Colleges Fail At Online Marketing
Tell us it ain't so!
According to Primary Research Group's 2007 Survey of College Marketing Programs, cited here, based upon interviews with 55 American colleges, it appears that college marketers are still at the stone tablet stage.
As reported by interactive marketing consultant Hollis Thomases, PRG says that only 47% of colleges use online advertising in their marketing campaigns. About 18% engage in search engine marketing, with 14% using any form of paid advertising service from Google.
Observes Thomases, who has a number of higher ed clients:
“In an age when higher education students are among our most wired online populace, the people who make the marketing decisions for those institutions are still in need of the most elemental education. At traditional higher education institutions, it's tough to pitch online media strategy when they're barely acquainted with the fundamentals of online marketing.”
The Agitator has lots of “.edu” readers. We hope some of you might tell us she's got it wrong, and we'd be even more delighted if you offered an example of your own whiz-bang online marketing.
On the other hand, if you're marketing a higher ed institution to prospective students or fundraising from alumni, and online tactics are not part of your core strategy, you oughta be fired.
Roger & Tom
One response to “Colleges Fail At Online Marketing”
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