Data & Analytics

Oracle Offers Big Data Analysis Tool for Student Recruiting, Retention

• By Michael Hart
• 03/19/15

Oracle has introduced a new cloud-based platform designed to allow higher education institutions to use big data to attract and retain more students.

The Oracle Marketing Cloud for Student Engagement combines in a single package a handful of existing cloud services it already offers, but applies them to the specific needs of higher education.

Among the existing services combined are its content marketing, social relationship management, customer relationship management and AppCloud services.

Oracle Marketing Cloud for Student Engagement is one of three new cloud-based services the company introduced this week at a user conference in Nashville, TN, all designed to help organizations in different fields use big data to market their products and services more efficiently.

With the new service for student engagement, information about students, prospective students and even alumni from multiple databases and sources around campus can be aggregated and analyzed. Then, with the help of pre-built data models and customized campaign templates that are based on industry best practices, students and potential student groups can be segmented and targeted with appropriate messages at the appropriate times.

Jason Rushforth, vice president of industry solutions and emerging channels for Oracle Marketing Cloud, said "By leveraging Oracle Marketing Cloud for Student Engagement, higher education can build a stronger student experience by managing every interaction in their journey across channels and devices."

Representatives at one university that has tested the new platform, the University of New Brunswick, said it has already helped open communication channels with students and prospective students, and that success rate will rise as more on campus become familiar with it.

"We've been able to convince more and more stakeholders that segmenting and targeting is much better than batch-and-blast," said Jessica Stutt, a marketing automation specialist with the university. "We're now seeing average open rates of 39 percent, and we've only just begun."