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Your Higher Education Marketing Newsletter
28 February 2006
Hello to everyone as spring approaches here in southern Michigan. The days are longer, the snow is still someplace else, and early robins have arrived. My best wishes that your enrollment for fall will growth as quickly as the first flowers over the next two months.
The first version of my new website is alive as you read this at bobjohnsonconsulting.com. Visit and you’ll find a Link of the Week highlighting a notable college website page with features worth copying, podcasts on recruitment strategies, and outlines of marketing services. The site will evolve over the coming months. Let me know what you’d like to see included.
A new presentation event is on the list below for June: the Aslanian Group’s new Day with an Expert Series at www.aslaniangroup.com/events/default.asp. You can attend for one, two or three days. My day highlights effective marketing in an interactive world. When you visit, also take note of Carol’s seminar program in May. Plan now to make a summer visit to The Big Apple.
Also consider the TargetX Interactive Recruiting workshop at the end of March at www.targetx.com/workshops/index.html and the CASE Internet Marketing conference in April at www.case.org/conferences/cmcyber/frames.cfm.
I hope to see you at one of these events as we join together to improve the effectiveness of our higher education marketing efforts in a world where change is constant and we all need to learn from each other.
Best Way to Stay in Touch with New Alumni
Visit www.y2m.com for results of a recent survey that give guidance on the difficult task of engaging the interests of recent alumni. The challenge of that is reflected in the declining number of alumni who said they would pay money to join an alumni association: 20 percent in 2005, down from 56 percent in 2002.
What website content is of most interest? Five topics were cited by 50 percent or more, with career information highest at 83 percent and financial planning next at 70 percent.
Take heed of this finding: while only 20 percent are interested in an alumni magazine, 73 percent expressed interest in receiving an email edition of the student newspaper.
Mixing Blogs and Podcasts at Houghton College
Although most colleges haven’t started their first generation of student blogs yet, Houghton College is already making this effective recruitment tool even stronger. Visit www.houghton.edu/admission/life/ to see how a residential college in update New York has added podcasts to the mix and transformed blogs into “photoblogs” that are “loaded with pictures.”
The college promises right up front that the students will talk about “Life at its best, its worst and its in-between...” in “unedited, uncensored accounts of life” at the college. Read the journals for yourself and see if the promise is met.
Ad Age Advertising FactPack for 2006
If you want to know more facts about the advertising business than most people, visit adage.com/news.cms?newsId=48009 and download the 53-page PDF.
Do you know the top year for Super Bowl viewing? You’ll find it listed here for every year from 1970 to 2006; the top year wasn’t anytime recent. And you can follow the almost steady growth in advertising cost for a 30 second Super Bowl spot. In 2006, that peaked at $2.5 million. Read the FactPack to learn the first year the cost went over $1 million.
The book also lists major agency revenues in a variety of fields that include health care, advertising to African-Americans and Hispanics, and interactive marketing.
Best Practices to Measure Email Marketing Success
To be a better consumer of email marketing services, spend time reading Jeanne Jennings article at clickz.com/experts/em_mkt/em_mkt/article.php/3584001 and learn the best practice questions to ask your marketing partner.
Take special note of one recommendation. Pay attention not only to the click to open (CTO) rate of your email, but also to the click through rate (CTR). In other words, you don’t just need people to open your email envelope; you need them to respond with a click through. The CTO percent will often be much higher than the CTR number. It just doesn’t count as much.
A Warning about Search Engine Success
Shari Thurow’s advice at www.clickz.com/experts/search/results/article.php/3587096 in her article “Debunking Search Engine Myths” can’t be repeated often enough.
No matter how successful you are in bringing people to your website, if the website itself doesn’t provide a valuable experience for the visitor then “a positive branding experience can disappear with only one click.”
The most valuable message here: start an Internet marketing effort by first building a strong website based on what interests the audience you wish to attract. Build content first, and make it easy to find. Then begin your SEO and other marketing efforts to bring people to your website.
USA Today Highlights Suffocating Students
USA Today contributes to the continuing public unrest about higher education costs with a dramatic headline announcing that “Students suffocate under tens of thousands in loans” at usatoday.com/money/perfi/general/2006-02-22-student-loans-usat_x.htm
The headline, of course, is based on the reality of increased borrowing to meet college costs for both undergraduate and professional school degrees. Content focuses on increased interest rates and the declining value of Pell Grants and illustrates students with debts that range from $19,000 to $150,000.
Is there an important marketing message? Certainly one is the increased importance of in-depth outcomes information early in the recruitment process. Proving the “value” of a college education isn’t going to get any easier over the next few years.
And CNN Highlights Great Jobs without 4-Year Degrees
If you hit the CNN website after reading USA Today, you might be interested in “20 great jobs that don't require a degree,” or at least a four-year degree, but still good prospects for a decent living. Most incomes listed are in the $50K and $60K range, but air traffic controllers top the group at just over $100,000.
See the full story at cnn.com/2006/US/Careers/02/24/cb.no.degree.jobs/
Effective Website Video at RPI
Using video effectively on websites is still tricky, despite the increased availability of broadband connection speeds. A speedy connection to poorly used video certainly isn’t good marketing practice.
RPI goes well above the average video effort at www.rpi.edu/campaign; where you can click in the lower left hand column to see the “Next Generation at Rensselaer” video using techniques that would work equally well for student recruitment. After a short flash intro, you’ll experience a series of still photos and strong text designed to motivate giving. And to make sure you can take the desired action when the spirit moves you, each slide includes a click through to a giving point.
A Podcast on Growth in Word of Mouth Marketing
The 11-minute interview with Geoff Ramsey at womma.org/wombat/blog/2006/02/podcast_geoff_r.html is well worth your time for not only his comments on why “word of mouth” is important but also on the future importance of podcasting in the marketing media mix.
Ramsey cites four trends that are diminishing the impact of traditional marketing: options consumers have to limit their exposure to marketing messages; fragmentation of mass media; lack of trust in formal marketing messages. Today, consumers are most interested in what people they know or can easily relate to have to say about a particular product or service.
Could this possibly be why student blogs on college websites are so popular? And why you really do have to refrain from censoring or editing them?
Ramsey also paints a bright picture for podcasts as marketing instruments, but only when integrated into an overall marketing communication strategy. He reports that about 4 to 6 million people listen to podcasts today, with predicted growth to 30 to 75 million by 2010. Imprecise figures, for sure, but some level of substantial growth seems certain.
Affirmative Action to Balance Male Enrollment
How many colleges make preferential admissions decisions to boost male enrollment? Or award enhanced financial aid packages to increase yield from male applicants?
Nobody knows for sure, but that's the subject discussed at www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2006/02/15/affirmative_action/ in the Salon magazines online article on “The campus crusade for guys.” Residential liberal arts colleges are more likely to take special actions to enhance male enrollment and the “tipping point” seems to be fear of falling below 40 percent male students.
It is, as you might suspect, a difficult subject to get colleges to talk about in public.
Financial Standing of Your Competitors
If you have a competitive interest in the financial strength of your competitors, visit www.hoovers.com/free/ and type in the name of the college or university that interests you. You’ll find information on both private and public institutions. The most detailed report on the private colleges searched in a recent visit cost $139.99 and includes information on credit worthiness, payment history, and law suits in progress.
MySpace.com and University of Phoenix
Some people suspect that there is no place on the Internet immune from University of Phoenix advertising and that certainly holds true for the hugely popular MySpace.com website at www.myspace.com.
Take this test. Go to the home page above and type in Carleton College in the Myspace search area at the top of the page. You will be greeted by a Phoenix ad for colleges in the Carleton area as well as a variety of others in the right hand column of the page that are likely keyed on the “college” word more than the “Carleton” part.
We tried this with several college names and didn't notice any not-for-profits advertising. The University of Phoenix was everywhere.
My Upcoming Presentations in 2006
Plan now to attend an upcoming event. Share questions and answers with people like yourself who are building a competitive edge in enrollment or advancement marketing. Looking forward to meeting you soon!
March 7-9, Dallas, TX: Big 12 Development Conference. Presentations on “Constituency Development and the Web: Tips for Success in an Electronic World” and, with Brian Niles, “Practical eSolutions for Fundraising Enhancement,” with more information at www.bigxii.org/Tracks.htm
March 24, Washington, D.C.: EASFAA Graduate/Professional Symposium. Presentations are on “Writing for the Web” and “Top Websites Features for Scholarships and Financial Aid.” Symposium details are at www.easfaa.org/docs/toc_symposium.html
March 30, Las Vegas, NV: Target X Workshop on 100 Ways to Effectively Recruit Today’s Students. Program and registration information is at www.targetx.com/workshops/index.html
April 20-21, Denver, CO: CASE, Conference on Communications, Public Relations and Marketing on the Net. Register at www.case.org/conferences/internetsplash/default.cfm
June 14-15, Kerhonksen, NY: SUNY CUAD, “Getting and Keeping Alumni Loyalty: 11 Tips for Success in an Electronic World” and “Writing for the Web.”
July 14, Washington, D.C.: Law School Admissions Council, workshop on recruiting and communicating with Millennials.
July 19-21, Chicago, IL: ACT Enrollment Planners Conference. Session details will come along later. Early information is at www.act.org/epc
Start a marketing buzz on your campus. Select from the topics here or ask about creating a seminar especially for you. Write to me at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com
That’s All for Now
Be a marketing champion on your campus.
Bob Johnson, Ph.D. (bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com)
President and Senior Consultant
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC
We stand outside your forest, review your marketing plans and communication materials, and recommend strategies to enhance your competitive strength. We specialize in short term, cost effective consulting assignments that jump start key ventures on your campus and identify barriers that might slow your progress.
Consulting services are offered directly to colleges and universities and together with the marketing experts at these partner firms.
Aslanian Group offers market research and enrollment management services to colleges and universities to increase their market share of adult students. Learn more at www.aslaniangroup.com
Creative Communication Associates is a 22-year leader in the design and implementation of marketing communication strategies for colleges and universities. Learn more about CCA at www.ccanewyork.com
mStoner helps colleges and universities with Internet strategies and website development to meet changing audience expectations, technologies, market pressures, and institutional positioning. For the details, visit www.mstoner.com
TargetX brings the power of the Internet to recruit students and communicate with alumni through higher education’s only integrated suite of online tools. Explore what’s possible at www.targetx.com
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