads through to enrollments as described in the below scenario:
Marketing’s job is to drive leads as efficiently as possible, so they allocate more budget to the channels generating leads at the lowest acquisition cost. Data shows Facebook campaigns generate $100 leads, while LinkedIn leads have a $200 cost per acquisition (CPA). Marketing shifts more budget to Facebook, celebrating the high lead volume.
What they miss, due to lack of integrated data, is that LinkedIn leads have a 10% conversion rate to enrolled students (1 out of 10), while Facebook leads convert at just 4% (1 out of 25). Due to the uninformed budget allocation, the university pays $2,500 per enrolled student from Facebook leads, compared to what would be just $2,000 from LinkedIn, wasting both money and the enrollment team's time on recruits who had a lower probability of becoming students.
The same problem of disconnected data extends beyond enrollment and into student success and retention efforts. Student information systems gather a wealth of data that, when fully integrated, can offer powerful insights. For instance, by correlating academic performance, engagement, and attendance data, schools can proactively identify students at risk of dropping out. With this early warning, advisors can intervene before it's too late, increasing the likelihood of graduation and boosting overall retention rates. Without an integrated approach, universities miss critical opportunities to enhance student outcomes and, ultimately, their financial stability.
A Path Forward: Data Integration
The benefits of data integration include enhanced decision making, improved operational efficiency, and increased student engagement. With connected data, higher education leaders can answer key questions such as:
- What is my ad cost per applicant?
- Which specific campaigns, channels, and audiences yield the most students?
- Are my leads progressing through the marketing funnel?
- Am I targeting the right audience?
- Am I on track to meet my enrollment goals?
If you can't easily access up-to-date data from across your entire marketing ecosystem to address these questions, it's a sign your data is likely siloed.
Strategies to Overcome Data Silos
Many schools are data-rich but insight-poor due to disconnected systems. To bridge this gap, schools can integrate data by using unique identifiers that link information across platforms, providing a unified view. But once the data is connected, what can you do with it?
- Create Integrated Dashboards: Consolidate data from different systems into a single dashboard for a holistic view of recruiting performance.
- Performance Benchmarking: Track key metrics at each stage of the marketing funnel (i.e., discovery, application submitted, admission offered, enrolled) against time-based targets to ensure you're on track to meet enrollment goals.
- Budget Optimization: Identify which campaigns drive the best results by analyzing the entire student journey. This enables more informed, data-driven decisions, ensuring you’re using budget efficiently.
Integrated data empowers optimization, enabling you to allocate both budget and human resources where they will have the greatest impact. Take the Facebook versus LinkedIn ad example: Without integrated enrollment data, the team was wasting time engaging with 25 Facebook leads to secure just one student, when they could have achieved the same result by focusing on just 10 LinkedIn leads. With a fully integrated system, marketing and enrollment teams can make smarter decisions, streamline their efforts, and ultimately improve both efficiency and outcomes.
Conclusion
Our recent higher ed martech trends survey shows that while schools are investing heavily in ad platforms, CRMs, and other marketing technologies, many are still missing the full picture. Without connecting data across platforms, institutions are making decisions in silos, risking wasted financial and human resources.
For higher education marketing teams, integrating data isn’t just a competitive advantage—it’s a necessity. Without it, you may find yourself spinning your wheels, unable to truly optimize performance or uncover key trends. Connected data enables you to align your efforts across platforms, guiding ideal recruits effectively through the enrollment process.
Don't let your data work against you. Download Everspring’s HigherEd MarTech Trend Report to see how your institution compares, and start leveraging data integration to drive real results.