According to Ad Week, over three million people in one week viewed the video that Dave Carroll uploaded to YouTube regarding the mishandling of his Taylor guitar. For United Airlines, this translates into a dreadful number of people worldwide that now identify United Airlines as the airline that doesn’t care about the management or handling of your luggage. Considering the latest attitude toward airline companies and the new and increased baggage fees, this is a serious hit to United’s reputation and will demand serious recovery efforts. Terribly news for the airline that the video is now the third search result for the query “United Airlines” on Google.

United has already made a genuine attempt to reconcile with Carroll, and announced via Twitter that they had made a $3,000 donation to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. Good start, but this will need to be followed by further earnest efforts to mend this damaging reputation they’ve acquired.

http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/strategy/e3icf26a0dad6f1001638196a9b842c61d2?pn=1

Attitude toward enrollment

Enrollment for a traditional institution is generally a passive process.  The admissions department announces enrollment deadlines, potential student applications pour in and the college makes decisions about whom to admit and whom to reject.  The college is not required to pursue potential students because the students come to them.  When a college launches an online program they generally approach enrollment in the same way.  The program is launched, the college does some limited advertising and they sit back and expect the students to just show up.  Simply put, enrollment into non-traditional programs doesn’t work like that.  A college that fails to adopt a proactive enrollment model can expect their non-traditional programs to fail.

Program Selection

There are many ‘high demand’ degree programs in the world of non-traditional education, but these same programs also tend to be ‘high supply’.  In other words, there is a lot of demand for a Bachelors Degree in Business Management, but just about every school offers this program.  Differentiation of offerings is a way to stand out among the crowd and attract potential student interest.  Iowa Central Community College is a great example of how degree differentiation can help a new program launch.  The college leveraged campus resources to add a Homeland Security twist to its online criminal justice program.  Iowa Central was a first mover for this type of offering and it enjoyed the success of a unique program when the degree was launched.  The key to program differentiation is to offer a unique program that is not too niche to appeal to a wide audience.  A Business Degree with an emphasis in E-Business has a wide appeal and it stands out from the crowd, an emphasis in recreation management might stand out from the crowd, but the audience of potential students is much smaller.  Program selection can be the difference between success and failure.  Colleges should choose programs based on demand, not what the faculty wants to teach.

Advertising

Many traditional colleges launching online programs fail to advertise the new offerings properly.  I believe that there is a common misconception that simply being on the internet is enough to bring inquiries to you.  Personally I have spoken to several program administrators who did not even realize that it was necessary to purchase inquiries for their program offerings.  Furthermore, in the instances where they knew it was necessary, they did not have any sense of how to go about doing so.  The fact remains that if a college wants a successful online program, they need to promote it, and doing so can be expensive.  Those schools that do understand that inquiry generation is a necessity are faced with another challenge, how does the enrollment department intake and manage inquiries.  Whether the college chooses to engage in interactive or traditional advertising, it needs a way to manage the inquiries that are submitted.  In the absence of inquiry delivery and management tools it is impossible to effectively evaluate the impact of advertising expenditures.  Advertising new online offerings presents a college with a set of challenges that the program administrators may not be prepared to handle.  Promoting online programs is a lot more complex than simply spending money.  It requires both understanding of the market and technological expertise.  In most cases it makes financial sense for colleges to engage an experienced partner to help them manage the critical advertising function.

Evaluation of Enrollment Outcomes

Enrollment for online degree programs is significantly different than enrollment for traditional campus programs.  In particular, online enrollment requires that an admissions department track certain key metrics that are not generally evaluated by a traditional admissions division.  In particular the college must closely evaluate its cost per new student acquisition or CPA.  This metric is a key performance indicator for enrollment and marketing efforts and it lends significant insight into the effectiveness of both.  This figure generally ranges from $1200 to $2500 depending on the program and admissions requirements.  The fact is that most colleges launching new online programs do not realize how expensive it is to acquire new students.  In many cases this metric is not even being calculated and therefore it is impossible to truly evaluate how effective the enrollment staff is being or how effectively marketing dollars are being spent.  It is also important to note that CPA is only one of many important metrics used for tracking enrollment outcomes.  There is a lot that goes into enrollment, and it is possible to waste a lot of time and money trying to figure what metrics to monitor.  The best solution for a college new to online enrollment is to enlist the help of a partner that is proficient in the field.  ‘Consultant’ is a bit of a dirty with negative connotations, but the truth is, an experienced consultant can save a college time and money and help build a foundation for future enrollment success.  In short, if you don’t know what questions to ask, hire someone who does it’s worth it.

So, why do marketers feel they can spend their available advertising budget in one (or maybe two) initiatives?

The number of messages the average consumer is bombarded with is unheard of. The average consumer: reads the paper in the morning, listens to the radio on the way to work, passes a few billboards on the way in to work, fires up their office computer to read their latest RSS feed, checks their email, bookmarks their favorite site, reads the rest of their newspaper online, sends a few Tweets, comments on their favor blog, opens up their mail and the list goes on, and on, and on. And, in many cases, consumers are “consuming” two or more of these initiatives at the same time.

Not only do advertisers need to break through the clutter, they need to make an imprint on consumers in many, many different ways.

For years we have helped clients implement “socially engaging” campaigns to reach their customers, but the whole notion of social marketing has created a new buzz in marketing.

To quote a quintessential marketing cliché, it’s “top-of-mind” for most marketers. We often get questions about how to implement effective social marketing campaigns. Advertisers say they need to be on Twitter and need help implementing a campaign on Facebook that will result in a “good following,” but they don’t understand WHY it’s important to communicate to their customers through these vehicles. Really — how can you blame them when you see companies from the local gas station to dry cleaners asking customers to follow them on Twitter?

We explain to clients and prospects that it’s not just about adding a social marketing line item to their budget. It should be viewed as a new way of marketing and communicating to customers. Customers have opinions and they want to be heard. Brands that are not willing to listen, engage and respond will end up with unsatisfied customers.

From a personal perspective, when was the last time you made any major buying decision and did not consult a friend, family member or glanced at a network or review site to get information about the product/service you are about to purchase/use? Customers want to be heard and advertisers who are not listening are going to be left questioning why their customers are turned off and their bottom lines are in the red.

So what does this have to do with Online Education? Certainly there are those that continue their education because they love what they’re doing. But probably the vast majority are saying “Show Me The Money!” They know that getting a degree means more income! A better life! Greater satisfaction!

We know that taking classes online can help individuals freshen their skills and stay competitive in their industry, which helps them move up the ladder and negotiate a higher salary or a bigger raise. Online education provides them with a way of keeping their professional goals in sight without disrupting their lives.

Here’s a little exercise I did for this article. The website www.payscale.com allows one free “Salary Report” – so I took advantage of it. My input stated that I was looking for the pay scale for an Advertising and Promotion Manager in San Diego, CA. I inputed that I had 20 years’ experience, had managed up to 10 people, BUT, I did not have a degree of any kind. I clicked submit, and just as sure as the sun will come up tomorrow, I saw the line right next to the pay scale chart, “Increase your salary. Search Degrees.” The implication was clear. Get a degree and we’ll SHOW YOU THE MONEY!

Average Annual Earnings for College Graduates and Non-Graduates
Average Annual Earnings

Professional Degree $109,600
Doctoral Degree $89,400
Master’s Degree $62,300
Bachelor’s Degree $52,200
Associates Degree $38,200
Some College $36,800
High School Graduate $30,400
Some High School $23,400

Average Annual Earnings—Different Levels of Education.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Surveys

Let EDU, “Show You The Money!”
EDU Interactive believes it is so important that as your lead generation partner, we assume responsibility for all aspects of your campaign, from strategy through execution, while our partners maintain ownership of leads delivered on a pay-for-performance basis. EDU Interactive believes that successful online lead generation demands certain critical attributes and adherence to these will determine the success of a campaign and allow us to “Show You The Money!”

ONE: It’s impossible to put too much importance on budgeting. This is where fantasy and reality butt heads. This is the first inning – the first batter – the first pitch! Get this right and the chance for success and realizing expectations come together.
TWO: A campaign strategy tailored to achieve enrollment goals. A strategy that communicates a message of substance. This is where our experience really shines!
THREE: A media plan that leverages a mix of online channels to reach a multitude of highly targeted
candidates and direct this traffic to education programs – a media plan that is negotiated with the client’s
best interest in mind and not the media’s.
FOUR: Apply advanced optimization strategy across these online channels determined by our extensive personal, behavioral, and contextual targeting criteria, to make sure we are delivering an on-target message to the right candidates, ensuring a consistent stream of qualified student leads and return on investment.
FIVE: We feel that it is also very important that we verify the quality of all student leads using a highly developed data cleansing process.
SIX: Finally, it is vital to analyze a campaign’s results and provide recommendations for all future campaigns.

The people of EDU Interactive have devoted countless hours and experienced innumerable success and, yes, failure, too, in an effort to learn what it takes to create and administer a service based on the six principles stated in this article.

Ultimately, it boils down to execution … EDU Interactive’s greatest strength. That’s why we can, “Show You The Money!”

Here’s Wikipedia’s definition for the term: “Web 2.0 refers to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services–such as social-networking sites, blogs, and social bookmarking— which aim to facilitate collaboration and sharing between users. Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and end-users use the web.”
So what does this mean? And what started the “Web 2.0” revolution?

The concept of “Web 2.0” was born during a conference in 2004 with O’Reilly Media and Media Live International. Dale Dougherty, web pioneer and O’Reilly VP, noted that the dot-com collapse in 2001, had marked a turning point for the web. There were more and more new and exciting applications and sites popping up every day, such as weblogs, social bookmarking, wikis, podcasts, RSS feeds, social software, web application programming interfaces (API’s) and online web services (ie. eBay). Most of all, the way people were using the web had changed significantly. These websites take advantage of web application technologies and give web users the ability to collaborate and share their experiences, views, opinions and interests while they surf the web.

The diagram below was developed during a brainstorming session at FOO Camp, a conference at O’Reilly Media. I thought this diagram best described all of the concepts that Web 2.0 encompasses.

Given the lack of set standards to what “Web 2.0” actually means, there will continue to be controversy over the term. The most important thing to understand are the main web 2.0 characteristics that make a website successful:

• “Web as a Platform” meaning delivering (and allowing users to use) web-based applications entirely through a web browser
• Providing a service, not a product
• Unique Content – maintaining hard-to-recreate data sources that get richer as more people use them
• Rich Internet application techniques–programming done “behind the scenes” to increase the web page’s interactivity, speed, functionality and usability. Website is built using the latest web 2.0 technologies.
• Social-networking capabilities- allowing users to interact with one another (chat, messaging, email, blogging, discussion groups, etc.)
• Microformats – data formatting (coding) that enables data items to be indexed, searched for, saved or cross-referenced by web crawlers.
• Encourage user contributions – an open source format, like weblogs or message boards, that are open to the public and can be modified by users (user-created and user-owned data)
• Folksonomies (a.k.a, social bookmarking) – creating & managing tags to categorize content to make info easier to search, discover and navigate over time. (ie. del.icio.us and Flickr)

Below are just a few very successful websites that utilize the web 2.0 technologies:

1. MySpace.com – Perhaps the most popular social networking site on the web! The online community allows users to create their own, personal webpage to share photos, journals and interests with a growing network of mutual friends.
2. YouTube – a site that allows users to share their favorite videos with the entire world.
3. Wikipedia- The largest reference website on the Internet. The content of Wikipedia is free, and is written collaboratively by people from all around the world.
4. Digg.com – this is a user-driven social content website. Users submit content (favorite websites, opinions, stories, etc) and other digg users read submissions and “digg” what they like best.

All of these websites offer different services, but they all share the common characteristics of a web 2.0 website. They all offer the ability to take advantage of web-based applications and services. They all encourage user contributions, by allowing them to add content and customize the look and feel of the site. And they all allow for socialization and collaboration among users.

The World Wide Web is constantly changing and evolving, and new technologies will continue to change the way people use and interact with the web. Pretty soon, “Web 2.0” will become a term of the past, and we’ll be wondering… “So, what is “Web 3.0” really?”

Today’s traditional universities often find themselves over-subscribed and unable to accommodate the vastly growing number of traditional student applications. In addition, the high demand for adult-centered programs has pushed the traditional institutions to compete in the nontraditional marketplace. To meet this high demand and provide educational opportunities for both traditional and non-traditional students, universities are using various means of advertising to inform the public of the unique programs they (universities) have developed.

A popular technique had been the use of market targeting. Using market-targeting techniques, schools are seeking to provide access to an educational avenue for anyone who is interested. Market targeting looks at how to appeal to the vastly different needs that individuals may have. In the industry of higher education, market targeting seeks to point out the various education options that people have to choose from and evaluate the market to decide which audience to target and how to provide for their individual needs.

To do this effectively, three factors must be examined: the impact of competition, size and growth, and institutional objectives and resources. Today, as colleges and universities compete for market shares, traditional and non-traditional institutions are finding market-targeting techniques an effective means of advertising.

With the myriad of choices offered today, there no longer exists a “traditional market profile.” Anyone can find an educational program to meet his needs, whether it’s attending a community college, four-year university, adult-credentialing program, or an online program. In addition, with annual enrollment steadily increasing, successful marketers of higher education understand the critical need to separate themselves from the competition and identify themselves in the marketplace. To compete, colleges and universities must be recognizably different. Market targeting provides a unique means of advertising for each school to meet its individual needs.

The lure of market targeting reaches well beyond the realm of those learning institutions with large advertising budgets. Market targeting is often used by departments within schools to attract students to particular programs. Also, in an attempt to best utilize the funds they have available, smaller budgeted programs are turning to professional advertising agencies to develop their market targeting strategies.

In today’s education market, the bottom line is all schools seek to increase enrollment. And, in a society where higher education is becoming a necessity in order for individuals to advance in the job market, advertising is the means for schools to communicate with the targeted audience who will benefit from that school’s program.

What does the future look like for higher education? Competitive. But by using market targeting, today’s colleges and universities are reaching greater numbers of people and, in turn, these people are using higher education to obtain their career goals.

Pay per call has been especially interesting when it comes to search engine marketing. Previously, the emphasis has been on whether people make it to your web site, not what type of action they take once they get there. Pay per call provides an avenue to obtain more qualified leads. According to MediaPost Publications, “by allowing companies to track phone calls back to exact keywords, call tracking technology facilities a cost-per-lead model that delivers real-time leads to merchants in the form of a phone call, and creates a much more complete cost-per-lead analysis for online campaigns.”

Pay per call is an extremely valuable tool that helps companies make the most of their advertising dollars and I believe this is only the beginning of technological advances that will affect how companies track advertising campaigns and ROI in the future.