Sometimes life circumstances can be so consuming that neither the idea of training or a career change plays a big factor in the day-to-day lives of undecided leads. These individuals may be young adults who live at home or significant others who manage their homes and families. Unlike the two previous types of leads we discussed, individuals who are not actively seeking anything can account for as much as 25% of a school’s potential student base if targeted appropriately.
For most leads who are not considering education or employment, conversion is actually similar to that which you see on advertising campaigns that target education seekers.
Advertising to these types of leads is a complicated process, and one that should be managed tightly to ensure that your enrollment costs stay within a comfortable range. These leads can be found primarily through online advertising, and alternative mediums such as social networking. Another major factor affecting the conversion of these types of leads is the length of the admissions cycle. It’s not at all uncommon for such leads to take anywhere from 2 to 3 times as long to commit to enrolling in school as traditional leads.
Also, the internal processes for targeting and managing these types of leads vary greatly from other types. Leads who are not actively seeking employment or education aren’t always in need of it, so having a marketing campaign that goes after the right demographic is important. Furthermore, those that could benefit greatly from career training may not always realize that its possibly for them, or that doing so would mean sacrificing other very important parts of their lives. Training your admissions staff to address these concerns and nurture the interest in starting a new career is critical in the conversion process.
One of the most attractive elements of targeting individuals who are not actively seeking employment or education is the overall cost. Since the process of identifying the right demographic to target is complex and many schools are unprepared to work these types of leads, there is usually very little competition in any of the traditional advertising mediums. Therefore, costs can be considerably lower than most lead generation campaigns.
One of the most important aspects of creating a campaign to target this type of prospective student is understanding the nuances of their persona. It is important to understand the general circumstances behind such a lead’s lifestyle, typical media engagement behaviors and other critical factors that will help you make the most of your advertising dollars and admissions’ manpower.
The ad creative, types of advertisements run, time of day to engage and lead nurturing processes are all very important things to consider when deciding to invest in a campaign to target potential students who are not actively seeking a career change or career training.