How to Pick the Right Higher Ed Marketing Partner
By Aaron Basko, Vice President for University Outreach, University of Lynchburg
The higher education vendor space has become crowded. As many institutions struggle with enrollment in a complex and shifting market, they often turn to vendors to help them fill in the gaps in their staffing, technology, or marketing. Education-related companies offer a huge range of services, but it can be a challenge to know which potential partners have the knowledge and experience to deliver what they promise in a meaningful way.
At many institutions, every dollar counts, and making a misstep in choosing vendors can be costly. Some institutions have discovered this the hard way, finding themselves locked into expensive, long-term contracts that are not producing the hoped-for return on investment.
As an enrollment leader, how can you tell when you have found a great partner? Look for these telltale signs:
They Do Their Homework
My daughter is starting own with her own small graphic design business. I referred one of my friends to her who own a coffee company based in Uganda. This friend had previously had a bad experience with design and was skeptical about working with someone just starting out.
Before creating the logos, my daughter thoroughly researched the business and the location where the coffee comes from. She discovered that the mountains where the coffee is grown are also known as the “Mountains of the Moon,” so she incorporated the mountains and the moon into a unique design for the project. Even my friend, a native of the area, had forgotten this nickname, so he was surprised and delighted with her research and the extra element it added to the final product.
This is how a good partner makes you feel — like you are their only client, and that they want to get to know your business personally.
They Know When to Tell You “No”
A good partner is not going to accede to your every whim. This is healthy. Part of their job is to tell you when you are about to make a mistake, especially when this mistake will waste your time and resources.
One of our partners was recently on campus with our enrollment and marketing team for a brainstorming session. Our team had a “great idea” about a new scholarship that we wanted to market, and we tried to convince our partner that this was a good idea. She was able to push back, using data, to demonstrate that not only was our idea not likely to bring us the ROI we were hoping for in tuition revenue, but it was likely to run us afoul of one of our external evaluators.
A poor partner, interested only in keeping us happy and extending a contract, might have given in to what we wanted, but she was able to stand her ground because she knew she was acting in our best interest.
They Worry as Much as You Do
One of my favorite partners was a CRM technology group that I worked with at a previous institution. At the time, they were small, just a little more than a startup. I was amazed at the level of service they gave my team. We actually looked forward to our weekly update meeting with them because they always started the meeting with the insights that they had seen in our data within the last week. They walked us through the data, pointing out problems and opportunities and showing us where our efforts were having an impact and where we could be doing better.
Because of this, we knew that our success was as important to them as it was to us. They were committed to us doing well and they worried in between our meetings if they saw something unexpected. This is what you want. Having someone who worries about some aspect of your business means one less area where you have to focus your limited attention. With a partner like this, you are much more likely to catch it quickly when something is wrong, and your partner is more likely to be able to suggest timely solutions to fix it.
They Give You Homework
A vendor is someone who you pay and they do the work. A partner is someone who involves you in the process. Part of the value that you get from the relationship is the opportunity to learn best practices and apply them. A good partner does not keep you dependent on them forever but empowers you and your team to be better professionals. A good partner amplifies your capacity.
In one of my partner relationships, I had a consultant who would always end our meetings with, “And your homework for the week is….” She would proceed to outline what the members of our team should be doing in the interim between calls. I loved this. I felt like it was a major value-added element to our partnership. When this consultant left the company and was replaced by someone new, I would end our meetings by asking, “So, what is our homework for the week?” Pretty soon the new person caught on and started preparing assignments for us.
They Speak in ROI
It would be fantastic to be friends with the people in your partner company, and this often happens, but at the end of the day, you need them to bring you results. As a campus leader, you will be judged by whether they can help you get across the finish line. One of the most important points in the evaluation process is listening for whether your potential new partner can speak with concrete examples of what they have achieved and what they can achieve for you.
A few years ago, my campus leadership was searching for a partner to help us with lead generation for some of our programs. We had come down to the choice of two vendors. One vendor was less expensive and told a big story. They had a really impressive presentation and promised big numbers. They wined and dined and gave a lot of good theory, but they were a little short on examples from previous clients. The other company was much more understated. They quoted us a higher, although competitive, price, and were really transparent about what they believed the risks and the results would be. Unfortunately, we chose the first option, and six months in, we realized we had made a big mistake.
In partnerships—as in many things—slow, steady, and proven often wins the race.
As you and your team tackle the challenges of this critical moment for higher education, you have more choices than ever in who you choose for your partners in the journey. Look for these qualities in your vendors and they will become true partners to get you where you want to go.
Are you ready to explore a new higher ed marketing partner? Let's talk about how 5° could come alongside your team to meet your institution’s needs.
