Today's inductee into the 2024 Enrollify Hall of Fame is Mickey Baines, President and Chief Revenue Officer at Kennedy Company Education Strategies. Mickey’s innovative work in enrollment strategy and data-driven personalization is transforming how institutions engage students and families. This episode delves into his insights on creating impactful campus tours, leveraging CRM and AI for deeper student engagement, and laying the groundwork for future AI-driven strategies. Explore how Mickey’s expertise is reshaping higher education.

Check out the full episodes Mickey appeared on: 
Mission Admissions - Episode 49 
The Application - Episode 49 

Key Takeaways

• Redefining Campus Tours: Personalized and unscripted tours resonate more with students and families, distinguishing top institutions in the college search process.
• Parent-Focused Communication: Tailored messaging for parents, the key influencers in college decisions, is a crucial but often overlooked strategy.
• Data-Driven Personalization: Institutions must collect and organize data to provide tailored engagement and ensure readiness for AI integration.
• AI’s Role in Enrollment: AI enhances student engagement by automating personalized experiences, but effective implementation relies on robust, well-structured data.
• Future-Proofing CRM: Building advanced CRM strategies today ensures institutions can harness AI’s full potential in the near future.

Campus tours are critical touchpoints in the college decision-making process, but too often, they are overly scripted and indistinguishable. Mickey Baines emphasizes the importance of creating personalized, memorable experiences. Tours that incorporate authentic, unscripted narratives—sharing personal experiences alongside facts—stand out to prospective students. Families notice when tours feel rehearsed or lack differentiation, which can undermine a school’s appeal.

Mickey’s insights highlight the need to audit existing tour practices and ensure they offer unique value. Tour guides should feel empowered to inject their personalities into their presentations, making the experience more engaging and relatable. By crafting distinctive tours, institutions can leave a lasting impression, positioning themselves as top choices for students.

Parents play a pivotal role in guiding students through the college selection process, yet many institutions fail to address them effectively. Mickey underscores the need for parent-specific communication that speaks to their concerns and priorities. Instead of duplicating student messaging, schools should craft emails and materials that help parents support their child’s decision-making process.

For example, messages could highlight how specific events or resources benefit both the student and the family. By addressing parents directly and demonstrating their integral role, institutions can build trust and foster stronger connections, ultimately influencing enrollment decisions.

Mickey stresses that data is the foundation of effective personalization. Institutions often miss opportunities to tailor communications because they fail to track critical details, such as which events a student attended or their online engagement patterns. Collecting and organizing this data allows schools to create tailored experiences that resonate with students and families.

AI offers the potential to automate these processes, delivering hyper-personalized communications at scale. However, AI relies on robust data to function effectively. Institutions must start gathering and structuring data now to prepare for seamless AI integration. CRM systems are vital tools for this transformation, enabling schools to manage data and deploy strategies that meet students’ individual needs.

Mickey explains that building advanced CRM capabilities is essential for harnessing AI in enrollment strategies. Schools should evaluate their current data collection practices, identify gaps, and begin accumulating the information needed to personalize experiences. Advanced CRMs allow institutions to move from basic to intermediate and eventually fully automated, AI-driven strategies.

For example, tracking how a student interacts with event invitations or website content can inform future communications, ensuring they feel relevant and personalized. Institutions that invest in data readiness today position themselves to leverage AI tools effectively, enhancing student engagement and enrollment outcomes.

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Connect With Our Host:
Mallory Willsea 
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