The Importance of Digital Content in Enrollment Management

John W. Dysart, President, The Dysart Group

Digital content has become a major component of college and university marketing.? Institutions are utilizing web?sites, text messaging, email messaging and social media to reach prospective students and parents.? As you consider your use of digital content, consider the following:

• More online video content is uploaded in 30 days than the major U.S. TV networks have created in 30 years.
• When seen in a video, 95% of a message is retained.
• 81% of millennials check Twitter at least once a day.
• The optimal length of a video is no longer than 30 seconds for 81% of viewers.
• More than three billion people are on some type of social media.

• Videos generate 12 times more shares on social media than text and images combined.
• About 72% of Internet users are now active on social media.
• Google is responsible for 96% of all smartphone search traffic.
• It would take 10 years to view all the photos shared on Snapchat in the last hour.
• 57% of all mobile users will not recommend a business if their website is unresponsive or poorly designed.
• On average, 63,000 Google searches are performed every second.
• By 2020, 50% of all searches will be voice searches.
• The top four search results yield 96% of clicks.
• About one-half of all searches are four words or more.
• 15% of Google searches have never been previously searched.
• 90% of searchers have not made up their minds about a brand before their search.
• Video content is 50 times more likely to drive search results than text.
• Companies spent $90 million on SnapChat ads in 2016.
• Mobile devices are the tools to access nearly 80% of all social media content.

Digital communication and marketing are important, and their influence is growing. Be aware of the trends and take advantage of digital communication opportunities in your enrollment management tactics.