How MBA Applicants Choose Schools

Word of Mouth

WORD OF MOUTH TRUMPS ALL FORMS OF MARKETING OVERALL

These days, marketers are building grand platforms to collect and collate data to better understand their customers’ needs and aspirations. Sure, these tools can reveal patterns for crafting compelling messaging and design. When it comes to driving action, such strategies fall short of the world’s oldest and most effective motivational tool: word of mouth.

In fact, four of the ten channels with the highest impact scores are conversations where marketers have little input. They include input from friends and family, current students and alumni, co-workers and peers, and employers and supervisors. In each case, students are relying on others to share their personal (or second-hand) experience and impressions of a brand. And neither is necessarily indicative of a school’s quality or fit with a candidate.

True, marketers can’t boost their sway with influencers through broad-based branding initiatives or outreach to build awareness and goodwill. In the end, schools often have indirect impact on decision-making. While admissions professionals, professors, and information sessions, also ranked in GMAC’s top ten, are proven customer-facing channels, they simply lack the scope and influence of existing familial or professional networks.

Those findings don’t surprise Coward. “Particularly with Millennials, social proof – word of mouth recommendations – matters so much more than traditional advertising.” To gain greater influence, Coward counsels that it all goes back to relationship-building.

Trust

“[Schools must be seen as] trusted advisors and as partners with prospective students…where you apply a more consultative approach rather than just selling their particular school. Also, when you’re trying to influence people, the numbers and data, to some extent, sticks. But really what makes it stick is the conversations, relationship-building and the story-telling that builds that emotional connection.”

For example, Coward shares an anecdote about a prospect MBA student at a career fair. Stuck near the end of a line, she was invited to meet with another school while she waited. This personal attention – coupled with the rapport they struck up – eventually led her to choose this similarly-ranked school that she initially hadn’t considered. “If that social proof and that relationship-building can come from schools themselves with being more approachable and friendly,” Coward remarks, “that can go a long way.”

RANKINGS CARRY THE MOST WEIGHT AMONG STUDENTS

When it comes to influencing decisions, however, no channel packs more punch than published rankings. Although only 39% of prospective students consulted these oft-criticized rankings, 64% cited them as a key factor in their decision – 11% higher than school websites and 16% more than school admissions professionals. Again, schools have little influence on the outcome here as well. After submitting their data to an outlet like U.S. News & World Report, their fate is (for the most part) in someone else’s hands (though schools can launch internal programs to eventually affect measureables like placement rates).

Aside from school websites, family and friends and published rankings, the channels that students consult the most include: GMAC’s website (50% with its home field advantage), school admissions professionals (44%), school brochures and publications (43%), current students and alumni (34%), and co-workers and peers (34%). In addition to published rankings and school websites, the most influential channels include current students and alumni (62%), college and university professors (58%), employers and supervisors (52%), friends and family (51%), and professional associations (50%).

Bottom line: School-sponsored marketing efforts may reach more candidates, but they are simply a starting point. In the end, students lean more heavily on the opinions their family, friends, and professional network. Even more, they prefer avenues where they can meet face-to-face to learn more and ask questions.

SCHOOLS NEED TO REACH PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS A YEAR BEFORE THEY TAKE THE GMAT

Bugs

Timing is everything in marketing. And that’s particularly true of potential graduate business students. In its survey report, GMAC found that students began formulating their target schools nine months before sitting for the GMAT. And they started submitting applications three months after taking the test. “As a general rule,” the report states, “a crucial time for a school to reach out to a candidate in order to influence their short list of schools is a year before the application deadline.”

And one means to do this, particularly for Millennials, is through social media. While only 21% of Millennials factor social media into their school decisions, GMAC reports that 95% of all students surveyed use it regularly. That makes it a great channel for schools to introduce themselves and direct students to other resources that may resonate more.

Facebook is the top social media outlet to connect with Millennials (born from 1981-1998), with nearly three-fourths using it for everything from staying in touch to entertainment. It was also highly popular with Generation-X (born from 1965-1980) at 67%. Linkedin was the preferred channel for Baby Boomers (born from 1948 to 1964), with nearly two-thirds using it regularly (compared to 47% of Millennials). Twitter ranked third, with usage ranging from 26% (Millennials) to 17% (Baby Boomers).

Social Media Use By The Generations

Source: 2015 GMAC Prospective Students Survey. Data collected January to December 2014.

Source: 2015 GMAC Prospective Students Survey. Data collected January to December 2014.

DON’T MISS: WHY MILLENNIALS GO TO GRAD SCHOOL

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