Colleges and universities are constantly seeking innovative ways to enhance student experiences, streamline enrollment processes, and improve overall institutional effectiveness. One such approach gaining traction is mapping the student journey. 

By utilizing powerful tools like Element451’s Journeys, institutions can track and analyze student interactions at various stages of the enrollment process, enabling them to make data-driven decisions, optimize engagement strategies, and drive student success. 

Let’s explore the benefits of using Element451 Journeys, its customization potential, its role in identifying pain points, its impact on marketing campaigns, and considerations for setting timely actions.

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What are Element451 Journeys?

Journeys is a new way to track and visualize people completing sequential interactions. 

Journeys provides insights and information to assist with student interactions and resource allocation. It enables tracking of custom funnels, cross-functional business processes, and conversion rates. 

Schools can use Journeys to track custom enrollment funnels, follow your search names as they convert to hand-raising inquiries, view admitted student interactions as they move closer to enrolling, and much, much more. The possibilities are endless. 

By breaking down activities into meaningful connections, users can identify where students are getting stuck and make improvements to enhance the student journey. Journeys can also be used to track marketing efforts and assess the success of various activities and campaigns. Here are four other ways Journeys can be helpful to institutions wanting to improve student engagement, success, and retention.

1. Enhanced visibility and insights

Journeys provides a consolidated view of student actions, milestones, and conversion rates, enabling institutions to track the progress of students throughout the enrollment process. Since Journeys connects the entire Element451 platform, institutions can remove the guesswork while analyzing data across any business process.

This increased visibility helps colleges and universities understand student behavior patterns, identify bottlenecks, and make informed decisions to improve efficiency and resource allocation.

2. Customization for varied enrollment processes

Every institution has unique enrollment and business workflows. Journeys can be fully customized to align with these processes, providing a tailored approach to tracking and managing student interactions. 

From admission to scholarship applications, orientation registration to scheduling appointments, Journeys can accommodate diverse pathways and ensure that all necessary steps are completed.

3. Identification of pain points and process improvement

Journeys allows institutions to pinpoint areas where students are facing difficulties or dropping off. 

By analyzing data on student interactions and engagement, colleges and universities can identify pain points and bottlenecks in the enrollment process. 

This valuable insight empowers institutions to refine their processes, implement targeted interventions, and enhance the overall student experience.

4. Assessment of marketing efforts

In an increasingly digital and competitive landscape, marketing plays a crucial role in attracting prospective students. Journeys can assist institutions in assessing the success of marketing campaigns and events. 

By tracking activities such as email opens, link clicks, and landing page visits, colleges and universities gain a comprehensive overview of campaign effectiveness, enabling them to make data-driven decisions to refine their outreach strategies.

How to Map the Student Journey

Align actions with the student's journey

It is essential to ensure that actions within Journeys are relevant and timely for students. Institutions should carefully map out the student journey and identify critical touchpoints where specific actions should be triggered. 

By aligning actions with the student's progression, institutions can provide a personalized and seamless experience, reducing confusion and increasing engagement.

Regularly review and update actions

Institutions should regularly review and update the actions within Journeys to ensure their relevance and effectiveness. 

Enrollment processes and student expectations evolve over time, so it is crucial to adapt actions accordingly. 

Regular evaluation and refinement of actions will help ensure that students receive relevant notifications, reminders, and support at each stage of the journey.

Avoid long delays in actions

Journeys are best suited for triggering immediate actions rather than long delays. Prolonged delays may result in actions being triggered when the student is no longer interested or actively engaged. 

Institutions should be mindful of the timing of actions to maintain relevance and maximize the impact on student engagement.

Leverage cross-platform integrations

Journeys' power lies in its ability to integrate with various platforms and systems. Institutions can leverage this feature to enhance their Journeys by incorporating custom activities from other platforms. 

Integrating essential systems like housing or health services can provide a more comprehensive view of a student's journey, enabling institutions to support students more effectively.

A More Efficient and Impactful Journey for Students

Mapping the student journey is vital for colleges and universities looking to improve enrollment processes, boost student engagement, and drive institutional success. 

Journeys, with its customizable features and ability to track student interactions, empowers institutions to gain valuable insights into student behavior, make data-driven decisions, and optimize their processes. 

By leveraging Journeys effectively, institutions can identify pain points, refine marketing efforts, and ensure timely and relevant actions, ultimately enhancing the student experience and increasing enrollment success. 

>> To learn more about Element451 and mapping the student journey for ultimate enrollment and engagement success, connect with us or get a demo. <<

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