The Marketing Plan
What are the major components of your department's or school's marketing plan? What process does your school follow when putting its marketing plan together?
Mailings, print media, personal contacts (referrals) and some TV. As far as the process I'm not sure how it works. I would say that our target market is everyone who wants a better life but has done little or nothing to obtain that goal up to this point.
Thanks, James, for the observations. Your description is on target regarding the career college student composite - desires a better life for himself/herself and family, wants a better job or a new set of workplace skills; most liely is the first generation student in his/her family that is contemplating additional education or training beyond secondary school. A more specific target market relates, perhaps, more closely to your school's particular student demographics and characteristics.
Jay
ML107
You omitted what, to me, seems to be the most obvious: the internet. It's free, it's powerful, it's easy to track and it is the yellow pages of the future.
Our major marketing plan is having our website linked with the two largest resources for students to use when searching for a school of our type. It sends these students directly to us via email and we then contact them with the information. We have used TV, Newspaper, Magazines and none of them got us leads like these two connections provide.
Also, we always impress upon the contact what makes us different (better) than our competitors.
Because we are a little more expensive as a private school, we must convince them we provide them with more than they get at other schools.
We constantly update our website to keep it interesting and informative.
Chuck Clark
Hi Chuck! It sounds as if you have tapped into the most effective resource for potential students.
To your point about what makes your school different, I too have stressed the importance of "branding." It is crucial, particularly in today's employment economy, to position our programs, our services, and our graduates so that both students and employers can see the special value of what we have to offer - moreso than the school down the street that may provide similar programs.
Out of curiosity, what are some things that your school emphasizes as added value (no proprietary information, of course)?
Thanks for your comments!
Jay Hollowell
ML140 Facilitator
personal contacts (referrals),mailing,flyers,webside,yellow pages TV.
Our main components and methods of marketing are television and radio advertising –and of course- internet web searches which always bring in a healthy number of prospects. If a lead comes in by web, we’ll follow up in the same manner until a visit is scheduled with the admissions dept. If the lead was generated by phone, we’ll follow up with informational calls and register the history until our admissions dept. establish contact who will then follow up with the prospect student.
We have a broad marketing plan. Our students come from all walks of life. We advertise via TV, radio, web, print, billboards, referrals, events, etc. Our plan is to get the word out and letting you know about the school.
The marketing plan is reviewed periodically and it is adjusted based on the reports. Those who come to the school and let us know where they heard us from and what was the deciding factor in coming to the school. As far the rest of how it is put together, well I am not sure about that.
Our main components marketing are direct mailers, website and print advertising.
When a lead comes in, we follow up with informational calls, emails & campus tour invitations.
Our school is a little different in our trades that we offer. So we approach them a little different. A lot of our students come from referral. Some come from news paper adds from out of state and local. And some others come from doing research on the internet. When we get a lead we call and e-mail asap and follow up with additional emails.
We divide our marketing plan into several categories.
National Industry Magazines. We keep a steady advertising campaign in the top industry magazines while also supplying articles written by our staff and instructors. This helps us to maintain involvement in the professional community.
Web presence. Along with our main website we also incorporate the use of social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc), blogs and forums. Maintaining a large web presence with frequently updated content helps to maintain our rankings. Other paid services help such as Google Ad word and Facebook ads.
Local Marketing includes involvement with local industry events, community service, print and television ad coverage. Radio remotes during our open house events and free seminars that are open to the public also help keep us fresh in the minds of our clients.
Our marketing strategy includes print advertising in trade magazines, yellow page ads, TV commercials, Facebook and Google ads, on-line directories, exhibiting at trade shows, field trips with related schools, career fairs, community functions.
That said- 99% of potential students when asked "How did you hear about us?" answer "I found you on the internet" so I wonder about paying for expensive TV commercials. I know we need to have a multi-faceted campaign, but wow.
Yes, face to face is what my job mainly entails. As a school, they are using social media, commercials and mailings. Referrals are still very important. In my position I work with several local Chambers to get our name out in the community and answer questions people have reguarding our school. I have found smaller events more effective with conversation but our name needs to still be "there" at larger events.
The added value we have and highlight is "TIME". Time is money and a lot of local schools have waiting lists but many students don't know that coming into the program. We highlight "no waiting list" in our programs. Once you are accepted you can count on finishing on time if you do your part. A year or two of lost wages must figure into your overall cost.
We market by means of catalogs, flyers, internet,
brochures, referrals and word of mouth, also our student Handbook.
I am not familiar with the process as I am not working directly with the marketing department, but would hope to in the future as the college
grows.
The information I am learning now relating to marketing will lay the the foundation for my plans in the future.
Jeannette
Have you had success starting a dialogue with prospective students via social media or does that appeal to current students more?
I believe that appeals to current students more and students who are active in the field.
We have been seeing social media adding a lot of value on the retention side. When a current student has a bad day or experience and the schools sees that and addresses it via social media it has helped to save that student as well as show others how the school responded. Glad you are utilizing that channel!
The largest component of our school's marketing is relationship marketing. We spend a lot of time and energy cultivating relationships with our students (and often their family members). Once these students obtain jobs we will often create relationships with their employers, who tend to send us more of their employees for training. It has taken us many years for this approach to work, but it costs very little, and it has built us a great name and reputation in our community.
