Marketing Campaign Approach and Template for Education Marketing

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When Adaptive Campus approaches a marketing project, we have a template that we start with. Every project is unique, and so we use this template and adapt it to the current situation. You may find the template useful if you are developing an internal marketing arm, but keep in mind that this is just the starting point of the planning process. The model needs to be flexible to be effective. Is this designed to market one specific program, multiple programs, or an entire education program? Whatever the answers you have to those questions make a significant difference in how this plan is adjusted.

(1) Market Assessment and Analysis

A. Develop a profile of the ideal student market using historical data and primary research methods.




B. Research all channels for reaching the market.




C. Determine modifications to make to existing programs that adapt the program to the needs of the identified market (where applicable).




D. Development of marketing message.




E. Should have a general idea of campaign costs and enrollment goals at this point.

(2) Development of campaign plan (utilizes market assessment)

A. Establish goals/metrics for plan.




B. Establish plan. The "plan" is the key document of the campaign that reports:

a. Data and analysis that forms the foundation of the campaign decisions;




b. Breakdown of the major markets that will be targeted;




c. Breakdown of the major channels that will be used and how they will be used;




d. Timeline-based implementation plan noting every major activity with dates, costs, and who is responsible for the tasks;




e. Clear definition of the goals of this campaign and the metrics used to determine if those goals are met; and a




f. Breakdown of how the metrics will be tracked and measured.




C. Price out channels, make all pre-arrangements. Lock in as many costs as possible so that cost estimates become more accurate. Includes media placement, sub-contractor arrangements, and other similar cost-related activities.




D. Plan will include suggestions for program improvement. Adjustments should reinforce the message and meet the identified needs of the market.

(3) Implementation of campaign.

A. Follow plan laid out in campaign plan step.




B. Continual monitoring based on the goals/metrics determined.




C. Continual adjustments as needed.

(4) Completion of campaign.

A. Analysis of campaign results.




B. Review of metrics - were they the right metrics? How realistic were the goals? (More important with new campaigns)




Prepare final report outlining results and recommendations for how to improve future campaigns.

I should also note that this isn't necessarily something that one group or unit has to do. Part of the analysis is focused on determining where other parts of the university or college fill in, helping to reduce the overall cost of the campaign. For example, you may have an established internal PR group that can help with part of the planning and implementation, or there may have already been some market analysis conducted. You may start to see why I like to say Adaptive Campus is not strictly a marketing communications firm, even though much of what we do is market oriented. It takes more than marketing communications to be a successful education provider. And success is measured by more than just revenues. We've designed this plan to use market-oriented approaches to help institutions be successful on all fronts and for the long-term. That is also why it may be more useful for you to use this approach internally than a generic marketing plan.