Dive Brief:
- Maryville University Associate Vice President of Enrollment Shani Lenore-Jenkins writes in University Business about the 3 key strategies for digital marketing and outreach to millennial college students, calling for an outright abandonment of traditional resources like mailers and telephone calls.
- Lenore-Jenkins says that earlier engagement, beginning no later than the sophomore year, combined with an aesthetical and mobile-accessible web presence and strong social media are the new tools that earn the interest of today's college aspirants.
- Geotargeting and advertising strategies should constantly evolve with the interests and needs of the marketplace.
Dive Insight:
The challenge with any form of college marketing is cost and explaining ROI for executives who manage and budget on a year-to-year review of applications and enrollment. Additionally, with so many colleges and universities offering a variety of financial aid packages, and growing uncertainty about affordability even for middle class families, a good choice one year may be an option that is out of a family's price range just a year later.
The goal for schools is to develop a strategy behind recruiting students who can afford the education, budgeting scholarship allocations for those who cannot afford it, and making the effort to pair students with high interest in certain industries with schools offering strong teaching and training elements in those fields, to help ensure persistence through to graduation.