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Workshops

Helping you build a marketing team to create and implement a marketing plan that works

Two-day workshops offered on-site at individual colleges or for groups such as statewide college systems. The workshops involve a broad base of campus individuals and help build a college-wide understanding of marketing, a marketing team and strategic marketing plan.

A two-day on-site workshop includes key individuals from the college involved in the marketing process. Individuals involved in the workshops would include, but not be limited to public relations, marketing, enrollment management, admissions, financial aid, research, planning, academic affairs, faculty leadership, and executive leadership.

This team approach is recommended since effective marketing cuts across so many college areas. By involving each of these areas in the planning process, the college has the advantage of each of the important perspectives and creates a team and buy-in process that will make marketing work as the plans are implemented.

When the internal marketing professional says that marketing is everyone's business, it appears as if he or she is trying to shove off their job on their colleagues. When an outside professional says it - and proves it with strong arguments and a myriad of examples - it is believed.

Marketing Workshop Outcomes

The marketing workshop provides the college with:

A broad base of college individuals will have an understanding of marketing and ideas for marketing action to include action in the following areas:

* curriculum delivery
* service
* promotion
* recruitment and inquiry follow-up
* retention
* research

The group process approach provides the college with a knowledgeable, motivated team that is willing and anxious to implement the activities from the workshop because they have been involved in creating the plan.

The college will have a concrete structure, process and teams in place to create and implement marketing plans on an on-going basis.

The college will have an outline of action areas for marketing and the six work groups will each complete a Marketing Action Plan for one of these activities during the workshop. Each group will then complete 3-5 additional plans within a month after the workshop from the workshop list; these plans will constitute the college-wide Strategic Marketing Plan.

While enrollment increases cannot be guaranteed, virtually every one of the over 100 colleges with which we have worked has seen increases in enrollment, many very dramatic. Every college has seen results that include a concrete written strategic marketing plan, a committee structure for marketing, and committed individuals that implement marketing activities that make a difference.

Sample Agenda

The proposed workshop could consist of the following components, but is customized for each college or group.

College-wide Workshop - First day
Morning presentation by consultant:

8 - 8:30 a.m.	Coffee, conversation
8:30 - 10:00	Welcome College Marketing; Marketing/Marketing model
10 - 10:15	Break
10:15 - 12:00	College Marketing: Marketing planning - some axioms to make it work; Creating a marketing plan - plan components, recommendations for activities that work; Creating a college niche and image Marketing Campaigns That Work; Case studies, with full slide show, of winning examples of college marketing campaigns from throughout the country, showing the research, planning, changes in academic programs and students services, creative products and results
12 - l:00	Lunch
1:00 - 2:00	Presentation of Target Marketing
2:00 - 3:00	Work in small groups. Use target marketing worksheet to develop plans for program specific marketing and special target groups (e.g. high school students, business, minority students etc.) This will help those in academic programs, as well as student service and public relations areas, look at their specific departments and target groups, and outline ways to create programs to better meet needs and to then more effectively reach target audiences.
3 - 3:15	Break
3:15 - 4:30	Presentations and comments
4:30 - 5:00	Wrap up, questions

Workshop - Second day

8 - 8:30	Coffee
8:30 - 9:00	Gap analysis explanation Groups will analyze where college is now, where it should be and then determine what activities will fill the "gaps" in the areas of research, curriculum delivery, student services, recruitment/promotion, inquiry follow-up and retention. (If college already has marketing and/or marketing plans, these activities should be considered in this context, along with recommendations the consultant may make from advance audit of the college, research and suggestions that have been made in morning presentations)
9 - l0:00	Work in groups on gap analysis forms to list college-wide suggestions
10 - l0:l5	Break
l0:15 - 11:30	Discuss activities from gap analysis
11:30 - noon	Prioritize work. Assign committees
Noon - l p.m.	Lunch
1 - 1:l5	Review Marketing Activity Plan format
l:15 - 2:15	Work in groups. Begin priority plans for specific activities identified earlier in the gap analysis session
2:15 - 2:30	Break
2:30 - 3:30	Present initial plans
3:30 - 4:00	Agree on schedule and process for next steps
4 - 5:00	Wrap-up Develop further plans as time permits.

Specialized Target Marketing Workshops

In addition to the overall college-wide workshops, our company has worked with a number of colleges to develop special targeted marketing focuses. While all these areas are covered in our typical consulting, they can also be expanded to an in-depth focus and can include audit meetings and full workshops leading to action plans around these specialized topics.

Areas for consideration can include the following. In all cases the workshop includes extensive hands-on examples from two-year colleges, and guidelines to create action steps and implementation to make changes.

Career/academic programs. Focus can be on low enrollment programs, targeted new areas. Audits can include interviews with business leaders, advisory committees, students and alumni as well as faculty and administrators of the programs.

Minority marketing. Again focus groups can include community leaders, advisory committees and internal areas.

Customer service training. Approach includes customer service at all levels, including customer service techniques, as well as analysis of policy changes and systems for enhanced customer service.

Advocacy/PR planning. Help you create a strategic plan to reach target audiences including legislators, business leaders, community leaders, media and the general public with the value of the college and the need to support it.

Branding/Messaging.. Help colleges develop an appropriate, unique branding through research, focus groups with a variety of target audiences, and workshops to help evaluate logo, graphic design and key messages and benefits, along with tools to communicate these effectively.

For further information, a formal proposal or to schedule a workshop for your college call Sandy at 480-634-7161 or email her at sandra@sandragolden.com

View our article on "Making Marketing Work" [ Word File or PDF File] describing why and how to involve a broad based team from your college in marketing planning.

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