Jim Fong's Education Marketing Blog

UMass and Getting More Out of State Students ... Wish it were that easy!

2009-10-19T16:04:00.002-04:00

In today's Boston Globe, UMass Amherst announced a new plan to attract more out-of-state students. Sounds like a reasonable way to get additional revenues. Wish it were that easy is my read. The items that UMass Amherst fails to address or that the Boston Globe failed to cover are:

- What will the competition do? Roll over and die? Say, "Here you go UMass, they're all yours!" I don't think so. There has been discussion in almost every state regarding the "brain drain" and how students are leaving their home state for another. If all these colleges are saying this, then 1) what's the problem ... everybody's winning and 2) do we have a national catastrophe where everyone is losing their brains ... I doubt it.

- Great move UMass, but what about the demographic shift that we will see beginning in 2013 regarding fewer traditional age college students? In fact, beginning in 2009, we are going to see a slight decrease in the number of 18 year-olds. This will continue, albeit slowly until 2016 (barring changes in immigration and birth rates). (See: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/projections/projections2017/tables/table_B04.asp?referrer=report)

- Why not court the adult learner more? Oh yeah, the percentage of degree holders is relatively high in Massachusetts. What about the online learner? UMass Online seems to do a good job at this. Getting a few thousand this way, as opposed to building more dorms might be a better alternative.

- What about the millions of dollars that will be needed to market more aggressively? I'll be interested to see this plan!

- Let's not forget the economy. UMass Amherst will have to better communicate its position and value to the out-of-stater.

When the rubber hits the road, the student is going to shop. They will look at value and alternatives. They will look at brand. UMass will have to not only get their attention, but convince them of value. It's not that easy. That's some HUGE marketing!.

It's not as simple as when Shoeless Joe tells Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) in Field of Dreams ... if you build it, they will come."

Boston Globe article: (See: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2009/10/19/reinforcements_needed_at_umass_amherst/)

Midnight Classes? Great or Goofy Idea?

2009-09-11T09:34:00.005-04:00

The Boston Globe this morning reported on Bunker Hill Community College offering midnight courses. They did this to address demand issues, but more importantly (if profitable), it's a new stream of revenue for them. Obviously, not all colleges and universities can support this within a market, but it looks like a good old-school and novel idea. Without over-analyzing this, this is what I see ...

Are others in the market failing to meet demand, thus making Bunker Hill CC the winner (At least short-term until other institutions find a way to bring students back to their "normal" hours classes or do a me-too on the midnight thing)?
Does it offer effective learning? I would assume so, as I rock during these hours and I am sure there are others with similar mechanics and preferences.
What does the institution need to do in addition to instruction to support the adult learner? Outside of a lot of coffee, I am sure that security and food services are addressed (or they can take the vending machine or Starbucks route).
Why wouldn't online learning be a better alternative for BHCC? My guess is that it is high-touch audience. Kudos to BHCC for not trying to squeeze everyone into the online box.
Can enrollment be sustainable or is this just a fad? What is the long-term sustainability plan for this venture?

Let the debate begin! I'll be following BHCC on this to see how successful this new venture will be.

http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2009/09/11/these_bunker_hill_classes_make_late_arrival_mandatory/

Redbox, Blockbuster, Pricing and Continuing Education

2009-07-22T16:27:00.019-04:00

While I like to consider myself up on technology, I will admit that I've gotten a bit lazy in a few areas, one of which is video rentals or on-demand movies. Heck, my generation (I am on the edge of being a Baby Boomer or a Generation X'er, as I was born in 1965), if I were to classify myself as a boomer, is lazy about change. Boomers don't change their telecom providers, won't give up their landlines and won't change banks, even when their banks have been bought five times over.

Where am I going with this? Blockbuster Video. My daughter got her wisdom teeth taken out the other day. She's sixteen and wants to lounge around watching videos ... was kind of miffed with my visit at Blockbuster. Their best offer was "as many videos you can watch one-at-time for $10" which translates into lots of trips back and forth. This is on top of the changes they've made with their mail-in program, which I still don't understand. Now that I've cancelled my video-by-mail subscription and went to the in-store, pay as you go program I thought I'd save some money. I found myself paying $4.95 for non-new release videos while getting myself an occasional freebie. NetFlix had a good offer, but wasn't the solution. I don't like On-Demand that Comcast offers. Some day I'll do the download thing to my phone or laptop. However, until then, there are too many options for me than to consider Blockbuster. For substitutes, I can almost buy the movie new at that price and certainly used at half.com. Along comes RedBox at the supermarket. I must admit, I was a bit nervy trying to figure it out, but once I did, it was great ... $1 a night per movie. Yes, there are distribution and convenience issues, but the value and price points are worth the trip.

What's this have to do with universities? For starters, college and university continuing education units have dismissed changing prices because it is mandated from the powers that be. However, if a private university with a higher price and premier marketing position doesn't effectively communicate value in its advertising, then certainly a disconnect between the consumer and institution is near. As with Blockbuster (which I can't understand what the added value is beyond the brand name), colleges and universities (especially those at the premier price point) need to either support the pricing strategy through more aggressive marketing or changing the existing marketing campaign ... or inject a price change to support the current situation.

The other link to college and university continuing education units is that you can't always reconfigure the same program. Some institutions either rename or repackage existing programs into something else or change the delivery (sounds like Blockbuster going from the store to mail), but miss out on measuring the value equation and truly creating what customers want and need.

Lastly, for the premier college in this economy and like Blockbuster, what benefits are you going to promote? Is your product different/superior? Do you offer more? Will the end experience be better? Or will you let RedBox (or the community college) take advantage of a good/acceptable product at a lower price?

Once thing I hate to do to my readers is whine and critique without giving some solution. My solutions are as follows:

Google what your audience might Google. Are you in the pack or breaking out of it? Do your competitors dominate? Has what you previously perceived as inferior competition now blanket you in the search?

Find ten people and have them go through a simulated process to enroll or inquire. Do you have a competitive advantage on service? Service strengths may not necessarily be visible in advertising, but can be an advantage as prospects start testing the waters with you and your competitors.

Identify your clear competitive advantages and promote the heck out of them. Don't say your competitive advantage is "quality" unless you really own the term and can measurable prove it. Quality is implied to play in the education game. I hear it all the time and nine times out of ten, it can't be leveraged effectively.

If you are now depressed, don't start slashing prices. The intent of my posting was not to cause cost competition. It's about turning the ship around. Be nimble (and humble) ... figure out first whether you have a problem, find the strategic solution and then be bold and act quickly and definitively (as it will take time for the market to react). For Kodak and Polaroid in the late 90's, it was right in front of them ... digital photography. They were both stubborn and late to the game. Bold prediction ... if Blockbuster doesn't figure it soon, they'll be like Circuit City ... closing down. Don't be Block-busted. Figure out your marketing and value proposition.

David versus Goliath: Mighty Linfield College Division of Continuing Education’s E-Marketing Effort

2009-07-18T22:59:00.004-04:00

I teach a summer marketing course at Penn State. One of my students is a Linfield College student taking a summer course while at home in Pennsylvania. I was Google-ing a search term for a project and unexpectedly a link for Linfield College pops up. Seems like everywhere I turn, I run into little Linfield College. In the spring, I was eavesdropping at a reception and Janet Gifford, marketing director for Linfield College’s Division of Continuing Education, was humbly talking about how successful her e-marketing efforts were, especially regarding a post-baccalaureate accounting program. I was doubtful, so I in between bites of coconut shrimp I quickly Google’d a few terms in my Blackberry and low and behold … Linfield College’s post bac program was second on the first page, beating out a lot of the big boy business schools offering comparable programs. Months later, I did it again, but varied my search terms … Linfield again on the first page of my many search efforts and beating out UC Davis and Capella on some efforts and falling just behind Berkeley and Virginia on another.

One trick pony? Not at all! To further drive its online efforts, the division commissioned an online learners guide that has been very successful to date. They also have invested into search engine optimization, paid search advertising and digital public relations. In this tough economy, the college is holding its own on enrollments. When some colleges are down this summer, little Linfield is up 16% on its adult student enrollments. This continuing education unit’s marketing is about working smarter and not necessarily harder (or outspending competitors) and having a good team in place.

I’ve attended UCEA meetings for over a decade and have been involved with an age old debate ... little schools can't compete ... small colleges are at a disadvantage. I've seen smaller schools do great marketing and have the results to prove it. At WCET, I witnessed Rio Salado College (while a large community college with 13,000+ students) do some pretty amazing strategic marketing, brand evolution and e-marketing. Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama is doing it. Little Framingham State College’s MBA program is doing it with virtual open houses, Facebook advertising and other efforts. Linfield College is clear proof that the small college or continuing education department can knock heads with monsters on the Internet and the behemoths of the education sector. Go Linfield Go!

Reflections from the B-52s

2009-05-26T12:59:00.014-04:00

It's been a week since the B-52's played in Boston and believe me, I needed it. Let me reflect on marketing musings of that weekend.

Customer service. I left my coat in a taxi from the airport to my hotel. Didn't realize it until the next morning. The cabbie left messages at three hotels where he dropped off folks that might claim it. I called the number and he was there in 20-minutes to deliver it. Result to the cabbie: He got 20 bucks and took me to my next appointment. Relevance to education: Customer service is important to everyone, but it can be differentiated (Call me or send me a note and we can talk about it).
Nostalgia. I remember the B-52s from twenty years ago. There's a trend, especially with the music industry, to go back to one's formative times. Relevance to education: Marketing is strategic. Once the strategy is mapped out, marketing toward the target market's key benefit or emotion has greater impact than feature-based marketing.
Target marketing, niches, technology and word-of-mouth. That's a lot to cover in a paragraph. After what turned out to be a great concert (they sounded as good as they did twenty years ago), we got the munchies. My friend Steve decided to drive to Chinatown. On the drive from the New House of Blues near Fenway, I fired up the Blackberry and found Shabu Zen, a Japanese hot pot restaurant with great reviews online. We headed in that direction. Upon reaching there, we saw simple signage. I asked a few folks coming out, "How's the food in there?" After receiving a positive response, we walked in and found the place packed (although we were probably the oldest people in the joint) slurping on soup and dipping raw meat into steaming broth. Relevance to education: Choose your market and own it. Don't fall into the university trap of marketing to the "universe" despite the fact that it is in your name "University of XYZ." As Shabu Zen proved, it can be successful by owning the niche, using technology and having happy customers that tell others.

As I wrap up this posting (with Rock Lobster playing on my Blackberry for inspiration), I had an epiphany ... not only did Shabu Zen do it, but so did the B-52's. They mastered their niche and have longstanding repeat customers. As college and university marketers, I don't need to say more ... you get it. So instead, I leave you with the thought of being bold but being strategic (and holistic) about your marketing ... otherwise, you'll be living in your own Private Idaho.

Don't Always Listen to C-Level Execs ... or Your Deans?

2009-05-15T16:26:00.003-04:00

I am not telling you to defy your dean and getting yourself fired. I am telling you to challenge and inform leadership. E-marketer just released a report issued by Heidrick and Struggles stating that the biggest marketing challenge of C-level (for those of you that do not know what C-level, it is "chief") executives is new customer acquisition. While I don't necessarily disagree, I do find it a bit surprising. There are many studies over the past few months which these same C-level executives state that they won't be increasing marketing budgets. So where do these know-it-alls think that new customers are coming from? Do they realize that the competition is also most likely ramping up their efforts? It's a zero-sum game unless the marketers or C-level execs come up with something different ... and hopefully it's strategic and not trickery.

My guess is that they are a bit disconnected to reality and look at things from the mountaintop ... possibly in similar to fashion to what deans might see. Without further disrespect to deans, marketers need to help deans and others within the organization that they need to take care of their own houses first ... their own customers and that if they want new customers, then it's about converting prospects higher.

As I've mentioned in earlier posts, higher education is extremely inefficient in prospect management and conversion. Address this first before you chase a new marketing avenue. The ROI will be higher. While I often recommend to my colleagues in academia to listen to business and industry, this time I am not. Convert higher from within before you chase the moving car.

Hey marketers ... break your own internal systems to find the holes in conversion. Shop yourself or have others do so. Do it credibly and cautiously, but do it somehow. You're probably chasing more possibly customers away than what a crazy new business effort might do. Did I tell you about the academic dean that got advice from a person sitting next to him on the airplane? No? Well, he came back with a great new business marketing idea and derailed the marketing department for six months. Marketer -- stand up for yourself, but do so in an informed point of view ... just don't get yourself fired.

Sign of the Times, Coke Pushes for "Value-Based" Marketing Compensation

2009-04-27T11:42:00.004-04:00

I've had writer's block for a few weeks ... trying to find some societal thread to marketing continuing education, but in a way that would not necessarily repeat the same themes of the past. Something finally hit me over the head today, as I was reading my online version of Advertising Age. Today, AdAge reported that the Coca Cola Company is moving to a "value-based" compensation model for those marketing and advertising firms working with the company. This means that if you don't produce, they're probably out or they won't make much. If they do produce, the article suggests that the agency can make a 30% profit margin.

What the article also emphasizes is "value over effort." This is my link to continuing education marketing. All too often, college and university continuing education units put a great deal of emphasis on design and brochure creation and not enough on strategy and customer-centricity. Academia has allowed many of its marketers to react to advertising needs, repeat media purchases because "we've always done it this way," and not report the hard data and metrics of success. What is also lacking is the prioritized return on investment of the institution's many marketing efforts ... which one works better, which one reaches more and converts more and which one requires less effort to produce (while producing a reasonable or strong return).

What Coca Cola is doing is measuring and rewarding based on accountability. Gone should be the days of "we can't measure it because it is part of the branding initiative" at the continuing education unit. Gone should be "it is too hard to measure" or "we know it works well because students tell us." So what can universities and colleges do?

Challenge their customer relationship management and enrollment systems. Our systems should be able to track a person as they come in, leave or become stalled.
Have a strategic competency in your marketing staff or be building one.
Review the process where inquiries come in. This shouldn't be a black hole. They either call, leave electronic data or walk in. We should be able to capture it.
Sit in the seat of the prospect/customer. We secret shop the intake process for many of our clients. Might be a good idea for you to do the same.
Build a marketing culture that is based on science and not the back of a cocktail napkin regarding a "good marketing idea." Strategy starts on science.

While you as an educational professional might be saying "This is soda that we are talking about. This isn't relevant to education." It is relevant, as one of the best marketers in the world is changing its culture. It isn't just about selling soft drinks. It is about asking our marketers for metrics, measures and accountability. It's about asking for more science and discipline and not just creative ability (while it is important, it is just part of the puzzle). Coke is it ... we should follow suit.

Urban Legend on Adults Returning to College

2009-04-04T20:34:00.007-04:00

Ok, are you sick of reading emails on "Recession Strategies" or receiving discounts called "Your Economic Stimulus Discount?" I am. What also seems to be overkill is the belief that with this economic situation, that adults are going to enroll in masses to complete or seek their degrees. Continuing education is supposed to benefit from times like these ... don't buy it! Times are different and history doesn't necessarily always repeat itself. Until someone produces some hard data that adults will return to college in masses, consider it a myth of the past and not for the future. Let me offer up why we are in a different situation:

We happen to be in a war right now ... which makes economic factors for the nation different, as well as with individual attitudes and perspectives, as compared to the recession in early 2000's and in the 80's.
While we had a recession in the early 2000's, we as individuals, as corporations and as a nation also were not carrying anything close to the level of debt we are currently carrying. Much of this recession was caused by a loss in manufacturing jobs and the dot-com bubble burst.
For education, we have greater competition. Ten years ago, we had different avenues for revenues and differentiation ... we could offer distance education courses. We had a magic bullet if we needed it. Also, our universities as a whole were more financially stable.

For this recession, there's not a lot of extra money floating anywhere. In the recession of the 2000's, colleges and universities could find it. If it wasn't coming from the companies, it came from the individuals. The same held true for the recession of the 80's. Not today though. Both wells have run dry.

So, what's my point or how can I help. My earlier threads point to fixing the internal house and CRM. My presentation at UCEA this week pleads to colleges and universities to focus on better marketing and operations and not to chase the gadgets. Social networking, such as Facebook, mySpace, Twitter and blogging are great, but will they generate new enrollments? For the most part "no."

You need to focus your marketing on areas of strength. You need to do a better job at closing the deal with inquirers ... stop putting your least trained people on the other end of the telephone call and don't push them back to the web if they have questions.

Download my latest presentation at UCEA. Also, keep an eye out for my next whitepaper that further addresses the needs and expectations of marketing managers with their deans and vice versa.

UCEA, the Celtics and Marketing in a Tight Economy

2009-04-02T00:10:00.004-04:00

Well, I couldn't resist ... just got back from the Celtics game. I am attending the UCEA conference in Boston and couldn't resist tying in what turned out to be the best basketball game that I've ever been to with marketing continuing education. It may be a stretch and it may not be fully coherent, as the Magic Hat #9 may be talking. Here's the linkage ...

This is not about the co-promotion strategy of Dunkin Donuts and the Celtics, as you see it all over place, nor is it about cross-selling memorabilia with the experience ... although I almost bought a green foam finger. It is about marketing in tight economy. You've got to create value and the experience for consumers to spend on an experience. I must admit, when I bought the tickets to the game, I wasn't sure whether it would be a good experience for my guests, who were my past clients and prospects.

Can you say double overtime, come from behind victory by the Celtics? My guests had a great time ... we high fived, danced to Ferris Bueller music and tried to get on the Jumbotron. The end result was an emotional bonding with my guests through what turned out to be experiential marketing. Everytime they see the Celtics, they will remember the game. Hopefully, they will remember me when they need marketing assistance or consultation.

Without risk, there cannot be reward. My risk ... buying the tickets on my dime (not the company's as it might be perceived as excessive), inviting folks, guiding them to the game, committing to dialogue and friendship and then following up after.

Continuing education marketers need to look at whether they are centered on product or the end benefit to the adult learner seeking the degree. This isn't necessarily about your product and the degree that you offer, but what you can do for their lives. This means that you have to connect with them through advertising (not marketing), you need to welcome them and you need to show them the vision so they remember you when it comes to making a decision. In my travels, many colleges and universities don't have all these elements in alignment ... they address advertising, but fail to create experience. They create brand strategies that have a short-term effect. Customer relationship management and giving a proper greeting is lacking for many.

While the Celtics are a marketing machine, we can learn from them. The experience today was rare, but all the strategic planning better prepared them for a positive outcome. For continuing education marketers, it isn't about spending more on advertising, but fixing things internally with little additional cost so you can create a better experience. ... a double overtime come from behind win.

Ramblings Related to AIG

2009-03-18T10:33:00.004-04:00

While I just posted a blog entry yesterday, I couldn't resist doing another given the AIG situation. What troubles me most is that while AIG is getting big stimulus money and doling out the bonuses, one would think that AIG's brand is taking a huge hit ... much more than what the bonus money is worth. It's a PR nightmare spun out of control. If you are like me, you're watching this with disgust. Just think about the companies and individuals that will NOT consider AIG for their insurance, investments or financial planning needs. This will have ill effects for years if not decades. The lifetime value of a customer lost in this case or the hope or ease of new customer acquisition could be eye-popping. I'd also take a wild stab that given the financial condition of AIG, that this PR nightmare does nothing to stabilize the company, but makes it worse. You can't turn your back on $30B but how much will AIG lose as a result of this.

According to the Associated Press, AIG rewarded more than 70 employees with more than a million dollars in bonuses, saying it needed to do so to retain key employees. Eleven are no longer with the company but will receive their bonuses.

Message to education: Protect the brand. Have a plan. Don't invest in program development that you can't sustain long-term. Fulfillment and customer service are part of brand management. Hire good people. Retain and train them. Hold them, as well as yourself, to accountability and performance metrics. Don't reward bad behavior ... especially with a million bucks. :)

Changing Media ... The End of an Era: Newspapers?

2009-03-17T14:10:00.005-04:00

A sad note ... the Seattle Post-Intelligencer prints its last edition today. After a century and a half of operations, the newspaper ends a long history of service. Times change. Young people don't read newspapers and many older or middle-agers have conditioned themselves to read online. It's tough to imagine losing out on a great social pattern ... picking up the paper, pouring a cup of coffee and starting the day. Reading on the Blackberry has its place, but doesn't seem to be as fun ... also, the newspaper can't easily fall in the toilet.

I remember the day when I first identified that newspapers were on the way out ... Friday, May 17, 2002 on the Penn State Wilkes-Barre campus to a room full of a hundred business people. The jaws dropped. Just seven years later, the first major sign of it happened with a number of papers closing its doors in 2009.

Implication to marketers and continuing education? It's the continuing evolution of marketing skill sets for both marketers and deans. Download my recent whitepaper on "The Expectations of Marketing from Continuing Education Leadership" for more discussion on this. Deans need to make sure they know current and future marketing trends and marketers need to understand how new and existing tools connect to the marketplace and the institution's offerings. Marketers can't rely on skills built on the 80's and 90's. In the 80's, I learned the 4Ps of marketing and market research. In the 90's, I learned marketing strategy, advertising, media buying, geographic information systems, distance learning, websites, database marketing and public relations. In the 2000's, I learned about CRM, search engine optimization, electronic public relations and enrollment management. Marketers need to continue to feed themselves ... proactively. Continuing education marketers and leaders need to continue their own education and they need to be aggressive about it. Things happen quick, just ask the Seattle community, as they've lost one of their gems.

True Brand Strategy for Continuing and Professional Education

2009-02-23T09:17:00.004-05:00

Every time I open my email box or an industry magazine, I get an announcement for "Recession Proof Strategies for ..." conference, workshop, whitepaper or webinar. Without diving into negative message or strategy, I wanted to contribute in some way, shape or form to the education field or discussion. Here are my thoughts and some items I anticipate needing to address in the near future regarding how the recession impacts higher education:

High end brands: So, if you've been at the top of your segment, such as a University of Maryland, UMass or Penn State regarding distance education or Harvard, Yale or NYU regarding academics or higher cost private institutions such as Wesleyan, Babson or Middlebury, then your recession strategy might be creating more value. During challenging economic times, history shows that consumers are less likely to buy homes, cars or make luxury purchases. The fix-it-yourself market tends to thrive and people hold on to previously acquired high end items longer. While one can argue that education is different, it still shares the realm of a complex or information-dependent purchase. Therefore, to survive or thrive, one needs to combat the notion of deep discounting with the creation of value. It might be about saying what the return on investment is with a premier degree, as opposed to a degree from a state university ... or saying the message louder. Bag the feel-good, pretty "image" campaigns (i.e. I saw one premier brand university advertise passively the message of convenience, when in today's economy, that message needs to be translated more directly into dollars and cents for the student) in favor of the benefit message. Short answer: You need to say it better and louder with a potential message of great quality but with a long term return on investment.
Middle end brands: Seize the moment. While I can appreciate the budget crisis you are in, now is the time to invest if possible. Invest into market share by attacking the high-end brands with better value and return on investment. Short answer: You need to seize the day, but in a strategic manner that can gain market share. Time to hit the big guys below the belt with some smart spending creating a message of good quality and great value.
Lower end brands or new entrants to the marketplace: Inhabit where the middle end brands are leaving and where the high ends are failing. Given the economic changes, distance education is becoming more acceptable not only to the consumer, but also to the business professional. While the manager once would not allow his or her employees distance education, he or she might now accept it. In addition to this, lower or newer brands can also be quick and nimble ... beating out traditional, larger and slower institutions to the punch. Some community colleges have shown their ability to respond faster to workforce development initiatives. Many online universities are marketing a stronger message of work continuance to the busy individual while completing the degree. Short answer: Acceptable quality, but at a great price. Why waste your money over-paying for middle or higher end brands? It's almost the generic soup or over-the-counter medicine approach ... same product, but less obvious brand.

Depending on where your college or university is, now is NOT the time to over-think, over-process or get caught in committee work. It's time to have a strategy, a plan and to move swiftly (although not stupidly). I believe I have succeeded in avoiding negativity around the recession message! Now is the time for action.

More on Marketing Metrics, Buyer Beware!

2009-02-16T00:40:00.005-05:00

Everybody’s a marketer. In a room full of Ph.D.s, as well as even the assistant of the assistant who’s brother’s cousin is a marketer, the continuing education marketer is often faced with a disadvantage as everyone becomes a marketer. The true marketer needs to have at least one or two things others do not have. One is exceptional, visible talent and experiences while another is a track record of success. If these are not obvious to the crowd of critics, the next best thing is to have data … performance metrics. Of course, it would be great to have all the above, as well as a Ph.D.

Metrics are the great equalizer, however, if you don’t have the knowledge on how to use them or derive them, then they can be dangerous and discrediting. At the 2009 UCEA Management and Marketing Seminars, I just made a big stink for metrics, return on investment (ROI), customer relationship management (CRM), dashboards and marketing scorecards. However, I didn’t offer up a warning.

Not all marketers are created equal. An inexperienced, undertrained marketer using metrics for leverage is like a med student performing surgery. Reporting and deriving metrics requires some level of skill or training. If done incorrectly, it could result in a marketing unit or director being discredited. Reporting metrics with skill can shift the power back toward marketing … when a marketing director needs the benefit of doubt or needs to take an occasional risk, having a little bit of power might help a new initiative or marketing effort. Marketer beware, a little bit of power can kill you … or can move you miles ahead.

UCEA 2009 Management and Marketing Seminars

2009-02-13T10:02:00.004-05:00

I just returned from the UCEA Management and Marketing Seminars. Below are some of my presentations. Enjoy. My takeaways:

For those who went to the management seminar on enrollment management ... kudos to you, as you care about probably one of the top three issues or opportunities for continuing education marketing or revenues. In this economy, we're not going to spend more money on marketing. We are going to get smarter about how we do things. We are going to become more efficient. What better way than putting the science back into marketing. Creativity and design will only get you so far ... you'll still wander around not knowing whether it worked or not unless you actually quantitatively and consistently measure.
Thank you Tim Copeland of SunGard Higher Education for some outstanding sessions and from Stephanie Platteter of the University of Minnesota and Nora Lewis of the University of Pennsylvania for putting theory and strategy of enrollment management to work. Also, thank you to the University Continuing Education Association and Kay Kohl for putting this back on the radar screen.
On the marketing side, I presented a new whitepaper on the what continuing education deans and directors think of their marketing function. I thought it was challenging as did others. The solution is a two-way street. Deans need to better understand marketing, but marketers need to help them get there. Marketers do need to get better at reporting ROI, develop strategic marketing skills and stay up on e-marketing tools if they aren't already doing so. Deans will be faced with immense pressure, so if you are a marketer planning to do the same ole' same ole', you're going to have some challenges in front of you.

Overall, it was a good conference. Good takeaways from some of the keynotes and concurrent sessions, but a lot of good discussion with other vendors, especially my friends at Destiny Solutions, Intelliworks and SunGard. While I came from academia and Penn State, I can't say how valuable external parties can be. Not that I am biased, but there's a lot of great value from vendors that truly care and desire partnerships (as opposed to the ones who just take your money and run). Having worked at Penn State and as a consultant to other colleges and universities, there's a lot of value from some outsourcing relationships ... although the shoe has to fit.

The Hatchet Falls on Marketing ... Is it slow death for the institution?

2009-01-14T10:04:00.004-05:00

Budget cuts are certainly hitting every sector, some more than others. Education is feeling the pressure, especially state funded institutions. I had my first conversation with a client that said something to the effect of " ... the budget cuts hit and our marketing department at the college was eliminated."

Short term fix with long-term implications. We are no longer in a time where marketing is a luxury item. It is a strategic function. In this digital and more competitive era for education, what might the rationale be for such a move?

Is it that marketers in place are not proving their value? If not, then they were either the wrong people or not doing the job. Marketers need to be pushing out the metrics ... communicating success or lack of it (which in turn helps identify solutions). CRM solutions can also automate this if the marketing person says "I don't have the time to do this."
Are marketers not leading and evangelizing the science of marketing in the non-marketing environment of academia? Most colleges and universities I've visited do not see marketing as a science. Therefore, marketers cannot just throw their pretty pictures out there and say this is marketing ... folks, that's advertising. They need to educate others on the strategic and tactical process of marketing, as well as the science and financial side of it. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but return on investment says a whole lot more.

A drastic move of eliminating marketing may cost this institution so much more in the long run.

They may pay more in outsourcing costs.
They may leave the strategy and branding decisions to outside parties (which is sometimes better ... ask me about it sometime).
They may fall into the creative and tactical trap of "getting things out there" as opposed to having strategic marketing leadership guide the way.
The cost of a cutting two or three low paid marketers may be followed by lower revenues if the marketing doesn't get out there or the message or strategy isn't correct.

To me, it seems like this short-term decision could send this institution spiraling in the wrong direction. I saw it 10-15 years ago at a college when I was adjunct teaching at in Vermont ... Trinity College. I remember sitting in a faculty meeting and listening to them argue against distance education. As an adjunct, my comments fell on deaf ears. Ultimately, the decision to control short-term costs impacted potential long-term revenues and market expansion. The college closed a few years later.

State colleges and universities should not be cutting these types of costs. The premier brands will suffer while the state and community colleges should benefit. Cost/value leaders should be investing now ... not cutting, especially their marketing.

Bold Predictions for 2009

2009-01-04T14:27:00.005-05:00

2008 was a challenging yet exciting year for many. We saw exciting primaries and the election, but experienced a downturn in the economy. However, with each of these major events comes change for continuing and professional education. A new secretary of education will be put in place, business and industry will value distance education more and trim their benefits, and different international markets will continue to grow in their demand for education.

With these events, we can expect to see greater dependence and accountability with marketers. Continuing and professional education units will demand greater results, accountability and leadership from marketing. For 2009, I expect the following:

Education leaders will demand more from their marketing directors. Marketing directors will be asked to get out of their comfort zones. For the creative types in marketing leadership positions; strategy, metrics and CRM will be new to them. They will avoid these areas with the excuse of "I am too busy dealing with our paying customers to address these new initiatives."
Enrollment management will continue to develop as the need for metrics and accountability grows. No longer will showing off the new view book or catalog suffice. Monthly, objective reporting will become the norm for many.
Customer relationship management (CRM) systems will continue to evolve as a strategic imperative for many continuing and professional education units. For some, it will require investing tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars for some institutions. The smart ones will see the return on investment.
Organizational structures and the status quo of marketing will be challenged. Old school advertisers will be replaced with new school marketing scientists and strategists.
There will be a continued move to customer centricity, which will require more focus toward strategy and positioning. The word "brand" will mean more. Advertising staff (not marketing staff) will no longer be able to hide behind "we have to protect the brand" statements and have to understand where the brand is going.
E-marketing, including electronic public relations and search engine optimization, will continue to grow. Given that these tools are still evolutionary, marketers and their deans will continue to strive to stay caught up with new, as well as basic developments.
Market research will continue to move from being a luxury item to a basic necessity. Institutions will be asked to validate potentially expensive new program development initiatives, new marketing efforts and eliminate lagging programs.
Pricing will be a critical battleground area, as with increased competition and tighter budgets comes a greater need for revenue maximization.

There will be so much more, but marketers will have to do more with less. This will mean not necessarily "awareness building" but a focus on greater conversion. Why send hundreds of thousands of inquirers and prospects to the institution's website or call center and convert just one or two percent? Institutions will focus on activities that will double or triple conversion, such as training representatives to truly answer questions and not push paying customers to the web for simple questions, building smoother e-commerce systems to make payment easier and developing stronger metrics to react to market changes quicker.

Here's What I Think About "For Profit" Collaboratitve or Consortium-Based Research

2008-12-08T12:36:00.008-05:00

While this may be seem to self-serving, I wanted to at least share my opinion toward high-end consortium-based research. What is high-end consortium-based research? Without naming names, it is when colleges and universities pay a fee to all play nice together and learn from each other and the managers. It all sounds great and theoretically it should. It should; however, benefit the members more than the managers. When things are out of balance (and I lean toward higher ed), that's where I have my problem.

I think these for-profit higher education collaboratives are good for a number of purposes, but not necessarily the silver bullet for many. Here's my take on what works and what doesn't when you pay $25,000 to $35,000 into these things:

Pros:

Access to very smart people and an ocean of collaborative data.
Economies of scale (if it all works right).
Collaboration between the partners (or among a hundred or so colleges and universities).
National or international data and benchmarks that could influence leaders at higher levels of the institution.
New program ideas or research brought forward by other partners.
Special sessions or meetings.

Cons (as I've experienced them or heard from others):

Mounds of data that are nice to have but not necessarily revenue generating.
Putting a custom research report out there for the competitor to see.
Reactive customer service. With 90-120 other clients, the managers of the collaborative can't get to the basics or have clients wait in a long line.
Questionable return on investment.
Sketchy custom research in some cases... three months for a report and the wrong market identified or research based on three opinion leaders?

Twenty-five thousand dollars will go a long way ... two to five custom research efforts done the right way that could validate market potential or have you avoid launching the bad program idea. In an uncertain economic situation, return on investment is essential. A $25,000 investment needs to return 2 to 3 times this amount. Would this better be invested into a prospect management system or CRM where you convert a hundred people you would have missed in the past? It might also fund a staff member to help better convert leads. It could also fund an aggressive Google Adwords campaign for a year. What's your investment getting you? You deserve better.

Marketing is a Science ... CRM is Fundamental

2008-12-04T12:18:00.003-05:00

I've been active working with colleges and universities to identify whether they have a customer relationship management (CRM) problem. Often times, it is the root of the CE unit's marketing problems. Seems that continuing education operations are operating off the premise that advertising is marketing and marketing is advertising. This may work for some ... until the wheels fall off and the enrollments start heading south. A quick review of the organization shows that either an advertising/creative person is in the marketer's driver's seat, an IT person designed the website or that a legacy system of tracking prospects is in place.

My recent adventures have taken me down the road of putting the science back into marketing. To do so, you first need the scientist. The scientist is the marketer ... not a design professional and not necessarily the PR person or copywriter that has been with the organization for a decade. Every good scientist measures and records data and creates experiments ... thus the need for a good CRM system.

Strategic marketing cannot be done without effective prospect and customer relationship management. This cannot be done without a CRM backbone. I've been fortunate enough to meet with a number of vendors over the past few years. While I don't necessarily get in the business of endorsements (nor do I accept kickbacks or commission), I do want to say how impressed I was with Destiny Solutions on their abilities to offer continuing education units a secure student information system, as well as with Intelliworks on their web-based CRM solutions. I've seen a lot of pretenders over the years, but these two companies have it together ... they are committed to higher education, have smart people in place and are investing in technologies to keep them at the forefront. Sure there are the SunGards and Talismas of the world and they certainly have their place if you have the resources and personnel to support these higher end systems, but for now, the middle-range providers of Destiny Solutions and Intelliworks gets my thumbs up in terms of how they can almost immediately help continuing education departments.

To keep these posts marketing focused, I will be launching a new blog soon that focuses purely on technology. I'll give greater insight to vendors such as Intelliworks and Destiny, but also pee on folks that have failed me or my clients.

It's About the First Impression

2008-11-18T09:36:00.007-05:00

I don't usually write about consumer products and relate it to education, especially regarding alcohol. However, I could not resist this opportunity. I had friends visiting and decided to add a new beer to our tailgate ... Abita's Purple Haze, a raspberry wheat malt beer. I was exceptionally disappointed. So where's the link to higher education? All the reviews for Purple Haze on tap are great. When they put it in a bottle, it is horrible ... but they charge a premium. With continuing education and especially distance education, you just don't put the same product online without testing it, yet expect it to be the same while charging a premium. What you also can't do is set the expectation for your product so high and not reach it. Package it and price it as a premium and consumers will expect high satisfaction and delight. Marketers ... you can't overpromote a bad product. You need to push back and ask for product testing. Customer service people ... you need to deliver the services that support the product. Fail here and you too will never get them back. Program designers, planners and faculty ... Put a bad product out there and you'll never get repeat purchase. Sorry, Abita, but your beer was so bad for what I paid for it and despite your nice packaging, I won't buy it again ... ever. In fact, I now relate Abita as a brand as a weak beer. If Abita comes back and does something amazing and is able to convert me back, I'd be stunned. What would a university do with a poor online offering?

Fong_ACHE_UMass_Case_Study_2006

2008-11-13T09:55:00.002-05:00

Here's a case study I did a few years ago for those of you who asked. The University of Massachusetts Amherst was trying to move its high-contact, face-to-face adult education program "University Without Walls" to a more progressive model of education. Research drove a great deal of the marketing and program development, but ultimately it was the good work of many at UMass that help transform this into a hybrid learning and technology-enhanced program. Enrollments are up in 2008 and the forecast is strong. Here's a copy of the case study that was produced for ACHE.
Fong_ACHE_Journal_2006.pdf

The Impact of the Economy on Continuing Education Marketing

2008-11-09T23:16:00.002-05:00

I recently attended the WCET meeting in Phoenix and met many past friends and made many new ones. In my consultations with deans, directors and marketing people at WCET and throughout my other travels, I believe that many of the marketing strategies will not focus on silver bullets of new technology marketing tactics or some magical portal. It will come first from internal efficiencies, as deans and directors will drive the marketing bar higher. They will do so by reassessing marketing talent, develop a metric driven/ROI style of marketing accountability and improve conversion in the sales closing or customer service processes. Also, deans and directors will ramp up their marketing abilities to achieve a more common language with their marketers. True or false? I lean on true. Get ready for a challenging but rewarding ride.

New Web Marketing Focus

2008-11-05T22:10:00.006-05:00

I was reading a report recently published by e-Marketer which showed that the number of page views by college students decreased significantly over the past year. While there are many possible reasons for this ... they may be spending more time watching video and thus not searching or may be spending more time with their phones.

However, I'd argue that they will not tolerate having to search around for information. Maybe it is backlash toward disorganized university webpages? As many of us know, potential students will evaluate based on web information and not make the telephone call. Maybe potential students are making quicker decisions? That's my guess. Colleges and universities will need to focus their sites ... they will have to sell. Good copy and keywording is critical. Colleges and universities have cobbled things together and have been moderately successful to date. If my hypothesis is true, they are starting to lose out.

Comment on what you think it is.

I recently spoke at the WCET conference and addressed this as a trend. Download the presentation from the link on the side.