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SOPHISTICATED CAMPAIGNS
MARKET LOCAL CAMPUSES
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By Laurie Burstein
From online chat sessions with admission counselors to virtual campus tours, along with interactive DVDs and targeted emails, electronic marketing has changed the way many local campuses and universities promote and market themselves to reach prospective students.
 The redesigned SLU website. |
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Kathryn Rickard Hundman, director of
marketing and web services at Saint Louis University, says that her in-house marketing department has redesigned the SLU website to keep up with the savvy web-smart teens and other prospective students who primarily use the Internet to research colleges. Hundman says that according to research by an educational consulting firm called Stamats, almost 80 percent of prospective students surveyed said they searched for colleges on the web.
“We work to create the best possible
website and use our integrated marketing communication efforts to drive students to the SLU.edu site,” Hundman says. “Once on the site, visitors may view a video where our
students and faculty talk about what makes SLU special, schedule a campus tour, or visit one of the online chats for undergraduate admissions,” she says.
“The Internet has changed the way we
market our university,” agrees Maureen
Zegel, assistant director of media, marketing and printing services for the University of Missouri-St. Louis. “All advertising today drives everyone to our website at www.umsl.edu.”
Zegel says that UMSL recently produced a CD-ROM to market the university. The CD was developed as a direct mail piece to prospective students and is filled with basic information on the university, direct links to important UMSL websites such as admissions, financial aid, choosing a major, career and internship
information.
| UMSL recently produced a CD-ROM to market the university. |
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“The CD-ROM also lets UMSL students know about the exciting internships available to them in more than 400 of the region’s top corporations and institutions. It includes a video highlighting student life on campuses including the more than 200 student organizations and construction of our new residence hall. We added a component to the basic CD for parents who play a critical role in the choices prospective students make. And we have developed an additional CD with a
component for high school counselors,
another critical influence on student choice,” Zegel says.
Toni Oplt handles marketing and community relations at the Meramec campus at St. Louis Community College and says students can do almost everything online from class registration and ordering books to paying tuition. “Audiences labeled ‘millennials’ and ‘Generation Y’ do not like to be contacted by phone and rarely look at snail mail. They don’t know a world without the Web or email. This is how they communicate,” Oplt explains.
Oplt continues, “We are currently evaluating how our different student audiences prefer to receive messages. We know the younger audience quite clearly prefers Web, email and instant messaging. We now ask for email addresses in addition to traditional information (address, phone), because we are quite vigilant about spam issues. If a prospective student gives us permission to email, then, we do. If they receive our email and opt to unsubscribe, they are immediately taken off the list. They value a permission/request marketing approach, and we are respectful of that.”
But a new student at the Meramec campus could also be a retired person in their 60s says Oplt, adding that the continuing education program is very popular. For the older adult population, the college is beginning to use email, but is sensitive as to how this audience prefers to get information.
While the Internet is certainly a huge and ever expanding way to communicate with prospective students, local colleges and
universities still rely on traditional print, radio and TV advertising to get the word out.
Ellen Horan, associate vice president of marketing at Webster University, describes a successful radio advertising campaign featuring a celebrity board member.
“The campaign featuring our board member, Bob Costas, has been extremely successful in demonstrating the benefits of Webster’s real world approach to education in such a memorable and compelling way,” Horan says. “Bob’s universal appeal, credibility and talents help us showcase the accomplishments of Webster students and alumni worldwide and how Webster benefits students, businesses and the communities we serve.” Currently the radio campaign runs on radio stations in
St. Louis and in markets throughout Webster’s affiliated campuses across the U.S.
In the cases of Webster and SLU, national advertising is an important part of the marketing mix. SLU can be found in such major national publications as U.S. News & World Report and The New York Times among others.
“This past year we moved beyond the
St. Louis area and advertised for the first time in the U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Colleges” issue which comes out every August. We had a full page, four-color ad that ran in the North Central region, which includes Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minneapolis/St. Paul and St. Louis Metro. We followed up with an ad in the “Best Business Schools” issue of Business Week last October that ran in two regions/10 states,” Hundman says. “We also plan to advertise in the New York Times Sunday education section twice this coming year.”
The majority of UMSL’s advertising is done locally and the college uses a mix of print, radio, bus boards, outdoor and cinema
advertising using the tagline, ‘Just Think of
the Possibilities; Think Success; Think
UM-St. Louis.’
Marketing directors at St. Louis campuses concur that research is an essential component of their marketing and communication plans.
Horan explains, “We have to really know our audiences and what they care about. Then we have to build our marketing around them.” Webster University uses focus groups and student surveys to determine career goals, college selection criteria, media habits and other relevant considerations for marketing planning and implementation.
“This year we also experimented with a multi-market Internet panel and found it extremely productive. Research is crucial to ensure we’re in tune with the real needs and preferences of our audiences, spot trends quickly and use precious resources effectively,” Horan says.
Sponsorships are another effective
marketing tool used by local colleges. Event marketing, corporate outreach,
education fairs and other targeted
outreach activities are integral to the
overall marketing to prospective students and are valuable avenues to build relationships with businesses, civic groups and other key organizations.
Both Webster and UMSL are sponsors at UMB Pavillion’s summer concert series, which enables them to interact directly with potential graduate and undergraduates in a fun, upbeat environment that connects with student lifestyles.
Zegel says it is a perfect opportunity to talk directly with potential students. “This is our second summer season as a sponsor at the UMB Pavilion. It’s a venue that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each season, most of which are potential UMSL students. The sponsorship includes the UM-St. Louis Artists’ Deck where radio interviews are conducted with that night’s performers, a 30-second commercial that runs at every show, major promotions and lots of other incentives.”
Horan cites Webster University’s sponsorship of the downtown loft housing tour as another example of a lifestyle event that helps reach new students.
Horan explains, “For the past couple of years, we have been a sponsor of the downtown loft/housing tours organized by Downtown NOW and the Downtown
St. Louis Partnership to generate interest in the wonderful new residential opportunities in downtown St. Louis. The opening of our expanded new campus in the historic Old Post Office in January will make graduate and undergraduate degree programs even more accessible to businesses and the growing residential population in downtown St. Louis.”
Yet another important resource for
marketing local campuses is alumni. From being featured in advertising and on websites, to getting out and talking with potential
students, alumni are an important marketing resource.
Patrick Browne, vice president of Enrollment Services at Logan College of Chiropractic in Chesterfield says, “Our alumni are a natural and vital resource for reaching prospective students at Logan,” he says. “Our alums are spread throughout the country and we often invite them to make presentations in their area about the college. Logan graduates also invite potential students to shadow them in their individual chiropractic practices. Alumni are a great recruiting and admissions tool,” Browne says.
At UMSL, a new alumni group was formed called STAT (Students Today/Alumni Tomorrow) to encourage outgoing seniors to get involved before they graduate.
And Horan says that several of Webster’s famous graduates, including Colonel Eileen Collins, Astronaut and Commander of the recent Space Shuttle Discovery, have been featured in radio
and print advertising
campaigns.
Browne agrees the electronic-driven nature of reaching new students is critical for marketing Logan. The chiropractic college has also produced an interactive DVD to market the college to both prospective students and parents who want the opportunity to “see” the campus without actually making the trip. And, Logan has a website that is user-friendly
as well.
But Browne says face-to-face contact is always central. Logan holds events called “Slice of Logan” at the campus for prospective students and their families to spend
a day at the school meeting other
students, staff and faculty. Logan also has several specialized programs including
outreach activities to inform minority
students about opportunities at Logan with visits by admission representatives at
historically black colleges and universities. Additionally, Logan partners with more than 24 universities nationwide where students complete their first three years of
undergraduate at their “home institutions” then transfer to Logan to begin the doctor of chiropractic program.
Local campuses say that marketing their
college has become more integrated and a lot more strategic, as well as much more Web focused and personalized in recent years. Research, focus groups at area high schools and survey information, are all used to target their messages. Well-planned ways to bring prospective students on campus and
sponsorships are also part of the mix. Marketing efforts have become more regional and national, but campuses say they remain committed to reaching potential students in the St. Louis area.
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