Just recently, there has been a very noticeable change in the way for-profit colleges market their offers. This major shift started during the height of the recession and when affiliates flooded the education lead generation industry.
Effect of the Recession
In the year 2008, the US experienced an economic decline which caused the increase of unemployment rates. When people lost their jobs and tried to look for a new source of income, job vacancies were looking for other qualifications that did not match the credentials of most applicants. Thus, a lot of people decided to go back to school in order to get a degree and learn a skill or two.
The trend was very promising for online colleges and they grabbed the opportunity instantaneously. Their target market shifted to stay-at-home moms, the unemployed and those people who want to take a course while having part time jobs. The common plan that these people have in mind is to get a diploma while companies are not accepting new employees. But by the time the economy has already recovered, their diploma will serve as their key to better opportunities of earning money.
The Surge of Affiliates in the Education Lead Generation
Affiliates saw a very big opportunity when statistics showed an increase in the number of people planning to get online college degrees. Processors of credit cards started to crack down on a certain practice called continuity billing. Many affiliates and their networks earned profits amounting to millions of dollars and many others decided to follow the trend to try their luck.
The Quality of For-Profit Education Leads
Way back in time, university industry professionals exclusively managed and marketed the for-profit college industry. These are the kind of people who had been exposed to many years of working in a campus setting or online colleges. They know for a fact what factors could make or break for-profit schools and they make an auxiliary business out of it. These people are very well aware that the worth of a high quality education lead is more than $40 for very basic information like name, address, educational background and email.
As for the mentality of affiliates, they can run education offers for only $35 and they get these leads through any means possible. And with the availability of numerous internet methods of generating online education leads, all parties will find themselves at a win-win situation. Schools will get a good number of leads and affiliates get paid for providing them.
