Struggling to Promote Your Higher Ed Product?
Have you ever felt that if you just found the perfect tagline, designed the best billboard, or concocted the most captivating slogan, all of your marketing concerns would vanish? Or maybe you’ve worked with leadership that seems to think this way, believing that investments in promotion are the best way to elevate a school’s presence.
The problem is, a hefty promotion budget can’t fix a positioning blunder. If your institution isn’t doing anything unique in comparison to other schools or is lagging behind its competitors in programs and services, then promotion won’t be able to bridge the gap.
Prospective students aren’t just potential alumni, they’re potential customers (and high-paying ones at that). By investing in the product—an institution’s programs and services—colleges and universities can ensure that they are offering and delivering the five-star experience their customers deserve.
What You Offer Matters
Imagine you’re hungry on a road trip. You begin thinking through all of the restaurants that meet the basic requirements you’re seeking: quick, decent variety, and filling. Why do you choose one restaurant over the other? It could be because it’s on your side of the highway, you trust the food quality, or the restaurant is known for its efficiency.
Sure, it could be because you saw a billboard. But if the billboard referenced a restaurant you’d never heard of, or if it didn’t feature a product worth promoting, it’s unlikely to have made the cut. The same goes for schools.
Take Geneva College, for example. Like hundreds of schools across the country, they have a college of engineering, math, and science that offers several STEM degrees. But what differentiates them—how they’ve prioritized the product—is the Pinkerton Center for Technology Development (PCTD). The center provides engineering and technical resources to organizations that lack the staff or resources to research new technological ideas. Collaborations between science and engineering students, their instructors, and project partners empower real-world projects that have ranged from artificial heart pumps to virtual reality systems.
The center sets Geneva apart from its competition as engineering students develop professional experience, build relationships with corporations and government agencies, and learn from industry experts.
When it comes to marketing, Geneva doesn’t need to start the conversation with a billboard brainstorm. They can start with the PCTD and creatively consider what it looks like to promote their impressive, unique product.
Change the Conversation
Ifyour institution may be prioritizing promotion above product, reach out to other campus leaders to change the conversation. Remind them that further investment in flourishing areas, as well as renewed commitments to struggling areas (Is your technology outdated? Are the dorms looking tired?), will improve the programs and services you’re offering to prospective students. Your support for these improvements can strengthen relationships with those areas of campus, gives the marketing team great talking points, and ultimately serves students better in the long run. Prioritizing the product helps your school further establish a strong brand identity built on tangible student outcomes. Now that’s something worth promoting.
5° Branding builds brands by helping universities refine their most meaningful stories. Interested? Let's talk.
