News Release
Press Release February 28, 2006
In an Environment of High Marketing Costs, Institutions Find Much Needed Relief and Higher ROI's for Online Programs Through Embanet Corporation's 24/7/365 Live Student Support
Toronto, February 28, 2006 – As marketing costs continue to escalate with no relief in sight, many institutions face the difficult challenge of finding ways to increase their return on investment in an increasingly competitive market place. The Embanet Online Group offers institutions the opportunity to work with their existing online programs to generate greater profit to fuel a healthier return on investment as well as maximize marketing dollars through its ability to increase retention rates in online programs.
The popularity of online programs has created such demand for students to fill the seats that marketing costs, particularly those of online lead generation, have seen record breaking increases in costs. Many institutions are in the difficult position of either having to expand already stretched marketing budgets, or find ways of doing more with less. Many institutions either overlook the opportunity to increase retention rates within an online program or do not have the tools, strategy, and resources to address this critical area.
“The Embanet Online Group's commitment has been, and always will be, to drive higher retention rates within an online program better than what an institution can do internally or through competing solutions,” says Jeffrey E. Feldberg, Chairman of Embanet Corporation. “Our focus on retention permeates through our entire organization, even through to what we call our 24/7/365 live support – the Embanet Retention Desk™. Unlike most help desks, the Embanet Retention Desk™ is staffed by highly qualified Analysts who don't speak 'geek talk' and have a 'whatever it takes' attitude to keep the students in their seats. The results speak for themselves. In 2005 we had 50,008 course takers stay in their course as a direct result of interacting with the Embanet Retention Desk™ who otherwise would have dropped their online course. Institutions benefiting from the Embanet Retention Desk™ keep more students, and subsequently, have more revenue than they otherwise would without the Embanet solution. The return on investment becomes higher, the institution starts benefiting from scale, and learners have a value-added experience they will not find elsewhere. Everyone is a winner.”
With the cost per student quickly escalating, institutions are experiencing shrinking returns. When factoring in the tuition for the course, the lost tuition for the program from student drop outs, as well as the marketing costs to acquire a student, institutions are losing thousands of dollars each time a student drops from a program. Factor in negative feedback that may harm the reputation of an institution and the stakes are even higher.
“When we ask educators what a 5% increase in retention rates will do for their online programs, we see smiles and grins from ear to ear,” says Waleuska L. Lazo, CEO of Embanet Corporation. “The Embanet Online Group calls this the '5% factor'. We know that by increasing retention rates by 5% or higher, we have an immediate impact on the institution's return on investment for its online program. Our entire team rallies to provide these results to our partner institutions. This is one of the reasons the Embanet Retention Desk™ supports third party software in addition to learning platforms. Our goal is to ensure the student can not only get into the online class, but also operate successfully within the online environment. In 2005 we had a banner year in driving up the return on investment for our Clients who experienced the power of the Embanet Retention Desk™, and we look forward to doing even more in 2006.”
About Embanet Corporation
Embanet is the leading provider of fully hosted and supported e-Learning solutions to educational institutions. Embanet's Tier 1 Data Center, 24/7/365 LIVE technical support and course development help achieve high online retention and completion rates. Embanet offers the industry's only "e-Learning Insurance™" to safeguard your investment from changing technologies through the total integration of seven leading and non-proprietary learning platforms. For more information, please visit www.embanet.com/newsalert.