Meeting today’s prospective college students where they are is key to staying
ahead of current enrollment challenges. Understanding which messages resonate
with which students and at certain parts of the enrollment funnel helps to
ensure institutions are getting the right message, to the right student, at
the right time in their journey. By utilizing a MaxDiff approach, one can
better understand the impact a particular message has compared to others and
which combination of messages will ultimately drive action. The maximum
difference scaling (MaxDiff) method provides useful guidance on how enrollment
professionals can better segment their communication strategies to their
multiple constituents. While affordability messages are most impactful,
especially to parents, prestige and employability were well received by
already-admitted students. Further differences between key segments emerged
from the data, creating a better understanding of how to inform strategic
initiatives. The messaging preferences of additional groups, however, remain
to be explored, such as graduate students, adult learners, international
students, alumni, and other segments that are important for institutions that
are building and refining their strategic enrollment plans. This article
provides a framework on how institutions can better optimize their messaging
to maximize impact in the student enrollment journey.
