We are living in an age of data. And difference. Of popularity. And polarization. And, oftentimes, we’re presented with plenty of information but little clarity.
It’s a dilemma facing many higher education marketers as they deal with trying to develop strategies for an overwhelming number of audiences, communications channels, and various goals and objectives—not to mention a broad spectrum of campus stakeholders ranging from self-professed marketing experts to those who feel it devalues the purity and value of education.
Adding to the challenge is that brand strategy is both art and science. Data should inform your strategy. But the process of co-creating a strategy on campus is just as important. It requires collaboration, internal insight, and buy-in.
So where to begin in honing-in on the right direction?
At SimpsonScarborough, we believe that research is at the core of any meaningful brand strategy and creative. That an enduring brand is not the result of “my gut tells me,” but rather, of thoughtful, tested inputs. There are many ways for college and university marketers to collect those inputs. But they’re not all equal.
There’s been a tendency in higher education to point to broad generational data, and it’s become extremely popular and trendy of late. But while there are certainly commonalities and distinct differences among generations (e.g., Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z), the reality is that generational data looks for points of commonality among age groups of very wide distributions. Boomers are usually classified as those ages 51-69 while Gen Xers can be anywhere from 35-50. Millennials could have been born between 1982-2002 with Gen Z born after those dates.
Trend data—while interesting—might be a bit like relying on your horoscope. It is too vague or broad to mean much. And the distinct differences these reports tell you? Well, they’re not so exact either. Common myth—and many a report—would have you believe that those self-centered Millennials are job-hopping, looking for the next great gig. But, according to a recent Pew Study, the tenure of Millennials in their jobs isn’t any different than the Gen Xers of my age bracket. And those Gen Zers that dislike email? In mStoner’s annual study on “Mythbusting Enrollment Marketing,” email is the preferred way they want to hear from colleges and universities.
Even the recent (and troubling) studies on differences on the views of higher education between Republicans and Democrats (by Pew and Gallup) likely have a lot of variance based on geography, whether respondents attended college themselves, or whether they are currently paying to send their kids to school—factors that unfortunately didn’t make the 250-word news story covering the reports.
Trends are better used as starting points for discussions on your strategies, not the end point. Building your strategy based on this information will leave you with creative expressions that feel generic or non-distinct. That’s a risk that—especially in an industry already mocked for non-distinct taglines, creative, and visual styles—you can’t afford to take.
Be careful you don’t wind up with a generic Millennial (or Gen Y) ad. Or a mockingly honest take like Quendelton State.
So what’s a college to do?
- First, find out what data already exists on your campus. Many schools subscribe to or collect institutional data regularly. This might include NSSE data on student experience or the Admitted Student Questionnaire (ASQ) administered through CollegeBoard.
- Look at things that are specifically about college or college-bound students. This might include the CIRP Freshman Survey, which annually studies incoming college students on trends dating back to 1973. Or Beloit’s annual mindset list of incoming students. While these kinds of omnibus studies are generally better for broader trends or for administrators concerned about delivery of academic or student experience, overall campus culture or other issues there could be interesting findings that support some of your brand focus.
- Analyze your own social and web data. The reality of our current digital worlds is that they are full of data on what content, experiences, and engagements your audiences expect. But this data must be managed and optimized with regularity to get the best out of it.
- Conduct your own research. The great thing about customized market research is that questions are specific to your institution. Conducting deep, focused research about your institution can dig at the personality, emotional connection and value/benefits specific to your brand experience. Differences between various audiences and secondary factors within those audiences can be analyzed to get to the insights that are distinctive to your school. Budgets and timing can be critical factors in deciding how much research you might do, but nothing can be a proxy for asking specifically about your college or university and its people.
Join us on Monday, November 13 from 10:15-11:00 a.m. at the AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education to learn how we take an audience-centered approach to getting insights about your schools in our session, “Power to the People: A Human-Centered Approach to Marketing Strategy.”
