Over the last ten years, or so, Jan Abernathy, Chief Communications Officer at the Browning School in Manhattan, has seen the rise of what she calls the “ghost applicant”. 

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“People used to submit an inquiry on a website, then wait and see what they would get back via email,” she explains. “Admission would direct them to specific places, the application, et cetera. But now people want to figure that out for themselves.”

Shifting challenges in recruiting K-12 families

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According to Abernathy, PK-12 marketing and admissions have come a long way in facilitating this research experience. 

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“Industry-wide, we’ve made our websites more intuitive, more straightforward, so that you don’t need that one-on-one counseling to get you through the inquiry process.”

"We already know that traditional form submission from families has fallen off a cliff...What I’m most hopeful about is learning who people are early in the process so I can influence them to think more positively about The Browning School..."

In many ways this is a positive. The research process is more efficient, it’s easier to find important information, and admissions pros aren’t overwhelmed. According to Abernathy, however, this comes with a few missed opportunities.

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“People are popping in with completed applications, but we’ve never met them, we have no idea their background or specifically what they’re looking for. So it’s hard to get the context we need to make a meaningful difference in their decision to enroll.”

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This disconnect with stealth traffic starts even farther up the funnel, with many families falling off before schools learn anything about who they are.

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“Connecting with families before that application stage is crucial. It gives us the potential to move prospective families further down the funnel toward that application,” she explains.

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Abernathy identified this disconnect between website visit and application as a gulf she wanted to understand and address, which is why she connected with Halda.

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“What Halda has done is help us uncover that hidden visitor–that potential ghost applicant–much earlier in the research process,” Abernathy continues. “At our peak months we’re now getting an inquiry submission every day, most of them from New York who can presumably afford the school. Many of these are not people that we would have known otherwise.”

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Converting stealth visitors earlier with a personalized website experience

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Since starting with Halda in April 2023, Halda has captured 340 complete inquiries from prospective families on The Browning School’s website. These inquiries come via Halda’s website tools, which strategically position personalized engagement to facilitate conversion at different stages of the enrollment funnel. With the help of web traffic, interaction, and marketing data, Abernathy collaborates with Halda to serve families with the exact information they’re looking for. These interactions help move them down the funnel well before they send in an application.

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“I think it’s a great first step,” Abernathy explains. “Sometimes we see people who have already been in contact going into the Halda form, answering questions, and giving us the context we need to have better conversations. And now that we’ve started this dialogue we can continually feed them content that keeps their momentum going."

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Implementing and tweaking this student journey is something Abernathy takes on with gusto, especially since she works hand-in-glove with the Halda team to optimize her students’ journey.

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“We’re extraordinarily happy with the customer service aspect,” she explains. “I get a lot of proactive attention with insights I might not have thought of. I don’t have time to check the analytics every day. But Judson, my Halda rep, will totally be like ‘Did you see this happen? What do you think of that? Let’s get a meeting on the calendar’.”

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To Abernathy, this optimization is all part of creating an experience that converts leads early in the research process.

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“I always want to know about a prospective family as early as possible,” she explains. “We already know that traditional form submission from families has fallen off a cliff. With Halda, I’m not necessarily even expecting a massive increase in the volume of applications. What I’m most hopeful about is learning who people are early in the process so I can influence them to think more positively about The Browning School to affect their decision to ultimately apply and matriculate.”

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Through tools like Halda, Abernathy provides the experience to every type of customer so that she can maximize the conversion power of her website.

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“Some people walk into a store and an employee asks them, ‘Can I help you?’ I’m probably not the kind of person who is going to say ‘yes’. But there are people who say ‘Yes, please take me directly to what I’m looking for.’”

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To Abernathy, this represents an untapped opportunity for engagement.

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“I think of this as a pattern of demonstrated interest. There’s a certain type of person who wants this experience, especially when the information they’re looking for is a little trickier to find on the website.”

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Through her creativity, resourcefulness, and vision, Abernathy creates meaningful experiences for every type of family and researcher. At Halda, it’s gratifying to help her provide a level of service that keeps her enrollment pipeline healthy.

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