Event recap from eduWEB

For those involved with the online education community, the highly anticipated annual eduWeb Conference 2010 did not disappoint. Bringing a wealth of knowledge and resources from experienced professionals in the education field, the conference was held at the Doubletree hotel in the Magnificent Mile district of Chicago, a city that boasts of dozens of higher education establishments.

On the forefront of discussion for many marketers was how to reach their audience in the online space and how to do it with shrinking budgets?  Session after session seemed laden with these questions, and all the while these same marketers have the task of trying to be savvy with today’s technologically-sophisticated students. Social media is ingrained in the today’s student lifestyle. The fact of the matter is if you don’t exist in online, then you don’t exist. A speaker at one session revealed data that showed nearly three fourths of high school seniors expect college and universities to participate in social media.

Balancing marketing dollars, while feeling the pressures of trying to be innovative and engaging online with millennials, leaves education marketers in a difficult position. So what’s the answer?  After attending several sessions that attempted to provide insight on this problem, it seems quite evident that the answer is elbow grease!

“We are like carpenters,” positioned Karine Joly as she presented “Measure Twice, Cut Once: A 7 step plan to Your Measurement Strategy for Online.” While I’ve never thought any of my clients as being anywhere close to a carpenter, the analogy definitely painted a picture of the current state of education marketing. My clients hammer away fighting to meet higher expectations of both the schools they work for and prospective students while the nails in their toolbox are limited. Joly further described education resources as “a busy toolbox… we have to use the resources that we have in our toolbox, and cut what doesn’t work!”

Here are a few tips I extracted from the eduWeb conference for today’s budget-minded education marketers:

1) Crunch the numbers and then cut.

95% of higher education marketers reported that they use Google Analytics, but 72% say that they spend less than two hours a week actually analyzing the numbers. Most people revealed they don’t analyze the numbers because it seems hard but, as Karine Joly put it “analytics is like exercise,” and I completely agree. You don’t need to be a pro-body builder to see results; just put in effort, be consistent, and you will see RESULTS.

2) Don’t be afraid of social media.

If you are afraid of trying something, don’t be. Jason Mark who spoke on college branding pointed out, as marketers we have to let go of some control because “the odds are it’s already happening whether you want it to or not.” The tip: identify your biggest communication fears, and ask yourself how can this be an opportunity? Try it and if it doesn’t work, well then refer to  #1.

3) Content! Content! Content!

You may need to rethink your website. I saw quite a few case studies at eduWeb that reported that short, more engaging, do-it-yourself content speaks better to the prospective student audience. Take a look at the eduWeb winner of Best Website Re-Design, Indiana University East as an example. And if you what to know type of content students want, here are the top items you’ll want to consider when vamping up your website’s messaging:

Do you have my program?
Can I afford your school?
Can I get in? Are we a good match in that way?
Is the location right for me? (This generation tends to want to be closer to home)
Fit? Age/Ethnicity
For online programs… does the system work?

While it’s clear that there is no one path or quick fix to working on a tight online budget, after attending the eduWEd conference this year I am convinced that putting in a little elbow grease will certainly ease your struggles. Learn to analyze your data (or find someone who can do it for you), face your social media fears by getting involved, and lastly find out what your perspectives student REALLY want to know and give it to them.