November greetings to everyone.
My presentations at the AMA Symposium for the
Marketing of Higher Education next week were finished today. Now I am looking forward to meeting many of you in
San Diego for this premier event while we enjoy the strong array of keynote speakers and other sessions.
Higher education marketing is still in flux as people continue to grapple with the challenges of a changed economy that is shrinking available financial resources. Tuition levels and
tuition discount rates continue to climb. Items on both of those appear below. I was especially fascinated by a new presentation in a
Chronicle of Higher Education article that average tuition costs are lower now than in 2000.
Cost concerns can heighten opposition to even relatively modest investments in
brand position research and programs. That is one lesson from the current flap over the "Makers All" venture at
Purdue University. Expect higher concern over anything that diverts resources from tuition reduction and student aid to come under increasing scrutiny.
But we must continue with everyday efforts to improve the marketing experience. I am about to revise and expand my "Writing Right for the Web" webinars to include not only traditional websites but also writing and presentation for the mobile and
social media worlds. Get the session details and register for these November and December events at
bit.ly/cDE667And now here are your marketing news and notes for November.
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Marketing Online ProgramsJust put 10 "top of mind" points from last week's boot camp on marketing for online degree programs in a new blog post. Items range from a continued reluctance to engage in the
social media world to a starting level
Google Ad Words budget (about $20K) to the strong preference for 8 week over 16 week courses.
See the full list with links to even more stats, information, and recommendations from participants at
bit.ly/blSmlM_______________________________________
Need-blind Admissions: Disappearing?The InsideHigherEd summary of a standing room only session from last week'
s College Board Forum is that few schools will continue making admission decisions without regard to ability to pay because most cannot afford to provide the needed financial assistance.
A
Colorado College participant noted that CC did away with "need blind" several years ago for financial reasons. Other notes include Vanderbilt, Embry-Riddle, and Case
Western universities.
Reality marketing intrudes via the comment from one parent who just wants to know up front what the policy is. The article and other comments are at
bit.ly/c5tBuK_______________________________________
Controlling Tuition Discount Rates: Augustana CollegeIn the private sector, controlling a creeping tuition rate is high priority at many
colleges and universities. Most of the time, people do not want to talk about it in public.
Congratulations to Augustana for agreeing to an interview that shows the difficult adjustments needed to achieve an ambitious goal: more applications from people willing to pay more tuition.
Augustana is at a 42 percent
tuition discount rate now. That's high but not unusual. Read about what's being done to reduce that at
bit.ly/breHqB________________________________________
5 Secrets for YouTube Search Engine OptimizationYouTube is the second most popular social networking site, although it is long way behind
Facebook. Given that, it makes sense to make sure search engines are as likely to find your videos as possible.
I liked Secret 3: Use the full number of spaces allowed for page titles (100), descriptions (5,000) and tags (120).
Check the other secrets from Sage Lewis at
bit.ly/9bmK2p ________________________________________
Value of Truth in Brand ClaimsIf you work in the branding side of marketing, be sure to read the AdAge article on "The Competitive Advantage of Truth" in branding campaigns.
This is not an article about why you should not lie. It is an article about using brand campaigns to give people real information about yourself rather than just making claims about how wonderful your institution is. In higher education, after all, every is committed to academic excellence.
Prompted by a recent brand campaign by Chevron, the article is at
bit.ly/d5RbtB_______________________________________
Purdue University and "Makers All"I have never been a special fan of
tag lines, have not formed any strong opinion about the "Makers All" phrase and have no idea of how well it describes what happens at Purdue. Some people at Purdue are not happy with it, but keeping everyone happy is not easy or necessarily desirable.
That said, if you have followed the discourse so far, have a look at how "Makers All" is used in the university's video at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0SUs5b5LWoWe live in a social media world so do not skip the 10 comments from the 2,407 people who have watched the video on YouTube these past two weeks.
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Focus Groups and Web DesignDo you use focus groups as part of your web design process?
If you care about the marketing strength of your site, read Gerry McGovern on the perils of relying on
focus group results at
bit.ly/9rWuAm_______________________________________
Marketing a Grant Proposal: 9 InsightsIf you work with the increasingly competitive competition for grant money, be sure to see if you might benefit from any of the 9 tips offered by Fund Raising Success Magazine.
Suggests range from making sure your math is right to not asking for more than 30 percent of a project from a single foundation. See the other seven at
bit.ly/a7yg4g _______________________________________
Mobile Marketing: 2 Key ElementsEvery website has pages upon pages of content that serves no useful purpose to regular visitors to the site. Indeed, many pages are rarely if ever visited.
Creating a mobile-friendly website is a great opportunity to leave behind content of little interest.
That winnowing is even more important when you consider the most important feature of a mobile site: easy task completion. Excessive content makes navigation more complicated and hinders easy task completion.
For more on creating mobile websites visit
bit.ly/9CpU5j _______________________________________
Online Magazines: Another Done Right for the WebIf you are searching for another example of a web-friendly magazine done without "flip" technology or PDFs, look no further than
Notre Dame Magazine.
Key stories heads and columns by faculty and alumni are easy to scan in 5 seconds.
For another example of a magazine written "right for the web" visit
magazine.nd.edu/ _______________________________________
College Costs: Lower in 2010 than in 2000?For an interesting approach to change in the net cost for a college degree, consider "The Real Price of College: Looking Beyond the Sticker" by Sandy Baum and
Michael McPherson.
After you read it, ask yourself this question: would this argument that average net costs are lower in inflation-corrected dollars in 2010 than in 2000 sell to families dealing with the cost of higher education today? Note that the authors correctly note the growing fear of loan debt as an obstacle. Loans defer but do not reduce the cost of higher education.
Check a proposition with little marketing strength at
bit.ly/cnAd4h_______________________________________
Lip dub fan?If you believe there is marketing value with potential students in lip dubs, don't miss the new offering from the
University of Victoria at
bit.ly/9q8nYhAbout 1,000 students participated and nearly 120,000 people have watched as I'm typing this.
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eduWeb Conference Call for PapersStart thinking now about a proposal you might make when the Call for Papers opens on January 5.
The conference welcomes papers with a marketing perspective. Check the tracks and more information on eduWeb (San Antonio in July this year) at
bit.ly/9HTEFy______________________________________
My Upcoming Conferences and Webinars in 2010Attend an upcoming conference to share questions and answers with people like you who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me at these events.
November 7-10,
American Marketing Association, Symposium for the
Marketing of Higher Education: Pre-conference tutorial, "Mobile in the
Marketing Mix: Crafting a New Recruitment Communication Strategy." Follow the program at
bit.ly/8YAhDVNovember 18, December 9 webinars: Academic Impressions, "Writing Right for the Web:
Social Media, Mobile and Traditional Sites." Dec 9 is an advanced session for creating and editing content for social media and mobile sites. Details at
bit.ly/cDE667 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
Bob Johnson