Mykolas Knasys

CRM systems and source tracking

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StudyPortals CRM Research in Higher Education

by Thijs van Vugt and Mykolas Knasys

Introduction

For many universities online marketing has become part of their marketing mix in their attempt to recruit (international) students as students increasingly turn to digital channels in order to collect information about their dream studies. However, marketers often face a major issue – they are unable to see the return on investment (ROI) of their marketing campaigns, due to their inability to track the online source of a lead (e.g. MastersPortal or Google CPC). Luckily, there is an easy solution to this problem – customer relationship management systems that come with integrated tracking tools. In this article we will explain how source tracking works and which CRM systems offer this feature.

Source tracking

In order to attract prospective students, universities launch multiple online marketing campaigns using social media, Google AdWords as well as various portals As a result, the number of visitors to their university website will rise and, ultimately, enquiries and applications start flowing in. On face value one might be inclined to think that all marketing campaigns were effective! However, determining which of those marketing campaigns were the most effective and brought the highest return on investment is a completely different matter. If marketers had this information they would be able to concentrate the majority of their marketing resources on the most effective marketing campaigns. And this is where the problem starts and where tracking tools come in handy.

Although most web metric applications (e.g. Google Analytics) will be able to tell you how many students from a certain source submitted an enquiry or an application (if everything has been set up properly on the website and in the web metrics programme), they will not be able to tell you who actually submitted those enquiries and applications. However, some CRM systems offer the possibility to know exactly who did so.

This is called lead source tracking. The CRM system identifies the different sources and in the record of a lead shows their names (e.g. MastersPortal, Google AdWords, Facebook). This way you know that Johnny English came through MastersPortal and Jane Smith through Google AdWords. Some systems, however, may only be able to show that the leads came from different sources (i.e. source 1, source 2, etc.), instead of showing the exact names.

By using these tracking techniques, your university will be  able to identify the most effective marketing channels and campaigns on an aggregate level, so you can allocate your marketing resources accordingly, maximizing the return on investment.

Conclusion

A comparison of CRM systems carried out by StudyPortals and iE&D Solutions show that this lead source tracking feature is integrated within the CRM systemsJenzabar “Recruitment”, Campus Management “Campus Nexus CRM”, Mira Network, and Dream Apply.

To download the full report about CRM systems in higher education, please visit https://studyportals.com/intelligence/crm-in-higher-education/

For advice on selection of your CRM system, please contact Thijs van Vugt.

 

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