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ACADEMIC AFFAIRS FORUM Developing Program-Specific Marketing Campaigns Custom Research Brief Research Associate Anna Krenkel Research Manager Nalika Vasudevan October 2012 Education Advisory Board 2445 M Street NW ● Washington, DC 20037 Telephone: 202-266-6400 ● Facsimile: 202-266-5700 ● www.educationadvisoryboard.com 2 of 11 © 2012 The Advisory Board Company Education Advisory Board 2445 M Street NW ● Washington, DC 20037 Telephone: 202-266-6400 ● Facsimile: 202-266-5700 ● www.educationadvisoryboard.com 3 of 11 Table of Contents I. Research Methodology ...................................................................................................... 4 Project Challenge ............................................................................................................. 4 Project Sources ................................................................................................................. 4 Research Parameters ....................................................................................................... 4 II. Executive Overview .......................................................................................................... 5 Key Observations ............................................................................................................. 5 III. Strategies to Promote Individual Programs ............................................................... 6 Digital Media .................................................................................................................... 6 Open Houses .................................................................................................................... 7 Traditional Media ............................................................................................................ 8 IV. Operations of Marketing Campaigns .......................................................................... 9 Decision-making Behind Featured Programs .............................................................. 9 Campaign Timeline ......................................................................................................... 9 Budget and Resources ................................................................................................... 10 V. Assessments of Marketing Campaigns ...................................................................... 11 Measurements of Success ............................................................................................. 11 © 2012 The Advisory Board Company Education Advisory Board 2445 M Street NW ● Washington, DC 20037 Telephone: 202-266-6400 ● Facsimile: 202-266-5700 ● www.educationadvisoryboard.com 4 of 11 I. Research Methodology Project Challenge Leadership at a member institution approached the Forum with the following questions: How do academic leadership, enrollment management, and marketing offices determine which programs to feature in promotional materials? What strategies do marketers use to promote lesser-known or under-enrolled programs at their institution? What types of media do administrators find most successful for promotion? What is the timeline for marketing campaigns for new and under-enrolled programs? Which office oversees marketing campaigns? What is the budget for program specific marketing? Which offices contribute to this budget? What metrics do administrators use to evaluate the success of a marketing campaign? Project Sources The Forum consulted the following sources for this report: Advisory Board’s internal and online research libraries (www.educationadvisoryboard.com) The Chronicle of Higher Education (http://chronicle.com) National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) (http://nces.ed.gov/) Research Parameters The Forum interviewed marketing directors at small, technical institutions and institutions recognized for innovative marketing strategies. A Guide to Institutions Profiled in this Brief © 2012 The Advisory Board Company Approximate Institutional Enrollment (Undergraduate/Total) Institution Location Type Classification University A South Public 25,200 / 34,800 Research Universities (very high research activity) University B MidAtlantic Public 6,000 (all undergraduate) Baccalaureate/Associate’s Colleges University C Midwest Public 32,000 / 40,900 Research Universities (very high research activity) University D Midwest Public 12,300 / 13,500 Master’s Colleges and Universities University E Northeast Private 3,800 / 5,800 Doctoral/Research Universities Education Advisory Board 2445 M Street NW ● Washington, DC 20037 Telephone: 202-266-6400 ● Facsimile: 202-266-5700 ● www.educationadvisoryboard.com 5 of 11 II. Executive Overview Key Observations Departmental open houses are the most common form of program-specific marketing and allow deans and faculty to interact one-on-one with prospective students. Open houses occur throughout the academic year, but the majority occur during September to November and March to May when prospective students typically visit institutions. During open houses, faculty present their research and demonstrate laboratory equipment and experiments to emphasize institutions’ technical focus. Marketing staff prefer digital media advertising campaigns because these campaigns are easier to assess, require fewer resources, and offer a higher return on investment than traditional media and paid advertisement. Traditional media (e.g., print, television, radio, billboards) direct prospective students to departments’ web sites, where students submit contact information and marketing staff can track their web site usage (e.g., how much time they spend on a web page, which links they click on, etc.). Department-driven marketing campaigns last between two and 18 months, depending on the type of media and amount of new advertising content to develop. Between two and three weeks after an academic department contacts the marketing office, the specialized marketing staff (e.g., web developers, videographers, photographers, etc.) and department determine the scope of the marketing project. During the remainder of the campaign, representatives from the marketing office and academic department meet to discuss deliverables and whether the project timeline will change. Departments either pay the marketing offices to conduct marketing campaigns, or an institution-wide committee determines which programs receive central marketing funds. The decentralized model allows innovative departments to communicate with marketing departments and communicate the success of their faculty and students. The centralized, committee-based model encourages coordination among programs, which saves resources. © 2012 The Advisory Board Company Education Advisory Board 2445 M Street NW ● Washington, DC 20037 Telephone: 202-266-6400 ● Facsimile: 202-266-5700 ● www.educationadvisoryboard.com 6 of 11 III. Strategies to Promote Individual Programs Digital Media Marketing Offices Create Institutions’ Online Media Content Every institution uses social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Four Square, Tumblr, YouTube etc.) to attract prospective students. Typically, the enrollment management office supervises the institution-wide social media accounts, while academic colleges and departments also maintain individual social media pages. At University B, staff in deans’ offices maintain the social media presence for the college, and department chairs may also manage social media accounts. Additionally, the marketing office helps develop content for different social media and distributes it to staff who maintain social media accounts across the institution. Student workers post content to college and department social media websites. Usually, social media outlets link to content hosted on the departmental web site. Strategies to Attract Prospective Students through College- and Department-level Digital Media Content Link to Faculty Research At University A and University E, colleges and departments highlight innovative research from faculty on the departmental web site that they link to from Facebook and Twitter. These highlights, such as developing GPS for firefighters and prosthetics for pets, catch the attention of prospective students and demonstrate research to which they may contribute. Tell Personal Student Success Stories All contacts recommend focusing on personal stories that demonstrate specific strengths of the program, rather than general statements. Potential stories include student internship experiences, research with professors, conference attendance, and involvement in academic organizations on campus. These messages allow prospective students to visualize themselves on campus. Use Employers to Emphasize Program Impact At University B, marketers use sound bites from interviews with employers in marketing campaigns. These include higher placement rates and salaries for program graduates. Contacts find that featuring these quotations in YouTube videos and traditional media campaigns leads to increased popularity for previously underenrolled programs. Department Websites Collect Prospective Students’ Personal Information Marketing office staff often assist departments and programs with web site development to attract new students. Marketing departments support academic department web sites by increasing visitor activity, developing content, and tracking student activity on the web site. Marketing Support for Department and College Web Sites Increase Visitor Activity: At University C, the marketing department develops web sites that will appear on the first page of certain Google searches to increase traffic to the web site and raise awareness of the program. Assist Academic Departments in Content Development: Some faculty resist web sites they believe include too many human interest stories (e.g., stories about student success, department interactions with the local community, social events the department hosts, etc.) because the content does not reflect the integrity of their research. However, marketing staff understand the demographic of students they hope to attract and write web site content that is relevant and attractive to students with some faculty input. © 2012 The Advisory Board Company Education Advisory Board 2445 M Street NW ● Washington, DC 20037 Telephone: 202-266-6400 ● Facsimile: 202-266-5700 ● www.educationadvisoryboard.com 7 of 11 Track Web Site Usage: Marketing staff can easily track the way prospective students and other users interact with digital marketing campaigns because web site and social media analytics tools, such as Google Analytics and Facebook Insights, allow marketing staff to view what links prospective students click on and how long they spend on each page. Students more often submit their contact information to learn about the program through digital media tools. Online Paid Advertising Results in Brief Impact Marketing staff at University D do not encourage online paid advertising (i.e., banner advertisements on web sites) because the impact of these campaigns is temporary. Paid advertisements only operate for a limited amount of time and reach a smaller audience. Marketing staff report a higher return on investment from developing digital infrastructure (e.g., websites, social media, etc.) because the content is more permanent. Open Houses Departments Host Open Houses to Raise Awareness with Prospective Students Department and program-specific open houses are the most common form of program-specific marketing. Prospective students meet with faculty and deans one-on-one, who explain the opportunities (e.g., research opportunities, internships, job placement, graduate school admissions, etc.) their department or school offers. Faculty and deans represent their departments at open houses, and marketing staff provide signage and collateral (e.g., postcards, brochures, etc.) for representatives to give prospective students. Most institutions schedule departmental open houses to coincide with designated prospective student weekends. Departments host open houses during the spring and fall because prospective students visit institutions at this time. These programs occur year-round at University B. Faculty participation in open houses increases applications. Strategies to increase faculty attendance for open houses include: Emphasize the relationships faculty will have with students during their time at the institution and the importance of attracting intellectually engaged students. Rotate mandatory attendance. Highlight the opportunity to discuss their research with a captive audience. Hands-on Demonstrations at Open Houses Attract Prospective Students At University E, engineering programs that develop flame-retardant materials set products on fire to demonstrate their resistance. Similarly, surgical assistant programs allow student to wear scrubs and use real tools. © 2012 The Advisory Board Company Education Advisory Board 2445 M Street NW ● Washington, DC 20037 Telephone: 202-266-6400 ● Facsimile: 202-266-5700 ● www.educationadvisoryboard.com 8 of 11 Traditional Media Paid Advertisements and Traditional Media Offer Little Return on Investment Institutions rely less on paid advertisements on television, radio, and print media than previously, because: Constrained budgets for marketing at the institutional and departmental level lead marketing staff, deans, and department chairs to seek alternative, cheaper forms of promotion (e.g., social media, websites, etc.) with higher returns on investment. Digital media allows marketing staff to assess the results (e.g., number of unique web visits, web site pages attract the most views, etc.) of marketing campaigns more precisely than traditional media platforms. Paid Advertisements Lead Prospective Students to Web Sites Paid advertisement in traditional media list institutions’ web site address and occasionally host a QR code which directs prospective students to institutions’ web sites. After students visit the web site, institutions request more information and document prospective students’ web activity. Departments place paid print advertisements in trade specific publications, such as gaming and robotics magazines, to attract students who already express interest in a particular field. Although University D attracts graduate-level students through such media, the director of marketing at University E places advertisements for undergraduate programs in magazines. At University C and University E, marketing staff employ paid, traditional advertising for specific events. At University E, the marketing office advertises open houses through direct mailings, emails, and flyers around the community. Institutions also place paid print advertising to recognize the accomplishments of prominent alumni and use the connection to call attention to programs. University C paid for a full page in a national newspaper to publish a memorial for a prominent alumni after his death, as a way to commemorate his life and raise awareness of the institution. Market Research Informs Paid Advertisement At University A, marketing staff analyze demographic information of historically represented states and emerging markets (i.e., North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Texas and the west coast) for prospective students. They collect data on which regions produce certain majors. Paid advertising in those regions focuses on historically strong programs at University A and programs popular with students in that specific location. © 2012 The Advisory Board Company Education Advisory Board 2445 M Street NW ● Washington, DC 20037 Telephone: 202-266-6400 ● Facsimile: 202-266-5700 ● www.educationadvisoryboard.com 9 of 11 IV. Operations of Marketing Campaigns Decision-making Behind Featured Programs Annual Program Reviews Dictate Targeted Marketing Efforts At University B, an executive-level marketing committee convenes monthly to discuss the institution’s marketing strategy. Members of this committee rotate on a biannual basis (except the director of marketing) and include representatives from: Academic affairs Marketing office Admissions office Faculty This committee determines which programs to highlight in advertising after the annual review process. The committee automatically selects newly launched programs to highlight, and deans can nominate one other program from their college for increased visibility. Annual program reviews identify under-enrolled programs to receive additional funding. The committee continues to meet monthly during the year to review the impact of additional promotion for specific programs. If a program meets or exceeds enrollment goals the committee will reduce the additional marketing resources the program receives. Proactive Deans and Department Chairs Can Initiate Marketing for Their Program Deans and departments chairs can initiate program-specific marketing when they reach out to the marketing department to develop traditional and digital campaigns. At University C, University D, and University E, departments approach marketing staff with proposals to reinforce marketing campaigns such as a print paid advertisement, web site re-design, or research to feature in direct mailings. At University C, the University’s central marketing office assigns a staff member to each college to serve as a marketing consultant and develop a strategic marketing plan for the college. The strategic marketing plan outlines the marketing campaigns needed to achieve the college’s overall strategic plan (e.g., increasing enrollment). After the college approaches the central marketing office with an idea, the specialized marketing staff (e.g., graphic designers) design mock-ups of final products and meet regularly with representatives from the college over the course of the campaign to discuss progress and present deliverables. Campaign Timeline Marketing Campaigns Last Two to Twelve Months, Depending on Creative Content Contacts recommend campaigns that peak during the spring and fall, when high school juniors and seniors select to the institutions to which they will apply. However, to ensure that new websites and campaigns have no technical errors during these times, they advise launching the programs in the summer or winter. For example, if a department wants a new web site by September, the marketing department launches the web site in August to correct any errors before traffic to the site increases in the fall. Additionally, to launch a program in the fall semester successfully, admissions staff who recruit students to new programs need all marketing materials completed by fall of the previous year. The timeline of a creative campaign to raise program awareness depends on the type of media desired, amount of content to develop, and level of engagement from the academic department. For example, developing new content for a structurally sound web site can take © 2012 The Advisory Board Company Education Advisory Board 2445 M Street NW ● Washington, DC 20037 Telephone: 202-266-6400 ● Facsimile: 202-266-5700 ● www.educationadvisoryboard.com 10 of 11 as little as two months. However, if the web site requires more significant mechanical changes, development can take up to 18 months because of slow communication between academic and marketing departments. Timeline for Website Development at University C Dean’s office staff and marketing office staff create strategic marketing plan Dean’s office staff approaches college-specific marketing office staff with proposed marketing ideas Marketing office staff audit existing web site, estimate the total cost of the project, and present estimate to department Departments decide which components of proposed project they will implement based on available resources and inform marketing office of decisions Marketing office creative staff outline plan for marketing project in creative brief Representatives from the dean’s office, college-specific marketing staff, and creative staff meet to discuss project (two to three) weeks after first project-specific contact Representatives from dean’s office and college-specific marketing office staff meet at previously agreed upon points throughout the project for updates New website launched (two to 18 months after dean’s office staff initiates project) Budget and Resources Departments, Marketing Offices, and Enrollment Management Share Costs of Marketing Campaigns To coordinate marketing campaigns, marketing offices identify opportunities for colleges and departments to share costs. At University A, coordination is especially common for paid advertisements. For example, if the dean of the college of engineering wants to place a paid © 2012 The Advisory Board Company Education Advisory Board 2445 M Street NW ● Washington, DC 20037 Telephone: 202-266-6400 ● Facsimile: 202-266-5700 ● www.educationadvisoryboard.com 11 of 11 print advertisement in Newsweek that costs $25,000, the dean will collaborate with the college of applied math and science, enrollment management, and marketing to share the costs. University A, University C, University D, and University E use an “agency model,” through which colleges and departments contract work and pay for the services they commission from the central marketing office in the same way they would contract work from a third-party marketing agency. Departments and colleges pay the marketing office for creative services and collateral they commission. However, enrollment management may cover some costs for marketing campaigns that relate to institution-wide initiatives. The marketing office will also help departments identify potential partners for marketing campaigns. V. Assessments of Marketing Campaigns Measurements of Success Digital Media Offers Free Access to Analytics Tools that Measure Returns on Investment Across institutions, marketing offices consider the number of prospective students who request additional information or submit data to the institution as indicators of success. Marketing offices track the success of open houses and print media through attendance rates and returned postcards sent through direct mail, respectively. Non-digital media campaigns also direct prospective students to digital media because marketing staff can more easily determine user interaction with the web site. Specifically, Google analytics tracks what links web site visitors click on and how long each visitor spends on a unique web page. Facebook Insights analyzes the popularity of social media posts and number of followers. Marketing staff also measure return on investment through the number of prospective students who follow links and then submit applications or forms to collect their contact information. Contacts at University B recommend Robert Sevier’s Integrated Marketing for Colleges, Universities, & Schools: A Step-By-Step Planning Guide to determine metrics for the annual program review and metrics to assess the success of marketing campaigns. Analytics Tools Determine Outcomes of Strategic Marketing Campaigns At University E, the advancement office launched a campaign with help from the marketing office to raise funds from alumni using a direct mailing. Recipients could either send back direct mailing with donation or scan a QR code (i.e., a square barcode smart phones scan) to access an online donation form. The marketing office staff found that although many recipients used the QR code to access the online donation form, most recipients did not actually donate money after arriving at the site. Marketing office staff concluded that QR codes effectively direct students and alumni to the web site, but may not result in additional action. © 2012 The Advisory Board Company Education Advisory Board 2445 M Street NW ● Washington, DC 20037 Telephone: 202-266-6400 ● Facsimile: 202-266-5700 ● www.educationadvisoryboard.com