A review of the 2014 E-expectations of High School Seniors and Their Parents as presented at HighEdWeb 2014 on 10/20/14 by Stephanie Geyer (Noel-Levitz) and Lance Merker (OmniUpdate)

1. The E-Expectations of College-Bound
High School Seniors and Their Parents
Stephanie Geyer
@StephGeyer
Vice President
Noel-Levitz
Lance Merker
@LanceMerker
President and CEO
OmniUpdate
#eexpect
Use our hashtag to add your thoughts
to the nationwide conversation!
All material in this presentation, including text and images, is the property of Noel-Levitz, LLC. Permission is required to reproduce information.

2. E-Expectations research
Finding answers since 2005
Visit any partner site to find the latest studies,
including the “2014 E-Expectations Report:
The Online Preferences of College-Bound Seniors
and Their Parents” white paper and trend reports
for our recent international student studies.
See also: 2014 E-Recruiting Practices Report
available at noellevitz.com

3. E-Expectations 2014: Focal points
E-communications
E-communications
resources and preferences
Web
Mobile users and your web
resources
Social
Social media trends and
opportunities

4. Methodology
Telephone survey of 1,001 high school seniors and
533 parents of high school seniors
• Facilitated in March and April 2014
• List source: National Research Center for
College and University Admissions
(NRCCUA)
• 95% confidence interval
• +/- 3% margin of error

5. About the students
1% <C
Gender GPA Parents attended
college
47%
Male
42%
A 33%
No
53%
Female 49%
B
67%
Yes
8% C

6. Students: Ethnicity
2.00%
7%
10%
20%
1%
37%
14%
10%
American Indian
Asian
African-American
Hispanic
Middle Eastern
White
Other/Multi-racial
No response

7. Students: Enrollment stage
Prospects 13%
Inquiries 7%
Applicants 31%
Accepts 49%

8. When was the last time you looked
at a college or university website?
11% 17%
26%
49%
29%
39%
14% 15%
Students Parents
Within past 3 months
Within past month
Within past 7 days
Earlier today

9. E-Expectations 2014: Focal points
E-communications
Resources and preferences
• Interest, influence, and
reliability
− People
• Email
• Text messages
• Paid advertisements

10. 2014 Students 2014 Parents
37.8% 50.5%
62.2%
49.5%
To learn about colleges
and universities, I prefer…
Phone calls and print
materials
Web-based resources
41%
59%
58%
42%
I’m more likely to consider
schools that use…
Traditional communication
Email, texts, or social
media
94.3%
5.6%
89.9%
10.1%
If I have to choose to look at
a school’s website or
Facebook page, I’ll opt for…
Website
Facebook page

11. Interest in communications resources
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Campus
tour
Send email College
fairs
Call
admissions
Ask via
social
Texting IM chats Webcast
event
Webcam
chats
Seniors
2013 Seniors
Parents

12. 80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
College
Web site
Email
messages
from a
specific
college
General
college
planning
site
College
rating sites
College
ranking
magazines
Facebook
posts from
a specific
college
Twitter
posts from
a specific
college
2014 Students 2014 Parents
.edu
Influential resources
in the college search process

13. What resources are most reliable?
College
websites
Email from
colleges
College
planning sites
College social
media assets
97%
85%
80%
53%
97%
81%
78%
49%
89%
75%
62%
41%
Seniors
2013 Seniors
Parents

14. Email
Inbox (6,755)
Starred
Important
Direct Mail
Drafts
► Circles

15. Email use is up!
• 93% of seniors use email at least
once/week compared to 82% of 2013
seniors and 77% of parents
• 98% of students and parents will open
a message from a school they’re
considering
• 60% of students and 43% of parents
will open messages from unknown
schools

16. Two-thirds are checking email on a mobile
device at least once a day
Daily
S: 47%
P: 47%
More than
once/day
S: 19%
P: 18%
Less than
once/month
S: 9%
P: 18%
Few
times/week
S: 14%
P: 10%
Once/week
S: 9%
P: 6%
Few times/month
S: 3%
P: 2%
S – Students
P – Parents

17. What are they doing with your
messages?
Save in
inbox
Place in
folder
Forward
to family
Print Delete Forward
to another
account
83%
43%
23% 21%
13%
10%
75%
49%
40%
34% 33%
16%
Seniors
Parents

18. Paid
Interactive
Marketing
Top Ads by Clicks
2014 E-Recruiting: Using Paid Advertising?
4-year
public
4-year
private
2-year
Pay-per-click ads on search sites like
Google, Bing, or Yahoo
37.2% 32.1% 28.6%
Pay-per-click ads on Facebook 31.0% 35.9% 37.1%

19. Small increase in clicks
31% of students and 19% of parents have clicked on your
paid ads
Google Facebook Other
(not search)
Yahoo Bing Other
(search)
45%
32%
13%
6%
1%
4%
50%
22%
5%
12%
3%
6%
38%
33%
16%
4% 4% 5%
Seniors 2013 Seniors Parents

20. Name recognition garners clicks
Those certain to attend are least likely to look at ads
Recognized
name
Never heard
of it
Might want
to attend
Definitely
want to
attend
55%
19% 17%
10%
44%
23% 26%
8%
Seniors
Parents

21. ROFL!  TTYL Texting

22. 2014
Seniors
YES 52.7%
NO 47.3%
2014
Parents
YES 55.2%
NO 44.8%
Why not?
I don’t want to be bothered
with commercial/ad texts
Texting is for family and
friends only
No data plan
Phone not capable of
texting
Too expensive
Not far enough in my
search
58.7%
26.8%
4.7%
3.9%
2.9%
2.9%
52.3%
34.7%
3.3%
3.8%
2.5%
3.3%
Willing to allow a
college rep to send
you text messages?

23. 2014
Seniors
2014
Parents
Have received a text from:
A school
An individual
Both
Replied to any
message
26.8%
4.7%
3.9%
2.9%
34.7%
3.3%
3.8%
3.3%
Experience with texts
from schools

24. E-Expectations 2014: focal points
Web
Mobile users and your web
resources
• Perceptions
• Content priorities
• Mobile use
• Form use on mobile
devices

25. College sites
make a
difference in my
perceptions
No relationship
between
websites and
perceptions
Quality of
education is
related to
website
experience
No relationship
between
websites and
quality of the
education
67%
33%
59%
41%
69%
31%
57%
44%
59%
41%
59%
41%
Seniors
2013 Seniors
Parents
Website experiences and quality
perceptions

26. 25.0%
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
Academic
program/
major listing
Cost Academic
program/
majors details
First content targets on
college and university websites
Financial aid Scholarships Enrollment/
admissions
information
Housing
details
Students Parents

27. How can you demonstrate value?
Does college
support attainment
of career goals?
Yes:
• 87% students
• 93% parents
Academic
program
content
Testimonials Statistics (job
placement/grad
schools)
Seniors
Parents
Videos Calculators
29%
22%
16%
18%
4%
33%
25%
32%
6%
5%

28. Regular access to a mobile device?
Seniors
2013 Seniors
Parents
90%
78%
81%

29. Smartphones more popular than ever
Smart phone Cell with web
access
Tablet iPod® Touch
67%
14%
8% 5%
48%
21%
6% 8%
50%
12% 13%
3%
Seniors 2013 Seniors Parents

30. Use of mobile devices for web browsing
40%
52%
9%
40%
46%
14%
28%
51%
All the time If no PC available Rarely
20%
Seniors
2013 Seniors
Parents

31. How many have looked at a college site on
a mobile device?
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
71%
69%
45%
Seniors 2013 Seniors Parents

32. What forms have or would students
complete on their mobile devices from
your website?
Cost calculator: 47%
Scholarship estimator: 47%
Information request: 41%
Online application: 40%
Forms they HAVE
completed on a
mobile device
Open house reservation: 57%
Campus visit request: 55%
Information request: 53%
Cost calculator: 53%
Scholarship estimator: 52%
Online application: 38%
Forms they
WOULD complete
on a mobile
device

33. E-Expectations 2014: Focal points
Social
Social media trends and
opportunities
• Use of social media
channels
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Google+

34. 80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Student and parent use of
social media resources
2014 Seniors 2013 Seniors 2014 Parents

35. 100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Institutional use of
social media resources
4-Year Private 4-Year Public 2-Year

36. I don't post frequently, but look at my
newsfeed at least once a day. 24.5% 16.6%
2014
Seniors
2014
Parents
I post comments, photos, videos, or
other content at least a few times a month. 19.7% 16.9%
I post comments, photos, videos, or
other content at least once a week. 16.7% 21.6%
I don't post frequently, but I look at
my newsfeed at least once a week. 15.5% 15.3%
I don't post frequently, but look at my
newsfeed at least a few times a month. 13.3% 11.6%
I post comments, photos, videos, or
other content at least once a day. 10.3% 17.6%
Visited a
college
Facebook
page
51.4%
Clicked
“Like”
35.7%
Visited a
college
Facebook
page
36.3%
Clicked
“Like”
43.1%

37. Twitter use
12% increase in students following college Twitter feeds
• 37% of students follow a Twitter feed from a
college or university (25% in 2013)
• In the 2011 E-Expectations study, just 5% of
parents reported having Twitter feeds, which is
now 15%
o 26% of parents are following college or
university Twitter feeds
40%
Seniors
26%
2013
Seniors
15%
Parents
Overall Twitter Use
E-Recruiting practices:
Who uses Twitter?
68% of 4-year publics
48% of 4-year privates
24% of 2-year institutions

38. Google+ use
More parents than students are adding college pages
• 14% of seniors added pages, down from 17% in
2013 and significantly lower than parents at 25%
• 19% of seniors have participated in Google+
Hangouts compared to 2013 at 13%
31%
Seniors
5%
2013
Seniors
19%
Parents
Google+

39. Recommendations
With your website
as the hub, pilot
new options and
watch data to
sustain existing
resources.
They are using all
of the resources
you offer. Talk
directly to them.
Invite them to
engage in
conversation.
Improving
avenues into your
website increases
opportunities to
engage via all of
your digital
channels.
Don’t settle for
catalog text to
promote your
product. Work on
each program
section carefully
and test!
Balance!
Parents!
SEO
matters
Exceptional
content

40. More recommendations
Web content value
propositions with
email messages,
landing page text,
and social media
posts.
Make sure that
your email
messages and
website perform
beautifully for
mobile users.
Complete the
marketing cycle by
measuring the
success of each
major initiative and
pilot. Integrate
your analytics and
test new ideas.
Explain how you
will use their
personal data. Be
clear on how you
will communicate.
Force a recorded
opt-in for text
users.
Match
Adapt
Measure
and test Respect
their data

41. Questions?

42. Presenter contact information
Stephanie Geyer, Noel-Levitz
• Voice: (303) 594-0370
• Email: stephanie-geyer@noellevitz.com
• @StephGeyer
Lance Merker, OmniUpdate
• Voice: (805) 484-9400
• Email: lance@omniupdate.com
• @LanceMerker