There’s no doubt about it that mobile apps have transformed the digital landscape, offering consumers ease of access to all the information they need on their portable devices. However, as we delve further into technological advancements, it’s not enough for universities to simply present what they offer. Universities need to understand their students, engage with them, inspire them, collaborate with them. The best way to achieve these goals is to make use of app analytics in order to deliver targeted marketing that is personal to each individual user.

What is mobile analytics?

Mobile analytics track the behaviour of users, identifies their unique preferences and records what features of the app that they do and do not engage with. Having data behind a marketing plan is almost always essential in order to systematically plan the trajectory of your marketing strategy and indicate areas where users need to be targeted.

What mistakes are universities making to track leads?

Currently, most universities are using out-dated methods to monitor leads. When prospects request a brochure or start an application, universities may ask for details such as course preference and contact details so that they can create a channel for communication. However, after this first stage, leads often get lost; universities do not know if the applicant has decided to choose another university, why an applicant has started and not completed an application and so on. These current tools do not provide the maximum return on investment in marketing.

However, the intervention of a mobile app would allow for acute assessment of prospects’ behaviour at every stage of their application journey through app analytics. This data would take marketing personalisation to the next level as it can indicate the likelihood of conversion for each prospect, allowing universities to focus on the leads that adhere to the level of quality they are looking for.

How can universities implement app analytics to improve their marketing strategy?

Student profiling to drive customer-focused marketing:

On their personal profiles, students input information about themselves which will serve as a useful personalisation tool for marketers. Information such as course preferences, geographical location and previous qualifications allows marketers to streamline information that they send to prospects so that it is relevant and of interest to them. For example, universities can push notifications straight to their mobile devices to update prospects on critical dates, nearby events and deadlines – a personal and localised timeline built around what they specifically want. Apptentive highlight that customer-targeted push messages delivered to specific people can make app open rates double in a short amount of time and can convert up to three times better than generic push messages.

Pre-assessment can increase the likelihood of selecting the best quality students:

Universities are always aspiring to convince quality students to enrol within their programme as it has a vast effect on the reputation of the university, ranking, and additional funding, boosting their revenues. Analytics can be used to assess which candidates match eligibility and can categorise them into different levels of quality (e.g. outstanding or borderline).

Knowing which leads match their needs the most will help universities to recruit the top of the top by adding another filter to their recruitment process, elevating the value of the institution’s offerings.

Tracking app engagement is conducive towards ROI:

App analytics offer insight into the patterns of behaviour of users, such as how long visitors typically stay, what features visitors interact with and what factors lead to higher usage and long-term retention. Nucleus Research found that analytics and business intelligence solutions deliver, on average, $13.01 for every dollar spent. Nina Sandy, a Nucleus Research analyst, has stated that “companies don’t have the luxury anymore to wait weeks for reports on the profitability of business decisions in increasingly fast paced markets.”

It’s clear that universities can’t rely on generic marketing models in hope of acquiring the best candidates. Monitoring which students are spending the most time browsing through an institution’s offerings reveals who has a high conversion rate, and therefore, who is worth investing time and money into. Having a clear view KPIs, metrics and key data points can aid universities in narrowing their focus to maximise their profitability.

At Proodle Solutions, we understand the value that app analytics have in providing better insights into user activity, which is why we have developed an application designed to help university marketing teams refine marketing strategies to enhance business outcomes.

If you would like to know more about how Proodle can digitally influence your international recruitment efforts, email us at [email protected] or give us a call on +447776557159