At our university, we're looking to better report on and understand the relative value of touchpoints in a student's journey from suspect/prospect, to applicant, to admit.
These touchpoints include digital ads, mailed pieces, campus visits, and more.
Right now we are essentially using a "last-touch" model, in that we are using a Lead Source field that overwrites with whatever their last touchpoint was. Unfortunately this is woefully simplistic and gives disproportionate value to campus visits, which tend to be later in the cycle. We're looking for a more holistic, comprehensive view that matches the complex and often years-long journey students have before they apply/enroll.
What do other institutions use to accomplish this? I've heard a little about the potential of Connected Campaigns and Einstein Attribution, but need to explore that further.
@Samantha Peterson What marketing tool are you using (Pardot, Marketing Cloud)? Pardot now has a lot of great capabilities with the connected campaigns structure, and it allows for great multi-touch reporting. Pardot maintains the Source Campaign conversion so that you can always have that "first touch" reporting intact, but then through various other automation capabilities you can associate a lead/contact (Pardot Prospect) to multiple campaigns so that you can run analysis on the various initiatives that have also impacted the prospect's journey. I've done a few presentations on Pardot capabilities for higher ed, would be happy to chat if you are in fact a Pardot user or considering it - happy to help answer any other specific questions your might have about it!
