A comprehensive guide to lead scoring for Education Institutes

Lead scoring is an essential strategy for education institutes seeking to optimise their marketing efforts and achieve higher conversion rates. By assigning a value or score to each lead in your database based on their likelihood of becoming a student, lead scoring allows you to prioritise and target the most promising prospects.

With limited time, manpower, and resources, it’s crucial for you, as a part of the marketing or admissions team of a booming education institute, to focus your marketing efforts where they will yield the best results. Lead scoring helps you identify the leads that are most likely to convert into enrolled students, ensuring that your efforts are directed towards the right audience.

By using lead scoring, you can identify trends, refine your marketing strategies, and continuously improve your student acquisition process. This data-driven approach empowers you to make informed decisions, adapt to changing market dynamics, and stay ahead of the competition.

In this blog, we will delve into the key components, metrics, and methodologies involved in lead scoring to unlock its full potential. 

To provide a practical understanding of how lead scoring works in a real-world scenario, let’s explore a compelling case study that illustrates its effectiveness.

Case Study: Admit Abroad Leveraging Lead Scoring

At Admit Abroad, the admissions team was struggling to effectively prioritise and engage with the multitude of prospective students in their database. They witnessed: 

• Inefficient lead qualification
• Lack of personalised communication 
• Inconsistent follow-ups 
• Difficulty in forecasting enrolments 
• Difficulty in measuring marketing effectiveness

They realised the need for a creative approach that could help them identify and focus on the most promising leads. This is where ExtraaEdge Education CRM, with its robust lead scoring, came to their rescue.

With the help of an Education CRM, the institute carefully defined its lead scoring criteria and was able to assign numerical values to various engagement indicators. 

ExtraaEdge developed a comprehensive lead scoring system for Admit Abroad by considering leading indicators such as the number and duration of outgoing and incoming calls, follow-ups done and missed, comments, and sentiments of comments to calculate probability.

Once the lead scoring system was implemented, the admissions team noticed a remarkable shift in their efficiency and effectiveness. Here are some key outcomes they experienced:

1. Streamlined Prioritisation: With lead scoring, Admit Abroad could quickly identify leads with higher scores, indicating a higher probability of conversion. This allowed them to prioritise their efforts and allocate their resources more efficiently, focusing on the leads that were most likely to enrol. 
2. Personalised Engagement: Armed with lead scoring data, the admissions team could tailor their communication and outreach strategies based on each lead’s score. This personalised approach resulted in more relevant and targeted messaging, fostering stronger connections with prospective students. 
3. Improved Conversion Rates: By focusing on leads with higher scores, Admit Abroad witnessed a significant increase in conversion rates. The personalised engagement and targeted nurturing efforts resulted in more leads progressing through the enrollment journey and ultimately enrolling in the university’s programmes. 
4. Data-Driven Decision Making: ExtraaEdge CRM, powered by its lead scoring system, provided Admit Abroad with valuable insights into the effectiveness of its marketing campaigns and recruitment strategies. They could analyse the correlation between lead scores and conversion rates, enabling them to make data-driven decisions and refine their student acquisition strategies. 

Ameya Gharpure, co-founder of Admit Abroad, says, “One of the reasons why I would recommend ExtraaEdge is how much detail and granular information you can have about the leads. You can predict their behaviour and number of engagements along with the conversation with the help of the lead score. I don’t think any other CRM has this level of breakdown for leads.“

The needle-moving impact of lead scoring at Admit Abroad showcases how this methodology can transform the student acquisition process and drive tangible results.

In the upcoming sections of this blog, we will explore the essential components of a lead scoring model and discuss the methodologies for implementing an effective lead-scoring system.

10 Essential Components of Lead Scoring for Education Institutes 

To create the best lead scoring model for any school or college, it’s important to carefully consider what the institute wants to achieve and what it specifically needs. Although the precise model will differ depending on the institute’s unique admissions criteria, we have compiled a list of 10 crucial components to consider when developing or refining a lead scoring framework. These components will serve as valuable points of reference as you work towards finalising an effective lead scoring model for your education institute.

1. Demographic Information: This component focuses on lead attributes such as age, location, educational background, and other relevant demographic details. Understanding the demographics of leads helps identify those who align with the ideal student profile. 
2. Academic Fit: Academic fit refers to evaluating the extent to which a lead meets the academic requirements and prerequisites of the programmes your institute offers. This component considers factors like educational qualifications, grades, test scores, and any specific criteria related to programme eligibility. 
3. Content Engagement: Assessing the level of engagement with your educational content is crucial. This can include activities like downloading course catalogues, attending webinars, and interacting  
4. Campus Visits or Events: Leads who have visited your campus or attended informational sessions, open houses, or recruitment events demonstrate a higher level of interest. This component considers the frequency and depth of their participation in such activities. 
5. Communication Records: Monitoring leads’ communication with your admissions team, such as email inquiries, phone calls, or live chat interactions, is important. Prompt and meaningful communication from leads can indicate higher interest and engagement. 
6. Lead Segmentation and Nurturing: Segment leads based on their scores to customise communication and nurturing efforts. Higher-scoring leads may receive more personalised attention and targeted messaging to move them further along the enrollment journey. 
7. Referrals and recommendations: Leads who are referred by current students, alumni, or other trusted sources may be given higher scores. Recommendations and referrals suggest a level of credibility and interest in your institute’s programmes. 
8. Scoring Criteria and Point Values: Establish specific scoring criteria and assign point values to each component based on their importance and impact on lead qualification. Determine how much weight each component carries in the overall lead score calculation. 
9. Regular Evaluation: Continuously monitor the performance of the lead scoring model, analyse the correlation between lead scores and enrolment rates, and make necessary adjustments. Regularly review and update the scoring criteria and point values to ensure their relevance and effectiveness.

Steps to Develop an Effective Lead Scoring Model for your institute

Step 1: Identify the factors that will impact a lead’s potential to convert

Begin by identifying the key factors that influence a lead’s likelihood of enrolling. While these factors may differ based on your institute’s specific admissions process, some typical considerations include:

• The lead’s level of interest in your institute and its programmes
• The lead’s engagement and interactions with your admissions team, such as inquiries or campus visits
• Demographic information about the lead, including age, location, and educational background
• The lead’s academic qualifications and educational goals, such as their prior academic achievements, desired programme of study, and career aspirations

Understanding these factors will provide valuable insights into a lead’s potential to convert and help shape the development of an effective lead scoring model for your education institute.

Step 2: Assign a value to each factor

Once you have identified the factors that will affect a lead’s potential to convert, you need to assign a value to each factor. This value should be based on how important you believe each factor is in determining a lead’s likelihood of converting.

For example:

Step 3: Calculate the lead score

Once you have assigned a value to each factor, you can calculate the lead score for each lead in your database. To do this, simply add up the values of all of the factors that apply to each lead.

For example: 

Step 4: Set up a lead-scoring system

Once you have calculated the lead score for each lead in your database, you need to set up a lead scoring system. This system will allow you to track the lead scores of your leads and prioritise your marketing efforts accordingly.

There are a number of different ways to set up a lead scoring system. Although the ideal choice for an institute is an Education CRM. 

Why Education CRM is an ideal choice for lead scoring system?

An education CRM is an ideal choice for lead scoring as it provides a centralised platform for managing leads and tracking their progress. 

Here are some advantages of using an education CRM for lead scoring:

• Centralised data: All your lead data is managed in one place, which eases your effort to track and analyse. 
• Automated lead scoring: The system automatically scores leads based on the selected rule. 
• Lead prioritisation: This helps in prioritising your leads based on their score, thereby allowing you to focus your time and resources on the most promising ones. 
• Personalised marketing: We will assist you in personalising your marketing and sales efforts to each lead, increasing your chances of conversion. 
• Reporting and analytics: CRM is designed to provide you with detailed reports and analytics on your lead scoring efforts so you can timely evaluate and make necessary adjustments. 

Final Thoughts

Lead scoring is a powerful tool that can help your institute improve its marketing efforts and achieve higher conversion rates. By assigning a value or score to each lead in your database based on their likelihood of becoming a paying customer, lead scoring allows you to prioritise and target the most promising prospects.

If you are an educational institute that is looking to gain a competitive advantage and position itself for success in the future, then do explore ExtraaEdge Education CRM. Our CRM offers a strong lead-scoring system to identify trends, refine your marketing strategies, and continuously improve your student acquisition process.