Case analysis

Measuring Email Marketing Performance

You are helping a college with its email marketing performance. You have a $$25,000$ annual budget to spend on improving list growth rate, which is related to increasing enrollments for the college. However, the college is having difficulty attracting older students $(25$ and older$),$ a segment known as career accelerators and industry switchers. Here is some background research on the student segments based upon a recent survey conducted at the college:

$$ About $40\%$ of the students at this college are made up of career accelerators and industry switchers.

On Career Accelerators

Career accelerators are usually an older age group. Their reason for attending college is to advance in their current career or industry. Most of the people who comprise this demographic already have some college education, so they value programs that allow them to use the credits earned in their previous academic ventures. These students also enjoy non$-$traditional learning environments such as online classrooms.

Jeff$$s Journey as a Career Accelerator

Jeff is stuck in his factory job in eastern Ohio. Because he lacked

a bachelor$$s degree, he was passed over for a promotion that he felt he was qualified for. Jeff decided that he wants to enroll in a local university to earn his bachelor$$s degree and gain the education necessary to advance in his career.

On Industry Switchers

Industry switchers often comprise of the same age group as career accelerators, but industry switchers go back to college to get out of the industry they are currently in$.$ This could be because of unemployment, financial situations, or unhappiness with their current industry. Industry switchers value colleges that emphasize getting their graduates jobs.

Alexis$$ Journey as an Industry Switcher

Alexis works long and hard hours at a metal manufacturing plant in central Indiana. She originally loved the idea of a steady job but has grown tired of the harsh schedule and lack of growth in the industry. As a $30-$year$-$old mother, Alexis feels like it$$s time for a change in careers and wants to go back to school and study a different field.

$1.$ What key performance indicators $($KPIs$)$ and metrics would you recommend? Why?

$2.$ How would you connect your email metric results with your email goals for the college to increase enrollments?

$3.$ What sort of testing can you conduct to improve your email message performance?