Enrollment yield marketing, from application to day one.
We work every step from the application to the first day of class, with a message built for why students stall, and measure the lift against a randomized holdout.
Every step between the application and the first class is a place to lose a student.
We mapped 25 target actions between starting an application and the first day of class, from sending transcripts to orientation.
- Cost
- Confidence
- Belonging
- Logistics
of students who started a Common App application in 2018–19 never submitted one.
Annenberg Institute at Brown University, 2018–19 Common App dataof college students say college cost more than they expected.
College Ave / Barnes & Noble College Insights, 2024of students are “incredibly confident” they understand the details of their financial aid offer.
Ellucian national student survey, 2024Summer melt is the last leak: students who pay a deposit in the spring and don’t show up in the fall. We keep working deposited students through orientation, a first advising appointment and class registration, the steps that turn a deposit into a seat.
Yield
Move RFIs to applications, and admits to day one.
Yield is every step between a student raising a hand and showing up for class. We work each step with a message built for why students stall there: cost, confidence, belonging, logistics.
- 1Start the application
- 2Submit the application
- 3Send transcripts and documents
- 4Complete the FAFSA
- 5Pay the deposit
- 6Register and attend orientationGoal
Better outcomes from any list you give us.
Yield moves every student on your list to the next outcome: inquiries to applications, admits to deposits, deposits to day one. We find where each student stalls and work the next step, against a holdout.
Inquiries and started applications
Goal: a submitted application, with transcripts and documents in.
Admits
Goal: a paid deposit, with the FAFSA done and the aid offer understood.
Deposited students
Goal: day one. Orientation, a first advising appointment and class registration, where summer melt happens.
- 1
Send us a list
Inquiries, applicants, admits or deposited students, and the goal that matters most this cycle.
- 2
We map where students stall
The target actions between that list and the goal, and why students stop at each one: cost, confidence, belonging, logistics.
- 3
We build the GuidePosts
Creative for each step, made for your students in your brand and your institution’s voice.
- 4
We reach students across five channels
Social media, streaming TV, email, SMS and direct mail, timed to the step each student is on and to your deadlines.
- 5
We measure against a holdout
5% of the list hears nothing from us. You see conversion and engagement as it runs, and the lift once it reaches significance.
Admits going quiet before the deposit?
Start with one list of admits. We’ll find where they stall, work each step, and show you the lift against a holdout.
One playbook across every stage.
Motimatic powers marketing across the entire student journey, from first impression to graduation. One platform, one strategy: behavioral science-driven messaging, delivered at the right moment to move each student forward, with impact measured through rigorous holdout testing.
- Streaming TV
- Social media
- Display
- Social media
- Paid search
- Display
- Remarketing
- Social media
- Streaming TV
- SMS
- Direct mail
Some students step off the path. Stop-out recovery brings them back to it.
- Before the list New audiences
- AwarenessImpressions, video views and interest
- Streaming TV
- Social media
- Display
- RFI generationNew lead form fills
- Social media
- Paid search
- Display
- Remarketing
- On your list Through the Motimatic platform
- Every student can be reached across five channels
- Social media
- Streaming TV
- SMS
- Direct mail
- 3You’re hereYieldApplications, deposits and day one
- RetentionAdvisor meetings and next-term registration
Some students step off the path. Stop-out recovery brings them back to it.
- Stop-out recoveryRe-applications and re-enrollment
- Graduation
- Social mediaIn-feed, story and video ads timed to each admit’s next step.
- Streaming TVSpots for admits and their families while the decision is still open.
- EmailApplication completion, missing documents, registration reminders.
- SMSShort texts timed to the deadlines that decide enrollment: FAFSA, deposit, registration.
- Direct mailPostcards and letters for admits approaching a deposit deadline.
Started her application in October. Her transcript never arrived.
How GuidePost works
Two holdout tests, both significant at 95%.
At a top-100 Northeast university, 83 admits were held out at random. At a top-300 institution, leads were split in half.
Admits we reached deposited at 11.21%, against 3.61% for the holdout: 224 deposits vs. 3 in holdout, 95% confidence.
Read the case studyLeads split in half. The half we reached submitted 350% more applications than the half we didn’t, at 95% significance.
Read the case studyAverage conversion at the enroll stage is 4.5%, as reported on our results page. That figure is an average across campaigns, separate from the holdout tests.
We don’t guarantee results. How we measure
Questions about enrollment yield
What is enrollment yield?
Yield is the share of admitted students who enroll. Our yield work starts at the application, because every step from there decides it: transcripts, the FAFSA, the deposit, orientation and registration. More in our guide to college enrollment marketing.
What is summer melt, and how do you reduce it?
Deposited students who don’t show up in the fall. We keep reaching them after the deposit, with messages built for why they stall: cost, confidence, belonging and logistics.
Which channels do you use for yield?
Social media, streaming TV, email, SMS and direct mail. Every student on your list can be reached across five channels, timed to the step they’re on.
How do you prove the lift?
New campaigns hold out a random 5% of your list, and the same students stay out the whole time. When the result reaches significance, you see the lift against your own holdout. How we measure.
Keep reading on yield
All resources
Start with one list.
Pick one list of admits and one goal: deposits, or registrations for fall. We run it against a 5% holdout and show you the lift.