November 15, 2023
Featuring from The PIE Live Boston, we're exploring a transformative journey fusing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. As a speaker, at the event, Alejandra engaged with the audience by guiding them through the following question: How can institutions future-proof their strategies by harnessing AI and CRM to elevate both student and staff experiences?
Before delving into the applications of AI, educational institutions collectively hold a set of common objectives, serving as foundational pillars guiding their strategic initiatives. These objectives encompass fostering growth through increased student enrollments, promoting cross-selling and up-selling to enhance retention rates, optimizing marketing and recruitment processes, and laying the groundwork for informed decision-making by improving data quality.
Simultaneously, institutions aim to simplify staff members' workloads, gain real-time visibility into marketing and recruitment performance, streamline conversion times from prospect to student, enhance the overall student experience, centralize data for collaborative decision-making, and increase conversions and return on investment (ROI). These shared objectives underscore the holistic approach institutions take to cultivate a thriving and student-centric educational ecosystem. But, where does AI sit in this journey to elevate these endeavors?
To comprehend how AI can propel these objectives into tangible achievements, a brief exploration of AI types within the realm of international education marketing and student recruitment is essential.
1. Predictive AI: This involves automatically filling out the end of phrases and employing recommendation systems based on data and CRM.
2. Generative AI: This encompasses the automatic generation of website content, copy, images, and presentations for marketing and admissions tasks.
3. Autonomous AI: This entails utilizing conversational AI with trained and customized chatbots, personalized AI assistants/agents/concierges that assist users across platforms.
This journey from predictive to generative and, finally, autonomous AI augments productivity capabilities, encompassing note-taking, summary creation, trend/pattern identification, and the creation of models to resolve bottlenecks.
Envision personalized emails about career opportunities tailored to the program of interest. With AI, institutions can automatically generate and send such emails at the optimal time, providing students valuable insights into their future careers. AI-driven remarketing tactics go beyond traditional methods, recommending content based on interactions to create a personalized approach to re-engage and nurture prospective students. Addressing hesitations in the enrollment process through AI concierge suggestions facilitated by conversational assistants dynamically engage potential students convincing them to overcome challenges and make informed enrollment decisions.
For staff, the integration of AI and CRM translates to having access to a comprehensive source of truth. Aggregated data from internal sources (such as contact forms) and external data (like career outcomes' news) is centralized in the CRM, offering a holistic view for informed decision-making. Real-time data insights empower admissions teams to engage with prospects at the right time, avoiding dropouts and improving conversions. AI-enhanced analytics, dashboard visualization, and forecasting provide marketing teams with valuable insights, considering seasonality per recruitment source to support decision-making processes and optimize strategies.
The future-proofed AI + CRM journey in education is reshaping how institutions connect with students and manage internal processes. From personalized emails and autonomous AI assistants to real-time data insights and predictive analytics, the integration of AI and CRM is not just a technological advancement but a strategic move towards enhancing the entire student lifecycle.
As institutions align their objectives, embrace AI types, and unlock augmented productivity, they are poised to revolutionize student recruitment and engagement in the years to come. Curious about how we can make this happen for you? Reach out to us, and let's accelerate your CRM + AI journey, providing you with a data-driven, 360-degree student journey for increased process efficiency.
