Back to Basics - The traditional approach to increasing University enrolments
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The document discusses the challenges faced by marketing departments in higher education, emphasizing their need to evolve from promotions to true marketing roles that involve the full marketing mix, including product development and pricing strategies. It highlights the importance of understanding market trends and student needs to boost enrolments and the common pitfalls of ineffective advertising. To drive program development and improve student acquisition, marketing departments should create compelling business cases and focus on delivering quality educational programs that meet student expectations.
Back to Basics - The traditional approach to increasing University enrolments
- 1. Back to Basics The traditional approach to increasing enrolments John Miles Brand and Marketing Specialist Business Development Professional miles11760@gmail.com
- 2. Marketing Departments have a problem in most Higher Education Institutions They have lost 3 of the P’s
- 3. And replaced them with 1 P Policies The number 1 enemy of good business sense!
- 4. Marketing Departments have little or no impact on Product Price Placement in most Higher Education Institutions
- 5. A typical University definition of the Marketing Role The Marketing Manager provides strategic and tactical marketing advice and support to senior academic staff (bring in the students!)
- 6. What this means in practice Make us an advertisement Run an event Produce a brochure Design us a webpage And when we didn’t get enough students – its marketing’s fault
- 7. Research of 10 Australian Universities showed marketing departments’ key responsibilities were for advertising, communications, events and student liaison
- 8. Typical examples "The Office of Marketing & Communications provides strategic leadership for all aspects of marketing communication at Uni A”. “Marketing Services provides strategic advice and assistance to faculties and divisions on marketing communication across a range of audience groups. It is responsible for managing the Uni B brand and, as part of an integrated approach, advises on and approves all communication materials in line with new visual identity guidelines”
- 9. Yet we all know if we have the wrong product or price or deliver it in the wrong place the result is inevitable!
- 10. Marketing Departments need to be marketing departments not Promotions Departments
- 11. BUT University policies and academics want to keep marketing departments in their box! How does marketing break out of this box?
- 12. By driving Program Development Being the expert on all data relating to subject areas. Developing compelling business cases “You can never go to far wrong by thinking like a customer who is new to the business” Richard Branson
- 13. 1. Source of current business, size of market 2. All industry trends 3. Innovations in content locally and internationally An expert will be the oracle on all to do with the programs
- 14. You can drive development if you are the person who is asked the question what’s happening out there!
- 15. 1. Where do students come from? ̴ Geographic ̴ Top schools ̴ Demographic ̴ How delivered? 2. Size of market – what’s happening with competitors? What’s our share? Source of Current Business
- 16. 1. What’s happening in the industry 2. Job prospects Industry Trends
- 17. 1. New courses within degrees 2. New degrees related to subject 3. Delivery methods – online, blended 4. Customer experience Innovations in content locally and internationally
- 18. 1. Students for life – attend any course every 2 years 2. Specialised MBA learning spaces 3. Teachers who are 50% consultants 4. Made to feel very special
- 19. ButI hear you say – we must be getting more students as we are focused on communicating!
- 20. Instead of brand advertising we are getting Bland Advertising
- 23. Paid Advertising Jan.-June 2013 (excluding search-word advertising) Non-profit institutions - $302.0 million For-profit institutions - $268.5 million Total - $570.5 million And a lot of money is spent promoting mundane messages
- 24. “Universities waste too much of their advertising budgets on rather pointless attempts to differentiate themselves”. “Thousands of marketing committee hours are spent coming up with positioning statements like "learn, think, do", "live, learn, thrive", and "making life happen". Professor Byron Sharpe, Director Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science
- 25. “Few staff, let alone the students or other customers of the university, learn these slogans before they are changed (again)”. “Unsurprisingly, a survey of staff of 180 US universities showed that their most common response to their own Uni slogan was embarrassment (McKnight & Paugh 1999)”. Professor Byron Sharpe, Director Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science
- 26. University brand Build through PR, web, staff, awards, rankings Credibility that we are a good institution, as good as the myriad of others Programs that we are brilliant at – study here Boosting enrolments will happen by focusing efforts at program level
- 27. Students want to know that the program they want to study is great
- 28. It’s a worthwhile investment in their time and money
- 29. It will help them get to where they want to go
- 30. As long as we have the right product at the right price, delivered how students want it!
- 31. Example of Successful Program led Marketing – Bay of Plenty Polytechnic The Marketing Department ̴ Experts at research ̴ Academics were our clients ̴ Drove program development ̴ All new programs had to be approved by Marketing Manager ̴ Drove institution innovation
- 32. Started with generic advertisements highlighting key institution advantage – our location Integrated approach
- 33. Integrated approach Getting prospective students on campus Consistent communication
- 34. Mature market – worked with local newspaper High School students Integrated approach
- 35. And teacher professional development days on campus – they became our advocates!
- 36. We did this for all major programs
- 37. The Results
- 38. Program advertising can be interesting, provocative!
- 39. Focusing on programs lets students know what they are going to get and be!
- 40. So how do I get buy in? By developing compelling business cases ̴ Full business case ̴ Strategic plan ̴ Opportunity cost ̴ Marketing plan – not a promotions plan
- 41. Great example of a marketing plan an academic might read
- 42. One Page Summary Objectives Strategic Initiatives Tactics Primary Objective Secondary Objective Any more than 4 initiatives and they won’t get done Major items that will impact your business, achieve your objectives Strategic Initiatives are always actions such as launching online, opening new market Key tactics to support strategic initiatives Body of plan has detail and rationale Focuses effort and spend on the things that will make a difference
- 43. Body of Marketing Plan Executive Summary State of Business Objectives/Strategic Initiatives/Tactics Financial Implications Milestones
- 44. If you really want to boost enrolments You need to innovate To innovate, you have to consider all the 4 P’s
- 45. And having the right product is at the core of boosting enrolments
- 46. A last example ̴ 2009 – Dept A generated $155,000 in revenue from one online postgraduate program through Open Universities of Australia ̴ Developed a marketing plan focused on face to face interaction (EXPO’s etc.) ̴ Made strategic decision to raise prices 10% year on year
- 47. A last example ̴ End of Year 1, decided to develop new variant as result of the personal contact ̴ Opportunity came up to extend into undergraduate space. Had to help head of department convince staff to participate (compelling business case)
- 48. • Postgraduate income up to $950,000 • Undergraduate income $1,900,000 • Total for 2013 $2,850,000
- 49. Summary Universities can be a bit slow
- 50. Policies are important but can be the number one killer of good business sense and market development And many are just plain silly!
- 51. Marketing Departments in Higher Education have to evolve into being a true Marketing Department not a Promotions/Communications Department
- 52. the 4 P’s, not just 1 P Higher Education Marketers have to be involved all aspects of the marketing mix
- 53. Be the one that is asked What’s Happening? Think DifferentAnd, of course
- 54. Thanks for your time John Miles Brand and Marketing Specialist Business Development Professional miles11760@gmail.com