College Access Marketing Campaigns Reaching the right people, solving policy problems

Transcription

1 College Access Marketing Campaigns Reaching the right people, solving policy problems You are preparing for an upcoming presentation to legislators and their aides, state and district education leaders, board members or others about the importance of college access marketing campaigns in reaching and motivating underserved populations to prepare and plan for college. What do you tell people to help them understand what college access marketing campaigns are? How can you get them excited about the potential of campaigns to achieve their goals of increasing numbers of underserved students going to college, and persuade them to invest resources in supporting them? Many in your audience may have never heard the term college access marketing, so make sure they understand what the term means. The term was born as a special case of social marketing, which is marketing designed to change behavior. Early in the growth of college access marketing, policy leaders believed that "social marketing," as a term for use in the higher education community, did not convey the right message to college professionals about the intent of such marketing efforts. Many thought the term sounded too much like "social engineering," although, in the world of marketing, "social marketing" is a fairly traditional term. Therefore, "college access marketing," as a descriptor, was born. It is a unique term, yet it accurately conveys the scope and intent of such marketing efforts within higher education. Most people in your audience will already have a general understanding of marketing as a tool to accomplish certain goals. But relatively few have likely thought of marketing and public relations in the context of college access and success. Your mission is to help them understand, and understand to the point of being supportive of your campaign with their words and deeds. Making the Case to Policymakers: Why is College Access Marketing a Viable Policy Strategy to Increase Access to Postsecondary Education? Whether you're trying to convince a college president, a university system head, legislator, or a state higher education executive officer, you are going to have to present a compelling case in order to implement your college access marketing strategies. The answer lies in data. The rationale to begin a college access marketing campaign resides in college access and success indicators (college-going rates, remediation rates,

2 ACT and SAT scores, etc.). These indicators will help you make the case for the campaign, while evidence of other successful campaigns will support your desire to conduct a college access marketing initiative. But the data alone, presented without the context of marketing as part of an array of college access and success initiatives, will not get the message across. Prepare your data in such a way that it identifies a specific problem in college access. Follow immediately with a marketing solution that should change student behavior and be prepared to explain how and why your solution will change behavior in a positive direction. Southern states along with Indiana were the first to conduct statewide college access marketing campaigns. The states' struggling economies, coupled with the increasing need for a highly educated workforce and inequities in college access, gave rise to the development of campaigns to reach and motivate populations underrepresented in higher education who, if college educated, could meet future workforce needs. Today, examples of college access marketing campaigns are found across the U.S. Campaigns may look different in the heartland than they do in the South and the messages in the West might be different than they are in inner-city Chicago, but the need to reach and change the college-going behaviors of underserved groups exists everywhere. Policymakers and policy shapers can be key to helping you with your campaign. What Role Should Policy and Policymakers Play in College Access Marketing Campaigns? Take a close look at legislation and/or policy related to college access initiatives at both the federal and state level. Too often, opportunities for college access marketing strategies exist in law or policy, but are overlooked. For example, in Oklahoma, in the original legislation that created the highly successful Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program (OHLAP; now re-branded as Oklahoma s Promise ) there was a directive to make Oklahoma students and families aware of the program. The problem here was that, early in the program s history, college access staff members interpreted the directive too narrowly, creating only brochures to be distributed in schools. There was nothing in the legislation preventing a more comprehensive public relations campaign, and yet there was also the directive to make sure the program was reaching the right people. More recently in the program s history, as college access marketing projects began to take hold in the state through the federal GEAR UP program, staff members began to see how they could better reach their target population with a broader interpretation of the legislation. Nothing in the legislation had previously prevented a solid college access marketing campaign; it was just the narrow interpretation that prevented more contemporary strategies from reaching the right

3 students. Never let a failure of imagination prevent you from creating and implementing a campaign; law and policy should, instead, enable creative campaigns. One way to support college access marketing as a strategy for reaching your target population is this: Let the law or policy work for you. Just because college access marketing is not identified explicitly in law or policy, does not mean it cannot be done. It is how you interpret law or policy that determines whether or not a campaign is feasible. In most cases, the audience you are speaking to (state leaders) want their programs and services to be successful. Rarely do they prevent college access marketing (except with their budgeting). Your job is to convince them to spend resources on these strategies so their legislatively-created or public policy-sponsored program will, indeed, be successful. You will also most often be more successful if you can show state leaders that you have supportive partners at the table prepared to perform their role in your campaign especially partners in business and industry who have political clout and who can also help your campaign reach your target population. Sometimes, policy can be a hurdle to creating a successful college access marketing campaign. In one state, a higher education agency's general counsel declared that state law prohibited the expenditure of state resources on "promotional items." College access professionals successfully made the case to the general counsel that all items purchased for the campaign were merely different means of delivering information. The argument was that a ball point pen with an 800 number printed on it that leads to the recipient calling for individual help with planning for college is no different than a piece of paper bearing that same number. With dogged determination, the college access professionals won the argument, and the general counsel agreed that the campaign elements were, indeed, means of disseminating information and not just "promotional items." That's an important lesson, as law, regulation and policy can be read a number of ways. Your job is to view policy in a way that leads to what is best for students you can never go wrong with that argument. You won't always win such arguments, but each one you win will help reach students with your message. Again, let the law or policy work for you! Policies regarding expenditures of funds or bid processes can affect how you approach your campaign. Identify and prepare for policy hurdles that you believe might stand in the way of creating and implementing a college access marketing campaign. Talk to other states about how they handled similar policy situations. In most cases, new policies are not necessary in order to facilitate college access marketing campaigns. Partners can play an important role here. If state or local procurement policies make

4 college access marketing campaigns almost impossible to create and implement, look to not-for-profit partners to serve as fiscal agents for a campaign. Which State Entity Should Conduct a Campaign? Governance and accountability are key to determining which is the best entity within a state to conduct a comprehensive college access marketing campaign. Most often, the agency responsible for higher education is the State Higher Education Executive Officer (SHEEO) and so is the best overall entity to organize and oversee a college access marketing campaign. In some states, the governing boards of the two and four-year college systems may be in a better position to allocate resources to a campaign and answer to accountability issues with the legislature. In such states the best policy is for the heads of each system to collaborate and put their best staff together to create a campaign to reach students and families throughout the entire state. College access marketing, designed for statewide impact, is not about attracting students to a specific college. It is focuses on changing students' behaviors (whether they be traditional high school students or adult students returning to college) related to preparing for, attending, and succeeding in college. In states where higher education governance is quite dispersed, having the state's P-20 council as the lead organization may be the best option. Whatever the policy solution based on governance, authority, accountability, evaluation of the program, and other considerations, the big picture must remain the same: the message and the target audience(s). These may be the best guides for states in determining who does what in a college access marketing campaign. Key Questions Policymakers are Likely to Ask about College Access Marketing Campaigns Prepare for questions from policymakers by doing your homework ahead of time. You can limit the questions you receive by anticipating and addressing them in the presentation you give on your proposed campaign. Three big questions that policymakers are apt to raise and suggestions for how to respond are as follows: 1. How much will the campaign cost and how much does each element within the campaign cost? In your presentation break down the elements of your campaign and show the cost of doing each element well. This level of detail will make it easier for policymakers to understand your total request for funding the campaign. It also will make them aware of the market costs for various program elements.

5 2. Why are you paying for commercials? Can't you just get the TV and radio stations to play your commercials for you as public service announcements (PSAs)? The importance of paid media will probably be your hardest point to sell. In your presentation, describe how FCC laws have changed over the years in ways that put less pressure on TV and radio stations to play PSAs. For this reason, PSAs are most likely played during the middle of the night or during times when few people are watching TV or listening to radio. Remind them that media outlets are businesses and, as such, cannot respond to everyone's requests to run PSAs. Remind policymakers of the big picture - your message and your target audience. Describe how your televised spots are designed and purchased to reach your target audience. Explain why certain radio stations have been selected and how the timing of the spots will help you to reach your target audience. Point out where your TV and radio partners may be providing "earned media" (free publicity) or playing your commercial more often than you pay for. Describe how many students your paid media is likely to reach compared to how many would be reached by PSAs. (Your public relations firm can provide these data or, if you don't have a public relations firm, the PR person for your agency can conduct research on statewide marketing and provide these data.) 3. Why should taxpayers' money pay for this kind of campaign? In your presentation, include economic indicators related to college attainment. Show what the return on investment data will be if more state residents have college degrees. For example, describe the projected increase in state tax revenues associated with increased educational attainment. Compare your campaign expenditures to other state expenditures that have no return on investment for the state coffers such as on prisons, roads, etc. Explain how the campaign is an investment in the human capital infrastructure for your state and the benefits the state will accrue in addition to more tax revenues. Tips for Informing and Involving Policymakers in Supporting College Access Marketing Campaigns Relate the purpose of your college access marketing campaign to experiences of policymakers and things they care about. For example, your campaign may include information about participating in a state scholarship program created by legislators, who will want to see that students know about and participate in "their" scholarship program. As you stand before legislators, one argument is unassailable: what you are proposing is, after all, a campaign. Legislators have engaged in campaigns in order to be elected. They didn't just print a brochure and pass it out here and there and hope to end up with votes. They conducted research, analyzed the data, communicated with their public, and evaluated the results. They used paid

6 media because it's the best way to reach the widest range of people and because that may be the only way to target messages to certain audiences. Radio, television, outdoor ads none of these will be strange to legislators. Use data about the needs of the state's (or community's) economy, gaps in college going rates among groups by income, race and ethnicity, and other factors to make the case for your campaign. All politics is local and if you are going before a legislative education committee or a higher education board, your case is more compelling if you provide data about the likely impact of the campaign on the members' communities. Board members and legislators are proud when their efforts positively impact their communities, and your campaign can help make that happen. Discuss facts vs. fiction regarding social marketing campaigns. Debunk myths about a college access marketing campaign not being worth the investment by bringing real students with you to tell their stories about how campaign elements changed their behaviors toward going to college. Show how business and community partners are providing matching resources for the campaign. Give examples of other successful social marketing campaigns that your state and communities in the state have supported. Include examples that use some of the elements you want policymakers to support such as a paid marketing consultant, advertising or funding for a college and career planning web portal. Share models of successful college access marketing campaigns in other states and communities. Include examples such as North Carolina's web portal that allows students to apply electronically to any college or university in the state. Describe how Oklahoma has reached target audiences statewide, building on North Carolina's experiences and how a local GEAR UP partnership with communications as a central focus has succeeded in increasing students' college going rates on a local level. Highlight information about outcomes and how each program called its target audience to action. Provide examples of short term goals your campaign will achieve and the metrics you will use to measure the campaign s effectiveness. If you have engaged a marketing consultant, ask her to show policymakers how your campaign is designed purposefully, your message based on solid market research, and the ways in which it will reach the target audience. If you do not have an outside consultant, ask your agency's marketing or communications department to identify marketing metrics that help you achieve your short-term goals and include those metrics in your presentation. Describe the connection of the

7 campaign's short-term marketing and "call to action" goals to the longer-term, college readiness, access and success goals of your state or community. Show policymakers that you have used research to guide all aspects of your campaign. Share with them the data that made you and your colleagues decide a college access marketing effort would be an important part of the solution to college attainment problems in your state. Help them see the link between the future economic prosperity of your state and how college attainment directly impacts the economy. Provide data about the social benefits of college, such as better health and less need for state-funded health insurance. Show them data demonstrating that college-educated people are less likely to smoke, less likely to populate the prison system, and more likely to live longer. Remember that policymakers are people, and most of them, especially elected officials, have a solid knowledge of how targeted marketing can help achieve certain goals. None of them were elected to public office without marketing. Use your most persuasive speaker among your colleagues to present the campaign. Nothing will diminish your chances of success than a dull presentation. Using the best presenter and providing the most compelling data will significantly enhance your likelihood of success. You have the data before you to convince even the most difficult policymaker that college access marketing can reach the right students and their families. You have the knowledge and capacity to make such an effort successful. You have lined up community and business partners to do their part. You have the support of your board or president or superintendent in the effort. You have the chance here, when convincing policymakers to support your college access marketing efforts, to show the magnanimity of each policymaker individually by making sure you give credit where credit is due. All you have to do now...is do it! College Access Marketing Support and Information College Goal Sunday ( created by Lumina Foundation for Education, has further information on creating and conducting college access marketing campaigns. Pages on this site are specifically designed to help with marketing. Pathways to College Network ( has been a leader in creating support for college access marketing nationwide. The main site has links to the KnowHow2Go campaign, as well as a link to the SREB Go Alliance. Pathways' site is an excellent portal into college access marketing efforts nationwide, including an excellent brief on how college access marketing campaigns can use social networking sites.

8 CollegeAccessMarketing.org (CAM) was created to provide advice, support, and resources to college access marketing practitioners. The site is continuously updated, and maintained by partner organizations Pathways to College Network and the Southern Regional Education Board s Go Alliance. Pathways to College Network is an alliance of prominent national organizations committed to advancing college access and success for underserved students, including those who are the first generation in their families to go to college, lowincome students, underrepresented minorities, and students with disabilities. Pathways is directed by TERI and its pathwaystocollege.net web site provides evidencebased resources to support the work of researchers, policymakers, and practitioners. For more information about Pathways, please contact Media inquires may contact The Education Resources Institute, Inc. This issue brief was prepared for TERI and the Pathways to College Network by Dolores A. Mize, Ph.D., Vice President for Public Policy and Research, Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. Contact information: dmize@wiche.edu.