Image and Advertising 20052006 Claire S. Jones Associate Vice President College Relations

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Image and Advertising2005-2006Claire S.
JonesAssociate Vice PresidentCollege Relations
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Investments in the Future

• Publications (direct mail)
• Advertising
• Digital video production (3)
• Web enhancements
• Goal Enhance the image of the college
• Raise awareness, visibility of programs
• Focus on academic strengths, why someone should
  apply
• Call to action Visit our Web site, visit campus

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Publications to support recruitment

• Search (150,000) and travel (50,000) brochures
• Viewbooks and envelopes (60,000)
• Acceptance package folders and guts (20,000)

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Publications to support recruitment

• New (for example)
• Intellectual Foundations brochure (yield,
  recruitment)
• Yield postcards, yield general mailing
• STEM brochure (grant funded)
• To come
• Graduate viewbook and program brochures
• Brochure for high school juniors
• Postcard campaigns for prospects
• Department brochures (replace fact sheets)

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Advertising Fall 2005

• Print strategy Large ads in hometown papers,
  8 consecutive weeks
• Niagara Gazette (circ. 51,539)
• Batavia Daily (circ. 14,000), Livingston Co. News
  (circ. 6,800)
• Rochester area
• 13 Messenger Post papers (Sunday/weekly
  subscription, 79,000)
• City Newspaper (103,000 readers each week)
• Syracuse area
• Eagle papers, 15 CNY papers (54,635 paid circ.,
  158,441 readers)
• Buffalo area
• ArtVoice (63,000 copies, 280,000 readers each
  week)
• North Buffalo Rocket, West Side Times, Riverside
  Times (40,000 copies)
• Bee newspapers (38,000 copies, 108,000 readers)

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Advertising Spring 2006

• Most previous publications plus
• Buffalo News (Sunday circ. 260,000)
• Criterion
• Newsday (LI) (circ. 1.6 million)
• Long Island Press (circ. 300,000)
• Jamestown Post Journal
• Community college papers (GCC, NCCC)
• Advertising Reach Frequency
• Altogether, more than 2 million readers of these
  publications 5 to 8 placements in each this
  Spring

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Advertising Spring 2006

• Billboards (5)
• 231,150/day x 30 6.9 million impressions/month
• For 18 market, 64.5 reach, frequency 11.3
  times/month
• Over 24 of the entire market every day exposed
  to one of the messages
• Frightening fact There are 840 outdoor panels
  within 10 miles of Buffalo State (!)

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Bulletin Kensington Expressway (33)
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Bulletin Kensington Expressway (33)

• I received a phone call from a prospective
  student yesterday. The girl said she saw our
  education themed billboard on the 33 and wanted
  to know if we had a Spanish ed. program (we do).
  She said she never thought to look for the major
  at Buffalo State until she saw the billboard.
• -Mary Finger, Admissions Counselor

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Digital Videos (Webmercials)

• Three 2-minute videos for high-demand programs
  (education, forensic chemistry, interior design)
• Videosmore engaging, more depth, more authentic
  than publications
• Focus on the academic strength, competitive
  advantages, experiential approach to education
• Delivered via the Web, able to track
• Repurposeput on DVDs, use at college fairs, open
  houses, etc.

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Web Most important marketing tool

• National research ? the Web is the primary
  research tool used by prospective college
  students
• It is the first contact for nearly all
  prospective students

• Sources of national research (there are many
  more!)
• Chronicle of Higher Education
• To Size Up Colleges, Students Now Shop Online
  (June 10, 2005)
• National Association for College Admission
  Counseling
• State of College Admission Report (2005)
• Harris Interactive, The Harris Poll (Trends
  Tudes),
• How Do High School Students Select a College?
  (January 2005)

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Web Most important marketing tool

• New features (last 12 months)
• New Admissions Web site
• 28 out of 35 academic departments updated and in
  templates
• Accepted students site
• Google-Mini, new search engine
• Electronic bulletin boards
• Podcasting
• Blogs (theater students Jessica and Emily)

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Is it working? We have Web metrics!

• 2004-2005 average 356,348 visitor sessions per
  month average daily visitor sessions 11,715 (66
  from off campus)
• A session' is defined as a series of clicks on
  your site by an individual visitor during a
  specific period of time. A session is initiated
  when the visitor arrives at your site, and it
  ends when the browser is closed or there is a
  period of inactivity.
• September 2005 490,707
• February 2006 639,952 (67 from off campus)

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Is it working?

• March (through 3/29) 803,234 (75 from off
  campus)
• February average daily visitor sessions 22,855
• March (1-29) average daily visitor sessions
  27,704
• WHY?...Direct mail? Advertising?

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Web metrics Elementary Education and Reading
January 17 Graduate School Education info
session invitation mailed March 5 Buffalo News
ad 2/6, 2/20, 3/6, 3/18 Accepted students
postcards mailed March 18, 19 Ads in hometown
papers
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Web metrics Dietetics and Nutrition
February 26 Ads in hometown newspapers March 19
Ad in Buffalo News From October 1 (site launch)
to February 20, site averaged 21 visitor sessions
per day. Since February 21, site averaged 44
visitor sessions per day, 92 from off campus
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Is it working?

• Web traffic Up, up, up
• Applications Through 3/17, freshmen applications
  up 13 over last year at this time
• More applicants now from other NY counties and
  metro NYC than we received all of last year
• Regular applicants
• 43 applicants have 85 average
• 28 applicants have 80 84.9 average
• EOP applicants
• 13 have 85 average
• 24 have 80 84.9 average
• We still MUST improve yield (33 last year)

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Working on

• Visibility in high schools
• Animated online tour
• Replacement of fact sheets with upgraded,
  multipurpose brochures
• Viewbook for the Graduate School
• New Graduate School Web site
• Program-specific marketing plans
• Attitudes and perceptions research
• Television spots?
• Online gaming advertising?
• HTML newsletter for prospective students and/or
  parents?

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The end.