Summary:
Maven's built an automated launch campaign designed to help you drive enrollments by promoting your course to your waitlist.
You can customize the campaign once and then use it to automatically announce each new cohort.
Students who are already on your waitlist or who join when the campaign is turned on, will automatically receive each email on a set schedule.
The Cohort Launch Campaign
Overview of the campaign
You'll open up your cohort for enrollment four or more weeks before your course starts. Once your cohort opens, you'll offer exclusive early enrollment to people on your waitlist. These are your most interested students: they've already signed up to get more information about your course and are eager to dive in, so let them know they can enroll before you open your course to the public. Nurture them with a series of emails, about 1-2 emails per week leading up to the start of your course, to keep your course top of mind. Remember that it takes an average of 7 touch points with potential students before they decide to enroll in your course.
Letting your waitlist know your cohort is open for enrollment is easy using Maven’s cohort launch campaign. We've designed a series of 8 emails that will be sent from the time you open your cohort for enrollment to the payment deadline (or application deadline if you're using an application) that you set in your course settings. Each email has a default template copy written by Maven marketers.
How to use the campaign
Edit your campaign emails. Be sure to check out Maven's guidance on personalizing each email. If the email you're editing uses information from the landing page, now is a great time to finalize that section in your landing page builder.
Send yourself a test email if you'd like.
Open your cohort for enrollment by first setting a start and end date and payment deadline in your course settings. If you're using an application, set your application deadline.
If you currently have a cohort already running, connect your new cohort to the launch campaign or make further edits, like customizing the dates the emails are sent. If you're launching a brand new cohort or don't already have an active cohort, opening your cohort for enrollments automatically turns on the cohort launch campaign.
How to Customize the Emails
Customizing the copy
Each of the 8 emails in the cohort launch campaign series comes with default copy. Keep in mind this is just default copy. You should personalize each email using your voice and key details about your course that will resonate with students.
We've provided some guiding questions and suggested framing to help you think through what to add to the copy in each email.
Customizing the timing and dates
We've also provided a templated cadence for the series of 8 emails. For example, if you open your cohort 4 weeks from when your course starts (Maven's recommendation), the campaign will send 2 emails per week.
Except for the first email, sent the day after you open your cohort for enrollment, you can customize both the time of day and the cadence of when the emails are sent. The default time of day for the emails to be sent is 9 am in the time zone of the school owner. The cadence is that a new email is sent every 5 days.
The Student Experience
When a student signs up for your waitlist, they'll enter the cohort launch campaign in 1 of 2 ways:
If they joined your waitlist via your landing page, course interest survey, or lead magnet page before you opened the cohort for enrollment, they'll get the campaign as soon as you open your cohort for enrollment and connect it to a campaign.
If they joined your waitlist via your landing page, course interest survey, or lead magnet page while the campaign is running, they'll enter the campaign and get the next email. For example, if your student joins when the 6th email is about to be sent, they'll start on the 6th email of the campaign.
All emails contain an unsubscribe button, so if students want to opt out of receiving them, they can. When they opt out of your cohort launch campaign for a specific cohort, they are not removed from your waitlist, and they will receive the next cohort launch campaign when you use it again for a future cohort.
P.S. - If you're interested in learning more about how your course waitlist works and how to grow it, check out this article.
FAQs
Can I still send a broadcast email to the waitlist while the cohort launch campaign is running?
Yes, you can! You can also send broadcast emails to other groups, like your "dropped off" students. If you know you'll want to send more emails than those in the cohort launch campaign, you can add new emails to the campaign in the editing screen.
Can I add emails to the campaign? Can I remove some?
Yes, you can add or remove emails. You can also turn emails OFF without deleting them. Any changes you make will carry over the next time you run the campaign.
Does the cohort launch campaign replace the "engage your waitlist campaign"?
No, the waitlist campaign is automatic and will help to nurture your waitlist between cohort announcements.
What if I want to turn off the campaign?
You can turn off individual emails that are set to be sent in the future, and they will not be sent to students.
Can I edit emails after they've been sent?
Once the entire campaign has been sent, you can. When you edit an email, it’s also edited for the next time you run the campaign for a different cohort. This includes the dates - if you change when an email is sent, we will note that change for the next cohorts, too.
What if I'm running 2 cohorts at once?
If you’re running two cohorts simultaneously, you'll connect your campaign to one cohort at a time. This ensures that you don't send someone on the waitlist the same email twice. You can change which cohort you're using the campaign for in the campaign settings.
Where can I learn more about the email variables used in the templates?
Check out the explanations of all the variables here.
If you have further questions about using the cohort launch campaign, please reach out to [email protected].