All That [Marketing] Jazz
I’m a musician. After hearing me, some folks might argue the point. But as someone who regularly finds joy, satisfaction, healthy distraction, and artistic expression through music, I often find myself comparing making great music to the magic of creating a great recruitment marketing program.
A couple of years ago I attended a remarkable event…a 3-hour performance by an extraordinary quartet. If you’re a jazz buff, you might recognize the names of pianist Kevin Hays, saxophonist Mark Turner, drummer Bill Stewart, and bandleader/bassist Joe Martin. The remarkable thing about this gig, however, was the venue: a packed, 300-seat turn-of-the-century opera house in the middle of the cornfields of Iowa.
The audience was largely local residents who were there to support Martin, the local-kid-turned-world-class-pro. For many, the music was almost foreign…far from the big band swing many may have expected. “For cryin’ out loud, I wish they’d just play ‘Moon River!” one of my audience mates whispered to me at intermission.
I was struck by the similarities between our experience in that little Midwestern opera house and the tension I witness all-too-often on college and university campuses where integrated marketing is little more than a buzz phrase. The broad concepts of both jazz and recruitment marketing are generally palatable, as long as their definitions remain comfortably unchallenged in the minds of the audiences involved. When reality sets in, when the band starts to play or the marketing plan begins to unveil itself, the future of the product is at the mercy of the all-too-often unsuspecting audience.
Fortunately, for those of us who were completely mesmerized by that opera house performance, most of the traditionalists in the audience were willing to find beauty in what they had initially labeled “cacophony.” The standing ovation was testimony to their genuine appreciation for what the musicians had given to us.
How can recruitment marketing practitioners educate campus communities to appreciate our marketing efforts with similarly open arms? Here are a handful of tips…
1. Broaden ownership without giving up control. Creating your recruitment marketing plan cannot be an exercise in consensus building. Every band needs a skilled leader and highly qualified “sidemen.” Likewise, recruitment marketing planning must be a purposeful, collaborative effort led by a respected champion who can solicit input from as many experts as possible, giving each of them the satisfaction of knowing they are playing an integral role.
2. Listen to the music. Just as the members of the quartet on stage must hear, watch, and even feel the barrage of messages exchanged during each performance, your marketing team members must be at least as attentive to your internal audiences as your external ones. And just face it…if you’re older than 16 or 17, you have no idea what’s really going on in the minds of the teens you’re trying to recruit.
3. Acknowledge, address, and involve the people or factions on your campus who may undermine your recruitment marketing efforts because they don’t understand or believe in what you’re trying to do. Surprise is a powerful tool; don’t let naysayers surprise you by derailing your program. If they’re expecting Ellington and you deliver Coltrane, you know what could happen.
4. It’s all in the people. Hire (or grow) the best recruiters and recruitment marketing people you can afford, and then give them room and resource to do their work. Improvisation is a magical thing, but only when the players know the rules.
5. Tune the piano. Give your recruitment marketing team the tools they need to do their work. And if you can’t afford brand-spanking new instruments, invest in reconditioning and polishing the ones you already have.
Nurture and support your recruitment marketing team and they’ll make beautiful music together.
Photo by: Mark Smith
