Conversion and Higher Education

When Matthew Parente of Aperion Marketing asked me to talk about conversion to an audience of folks from higher education, I was more than happy to take him up on the offer. I've worked for fortune 50 companies most of my career. In these organizations there was a always clarity about what we needed to do to "win." When I started working in higher education, it quickly became evident that the ivory tower was playing by different rules. Winning seemed a nebulous concept for many, and was often expressed in broad and fuzzy calls for "excellence." I still wince whenever I hear that word as an expression of an organizational goal.

But with state support dwindling, higher education is waking up and getting focused. For many universities and colleges winning is about creating an ecosystem that attracts donor dollars, top faculy and top grad students.

In today's wired world it's more than likely that the initial contact potential faculty, grad students and donors have with the university will be through the Web. This is why it's so critical for deans, and department heads to understand that their Web sites are more than just an online brochure, but a powerful tool for attracting and building relationships with potential faculty, grad students and donors, and that by adopting a conversion approach, they can "win."

I'm looking forward to talking with the folks at the conference about their experiences integrating a conversion approach on their sites, and sharing some ideas and examples of how The University of Texas at Austin has integrated conversion into its online activities.