May greetings to everyone as the first count of enrollment deposits here in the U.S. tells many of our
colleges and universities how their fall enrollment classes will compare to their expectations. Best wishes that everyone had a successful early May tally.
You'll see from the first
Seth Godin item below that attention is building around the transformation of higher education that started in 2007.
Old school higher education marketing from the past 15 to 20 years is dead and done. Exactly what will replace it is not entirely clear, but value for money is likely to play a much more important role. Be sure to check the
Eastern Michigan University entry here to see how one school is making a bold move to gain marketing advantage from this.
Adult students will grow in importance for many of our colleges and universities. That is why I am looking forward to the upcoming interaction with many adult enrollment specialists at Carol Aslanian's next adult student recruitment conference in June. To join us, register now at
bit.ly/d3nu6fDo you have a friend or professional colleague who might enjoy this newsletter? Recommend they subscribe at
bit.ly/17Letl And now, here are your marketing news and notes for May.
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Seth Godin on the "Meltdown" in Higher EducationWhile he is not raising new issues for many people in higher education, a recent blog post from Seth Godin gives wider exposure to the idea that higher education as it has existed for the past 20 years or so is about to "crash and burn."
His six reasons range from dated marketing to high prices to bad accreditation requirements. All of this is in the context, of course, of the crashed economy.
For the details, check the Godin blog entry at
bit.ly/dvQ12T________________________________________
Berea College and Shell OilFortune Magazine used the example of Berea College to highlight "
scenario planning" at Shell Oil as one way for colleges to examine their alternative futures.
Fortune notes that while this might sound similar to strategic planning, the method is better suited to organizations that must contract rather than grow. And Berea is looking at a serious contraction in the total college budget from $43 million to $37 million next year and more in future years.
Read more from Fortune at
bit.ly/9HNR3z_________________________________________
How Important is Your Home Page?Your home page is declining in importance. Review the reasoning and the stats behind that message from Gerry McGovern at
bit.ly/9ZjlUJ One culprit is Google. A typical
Google search for any college or university brings up 8 popular alternatives starting places to the home page, often including admissions, athletics, alumni, and academic programs.
If you have
Google Analytics on your site, check the stats for "landing pages" most used by people coming to your site, especially for new visitors. You might well find that while the home page still leads, it gets less than 60 percent of new visitors. Plan to track that stat quarterly as one objective measure of the importance of your home page.
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Email in the Social Media EraIf you still doubt that email is alive and well as a marketing tool (or you need to convince others on your campus), then be sure to read the Writing Matters column that reports on two different sources of the same information: the more people use social media, the more they use email.
Email is not the same tool today it was 10 years ago. That said, email remains a strong conversion technique for people interested in who you are and what you do. As always, the secret is in providing beneficial content to those you seek to influence.
Check the details at
bit.ly/d49CUe_______________________________________
Taglines: Take this Higher Education QuizAfter reading the last New York Times Education Quarterly, I put together a quick two-part tagline quiz based on 8 actual college and university taglines.
As you read the taglines, imagine what type of school each seems to fit. Then follow the link to the home page of the school using that tagline. Does the tagline help you imagine the college or university that uses it?
Next search the home page for the tagline. Hint: in some cases, you'll see it almost immediately. In others, you will not find it at all. Integrated marketing is not alive and well everywhere.
Take the tagline quiz at
bit.ly/ddXc51_______________________________________
Mobile Marketing and Fund RaisingMost of the mobile marketing attention right now is focused on student recruitment but a new generation of people is willing to donate money online. That especially important for the success of annual fund campaigns.
The inevitable result is that people are developing iPhone apps for the not-for-profit sector. For mini-reviews of three introduced earlier this year visit
bit.ly/cGox28 Pay special attention to the caution that it might not be wise to ask for an email address right up front before a person even downloads the app.
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Adult Student Recruitment and Social MediaAllow me a moment of shameless self-promotion. If adult students are an important part of your enrollment mix, read my interview with Education Dynamics on "Attracting Adult Learners in the Social Media Era" at
bit.ly/9IvZzzRecommendations include creating very clear content on
transfer credit practices, including how to get an early review before applying for admission, and making this content easy to find from the first special
landing page created for potential transfer students.
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How Rural Students Select CollegesThe Chronicle of Higher Education summarizes results of new research on the best way to recruit rural students, particularly those that aspire to
prestigious graduate schools.
The report notes that elite schools do not do well in recruiting students from rural areas. On the academic side, top rural students are very interested in attending elite graduate schools and make success at this an important criterion as they begin to search for an undergraduate institution. This is yet another indicator that outcomes information indeed is an important marketing element early in the recruitment cycle.
More on this and other factors at
bit.ly/dzGMMC__________________________________________
Tuition Freeze to Gain Market PositionEastern Michigan University, one of 4 large
regional universities in the state, is using $300,000+ to promote a just-announced freeze on tuition, room, and board for 2010 as part of an "Affordable Tuition First" campaign.
That is not yet a position taken by other
public universities in the state at a time when state funding is being reduced. EMU has created a web page to highlight tuition increases at other public universities. To see the unusual competitive online presentation visit
www.emich.edu/zero/ Details of the marketing strategy are included in an article by the Ann Arbor News at
bit.ly/cTh58d ___________________________________________
New in Online PublishingIf you're interested in online publishing, be sure to subscribe to the new UMagazinology blog at
umagazinology.jhu.edu/Content is eclectic, for sure, but topics are easy to scan for what most interests you.
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Mobile Marketing 101If you are new to the topic, visit the ClickZ column by Ron Jones for a quick summary of the technology behind four types of mobile marketing at
www.clickz.com/3636406 Jones isn't quite convinced that 2010 is indeed the often predicted mobile marketing year but if it is not, 2011 will arrive soon. All signs are that mobile will continue to grow in marketing value.
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My Upcoming Presentations in 2010Attend an upcoming conference to share questions and answers with people like yourself who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me at one or more of these events.
May 4-6, J.Boye Philadelphia2010, Philadelphia, PA. "Perils, Pitfalls, and Pleasures: Moving Print Publications to Life Online" and
Bates College case study by Jay Collier. Register at
bit.ly/bk5Yxz June 3-4, Education Dynamics Aslanian Group Seminar, Marketing to
Adult Students, Chicago, IL "Adult-friendly Websites: A 'Best of the Best' Review" and "Web Analytics: A Guide to Improving Recruitment Success." Register at
bit.ly/d3nu6f July 21-23, ACT Enrollment Planners Conference, Chicago, IL Pre-conference workshop, "'Mobile in the Marketing Mix': Myth and Reality for 2010 and Beyond" and conference session: "
International Student Recruitment: Best Practice Website Features." Program details and registration at
www.act.org/epc/July 26-28, eduWeb2010, Chicago, IL Follow the conference program as it grows at
www.eduwebconference.com/ July 29, Education Dynamics Aslanian Group Seminar, Marketing to Graduate Students, New York, NY. Register at
bit.ly/cD34VS November 3, webinar: Academic Impressions, "Writing Right for the Web." Details coming this summer.
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 NowBe 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, LLCIncrease 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
