Oct 4th 11 Posted by Brenda Harms

Marketing and Recruitment: The Dynamic Duo for Success

One of the greatest claims I hear made when enrollment numbers are down is that it is due to lack of marketing, or lack of good marketing, depending on the school.  While I absolutely agree that good marketing is a critical first step (you don’t get to work at a marketing firm without this fundamental belief), it is not the only step.  How many of us have ever purchased anything (let alone something... read more

Sep 13th 11 Posted by Bob Sevier

Integration 3.0.

Those of you who have read my articles know I am a big believer in integration. During a recent project, however, a client said something that really set me thinking. “It seems to me,” she said, “that there is easy integration and hard integration.” She went on, “It is relatively easy to integrate all the messages in the admissions office. The people there generally understand the need for... read more

Aug 16th 11 Posted by Kati Davis

News IS Your Blog (& 5 Universities Running with the Idea)

Does your institution have a content rich, easily sharable news section of your site? If yes, feel free to stop reading. But, if you’re still only posting press releases in regular press release fashion, I can guarantee you’re missing out on valuable traffic. Your news is your blog. You don’t even need to call it a blog―just treat it like one. The idea is that there is a section of the site... read more

Apr 14th 11 Posted by Eric Sickler

Launch Major Marketing Projects With Verve

When building a strong case to support doing something new or different, humans working in an organization usually default to building a laundry list of associated benefits. For example, “We should do a capital campaign so we can build a new Student Center.” Or, “We should revamp our core curriculum so our students will graduate with a skills set that will make them more immediately employable.”  In... read more

Jan 25th 11 Posted by CJ Cunniff

Sometimes Data Can Lie?

I am an absolutely huge fan of utilizing analytics data to make sound business decisions.  I honestly can’t imagine trying to make very many decisions based on pure gut instinct (maybe I have trust issues with myself?).  With that said, it is important to realize that what most people refer to as sound data for business decisions is potentially a lie (or, at the very least, a stretching of... read more

Sep 9th 10 Posted by Fritz McDonald

What We Can Learn From Apple

Let’s face it: most of us have Apple envy. They make cool products and have a really cool boss, right? And it must be such a cool place to work because from our P.O.V. they’re doing everything right. At least that’s what Apple wants us to believe. Those of us who work in higher ed—both on staff at agencies and institutions—dream of working in a more creative, forward-thinking environment... read more

Sep 8th 10 Posted by Brenda Harms

The Luxury of Time

We all know the scenario. Enrollment projections are fine all through the summer on the traditional side of the house and then within the first two weeks of fall classes starting—WHAM! Crisis!! The numbers weren’t what we thought they would be, or the discount rate was so high that even though we are bursting at the seams with students we don’t have enough revenue.  And then, the ask (or demand... read more

Aug 6th 10 Posted by Bob Sevier

The Next Evolution in Marketing

I recently read Gilbreath’s The Next Evolution in Marketing. He makes the case, much like Godin and others, that today’s audiences are tired of intrusive, self-serving advertising. He believes that the only way to connect with your customers involves creating marketing with meaning. The idea of marketing with meaning is not new. What is new, however, is that most marketing had meaning for the... read more

Jul 7th 10 Posted by Bob Sevier

Target Fixation: Don’t be Oblivious to Hazards

A friend of mine used to train helicopter pilots during the first Gulf War. He used a term, “target fixation,” in which pilots would focus so completely on the target that they were completely oblivious to other obstacles or hazards. I think many colleges are suffering from higher education’s version of target fixation with an enlarged devotion to evaluating and enhancing their academic core.... read more

Jun 23rd 10 Posted by Bob Sevier

Lewin’s “Facing Cuts in Federal Aid, For-Profit Colleges Are in a Fight”

Tamar Lewin’s NYT article, “Facing Cuts in Federal Aid, For-Profit Colleges Are in a Fight,” offers a glimpse into a scary future for all of higher education, not just the for-profit sector. She writes, “The regulations, known as the ‘gainful employment’ rules, are an effort to rein in the high debt loads students take on when they enroll in for-profit colleges that offer certificates or... read more