Throughout the past several years, recruitment teams have significantly altered the way they navigate successful student engagement and enrollment. For those using a customer relationship management (CRM) platform or thinking of purchasing one, here’s a list of features and terms you should know as you enter 2023. 

Personalization

Personalization refers to the process of tailoring content and offerings for specific individuals. Although it’s still possible to reach a large number of prospective students, personalization is more about timely and unique messaging—rather than a “one size fits all” approach.

CRM platforms that leverage personalization as a leading feature are more capable of delivering individualized experiences. An individualized process is extremely important if you, as an enrollment manager, want to deliver student-first experiences that come across as authentic and relatable. 

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) already has numerous applications in business and technology, and the number of applications in other industries is only expected to go up from here. 

In higher education, AI is finding its way onto campuses gradually, as university leaders accept it as a tool for automation and efficiency. In the context of university operations, AI has the potential to change academic, administrative, and student-forward processes.

The use of AI in CRMs is meant to alleviate some of the small recurring tasks that pile up, allowing staff to focus on other recruiting priorities. Sorting through applications, assigning incoming students to territories, and creating audience segments based on behavioral data are all ways AI will continue to enhance the work admission professionals are doing.

Automation

CRMs will continue to support automation in new ways. Whether through chatbots on a website or through workflows designed to move students through an email campaign, automation has the potential to make your small team feel greater. In this way, automated processes can provide more engaging and quality experiences for your target audience.

Workflows

Workflows are the instructions that tell your CRM how you want automation rules to happen. They typically involve chains of triggers and actions, which can be as simple as applying a label (e.g. prospect) to people who “raise their hand” by clicking a link in an email. 

Workflows may also be as complex as managing full communication plans for both internal and external parties. As recruitment budgets get reduced or altered and the stakes for enrollment success become higher, it's more important than ever to implement workflows that enhance your recruitment efforts. 

Predictive Modeling

Also known as "forecasting," predictive modeling allows you to analyze historic and current student journeys and make informed decisions based on set criteria. Benchmarks might include things like demographic data, student actions taken, personal interactions, and other related activities. 

Harnessing the power of predictive modeling and forecasting in 2023 will allow your teams to focus on taking action where it matters most. Even though massive enrollment dips from the past few years are finally slowing down across the U.S., it’s still crucial to maximize all available time and resources.

Behavioral Modeling

Behavior refers to the ways a prospect interacts with a school’s communications, website, or even competing schools’ sites. These behaviors provide a richer understanding of how likely a prospect is to enroll than fit alone. 

Behavior information can also substitute for other types of data when historical records aren’t available. By using behavioral modeling through the lens of machine learning, we’re able to continuously improve behavior-based models. 

These advancements result in more accurate scores and insights on how to better craft messages and communications—even when and how to deliver them. Behavioral analytics and modeling are just some of the ways that a CRM can help admissions teams detect a “hidden” student while acknowledging a unique student journey. 

Mobile Everything

If we’ve learned anything from our work as a software platform during the pandemic, it’s that it’s more vital than ever to remain accessible in the face of remote work. 

CRMs will have to adapt in order to remain accessible in today’s digital world, whether that means being able to work offline or across various devices, systems, and environments. For those eager to take the next step, we may continue to see last year’s gradual rise in CRM applications.

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