Bob Johnson's Blog on Higher Education Marketing

What's the state of higher education in the United States?

 

"Traumatic change" might be the best two words to describe what's taking place right now and will continue to take place in the immediate future as available resources continue to shrink and schools from Yale University to San Francisco Community College adapt to meet the shrinkage.

 

Are people at your institution still whistling past the graveyard?  

 

Over the last two days I've made a quick "copy and paste" collection of news stories that illustrate the change. Had I started a week ago, this would be a much longer list. Here's the array that's come along in the sources I monitor, presented in the order received. No doubt I've missed a few.

 

• Resistance to "hefty" salary increases for presidents in Idaho at a time of severe budget limitations, defended on the grounds that they are necessary to get the best leaders. Public universities everywhere can expect increased scrutiny of how money is spent. Stories like this only increase the intensity of that scrutiny.

• The largest endowment decrease since World War II, coupled with increased spending from remaining endowment resources on financial aid and general operations. InsideHigherEducation offered another review of the problem, focusing on the differences between small schools that never had large endowments and wealthy institutions entangled in hedge funds.

• A voluntary retirement incentive program at the University of Illinois flagship campus to reduce faculty and administrative numbers. In Michigan, we remember these well as part of an auto industry effort to reduce high salary commitments.

• Williams College ended the "no loans in our financial aid packages" policy that many predict is the first of more to follow at similar institutions. Princeton started the "no loan" trend back in the 1990s to get better yield from middle class students not willing to go into debt for a Princeton degree, partly in the face of generous merit scholarships from second-tier institutions. Both reflected a resistance to debt levels in the face of higher tuition. How high can tuition discount rates go in the private sector to maintain enrollment levels?
 
• "Soaring salaries" at the "very top of the pay scale" at regional Washington state universities from 2007 to 2009, compared to large tution increases at the same time. Another example of increased public scrutiny of how higher education spends money. 

• A "financial state of emergency" in Nevada declared by the Board of Regents. Will academic program reductions be far behind? Reducing programs is underway now at many private and public institutions at both undergraduate and graduate levels.

• Yale University freezes salaries for president, provost, deans and other high level administrators as a symbolic step to help cover a $100 million budget gap.

• Cancelling an entire summer session program at City College of San Francisco to help balance the budget there. 

Shrinking Resources of Every Type

 

Almost everyone can add similar stories from their own states. Resisting the change underway is a foolish enterprise. Helping to shape the change is not. Cutting salary costs is underway. Cutting academic program costs is underway. The resources available to virtually every college and university, from Yale to the University of Illinois to City College of San Francisco will not be the same over the next 10 years as they have been for the past 20 years.

 

A New Brand Reality

 

"Brand strength" will not save individual colleges and universities from change. 

 

Careful adaptation to new financial realities (lower private giving, lower state appropriations, lower endowments, higher resistance to debt) will force higher education to focus on the "best of the best" at every institution. "Brand" might actually reflect real differences from one place to another as academic programs offered are reduced. That isn't necessarily a bad thing.

 

That's all for now 

• Join me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HighEdMarketing
• Subscribe to "Your Higher Education Marketing Newsletter" at http://www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/ 

    

 

 

 

February has arrived, telling us that 2010 is well underway and the recruitment cycle for traditional freshmen is nearing the final months. Spring arrives not long from now, a most pleasant prospect.

Two webinars are set for April. We start with "Web Analytics for Enrollment Success" at bit.ly/6y2l0A and continue with "Writing Right for the Web" at bit.ly/9ad2rj

Here are your marketing news and notes for February.
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Yale and YouTube: A New Admissions Approach

Watch this video and ask yourself the question: would my school use song and dance to explain why students picked my school? Would your version get 334,000+ views?

See the latest in 16 minute Ivy League admissions videos at bit.ly/5g1pjw
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Fast Track Applications: Questioning the Motivation

The NY Times took note last month of 100+ public and private sector schools spending increased admission dollars on "fast-app" mailings to high school seniors.

Mentioned in the article are Marquette, RPI, University of Minnesota, University of the Pacific and several others. The pre-completed, no-fee applications sent to seniors have resulted in large increases in applications pools.

Marketing goals vary from increased selectivity and ethnic and geographic diversity to more national awareness and, the Times suggests, higher US News rankings.

The article compares the practice to pre-approved credit-card invitations and cites "white lies" about the exclusivity of the mailings. It also reports enrollment results at the College of St. Rose that are positive enough for the enrollment management officer to call the program "priceless."

The story is at bit.ly/7KtpsE
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Apps Surge at Elite Schools as Admissions Budgets Shrink

If your reputation is strong enough you do not need more applications and reducing your admissions budget, especially for travel, will not have a negative impact on your applicant pool. Harvard travel dollars are down 50 percent and Brown by 30 percent. Applications have soared.

Bloomberg news service reports the details for record applications for 2010 admission for Harvard, Stanford, Brown, Chicago and several other top tier schools at bit.ly/5Ano87
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134 Higher Education TV Ads

Planning to add TV advertising to your marketing mix? Just like to watch TV ads?

Elizabeth Scarborough has started a collection of college and university TV ads with 134 entries so far at www.youtube.com/elizscar

If you have a TV ad that is not there now, why not upload it soon?
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101 5-Minute Steps to a Better Website

If you need proof that incremental changes can improve your website, take time to scan through this list and plan your web enhancement activities over the next few months.

Start with 19 writing tips and go on to 5 other categories: usability, SEO, accessibility, design and legal. Truly, there is something for everyone here.

Give yourself a score for what is already done or in progress when you visit klck.me/ASx
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Ready for the Splinternet?

Groundswell researchers are reporting the end of 15 "golden age" Internet years when everything was nicely integrated. In the future, say these usually wise folk, we will not have things as easy as we have had them in the past.

Marketing communicators had best take note. If this is correct, we have to learn new ways to do web analytics, search engine optimization, online advertising and more. Why has the Internet splintered? Blame the variety of social media and mobile devices now in play.

A synopsis of the report is at bit.ly/5l2FcZ
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Williams College Drops "No-Loan" Policy

InsideHigherEd reported yesterday that Williams College is dropping the "no loan" policy for financial aid awards, effective with the entering class in fall 2011. The announcement was made Sunday. That is a not surprising result of decreases in endowment revenue and other fiscal challenges. Will other "no loan" schools follow Williams?

As of Monday night, the Williams website had not quite caught up. Read about the "no loan" policy at
www.williams.edu/admission/finaid.php but do not get the wrong idea if you are a high school junior this year.
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Does "Branding" Work on the Web?

Do you make a special effort on your website to make sure people find what they want to find when they visit (the academic programs offered, the real cost of enrolling, the academic profile of people who attend)?

Or do you insist on telling visitors what you think they should know about you?

Branding on the web is all about creating the right experience for your visitors.

Gerry McGovern writes about the perils of annoying web visitors at bit.ly/8N8PE9
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Congrats to University Presidents in Oregon

Presidents of public universities in Oregon are taking pay cuts and freezing salaries.

The step is no doubt symbolic in the face of overall financial challenges, but the higher education sector can use more symbolism like this in the months ahead after a recent Chronicle of Higher Education report on a continuing trend to higher salaries.

Check what is happening at various schools as reported by The Oregonian at bit.ly/8RklOT
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Myths and Realities: Teen Media Use

Nielsen reviews the differences and similarities between teens and adults. Time spent on TV, radio, and the Internet might not be as different as conventional wisdom has us think.

Check a quick summary at bit.ly/2XNziS and move from there to download the 17-page PDF report.
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Mobile Marketing: Controlling Expectations

Yes, mobile marketing is growing in importance and marketers should not ignore it.

However, it is important to balance the actions of "early adopters" with those of most other people and keep expectations under control while we plan activities in this new sector.

Read the ReadWriteWeb report that 76 percent of people do not use their mobile phones to access the web. (Higher for teens but not yet 40 percent.) Mobile users will increase but the difficult question is "how far and how fast?"

More including pro and con comments is at bit.ly/6YrJYs
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Future of Marketing Communications

If you like to think ahead 10 to 15 years, then do not miss the NY Times article that imagines how 2-year old children will communicate not long from now.

That is not the only learning point. Equally important is the finding that important generation gaps in how people communicate are only a few years apart. If you think you know what works for a 17-year old, do not be silly and assume that it will work for a 14-year old three years from now.

Get ready for the future at bit.ly/882LFF
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Time on Social Networks per Person: What Country Leads

A quick-to-scan ClickZ chart lists the top 10 countries around the world. No, the United States does not lead. Japan is last.

Find the leader and the rest at www.clickz.com/3636321
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My Upcoming Presentations in 2010

Share questions and answers with people like yourself who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me for one or more of these events.

February 2, ACT: "Social Media in Marketing Communications," Lansing, MI

April 7, Magna Publications Webinar: "Web Analytics for Enrollment Success." Program details and registration at bit.ly/6y2l0A

April 20, Academic Impressions Webinar: "Writing Right for the Web." Check the outline and register at bit.ly/9ad2rj

June 3-4, Education Dynamics Aslanian Group Seminar, Marketing to Adult Students, Chicago, IL

July 21-23, ACT Enrollment Planners Conference, Chicago, IL

July 26-28, eduWeb2010, Chicago, IL Follow the conference program as it grows at www.eduwebconference.com/

Increase ROI from your online marketing. Expand the writing, editing, and search marketing skills of people on your campus. Host a campus workshop on online marketing.

Contact 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

Increase your online marketing success with these 6 services.

• Customer Carewords Research with Gerry McGovern
• Writing Right for the Web On-Campus Workshops
• Marketing Communications Website Review
• Competitive Website Reviews
• Content Copywriting Services
• Usability Analysis

Start now at www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/whatwedo.html

Private sector higher education: shrinking over the next 10 years?

In the proverbial interests of full disclosure, I am an Alfred University alumnus, have never attended a reunion event, and have been a very occasional donor. That last category was just frequent enough to keep me on the "alumni and friends" list of people who receive regular updates from the university president, Charles Edmondson. I read everything that arrives.

The president's Memorandum of December 11 focused on the "fundamental challenges" that Alfred had to meet to "remain the unique institution that you remember."

A quick summary of the future enrollment challenge:

• New York state high school graduates will decline nearly 20% by 2019. The decline is greater in the NY areas where Alfred has traditionally had its greatest recruitment strength.
• The projected decline is even higher among students most likely to enroll at a private sector college or university.
• Demographic trends are not much better in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states.
• AU has never recruited well in the South and West and there's no reason to expect that to change enough to balance the nearby demographic decline.

For making public comments like these, the president tells us he's been accused of spreading "gloom and doom." I hope most people view this as trying to create a realistic view of what's possible and what's not in the next 10 years.

Tuition discount: $19 million from $54 million 

Tuition discounting plays a major role here. For the current academic year, the president wrote that $19 million from a total budget of $54 million is supporting financial aid awards. This year about 35 percent of the university budget isn't available for salaries or facilities or regular operations.

We as alumni are asked to "temper your distress with patience and understanding" as "probable" reductions in programs, "including a sports team," are determined.

With 2,100 graduate and undergraduate students, Alfred is several hundred students larger than when I graduated. It is more likely than not that in future years enrollment will shrink rather than stay the same. That's not "gloom and doom," that's a realistic interpretation of the likely impact of current demographic and economic conditions.

Survival in the Private Sector 

Private higher education is not about to disappear in the United States. But few instititions have the reputation and the resources to continue over the next 10 years as they have operated in the past 10 to 15 years. That golden era of enrollment growth and facilities expansion just about everywhere is over. 

If Alfred University and others like it survive and thrive it will be in no small part because presidents like Charles Edmondson are willing to talk about "gloom and doom" in public and ask "alumni and friends" to support uncomfortable change. 

That's all for now 

• Join me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HighEdMarketing
• Subscribe to "Your Higher Education Marketing Newsletter" at http://www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/ 

Tuition Discounting Increasing in the Private Sector of Higher Education

Getting information about college and university tuition discount rates is as challenging as finding the Holy Grail.

Tuition discount rate (the amount a school has to reduce the "sticker price" to enroll students) is an important indicator of strength in the market place, for everyone from University of Chicago competing against Ivy League rivals to far less well-known schools competing against regional public universities. Not many people like to admit it, but without substantial tuition discounting the private sector of higher education would look far different than it does today.

The current financial crisis (and that's still very much the environment for both the public and private sectors) in higher education has placed even greater strains on tuition discount rates. That fact was confirmed at the 2010 meeting ("Securing a Better Future") of college presidents hosted by the Council of Independent Colleges on Florida's Marco Island.

A reporter for InsideHigherEd was allowed to sit in on a meeting where presidents talked about the need for higher tuition discounting to maintain enrollment for the freshmen entering in 2009. The reporter promised not to mention any individual colleges. No individual discount rates were reported.

Steady enrollment but less tuition income

Here are some of the important points of that meeting:

• "Most" colleges met enrollment goals.
• A "large majority" said their discount rates had increased.
• When talking about increased applications this year, a "bubble burst" as presidents acknowledged that there are not enough high school graduates to translate this increase into more students. (Without an increase in accepted students who are likely to enroll, pressure on tuition discounting will not ease.)

Other problems identified:

• Banks that have reduced lines of credit and increased interest rates.
• More reliance on "adult" students to maintain total enrollment levels and thus a change in the traditional profile of many colleges.
• Interest only in academic programs with strong individual reputations. Parents are reluctant to spend $$$ on private sector tuition for programs without perceived strong rewards.

Private Sector Transformation

While "paradigm shift" is an overused term, the college president who used those words at the CIC meeting was on target. Many if not most private sector institutions will be far different 5 and 10 years from now than they were 5 years ago.

Obviously, "securing a better future" isn't going to be easy. The journey starts with presidents who can talk frankly to faculty, staff, students, and alumni who may have different views of just what "better" means.

Tomorrow I'll write about one president who is doing just that: Charles Edmundson at Alfred University.

That's all for now 

• Join me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HighEdMarketing
• Subscribe to "Your Higher Education Marketing Newsletter" at http://www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/ 

 

 

Website visitors... eager to offer improvement advice

Over the past year 16 colleges and universities have done Customer Centric Index surveys with various groups visiting their website here in the United States and in Canada, Sweden, Norway, and the U.K.

Until recently we didn't have an option for adding answers to an open-ended question, but several of the early participants asked us to include that feature. And so in three recent CCI surveys completed at Bemidji State University, Ball State University's School of Extended Education, and Rider University we added a question like this:

• "If there was one improvement you could make to our website, what would you do and why would you do it?"

50 to 75 Percent Response

While we didn't predict a response rate in advance, the actual level was a major surprise. For Bemidji and Ball State, about 50 percent of everyone completing the survey took the time to add a written comment. At Rider, the only one so far to use a prize incentive to encourage responses, the response rate from survey takers jumped to 75 percent.

The message seems clear: ask people to help you improve your website and many will take the time to do just that.

Highest Concerns: Search and Links

Results of these last three surveys continue to confirm that two items are most likely to stand out as needing improvement regardless of who is answering the survey:

• Search... in this age of "Google," people have high expectations that search will work well at their college or university. For most people, it does not.
• Links... dissatisfaction with link structure is a common concern. People often are happy with content when they can find it. But too often, finding what they want is a special challenge.

Nancy Prater, director of marketing and communications at Ball State's School of Extended Education, summed up the value of the CCI survey results: 

• "The CCI survey has helped us identify problems we did not know we had, verify customer service issues we suspected existed, determine what we are doing right, and give us important benchmarks for measuring future improvement. We are using this data to make adjustments to our navigation and Web site copy, especially as it relates to search terms. It is also helping us focus efforts on our most critical needs, so that we are tackling problems impacting the largest number of our Web readers first.
• "We added an open-ended question at the end of the survey to help us understand the "whys" behind some of the responses. This provided us with more helpful and honest feedback than we would have received in a whole series of focus groups.

That's all for now.

• Ask me about a CCI survey for your school at bob@bobjohnsonsulting.com
• Join me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HighEdMarketing
• Subscribe to "Your Higher Education Marketing Newsletter" at http://www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/ 

 

 

Happy New Year!

This marks the 15th year since I started writing this newsletter when it was primarily a promotional tool for the AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education. Both the Symposium and the newsletter have enjoyed continued success since then. A special thanks to the many people who have been subscribers since the 1990s.

The challenges that plagued higher education in 2009 remain in 2010 as we continue to adjust to reduced financial resources, resistance to tuition costs, and demands for new programs and delivery systems. For marketers, it will be a time of special efforts and new accomplishments.

At the Iowa State social media summit in December, someone asked me what the next "new marketing thing" would be in 2010. That is always hard to predict but the mobile marketing world is sure to be at or near the top as we move further toward the world of Web 3.0. (The Iowa State presentation slides are online at bit.ly/7APwg3)

Join me this year on Twitter at twitter.com/HighEdMarketing and LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/bobjohnsonconsulting

And now, here are your marketing news and notes for January 2010.
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US News Rankings: New Reality Marketing Challenge

The 2010 US News college rankings are out and the overall results are not surprising. Harvard and Princeton lead the national university list. Williams and Amherst lead the national liberal arts colleges. The usual suspects fall below them.

What caught my eye was the category for "A+ schools for B students" with "less than stellar test scores or so-so grade point average." The schools are listed within four regions. After a quick scan of the Midwest schools, I am very curious to see how this ranking is reflected on university websites over the next month or so.

Is your school included as a special place for B students? See where you and your competitors stand at bit.ly/8mGeiM
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Master's Degrees Mean $$$ for Higher Education

The NYT Education Life issue for January includes an article on the "New Universe" of master's degrees in higher education. Narrative Medicine opens a review of 10 popular offerings that closes with New Media.

As elsewhere in higher education now, market forces are driving these new programs as schools discover people are willing to pay major dollars for a chance at expanded career opportunities.

See the 8 others at bit.ly/4ynUHl and compare with your offerings.
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4 Mobile Marketing Trends to Watch in 2010

Marketing Sherpa makes an important recommendation here: focus first on making your website accessible from mobile devices rather than on developing special mobile apps.

Although the data is from early 2009, the trend is clear in every age group: growth in smartphones (although not near 50 percent yet) and text messaging (over 50 percent at age 50 and much more for younger age groups) that will continue in 2010.

More details are at www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31481#
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Secret Lives of Admissions Officers: Daily Beast Report

Not much has changed since the 1970s: low pay and rapid turnover still characterize life for new admissions professionals. Read this and stay up-to-date with what the public is learning about what the article describes as the "secret police force" in admissions.

The article, with mini-profiles of 10 admissions counselors, is at bit.ly/8lEF7E
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500 Web Editors and More: University of Southern Denmark

If your school struggles with the best way to organize itself for maximum website impact, you will not go wrong reading the detailed plan used at University of Southern Denmark.

One key to the plan is initial screening and ongoing training for 500+ plus web editors responsible for keeping web content accurate, current, and easy to read throughout the university.

Download the details from my SlideShare site at bit.ly/51A85h
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Market Shapes Career Relevant Higher Education

The feature story in the January 3 NYT Education Life supplement was titled "The Utility Degree" and returns to the old discussion about the extent to which higher education should aid people to find career employment after graduation. This time, however, the overall tone seems to reflect an acceptance of current market pressures from the current economy.

With few student majors, programs in Philosophy and American Studies are at risk.

Higher education is an expensive investment and people are focusing more on immediate returns. And so curriculums change to better meet demand.

Michigan State and St. Michael's College are highlighted in the report at bit.ly/4q9p2M
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Purdue University: Transparency in Financial Crisis

Higher education continues to walk a fine line between public acceptance and public disillusionment. The varied responses of major public universities to new fiscal conditions in 2009 often added to the disillusionment rather than the confidence.

Purdue University is putting weight on the transparency side of the scale with a website page that promises to keep the campus community and the public current with the last plans to weather the storm.

This is a risky step if people perceive the site as too much public relations rather than open public disclosure. Time will tell. Plan to check regularly at bit.ly/5KsymR
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Top 10 Intranets Add Mobile, Social Network Strength

In our Customer Carewords research this year for 14 colleges and universities, internal website users were almost always more critical in their evaluations than external groups. Faculty and staff were the least satisfied.

One conclusion: it is not easy to build one website that combines the best features of both internet and intranet sites.

Now Jakob Nielsen has identified 10 Intranet sites and the features that will make them especially successful in 2010. While none are in higher education, reviewing the list will help build a stronger case for a more efficient intranet. Give special attention to the move to easier mobile access and to the increase in social networking features within the organizations.

Check the report at www.useit.com/alertbox/intranet_design.html
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For-Profit Sector Capturing Military Students

Business Week magazine lays out in detail how the for-profit sector has won a 29 percent market share of college enrollments from active-duty military personnel. Call it aggressive recruiting or an enhanced "customer service" orientation, not-for-profit schools are falling behind.

University of Phoenix, for instance, has increased recruiters of military students from 91 in 2003 to 452 this year.

What lessons might the not-for-profit sector learn? Study the details at bit.ly/6dWjha
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Online Virtual Recruiting

Rachel Reuben at SUNY New Paltz gives a detailed review complete with screen shots of the online virtual college fair experience offered by CollegeWeekLive.

If you have a special interest in minority students or people from outside your primary recruitment area, check Rachel's report at bit.ly/4tL58S
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New FAFSA: The Marketing Impact

Kiplinger applauds changes in the new FAFSA, noting a reduction of 22 questions.

Down in the middle of the article is news that people completing the form will also have direct access from it to information about retention, graduation, and transfer rates as well as information about cost and programs available.

Is this a new chance for a late-in-the-recruitment-cycle comparison of finalist selections before sending off the form?

The Kiplinger article is at bit.ly/8ABedQ
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100+ Higher Education TV Ads on YouTube

Interested in TV advertising? If yes, visit regularly a new YouTube site created by Elizabeth Scarborough at Simpson-Scarborough. Right now 102 videos are available. Expect that number to grow.

Pick your favorites at www.youtube.com/elizscar
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Future of Search Engine Marketing

If you are debating how much emphasis to put on search marketing in 2010, then you will want to read a recent column by Danny Sullivan, a genuine search marketing guru.

In responding to a recent prediction that search marketing has lost importance, Sullivan harkens back to a similar 1997 prediction and gives good reasons why the current forecast is no more valid now than 12 years ago.

Search engine marketing is one component of an overall online marketing program and it doesn't make sense to ignore it. Read more at bit.ly/4oJnfh
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Upcoming Presentations in 2010

Share questions and answers with people like yourself who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me for one or more of these events.

Thanks to everyone who attended a presentation or webinar in 2009. I'm looking forward to meeting many of you again this year, as well as adding new friends and colleagues. Presentation event dates are included here for your advance planning. Look for updates to here and on my website as they become available. Exact titles below might change but the major focus will not.

February 2, ACT: "Social Media in Marketing Communications," Lansing, MI

April 7, Magna Publications Webinar: "Web Analytics for Enrollment Success"

June 3-4, Education Dynamics Aslanian Group Seminar, Marketing to Adult Students, Chicago, IL

July 21-23, ACT Enrollment Planners Conference, Chicago, IL

July 26-28, eduWeb2010, Chicago, IL Follow the conference program as it grows at www.eduwebconference.com/

Increase ROI from your online marketing. Expand the writing, editing, and search marketing skills of people on your campus. Host a campus workshop on online marketing.

Contact 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

Increase your online marketing success with these 6 services.
• Customer Carewords Research with Gerry McGovern
• Writing Right for the Web On-Campus Workshops
• Marketing Communications Website Review
• Competitive Website Reviews
• Content Copywriting Services
• Usability Analysis

Start now at www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/whatwedo.html

Web content editors... 500+ to train and learn from

Early in November I traveled to Denmark to the J.Boye Aarhus 2009 conference in Aarhus for a presentation on "Rating Higher Education Websites: The Student Experience" that's posted now at my SlideShare site.

Rie Zimmer Rasmussen, web coordinator in the project office at University of Southern Denmark (17,000 students in 5 major academic areas), joined me to outline how that university works with more than 500 "web editors" throughout the university to achieve visitor-friendly web content. My first impression: this was a more organized program than any I've seen here in the United States.

Review the complete web management system

The university enjoys a well-structured web management system. Rie has sent a 6-page PDF that outlines it. You can read online or download a copy from SlideShare.

What first attracted me was the plan to improve the skills of the web editors and the recognition that doing this throughout the University was an essential part of building an effective website.

Web editors learning together

Web editors are not full time. Rie notes that "at least" 70 percent of their work time is spent on other tasks. Editors have access to the CMS, but not without training. The flexible program allows for different existing skills on the part of people about to become web editors.

• First step often is an introduction by a local "web coordinator" in the area where the web editor will work, including web content guidelines.
• An alternative option (sometimes combined with the coordinator's intro) is a 6-hour basic course offered about 6 times a year for up to 10 people at a time. Content of the course is outlined near the end of the SlideShare document.
• A "web editor's workshop" is offered as an advanced course for people who are already working with the CMS. Content is set with the participants and might include anything from stucture/navigation, graphics, text, search engine optimization and more.

Two key (and obvious?) lessons

First, it takes many people to keep a website up-to-date for the people who use it and they will benefit from a structured program that gives them the skills needed at the start.

Second, it makes great good sense to plan a way for people to share what they've learned and to identify new areas where additional training is needed. The advanced course can meet that need.

How about your university? What would it take to implement a web editors program like this? If you have something similar, let me know in an email to bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com

Next J.Boye Conference in Philadelphia

The next conference for those who work on websites is in Philadelphia, May 4-6. A higher education track is included and there is extra value is meeting people building better websites from areas outside the college and university sector. Check the program as it develops. 

That's all for now.

• Join me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HighEdMarketing
• Subscribe to "Your Higher Education Marketing Newsletter" at http://www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/ 

 

 

December is upon us and that means the rapid arrival of the holiday season and a New Year. My best wishes to everyone over the next few weeks as 2010 approaches.

Record attendance of more than 600 people at the recent AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education showed that higher education marketing continues to have a critical role to play in the success of universities here and abroad. Next year's meeting is in San Diego in November. Look for the exact dates soon.

Thanks to everyone who has attended one of my conference presentations or webinars in 2009. It was indeed a busy year and it was a pleasure to meet old and new friends. Look for the first listing of 2010 events in the January newsletter.

Close out your marketing year by joining me on Twitter at twitter.com/HighEdMarketing or by connecting on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/bobjohnsonconsulting

And now here are your December marketing news and notes.
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Xavier Works to Reduce Stealth Applicants

Doug Ruschman, director for web services at Xavier University, sent word this week of a new effort to reduce stealth applicants.

While many schools have online scholarship calculators, most do not require the person using them to reveal their identity. That is a legitimate marketing tactic to get quick information to people about possible sticker price reductions in the hope that interest will increase.

If you are bothered by the growth in stealth applicants, why not offer a concrete benefit in return for identity information rather than give the benefit for free? The results of this approach will help Xavier learn more about early explorers with high interest.

Early results: 300 people who were not yet in the database completed the form in the first weekend.

Check the approach at bit.ly/5poe51
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5 Pending Facebook Changes

For student recruitment, alumni relations, athletics and more, Facebook gets more attention as a higher education marketing tool than other social media sites.

And that's why you might want to visit an early preview of 5 new Facebook page changes brought to you by the social media watchdogs at Mashable.

One key element: more prominence for the search feature.

See what's coming soon when you visit bit.ly/4OFpuB
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NSSE 2009 Survey Results

Results of the 2009 National Survey of Student Engagement are available now at nsse.iub.edu/NSSE_2009_Results/

Despite new challenges to the survey methodology and use of results, this remains a useful way to compare trends at your institution and to compare yourself with similar schools.
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4 Top Mobile Marketing Points

Sean Carton is one of my favorite writers about online marketing.

With the advent of a new Android phone for Verizon, he notes that mobile marketing has received another boost (not everyone wants an iPhone from AT&T). If you are not yet thinking about the best ways to add this to your marketing mix, add the topic to your resolutions for the New Year.

Sean recounts the pitfalls of a mobile marketing strategy and urges attention to 4 simple but key elements (Where, What, Who, and Why) at www.clickz.com/3635583
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Sweet Briar College Pays a Price

In this year when nobody was quite sure what impact the economy would have on student recruitment, the question of whether or not to raise the tuition discount rate no doubt was widely discussed, especially in the private sector.

Sweet Brian College decided not to raise the 42 percent rate. The result was a drop in enrollment from 650 to 605 students and a drop in revenue of nearly $1 million.

Details and frank talk from the president about future options are at bit.ly/69gigS
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ACT Gains Market Share vs. SAT

Fortune reviews the contest for market share between the two test-taking giants, noting that since 1999 ACT has achieved virtual parity with the SAT exam with respect to number of students taking the tests.

Fortune attributes this weakened market position to a decision by College Board to begin letting students who take the SAT more than once to send only their highest score results to colleges and universities with a new Score Choice program. ACT has always had that policy.

Read more from Fortune at bit.ly/8pTCO7
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Students Protest Pittsburgh Tuition Tax

Pittsburgh wants to raise revenue with a new 1 percent tax on student tuition. If the city succeeds in breaking the exemption enjoyed by non-profits, will others be far behind?

Expect legal challenges, of course, so the final outcome is not clear.

Meantime, students are protesting. Watch the video and follow the story at bit.ly/8tAIk9
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Web Analytics: New vs. Returning Visitors

If you need ammunition on your campus to convince people that web analytics can play a valuable role in understanding what happens on your website, read Shelby Thayer in her Trending Upward blog post at bit.ly/7WXxHB

One point is important for admission offices: be sure to separate new from returning visitors in the data you are looking at. Then check the bounce rate (percent who leave the page without continuing anywhere else) and the average time on your page.

Pay special attention to your admissions entry page and to the first page people visit after that.
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Creating Effective Web Links

Little things really can kill your online marketing efforts. One of the most common is poorly created website links.

Gerry McGovern     offers insight on creating more effective links at bit.ly/2dxRHt

A very basic point: make sure your text links appear in blue and are underlined.
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Opt-In Email Lists Grow in 2009

Here is another note for anyone tempted to believe that email is dead as an effective online marketing tool. Business to consumer email lists grew slowly (56 percent) or rapidly (11 percent) in 2009. Another 30 percent reported neither growth nor decline.

The message is clear. Give people a beneficial reason to subscribe to your email and they will do it. Details from Marketing Sherpa at www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31459
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Engagement Marketing Revisited

Alex Brown, an old friend from his Wharton days, returns from his current world of horse racing to update an earlier article on Engagement Marketing in the social media world.

To help understand how to integrate social media marketing into your overall marketing plan, his concept of three circles of marketing (traditional, engagement, and free) is well worth a visit at www.zehno.com/news-resources/?p=2532
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Social Media for Mass Advertising

Maybe mass marketing to create brand awareness is not dead yet. Maybe it has just transformed itself and emerged again in the social media world.

Ford Motor Company for the past 6 months has used social media to create brand awareness for a new Ford Fiesta that will first go on sale in 2010. The campaign produced 4.3 million video views on YouTube, 540,000 photo views on Flickr, and 3 million impressions on Twitter.

The result, Ford reports, is 60 percent brand awareness in the United States at far less cost than the estimated $50 million for a traditional campaign.

The core element of the campaign was a website.

Read more and link to the Ford Fiesta website at my blog at bit.ly/ou7kB
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5 Search Engine Optimization Fears to Overcome

If you're concerned that your search engine visibility is too low, an article by Stoney deGeyter at bit.ly/OwUSO might help.

Read his rationale for long-term commitment, continuous change, and sometimes the deconstruction of an existing website. Effective SEO is not easy. Understanding what is required for success will help create reasonable expectations.
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Upcoming Presentations in 2009

Share questions and answers with people like yourself who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me for one or more of these events.

Here are the last presentations from a very active 2009. Thanks to everyone who attended this past year. A new list for 2010 will start in the January newsletter.

December 3, Ames, IA: Iowa State University, Social Media Marketing Summit.

December 8, Webinar: "Writing Right for the Web." Program outline and registration at www.academicimpressions.com/web_conferences/1209-web-writing.php

December 12, Webinar: "Maximise Your Website to Recruit International Students." Australian Education International, Washington D.C. By invitation to Australian universities.

Increase ROI from your online marketing. Expand the writing, editing, and search marketing skills of people on your campus. Host a campus workshop on online marketing.

Contact me at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com
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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
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Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Increase your online marketing success with these 6 services.

• Customer Carewords Research with Gerry McGovern    
• Writing Right for the Web On-Campus Workshops
• Marketing Communications Website Review
• Competitive Website Reviews
• Content Copywriting Services
• Usability Analysis

Start now at www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/whatwedo.html

Persuasion Technology and Online Marketing

At the J.Boye Aarhus09 conference in Denmark earlier this month I attended a half-day tutorial by BJ Fogg, director of the Stanford University Persuasive Technology Lab.

A single blog entry can't do justice to the full presentation, but here are a few notes that seem relevant to those of us who focus on creating stronger marketing impact at higher education websites.

• The web as a "platform for persuasion" is an important concept for marketers building a new website or enhancing an existing one. Let's admit that a primary, if not the most important, purpose of the website is to generate new enrollment and to gain funding support from alumni and other "friends" of the university.
• Keep conversion expecations realistic. BJ suggests that 1/3 of website visitors will do what we want without much persuasion if it is easy to do it and 1/3 will never do it. That leaves about 1/3 in the middle open to persuasion points as they visit the site.
• It is important to remove as many barriers to task completion as possible for the middle 1/3 or they won't do what we want.  
• The more complex the website, the less persuasive it will be.

Remove task completion barriers

And so there is a need for constant attention to these persuasion barriers: 

• Navigation built around organizational rather than visitor preferences.
• Language that doesn't connect with visitors as Carewords do.
• Broken links and out-of-date content. Be ruthless about this.
• Long inquiry forms. The brevity of the Creighton University form is admirable. 

Every barrier means less conversion from that 1/3 in the middle cluster. Some barriers will even reduce conversion from the 1/3 that really want to do what you hope they will do.

Social media and online persuasion

BJ believes social media sites are strong persuasion tools.

• Social networks are "platforms for persuasion" and Facebook is the "#1 persuasion tool of all time."
• Amazon makes good use of social media techniques by empowering community comments and by recommending new items based on the preferences of the visitor.

Don't be afraid to experiment

One note stands out: don't be afraid to experiment with change. Victory, BJ believes, will go to those who are not afraid to take online initiatives without knowing in advance that every one will work. Discard initiatives that fail and expand those that succeed. Getting proof of success before trying anything new makes it likely that your more adventuresome competitors will leave you behind.

J.Boye Conference: Philadelphia 2010

Check the developing schedule for the J.Boye conference May 4-6 in Philadelphia. There is a higher education track, as well as 7 others, including "online communication" and "online strategy" where you can meet and mingle with people working outside higher education.

That's all for now.

• Join me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HighEdMarketing
• Subscribe to "Your Higher Education Marketing Newsletter" at http://www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/ 

 

 

Social Media Marketing... the new Mass Marketing Platform?

At the AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education earlier this week, social media marketing was the hot topic at presentation after presentation. And there was strong interest in how to demonstrate "ROI" from the financial and human investment needed in this area.

ROI is a worthy topic to explore if the goal of social media marketing is to increase conversion in enrollment campaigns or to increase alumni giving rates.

But what if social media marketing isn't about immediate conversion results but general brand awareness? A story in today's Detroit Free Press positions social media as the next mass marketing vehicle. Ford Motor Company is enthusiastic about the results of a 6-month social media campaign to create pre-launch awareness of the 2010 Ford Fiesta, ready for sale next year.

60% Brand Awareness from Integrated Social Media Campaign

Ford gave 100 cars for 6 months to "mostly young, hip drivers" who were "savvy" with Facebook and Twitter and counted on them to ignite a fire of awareness. Read more about the program at the "Fiesta Movement" website. The results:

• 4.3 million video views on YouTube
• 540,000 photo views on Flickr
• 3 million "impressions" on Twitter

As a result of that activity, Ford has measured brand awareness by the public at 60 percent, a level that it projects would have cost more than $50 million in traditional media spending.

Impressive result. But not a car has yet been sold. If you only define ROI by sales results (or students enrolled or dollars raised), there is no direct "ROI" from a campaign like this. 

Note that Ford did one thing that is too often left out of budget-tight higher education branding campaigns: traditional market research that measures results after a campaign is over.

Creative Risk-Taking Needed

If higher education moves forward into social media as fast as ROI measurement allows, that move will not happen very quickly. We need creative risk taking, along with an understanding that measuring the exact impact of individual marketing elements on a final decision to enroll or donate (or buy a car) is not an easy thing. Some would say it is not possible.

What is clear is that we can measure the swirl of activity that does take place around a social media campaign. And we can do that better now than we could for traditional public relations and brand awareness campaigns back in ancient times. We can see and feel and hear the activity taking place. And that just might be all the ROI needed.

That's all for now.

• Join me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HighEdMarketing
• Subscribe to "Your Higher Education Marketing Newsletter" at http://www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/