Doug Wotherspoon, Executive Director of Advancement, Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology
Categories
  • Matrix Commerce
  • Technology Optimization & Innovation
The Project

Shifting collegiate demographics, advances in technology and government debt are changing the higher education sector in Canada, and something needed to be done to secure Algonquin College’s place in the industry. Consequently, the college embarked upon a revitalization of its recruitment processes.  It selected Marketo and Salesforce as its key technology anchors to modernize its interaction and communication with prospective students. As a result, Algonquin improved attendance rates, eliminated several labor-intensive processes and lowered the cost of its marketing programs.  The implementation also increased the caliber of the student and had an impact on student retention. 

The Technology

Marketo and Salesforce

Metrics Matter

Formerly, Algonquin’s education model and its recruitment system followed practices that had not fundamentally changed since universities and colleges were established some 500 years ago.  They had been focused on what is called “hope marketing”, using more traditional and expensive marketing efforts such as print ads and billboards.  Before where there were manual, slow and expensive processes, new automations have been built quickly, effectively demonstrating marketing ROI.

  • Adoption & Training: Auto tracking the number of training sessions completed secured 100% participation in training and ever increasing daily login figures. 
  • Lead Acquisition: Leads acquired from online sources has risen by 8.9% over the previous year and also provided in-depth lead detail. 
  • Lead Nurturing: On average the open rate is 23.5% with some individual click through rates over 10%, previously the college was achieving less that the typical B2B average of 2-3%.  Prospective student engagement has soared, as measured by email open and click through rates as well as an overall increase in visitor loyalty of 8.1% over the previous year.  

The shift to “conversion marketing” through the investment in Marketo’s marketing automation not only brought value, but also increased cost savings; saving over $40,000 in cost and allowing resources and staff to be repurposed for higher value projects.

Disruptive Factor

Marketo has provided an entirely new set of capabilities that have in their own way revolutionized the way Algonquin designs, executes and measures its recruitment activities.  But most importantly, Marketo has helped Algonquin change the way it looks at and refer to the recruiting process as a whole.  Adopting B2B methodologies like lead management and treating recruitment as a “complex B2B sale,” is an incredibly disruptive way of thinking in the higher education sector. Most institutions in North America have yet to discover the power and value of using B2B sales techniques, making Algonquin a true leader in the integration of technology into learning.

Shining Moment

 The School’s research had suggested that many technology implementations failed because of the company’s wish to tailor the technology to fit existing business practices. Advancement’s decision to limit customization and take advantage of the technologies built-in marketing and sales best practices was deemed critical to early success.  This way of thinking is extremely innovative, as when implementing technology, most organizations change the technology investment to fit their processes and needs, versus changing themselves to fit the way the technology is meant to be used. 

 

ABOUT Algonquin College

Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology is located in the Nation’s Capital and the Ottawa Valley and is the largest college in Eastern Ontario. Algonquin is a leader in the integration of technology into learning. Algonquin College has a diverse population of approximately 18,000 fulltime students and more than 35,000 part-time registrations in over 170 programs and is committed to student success. For more information please visit www.algonquincollege.com.