Through conducting dozens of focus groups nation-wide we have learned that prospective adult students tend to form opinions very quickly about people and places at the institutions they are considering.

National Volunteer Week April 21-27, 2013, is a time to celebrate people doing extraordinary things through service. Established in 1974, National Volunteer Week focuses national attention on the impact and power of volunteerism and service as an integral aspect of our civic leadership. Where do College’s fit into this discussion? Whether you work for an Alumni Organization or an Admissions Office, why does this matter?

Lee Clow, the legendary Chief Creative from TBWA/Chiat-Day (creator of Energizer Bunny, Taco Bell Chihuahua and Apple Think Different campaigns) says that he loves telling the stories that brands have to tell. That is exactly what good creative does. And it does it in a simple, elegant way. Whether it is with your web site, your viewbook or your bilboard, you are telling your school's story. You are communicating your institutions promise. 

Data, data, data. There is a plethora of data now available to help guide your marketing decisions. Whether your job is to recruit more qualified students to your campus, to your new online programs, or your mission is to engage your alumni more effectively, big data is invaluable in helping you to craft effective plans. Remember though, at the end of the day we are all still marketing to specific people.

4-25-13 UPDATE: Today we did a webinar on this topic that is available at the bottom of the post. Check it out!

A giant advocate for market research as a fundamental approach to data-driven decision making, I often get asked the question: “How much should we invest in research and why?”

One of our most read and shared blog posts this past year was our “2013 Predictions” blog post in which we emphasized three major trends that we felt would significantly impact higher education marketing for the upcoming year. Rounding out the first quarter of 2013 we are not only supporting and standing behind those predictions, but are staffing to support Next Generation Marketing in Higher Education.

Last week, I had the pleasure of participating in a group exercise with several "Adult", no "non-traditional", no "new-traditional" students at a well-known Catholic University. The intent of the exercise was to get students feedback on the University's web site and to better understand their user experience. Our team learned a tremendous amount from that exercise.

When was the last time you went to find something at a store and either the product had moved aisles and/or was no longer in the same location? Better yet... when was the last time you went to a store and needed to ask if they sold a specific product? How did you handle the request, ask someone, get frustrated and walk around trying to find it, just buy something else instead?

We've all been there and done that in a store... but how many of us have done this online?