Archive for 'Communication'

A student’s perspective

Posted by: Andrew Kapel

Applying to college has been a big part of my life for the past year and a half. It is an extremely important process for someone my age, looking ahead to where I’ll spend the next four years. But it’s definitely a process that could use some work! Here are some of the things I experienced, that I thought might be valuable to share with you.

I think simplifying applications would be beneficial to all colleges (and helpful to the students who are applying). Sometimes, when completing applications, I felt like the information that was being asked of me was a little too personal.

The fees associated with certain schools’ applications was ...

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Categories: Campus Visit, College Recruiting, Communication, Cost, Experience, Storytelling, Student Recruiting, Student Search

Let’s get visual

Posted by: Annemarie Nagle

I consider myself a “visual” learner. Draw out my thoughts on a whiteboard, watch a video tutorial, type out my weekly tasks in Evernote. So I wasn’t surprised to see Fast Company’s article “Fast Talk: The Visual Shift” — where industry experts were asked to weigh in on how businesses can adapt to our image-obsessed culture.

Experts from retail, news, government and more shared tips on how to infuse more imagery in your user and online experience, and they had some valid points that translated well to higher ed.

The Creative Visionary: Joe Stewart, partner and global creative director at Huge
“Consumers expect the same level of quality and service from digital that they would get in a store,” says ...

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Categories: Branding/Marketing/Recruiting, Communication, Experience, Marketing, Online Experiences, Social Media, Storytelling, Student Recruiting

Do you have a Millennial problem?

Posted by: Jeff Kallay

Even though I’m a proud card-carrying member of Generation X, I’ve grown to love and understand Millennials. But according to Advertising Age magazine, they don’t love McDonald’s, a brand to which I was extremely loyal in my youth. Ronald McDonald

As children during the 1960′s, we viewed McDonald’s as a rare treat. But as teenagers in the 70′s and 80′s, its Golden Arches drew us like moths to a flame. It was the place to gather after most high school and church youth group activities. It was for many in our generation, a home (with a red Mansard roof) away from home.

Well, times have changed. A recent article in Ad Age reveals ...

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Categories: Authenticity, Branding/Marketing/Recruiting, Campus Visit, Campus Visit Experiences, Communication, Customer Service, Experience, Millennial Generation, Millennials

Where everybody knows your name

Posted by: Penelope Sawyer

When the CEO of Groupon, Andrew Mason, resigned in February, he shared this tidbit, ”If there’s one piece of wisdom that this simple pilgrim would like to impart upon you: have the courage to start with the customer.” I recognize in higher education using customer as a synonym for student may ignite an interesting debate with faculty. However, the enrollment management side of a given institution will see the merit in the interchangeability of those two nouns.

What Mr. Mason recognized in his exit was this basic concept: retention equals relationship. Groupon’s business model failed to recognize that serving the customers needs (whether good or bad) builds relationships and brand loyalty. Think about your favorite restaurant or coffee place. What is ...

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Categories: Branding/Marketing/Recruiting, Change, Cloud, Communication, Retention

Maker’s Mark makes good

Posted by: Tyler Peterson

Know your students. Apologize when you are wrong.

Last week, one of Kentucky’s finest, Maker’s Mark bourbon, made a huge mistake. In an effort to combat a possible shortage in their supply, they decided to water down their bourbon to meet the needs of their customers. What they experienced was a backlash that COO Rob Samuels referred to as the worst 4-5 days of his life.

This past Sunday, they reversed the decision and apologized to their customers, letting them know that they were heard loud and clear — no changes would be made to the recipe. It wasn’t a fancy apology, it was clear and to the point. ...

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Categories: Authenticity, Branding/Marketing/Recruiting, Communication, Customer Service

Sending signals

Posted by: Annemarie Nagle

There are plenty of ways for admissions officers to listen and follow what prospective students are saying about their institution. But what if the tables were turned?

An increasing number of students are sending digital supplements along with their applications. Considered “add ons” to the application, they come equipped with web analytics, allowing students to monitor which items have been viewed and opened by admissions officers. In turn, students are making assumptions on the level of interest an institution has before they receive a decision.

Chris Peterson, admissions officer for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, knows this all too well. In a recent blog post for The Chronicle of Higher Education, he describes a recent experience where a student ...

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Categories: Applicants, Branding/Marketing/Recruiting, Communication

If you’re not content marketing…

Posted by: Ray Ulmer

If you’re not content marketing these days, you’re not marketing. That’s the battle cry of Joe Pulizzi, author, speaker and content marketing evangelist.

Six years ago he launched a marketing services website that has evolved into the Content Marketing Institute, aimed at helping organizations move away from interruption-based marketing and toward the creation of a content-centered strategy. Content that is relevant and valuable to readers, likely to generate a sense of trust, and perhaps over time, prompt them to buy from you.

“Basically,” says Pulizzi, “content marketing is the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling. Instead of pitching your products or services, you are delivering ...

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Categories: Branding/Marketing/Recruiting, College Recruiting, Communication, Content Marketing, Marketing, Student Recruiting

Brand shifts and yield in 2013

Posted by: Annemarie Nagle

Coming back from holiday break means that it’s time to kick into high gear your accepted student communications, yield events and many conversations with students and parents. It’s the time of year where the conversation shifts and families are getting serious about where they might go to school in the fall. It’s important for admissions (and the rest of campus) to start thinking about what message you want to be sending to those students in order to help them make a final decision.

My colleague Jeff Kallay passed along an article before the holidays, “A Brand Shift for 2013: From Aspiration to Inspiration” by Alan Snitow. It’s an interesting concept that I thought was worth holding onto and sharing at ...

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Categories: Authenticity, Branding/Marketing/Recruiting, Change, College Recruiting, Communication, Communication Plans, Marketing, Storytelling, Student Recruiting, Student Yield, Yield

Is this message necessary?

Posted by: Jill Clark

We live our lives in a rush. Don’t be late to work, hurry home… it’s exhausting! Five minutes to yourself can be a welcome gift.

As busy as we are in the professional world, imagine being 17 again. Going to school 7 hours a day (keeping your grades as high as possible to get into the perfect college), followed by working as many hours as possible to save up for college, to buy a car, to take a date to prom — participating in enough extracurricular activities to put on your college applications, studying all night, and still having an active social life.

So how do students process the messages that we send? Before you hit the Send button, think: Is this ...

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Categories: Branding/Marketing/Recruiting, Communication, Email Recruiting, Marketing

All digital all the time

Posted by: Ray Ulmer

The country’s advertising elite just got a lesson on the dominance of digital.

Ad Age magazine hosted a conference in San Francisco devoted to the rise of digital marketing tools and techniques. On the opposite coast, Advertising Week filled five days of a New York conference with digital, mobile and social media marketing events.

There were several common themes that are worth remembering whether you’re recruiting students, engaging alumni or cultivating donors.

Digital is transformational. The many tools of the web don’t just represent another communication channel. They are a transformational force that requires organizations to rethink their entire marketing strategies.

Authenticity is paramount. It’s more important than ever to be honest, candid and authentic. It’s better to show ...

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Categories: Authenticity, Branding/Marketing/Recruiting, Communication

3 mistakes that are killing your marketing efforts

Posted by: Adrienne Hamson

I admit it. I was pretty jazzed about the Spice Girls reunion at this year’s Olympic Closing Ceremony.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em — for me it was a fun journey down memory lane with the gals who literally laid the soundtrack for the era of “girl power” (plus I’ll take anything that brings me back to the 90′s).

In honor of those brassy Brits, today I’m relating some advice on how to, ahem, “spice up” the writing in your marketing communications.

It comes from “copyblogger,” a favorite of the Marketing team here at TargetX. If you don’t already subscribe, you should. I mean it. Don’t even read the rest ...

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Categories: Blogs, College Recruiting, Communication, Communication Plans, Email, Email Recruiting, General, Marketing, Online Experiences

WPI videos and Oxy website get it right

Posted by: Jeff Kallay

Next month we’ll be in Las Vegas for our Xpert Summit and many of our clients will be presenting about technology, the campus visit and recruitment marketing.

But I want to take a moment to highlight some new recruitment marketing creative work by a few other TargetX clients; Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and Occidental College (Oxy).

WPI videos
I love them because they tell a story, cut through the clutter and say something definitive. The animation is such a departure from the normal voice-over and standard shots of campus.

WPI “Rowbots”

WPI “Special Delivery”

OXY Website
Oxy launched ...

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Categories: Authenticity, Best Practice Documents, Branding/Marketing/Recruiting, Communication, Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Videos, Website, Websites, Xpert Summit

Ch-Check it out

Posted by: Annemarie Nagle

Yes, that’s a Beastie Boys song title. While some may scoff at the idea of learning something from three guys who go by Mike D, MCA and Ad-Rock — their 25-year career, international fan base and 2012 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is certainly no joke. And higher ed would be smart to listen up — there are serious lessons to be learned from this Brooklyn rap trio.

“The Beastie Boys Guide to Brand Storytelling” by Kimberly Bordonaro identifies seven elements that explain why their loyal following over the years didn’t happen because they got lucky. It happened through a unique blend of what the kids today would call “sick” rhymes, funky fresh beats, and for ...

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Categories: Authenticity, Branding/Marketing/Recruiting, Communication, Marketing, Storytelling

Marketing is like sex…

Posted by: Adrienne Hamson

Why? Everyone thinks they’re good at it!

All joking aside, it’s true. Everyone from your brother to your boss has got their own definition of what marketing is and what makes it great (or horrendous, or remarkable, or offensive, or inspired…)

So much so that it can make it quite difficult for someone in my shoes to be confident my team and I are hitting the mark.

If you’re feeling my pain, then don’t miss this list of “10 Companies with Insanely Great Marketing.”

Of course you’ll glean insights from legends like Apple, Nike and Geico (I confess, I can’t get enough of Maxwell, the pig who cries “weee weee weeeee” all the way home. Never gets old.)

But as much as we all have ...

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Categories: Branding/Marketing/Recruiting, Communication, Marketing

Mailing Millennials

Posted by: Annemarie Nagle

Talking about “snail mail” as an effective recruitment strategy is sure to raise an eyebrow or two, but don’t discount its benefits and the value it adds. In the second half of this year’s recruitment cycle, admissions offices are thinking more about acceptance letters, open house invitations and financial aid packages — all traditionally print recruitment pieces — that still work according to Deliver Magazine.

In the article “Making sense of the Millennials” by Allan Nahajewski, Millennials don’t mind direct mail. According to one study, Millennials say 75 percent of the mail they receive is valuable, and 73 percent of them have used direct mail coupons.

With this in mind — what’s the most effective way to use direct mail? ...

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Categories: Authenticity, Branding/Marketing/Recruiting, Communication, Communication Plans, Marketing, Millennial Generation, Millennials

Writing your school’s resume

Posted by: Ray Ulmer

You’ve heard it a thousand times — Be distinctive; stand out from your competitors. You can’t do that with your faculty/student ratio, no matter how impressive. Or with your small class sizes, no matter how important. Or with the personalized attention your professors provide their students, no matter how beneficial.

Start your story with something that cuts through the college marketing clutter, say all the experts. But perhaps no one has said it quite like advertising executive Angie Jones.

“I have a Bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in marketing,” Jones writes in a recent blog post. Pretty good, but unfortunately millions of people in America have the same degree and emphasis, she says. “Education-wise, I don’t stand out from ...

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Categories: Authenticity, College Recruiting, Communication, Marketing

Marketing is the future

Posted by: Ray Ulmer

American universities are not the only ones struggling with change these days. Sharply rising tuition and increasing competition from abroad have schools in the UK relying on marketing like never before.

For a higher education system that has hummed along since the 12th century, aggressive marketing was something other industries had to worry about. But that is changing, says Britain’s William Annandale, and he offers five predictions for the future of higher education marketing that may have relevance for those of us in the colonies:

Differentiate or die. “All HEIs [higher education institutions, as they're known in the UK] need to think clearly about their proposition and how they differentiate themselves. Importantly, this should be addressed from the perspective of target audiences: ...

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Categories: Change, College Recruiting, Communication, CRM, Marketing

10 Lessons from Starbucks

Posted by: Jeff Kallay

My TargetX colleague, Scott Parks, sent a great blog post link that I’d like to share with you. It’s 10 Lessons from Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz’s book Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul.

The blog post challenges radio broadcasters, who like college administrators are facing challenges, to “think how these lessons apply to you.” The guts of the post are quoted below. Let me throw out the same challenge: Think how these lessons apply to you.

1. Don’t Lose Sight of what Matters

“Our strategy was to do more of what worked in the past. But we were not pushing ourselves to do things better or differently. ...

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Categories: Best Practice Documents, Branding/Marketing/Recruiting, Communication, Customer Service, Storytelling, Student Workers

Forget Facebook, if you want to yield students you should be on YouTube

Posted by: Jeff Kallay

Any dyed-in-the-wool Gen Xer can tell you that the first video MTV played when it launched on August 8, 1981 was Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles. Not as many can tell you the second video played on MTV. Do you know?

Video facts you need to know:
-43% of current prime time internet traffic is real time entertainment ( 12.2.2010)
-Netflix streaming accounts for 20% of internet traffic on any given evening (BusinessWeek 12.2.2010)
-Cisco predicts that by 2013 video will be 90% of consumer internet traffic (TechCrunch 7.9.2009)
-YouTube is a top “search engine” accounting for 28% of Google searches (Google 1.31.2011)
-There are 500 million monthly YouTube ...

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Categories: Authenticity, Branding/Marketing/Recruiting, College Recruiting, Communication, Communication Plans, Did You Know?, Facebook, Free on Friday Webcasts, Social Media, Social Networking, Storytelling, Student Yield, Videos, Web Traffic, Webcast, Your Website

Demystifing the Application Process

Posted by: Trent Gilbert

If you work on a college campus, you are an educator. You may not teach a class as an admission professional, but you should take ownership to educate the school’s applicant pool.

Often we assume that people understand the process, but they don’t. We need to take time (either while on campus during a visit or via the web) to explain the process.

A recent email that went viral around the TargetX offices was this video from Centre College in Danville, KY. This is one way they educate their applicants.

Sure, it is a little tongue-in-cheek, but it is entertaining and it does educate their applicants on the process at Centre.

How ...

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Categories: Applicants, Campus Visit Experiences, Communication, Facebook, Videos

Memorable words

Posted by: Ray Ulmer

One researcher says people need to read something 8 or 9 times before they truly absorb it. Take your time, I’ll wait.

So, if that’s even partially accurate, what can you do about it? How can you make it easier for your audience to retain what they’re reading?

Communication expert Mark Murphy thinks he knows how. “It turns out that people forget a lot of what they read not because of some innate neurological limitation, but because what they’re reading is really unmemorable.”

The problem is our preference for writing “abstract” words instead of “concrete” words, says the CEO of Leadership IQ. You see it all the time in office memos, but we tend to do it in other writing as well, including ...

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Categories: College Recruiting, Communication, Publications

Marketing to Millennials

Posted by: Ray Ulmer

The youngest are only 10, so you’re going to be dealing with the Millennial generation for years to come. That means you should overcome your sense of Millennial overload and continue to welcome new insight into how to reach these “vocal, demanding, discerning, shrewd and, yes, narcissistic” prospective students.

Advertising Age’s Thomas Pardee has written another psychosocial look at those born between 1982 and 2000, and he concludes with five tips for marketing to them.

Be fast. “For Millennials, there’s nothing worth saying that can’t be said in 140 characters or less. It’s not that they can’t handle long-form pitches, they just know you can do better. So do better.”

Be clever. “Smart and funny is the new rock ...

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Categories: Authenticity, College Recruiting, Communication, Generations, Millennials, Word of Mouth

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