subject: Matt Blum's keys to higher education branding [print this page] Matt Blum's keys to higher education branding
In doing some reading this evening, it came to my mind some things you should be doing to brand your college or university, some tactics if you will.
First, determine if there are any unnecessary barriers to attending your institution, are there any stigmas out there spreading via social media? If so, as the Saturday Night Live skit says "FIX IT".
It is important to determine (just as businesses do) who your potential customers are. Are you looking at domestic, graduate, and international or all of the above? It is important to have conducted surveys, focus groups, past data review, etc.. as well. These will help you determine the best needs of the institution.
You want to have every advantage as possible in this day of the high school population decline. For example, what is your institution's strengths compared to your competition's weakness for the same niche market? I would examine this very closely.
At this point, how are you going to "get the message out". In the world of ever changing technology, use relevant communication! In this day, it is still relevant to use internet directories for branding (Peterson's, gradschools.com, zinch.com, etc). These are branding tools that will provide shared leads via a "apply online or request info" type button. It is also very useful to still use radio advertising and strategically based billboards on the most traveled highways. Now are you thinking I left something out or have gone crazy?
As a secondary means lets use some social media! How about some fan pages on Facebook?, groups on Twitter, and getting that carefully crafted message out. Also, consider using college forums to directly communicate with students where they are. I also encourage weekly or biweekly chat sessions in a forum environment that is known to have your niche market.
Lastly, I would publish various articles on ezine.com, articlesbase.com, and the like promoting higher education in general.
