Im in San Diego this week for the AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education. Its sunny, breezy and 65 degrees, and I wish I could fold up the day and put it in my pocket to take out during the Vermont winter that’s about to begin. It’s hard to believe that fires were raging near the hotel just a few weeks ago.
This mornings keynote speaker was Dr. Tom Hayes of Xavier University and Simpson Scarborough, on 10 marketing mistakes and how to avoid them. Tom spent a few minutes on what he called the Seven (not Four!) Ps of marketing a service: Product, Price, Place, Promotion, Physical Evidence, Process, and People. Tom was speaking in terms of an integrated marketing approach, which I think we all agree is the right approach for building an effective brand, but it got me thinking; is it possible for your website to contribute in some way to each P?
—Product: This is an easy one. The product in education is the courses offered to students, and a good site answers the question that every high school junior is asking: what can I major in?
—Price: Tom stressed the fact that the price of choosing a particular institution is not only financial. It may be paid in time, reputation, or the general hassle of day to day operations. Clearly, the website can solve some concrete problems (reducing day to day hassles by allowing online transactions, for example), but it can help in less concrete ways as well. Illustrating the benefits of a degree from your institution through profiles of happy students and successful alumni can help mitigate concerns about price by emphasizing the long term value of the education.
—Place: Nothing will bring your campus to the front door of every visitor, but your website can make it more accessible to prospective students or alumni in farflung locations who are looking to make a connection with the institution, through community building activities or news from campus.
—Promotion: Your website may not be the source of all promotions, but can and should play a role in most of them. (Again: integration!) I think our recent Define Yourself project with Mercersburg is a good example.
—Physical evidence: Tom mentioned this morning, and our experience tells us as well, that for many prospective students, visiting campus evokes a very emotional reaction: I think I would fit in here, or This place isnt for me. What about those prospects who cant (or havent yet) come to campus? Some of my favorite sites have lots of photos not just of buildings and campus landmarks, but of students and general life around campus. Maybe these are the online versions of those physical cues that will help prospective students turn into enrolled students.
—Process: How easy is it to work with an institution? Many processes are completely people-driven, and rightly so. Theres no need to shoehorn technology into a situation that can be more easily resolved in person. But your site can help streamline processes that are appropriate (requesting information, for example), freeing up your staff to be as helpful and friendly as theyd like to be.
—People: For a prospective student, a relationship with an institution may well begin before theres any personal interaction. How many anonymous 17-year-olds have visited your site today? What about these stealth applicants that Voltaire and I have been talking about, who base their decisions on the website alone, with no campus interaction? I might argue that the sensitivity with which your site anticipates and meets their needs prepares them for the type of people they’ll meet when they take a next step with you. Or, perhaps thats a stretch. You tell me.
Voltaire Santos Miran EVP, Web Strategy I've developed and implemented communication strategies in education for more than 20 years now. I think my team at mStoner is the smartest, funniest, and coolest group of colleagues ever, and I can't imagine being anywhere else. Except Barcelona. Or Paris. Or Istanbul. To quote Isak Dinesen, "the cure for everything is salt ... tears, sweat, and the sea."