In this 3-question interview, Joshua tells us about what’s coming in 2018, the challenges of embracing analytics in higher ed and the best ways to keep learning about data and measurement for higher ed marketers..
1) What’s coming for higher ed analytics and measurement in 2018?
What will make the biggest difference in 2018 is a clear measurement strategy that, ideally, connects the front-end web analytics data with the back-end CRM data. This is really essential to understanding how any marketing effort contributes to student enrollment. Tracking to the point of a form submission can be useful, but you can make even better decisions when you are able to track what is happening all the way through enrollment.
2) What’s preventing higher education from embracing data and analytics more widely for digital marketing?
There are several reasons that prevent higher ed from embracing data. One key reason is that it is not easy to get to the actionable data. Good analytics requires code and CRM integration and things that go beyond just looking at reports. IT and marketing often have to work together to put everything in place to get the really good data. Even though, the data isn’t always clear. It is important to recognize the limitations of the data and try to either find ways to work around those limitations, or be clear in the analysis what those limitations are.
3) What are the best ways to keep learning about analytics, measurement and data?
I like to keep exploring new tools and methods for measurement. I also enjoy testing out approaches from other industries. When I am exploring new methods, I tend to look for what will get me the best, actionable, and statistically significant data in the shortest amount of time. For that reason, I like to dig into new R libraries and read about some of the statistical approaches that others have tried. I also have several analytics-loving friends that I compare notes with. It is great when you can learn from others who are exploring similar data problems.
A conference focusing on higher ed analytics?
The Higher Ed Analytics Conference is a must-attend event for higher ed marketing professionals and teams looking for new ideas and best practices.
Read below what a few of your higher ed colleagues who attended the past editions of the Higher Ed Analytics Conference say about the experience.