Hello to everyone as the first days of April tease us with a slow introduction to spring. Best wishes to everyone counting enrollment deposits from traditional students as we count down to May 1.
Next week I will be finishing my pre-conference workshop on mobile marketing for the J.Boye Philadelphia2011 conference that starts May 3. Check the higher education track of a conference with a distinct international flair at
bit.ly/efrJrZ My next "Writing Right for the Web" webinar series is set for May 19 and May 26, covering traditional websites plus mobile and social media. Register for one or both sessions at
bit.ly/fD4WtRLinks to summer conferences for SUNY CUAD, ACT, and eduWeb2011 are at the end of the newsletter. Hope to meet many of you out and about the land this summer.
Call for Papers for the AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education in November is open until April 8. Still time to submit a proposal at
bit.ly/gNpXOKAnd now, here are your marketing news and notes for April.
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Net Price Calculators: Good, Bad, TerribleThe fall 2011 deadline for net price calculators on higher education websites is fast approaching. So far, progress toward effective tools is mixed, at best.
Two elements are at play here. First, how easy is it to find the calculator? Some schools seem to hope that nobody will find it. Second, how easy is it to complete? The closer to requiring the equivalent of FAFSA completion, the fewer people will bother with it.
College Access and Success visited 16 calculators to prepare a 14-page PDF report. You can link to the report and recommendations from
www.ticas.org/ In a footnote, the report includes the schools visited but does not link individual names to the examples used. I was able to find one that stands out above others for introducing the calculator in a way that will likely inspire people to use it. Check the Carleton College effort at
apps.carleton.edu/admissions/afford/ _____________________________________
SEO: 6 Tips for Website ImagesThe right images are can add to the marketing impact of a website page, from the first 5 seconds when a human visitor arrives at the page to the quest for better results from search engine visits.
ClickZ highlights 6 ways to help search engines connect better with the images you use. My favorite is #1: make sure the image is relevant to the page content. An image might be "worth a thousand words," but only if it helps connect people to the page content in 5 seconds or less.
Increase the SEO effectiveness of your images with a visit to
bit.ly/hfse3G _____________________________________
Staying Connected with Future Students: Mobile is KeyWhat is the best way to get news to future students in your database?
Pew Internet in a new March report outlines the shift to a preference for getting news on mobile devices. Only 28 percent of people surveyed, for instance, said they would have a problem staying up-to-date if their local paper disappeared.
The ongoing rise of smartphones and tablets is responsible. Future versions of a recruitment communication mix should make sure that news about events important to potential students is available on a web page that is easy to read from a mobile device.
The Pew Report outlines the future at
bit.ly/hzNdSh _____________________________________
Social Media: Check MyYearbook for Teen RecruitmentMy Yearbook claims 20 million teens have signed up at this social media site that promises to connect teens to people who live near them.
Register and visit the MyMag section where you may see the same display advertising from DeVry University that was playing on my last visit. I'll be watching to see if any email advertising comes along to my secret shopper email.
A note on mobile: the site owners are buying apps for Android phones as they expect these to spread more rapidly among teens based on pricing that is much lower than an iPhone, sometimes even free. Mobile access to MyYearbook is now at 33 percent of all visitors and growing.
Visit the site at
www.myyearbook.com
Note: if you register for this, you will receive multiple emails even if you leave no personal information. You can refuse to accept email of any sort, but the number arriving after I (and at least one other reader) registered was strange given the lack of any personal information left at the site.
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Presidential Pay and Higher Education FundingProblems from presidential pay rates in fighting decreases in public-sector funding are reviewed in the Chronicle. If perception is everything, then current "CEO-like" pay for university presidents might give some legislators an extra reason to question the level of budget reductions taking place.
Ohio State leads the "total cost of employment" race at $1.8 million for President E. Gordon Gee.
The Chronicle review is at
bit.ly/fEobeZ____________________________________
Top Website Features for Adult Student RecruitmentAre you interested in bringing former students back to campus to complete degrees?
That is the focus of several examples used in my presentation last week at the Carol Aslanian - Education Dynamics conference on adult student recruitment. Download the presentation slides at
slidesha.re/ecIqVk Look for especially good pages from University of New Mexico and University of Iowa. Do not miss the University of Wisconsin calculator for money saved taking online courses. Links are included for all examples so you can copy and visit to get the "real" experience.
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Interview on Marketing for Online StudentsNancy Prater is director of marketing and communications for the School of Extended Education at Ball State University. She brings a fine combination of energy and expertise to her work.
Her response to several questions about the challenges of marketing online programs includes why Ball State does not use the formal name of the school in marketing efforts, the value of social media in recruitment and much more.
Read the two-part interview on my blog at
bit.ly/eggFRm_____________________________________
Comparing Quality of Online Programs: 70 MetricsThe folks at Sloan Consortium are out with a "quality scorecard" of 70 metrics in 9 categories to compare the quality of online programs.
The category weighted most heavily is "support for students" with 24 percent of the possible 210 points. Lowest weight is given to "social and student engagement" at 1.4 percent of the total.
Read a report and link to the Sloan site at
bit.ly/dGS6Is_____________________________________
Have a Little Puppet Fun and Explore PossibilitiesAdAge is especially taken with how Ford used a puppet in a recent car commercial.
The result is an article with links to 10 marketing videos that use puppets.
For some fun marketing research, visit
bit.ly/hx45Sw_____________________________________
Progress in Higher Education Marketing since 1956Every once in a while we need an example that higher education marketing today is much advanced over, let us say, the 1950s.
Thanks to MIT for posting online a 30-minute promotional video for friends and future students from 1956. From the music to the narration to the video itself, amaze yourself with the extent of progress when you visit
bit.ly/h41Dno _____________________________________
My Upcoming Conferences and Webinars in 2011Attend 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.
May 3-5, J.Boye Conference Philadelphia 2011, Pre-conference tutorial "Mobile Communication Challenges in Higher Education" and "Susquehanna University: Achieving a 90% Positive Web Rating." Register at
www.jboye.com/conferences/philadelphia11/ May 19, May 26: Academic Impressions Webinars: "Writing Right for the Web: Social Media, Mobile, and Traditional Sites." Register for one or both in 2-part series at
bit.ly/fD4WtR June 8-10, SUNY CUAD Annual Conference, Saratoga Springs, NY: "Mobile Marketing in Higher Education: Challenges & Opportunities" and "Future Students and Their Parents: Exploring a 90% Positive Website Rating." Visit
www.sunycuad.org/annual_conference July 20-22, ACT Enrollment Planners Conference, Chicago, IL: Pre-conference workshop: "Mobile Marketing and Student Recruitment: What's Hot and What's Not in 2011" and regular conference session, "Explore a 90% Positive Website Rating by Future Students & Parents." Register at
www.act.org/epc/ August 1-3, eduWeb2011, San Antonio, TX: Pre-conference workshop: "Mobile Marketing in Higher Education: Challenges and Strategies for 2011." Visit
www.eduwebconference.com/ Improve 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
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
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Bob Johnson