Launched - TERMINALFOUR’s 2017 Digital Insights Report

In 2014, TERMINALFOUR launched its inaugural Higher Education ‘Digital Marketing & Web Survey’ and we’ve never looked backed since. Since its inception right up to today, it has continued to gain traction, interest and clout as a must read element of the global higher education conversation (needless to say we’re incredibly proud of its success and content).

It started off as method and means for our team to stay abreast of the current and genuine concerns and priorities of higher education. As an ‘honorary’ higher education community member we felt a responsibility to immerse ourselves in the realities of digital marketing, recruitment and leadership decision making in institutions worldwide. What keeps higher education leaders awake at night? What strategies are marketing and recruitment teams trying to implement? What challenges are they facing? How is student recruitment changing? How much support and emphasis is digital receiving in higher education institutions around the world?

These insights have quite literally helped direct large portions of the product roadmap for our digital marketing and web content management solution.

This year’s report must be considered in the context of two rather significant world events i.e. Brexit and Trump. These two events have sparked massive debates and concerns about the free movement of people across borders and, additionally, the ability of certain countries to attract talent based on their policy decisions and public rhetoric. This is particularly important for higher education in relation to student recruitment numbers in light of the role international students play in institutions meeting their total recruitment targets.

So this year we’ve a heavy emphasis on recruitment, on digital marketing priorities, on investment in digital, on legal and policy drivers and so much more.

Here’s a quick insight into some of the core findings:

• 25.9% of respondents have a high level of dissatisfaction with the level of funding their digital marketing activities receive
• Only 28.1% of survey participants stated that they have a high level of job security in their current role.
• 89% of respondents stated that student recruitment is the organizational goal that has the most impact defining their institution’s web strategy
• 78.8% have no web based personalization at all on their university/college website
• 60.9% stated web accessibility is a Top 3 strategic priority in 2017
• 36.8% of participants in the survey stated that form submissions are the most important measure of online success (31% in 2016)
• Facebook triumphs again as the Number 1 social media platform for conversion (77%); Number 1 for Engagement (62%) and Number 1 for getting the most time and attention next year (54%)
• 65% say leads generated on website are measured but only 41% have real-time integration between website and CRM (a drop from 43% in 2016)
• 39% of respondents stated that their institution has a centralized approach to website management; 37% stated decentralized

You can download the full (FREE) report here.