How Penn State Great Valley Personalizes the Website Experience for a Diverse Graduate Audience

Kate McConnell was looking for an edge. 

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As Director of Marketing and Recruitment for Graduate and Professional Programs at Penn State Great Valley, she had a wide range of prospective graduate student populations to target, with limited control over the student’s journey on the website. That’s where Halda came in.

Halda helps us articulate information and easily promote events to a range of populations. When we ask website visitors some very important questions, they tell us who they are. -Kate McConnell, Former Dir. of Marketing and Recruitment

“We knew we had a lot of stealth traffic we weren’t capturing with standard RFI forms.” McConnell explains. “People were bouncing off the site in seconds. When I saw Halda’s technology, I was very much intrigued by the idea of getting someone’s attention within 5 seconds of being on the site.”

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She found that Halda’s personalized engagement provided unprecedented control over the messaging and interactions prospects could have on the website. “Halda helped us articulate information and easily promote events to a range of populations,” McConnell explains. “When we ask website visitors some very important questions, they tell us who they are and we can market to them.”

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Halda works in tandem with PSGV’s marketing campaigns to personalize content for specific audiences. “It’s great for me, because if I’m target marketing a specific group, I can link that URL right to the Halda form so my visitors don’t get lost in website minutiae.” 

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Halda’s Results

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The value, from McConnell’s perspective, isn’t just that Halda captures leads, but that the tools do so efficiently. “When it comes down to capturing inquiries, Halda has a low cost per acquisition.” McConnell explains. “We are not a large campus, but every day I’m getting 5-15 Halda leads. I’m waking up to my inbox and saying ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, look at all of these!’”

"Our Halda leads perform extremely well. We know that they are more likely to complete an application. They like that they can get some kind of direction, then have the option to make an appointment."

Serving prospective students directly what they’re looking for makes a big difference for her focused, busy, graduate population. “Our international students, especially, hit the homepage and want to engage with what’s first on their minds, right from the get-go.”

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Even when Halda’s forms don’t capture a lead, McConnell still sees value in the interaction “To me they aren’t forms, they’re a great engagement experience. Even when we don’t capture their information, I give them a tool they can engage with on their own terms–which I think is very respectful.”

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Her multi-faceted, strategic application of Halda’s interactive forms have created consistent results across multiple student populations. The Master’s of Engineering Management form, for instance, historically converts visitors into leads at a rate of 11.69%, while their MS in Data Analytics form boasts a 7.95% conversion rate. McConnell mixes these specific forms with broader engagement experiences geared toward the general graduate and international populations. Often the students who experience this personalized interaction are the ones most likely to enroll. 

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“Our Halda leads perform extremely well,” she explains. “We know that they are more likely to complete an application. They like that they can get some kind of direction, then have the option to make an appointment.”

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The Future with Halda

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McConnell has seen a lot of vendors come and go in her career, but Halda feels different. “What made me a huge supporter of Halda was that I could come to them and be honest. They were accepting of my feedback, they addressed issues, and then checked back to make sure everything was working. I felt like Halda respected me and cared about my perspective and campus enrollment success.”

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She’s also interested in the company’s development. “Where Halda’s going is very exciting. They’re looking at what the future holds with AI, where things are going–it’s great proactiveness.”

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Ultimately it’s that potent mix of professionalism and product that makes the difference for McConnell. “I am a huge proponent of Halda because it’s a quality product, led and supported by some really bright, talented, ethical business-people.”

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To see if you'll have a similar experience with Halda, schedule a conversation with Halda, or try our tools right now in your own personalized demo environment. After all, couldn't your future students be having a better online experience?