Higher Education
How to succeed with social media marketing
Mark Zuckerburg, then a student at Harvard, created an online social network where college students could congregate and share their life experiences from the past and as its happening. Opening enrollment beyond the campus and into the neighborhoods, Facebook is rapidly nearing 500 million members worldwide. Does social media, with its origins in the collegiate environment, make it a viable medium for higher education institutions to engage with prospective students for enrollment purposes?
The importance of seizing your local market
When recruitment advertising programs are planned and implemented, many marketers consider the job done. After all, the messaging has been fine tuned to resonate with the intended audience; media has been selected to reach the right target audience at the moment of consideration. It’s time to wait for the inquiries to roll in, right?
Gap Years Make Good Business Sense
The value of a “gap year” may be hard to quantify in terms of increased retention and program persistence. However, creating a formalized gap year program has the potential to pay big dividends for colleges and universities.
Some schools report that, compared to their burned-out, stressed or homesick peers who go right into college, students who take a year “off” are more likely to be confident and successful in their first year, and more persistent in their degree program. And there are many other ways in which schools can benefit from the growing popularity of the gap year.
Although common in Europe, the gap year is finally catching on in the US, but there are still no reliable statistics about its prevalence here. The practice has been suppressed in the US because of the cost of secondary education, as well as the fact that, until recently, students had to stay in school or lose their parent’s health insurance coverage.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act now extends coverage of unmarried dependent children to their 26th birthday. This could open the door to significant growth in demand for gap year programs. The buzz is building, fueled by recent high-profile news coverage.
Not all colleges in the US allow accepted students to delay the start of their freshman year, and policies can be shaped by funding considerations. State schools, like the University of Washington, may require that gap year students reapply when they are ready to start or resume their studies. This is in stark contrast to the policies of schools like MIT, who say they will grant a deferral for almost any reason, and who passionately advocate taking a gap year.
Today, colleges that accommodate requests for a deferral normally allow less than 50 students to do so. If in future, as it is in Europe now, we could expect 10% of high school graduates to take a gap year, how could colleges and universities optimize the opportunity? Here are a few ideas:
- Differentiation: Gap year programs can be a great brand differentiation opportunity. Princeton University, for instance, has developed a structured gap year program that they hope to be able to offer to as many of 100 students a year. The program allows students to perform community service abroad, and may be the first of its kind among U.S. colleges and universities. Princeton has generated a lot of online buzz about this program already.
- Innovation: Shorter, more affordable programs can still give students a broadening, refreshing experience. Developing customized “hiatus” programs that are integrated with curriculum may also be a way to differentiate while assimilating students more deeply into the school community.
- Partnerships: Partnering with global companies to offer gap year internship programs represent a significant win-win opportunity for schools who want to increase their international appeal, students who want some practical experience in their future field, and companies that need to build their local skilled workforce.
- Social Communities: Encouraging gap year students to share their experiences is a terrific way of reinforcing a new and somewhat tenuous relationship. Schools may find that an online forum for gap year students to compare experiences, photos, and video will get a lot of attention from other students, parents, and alumni. Cornell University Career Services is ahead of the field in this respect. They devote a Facebook page entirely to the gap year topic; promoting events and highlighting student and alumni gap year experiences.
- Hybrid programs: Some schools and parents fear that gap year students will suffer from academic atrophy, particularly in science and math. With the prevalence on online education, who is to say that a gap year can’t include a couple of foundational courses to keep study habits honed?
- Events: When a student is pondering what they could do with a gap year, there are hundreds of dizzying options. It’s not unusual in the UK for universities to offer a Gap Year Fair to feature exciting or relevant programs offered by commercial companies, exchange organizations and educational foundations.
As reports about increased retention and campus enrichment surface, we predict that more schools will openly embrace the gap year. It’s just smart business for schools to consider ways to help students to be more ready to succeed in higher education. Those who are leading the way today actively guide students in how to make the time productive for their resumes and fulfilling for their adventurous souls. In doing so they’re deepening relationships and strengthening their brands.
Putting Sustainability Marketing Back in the Mix
“Green is not hot any more. Its importance has cooled off.” This was a pronouncement I heard yesterday at a marketing summit. And I couldn’t disagree more. Marketing sustainability is a trend that is growing in several key industries including real estate, energy and retail. And, not surprisingly, higher education. Continue reading
Social gaming on campus saves energy
Eneractivity has developed a social game for college students that schools can use to drive energy savings. Groups can compete against each other as they race around a virtual dorm room to turn off lights and adjust settings, destroy things, and get recharged by pizza. Based on the new energy consciousness the game imparts, Eneractivity estimates colleges with 5,000 students can save about $24,000 a year in energy costs — a 300% ROI. (Does anyone else think it’s ironic that you have to use electricity to play this game?)
Anyway, it sounds fun, so I got to thinking about what I would like to learn from the games I play. For instance, maybe Farmville could teach me how to conserve water and reduce my virtual methane production. And maybe Diner Dash(tm) could teach me how to say ‘no’ to that hamburger, fries and shake. Sweet Tooth 2, you could teach me how much I could save on the family’s dental bills every time I cleared the board of those yummy looking candy pieces. I wish you would.
Find out more about Eneractivity, their mission, and their new game at http://www.eneractivity.com/
Universities Champion Economic Revival
Leveraging every dollar of appropriations to generate ROI has always been a core goal for most state universities. But in light of today’s economic downturn, many colleges and universities are stepping up their efforts to do even more. That is, they are relentlessly focused on turning around struggling state economies.
One extraordinary example is taking place in Michigan. The University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University have joined forces to make available their tremendous resources including faculty consulting, laboratory equipment, research facilities and more to assist business development. What’s more, they are relentlessly exploring innovative opportunities to develop new technologies, research emerging industries such as alternative energy and transform the internet to be speedier, more secure and spam-free.
