STRATEGIES

The Biggest Issues Facing Higher Education Marketers

2020 hit the entire marketing industry in the face with a bag full of pennies.

But there’s one group of low key advertising professionals working serious overtime as a result of the pandemic—marketers in higher education. 

No campus tours, no content

When campus tours—aka the events enrollment marketers truly ball out on—went out the window, repurposing older content in a timely, modern way suddenly became essential. 

“Some schools were prepared with a robust digital portfolio of tours, testimonials, tools, experiences and information, while it has forced others to make rapid and significant digital marketing transformations,” Purdue University’s SVP of Marketing and Communications R. Ethan Braden told Marketing Brew. 

For those who weren’t lucky enough to have a stockpile of evergreen content at the ready, user generated content filled the gaps. 

Social media > everything else

“Early in the pandemic, I read a quotation online attributed to Jamie Gilpin at Sprout Social that read [something like], ‘These days, social media is the only door that is open for some brands,” Braden said. 

That checks out as it relates to prospective students’ behavior:

• A recent TargetX study found that 58% of potential future college students hunt for schools they’re considering attending via social, and 61% are at least somewhat influenced by their findings (with 17% being extremely influenced), per Hootsuite.

In lockdown, higher ed marketers had no choice but to embrace the shift from students Googling schools to looking them up on Instagram. 

• For instance, Dartmouth recently ran an Instagram Story series teaching students how to update their pronouns in order to help normalize the topic for future LGBTQ+ students, showing them a key brand value.
• Binghamton U created a school-specific AR filter telling students (and potential future students) "what Binghamton dining hall they are.”  
• NYU took its crisis communications to social during the pandemic.

And one generally useful tactic? Student takeovers on university social media accounts—because behind the scenes videos of what student life was really like before March felt more authentic than a year-old video of the quad. 

Want more? I stopped by The Enrollify Podcast the other day to discuss all things enrollment marketing with host Zach Busekrus. Listen here. 

SOCIAL MEDIA

No One Told Facebook’s Q3 Earnings Report About the Boycott

Remember a few months ago when a bunch of Facebook’s top advertisers staged a boycott over hate speech on the platform? Facebook’s Q3 earnings report sure doesn’t. 

• The vast majority of FB’s $21.47 billion Q3 revenue came from advertising—all but about 1% of it, to be exact. 
• That’s a 22% jump year over year (YoY), in line with pre-boycott quarters. 

You heard that right: Hundreds of FB’s biggest spenders paused advertising on the platform, and it got 22% more money than the year before.

Why it happened: For one, the boycott opened up more inventory for smaller advertisers. But that's not the only reason for Facebook’s increased Q3 revenue. 

• “As part of its coronavirus response, Facebook—like Google—boosted its shopping initiatives to [...] increase the level of purchasing activity [...] on its site. The main effect of this is likely [...] increased advertising activity on Facebook,” the COO of analysis firm CCS Insight told Adweek. 

Let’s be real: The boycotters didn’t directly boost Facebook’s earnings report last quarter—you did. You and all your online shopping, Carol.

SPONSORED BY MARKETO

These Templates Are Excellent-o

Why the superfluous ‘o’? Cuz we’re talking about Marketo, the creative marketing inventors who’ve built a comprehensive deck of planning templates to help you get your bright ideas off the ground more easily.

Marketo designed their templates to be simple and straightforward, so you can align, plan, summarize, and communicate better throughout every stage of your campaign in the decade to come. Their templates will help you:

• Create campaign vitals, helping more clearly define strategies.
• Map your content plans by topic.
• Plan how you’ll track your campaigns.
• Effectively communicate your plans internally.

These babies will have you well on your way to executing a lucrative marketing strategy—pronto.

Get Marketo’s excellent-o planning templates for free here.

CAMPAIGNS

Goodbye Phone Booths, Hello Magic Phone Boxes

In some respects, marketers are used to the 2020 consumer mindset by now: Trust is more important than ever and people want brands to help them get through the pandemic. 

Most marketers are meeting those needs with “we’re here for you” messaging across TV and social. But Nordic health company Terveystalo is taking matters into its own germ-free hands.

• Agency TBWA/Helsinki designed Terveystalo billboards that disinfect your phone for you.
• Open a small hatch on the billboard, plop your phone inside, and then wait 15 seconds for Terveystalo to clean your phone with UVC light.

Cutting out the middleman: Terveystalo’s latest project attempts to prove to passersby that the brand actually cares about your health right now. “Not only do we cure diseases but concentrate on preventing them,” Veera Siivonen, marketing and communications director at Terveystalo, told Ad Age. 

My takeaway: In a world where 85% of global consumers want brands to solve their problems and 80% want brands to solve society’s problems, per Edelman’s spring 2020 brand trust report, it shouldn't be so surprising to see brands literally become part of the solution.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• NBCUniversal completed its upfront deals for the current season with “strong volume commitments and higher pricing.”
• TikTok lives to see another day: A federal judge prohibited the U.S. government from enforcing President Trump’s executive order banning the app. 
• Domino’s dropped MDC Partners/CPB in favor of WorkInProgress after 13 years.
• Nielsen is selling its Global Connect retail measurement service to private equity firm Advent International for $2.7 billion.

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FRENCH PRESS

Marketing tips to make you fancy

B2B: *Reads crystal ball* I see that you either have a podcast, or know someone who does. So here are ten tips for promoting your B2B pod on social. That will be one million dollars, thanks .

Copywriting: I have writer’s block, you have writer’s block, the guy from The Shining had writer’s block. All three of us should have read about these seven productivity hacks to combat disengaging copy.

Lytics: It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s the nine best Google Analytics custom dashboard examples for marketers. 

Quizzes: Which marketing trends have been overhyped this year? Overlooked? Tell us here.

CMO SENTIMENTS

Sign up here for Morning Brew CEO Alex Lieberman’s CMO Series on LinkedIn, in which he chats with the most important marketing leaders in the industry. Then read on for three questions that’ll help you get to know these marketing leaders a little better.

Marketing god Rishad Tobaccowala was our latest and greatest CMO Series guest. He does a lot of interviews as he’s an advisor, author, and the previous CGO of Publicis. But here are three questions he probably doesn’t get asked every day.

Alex Lieberman: What is your favorite follow on Twitter or LinkedIn?

Rishad Tobaccowala: On Twitter it is basically…AOC.  

AL: What is your least favorite marketing word?

RT: Disruption.

AL: How do you take your coffee at 4:30 in the morning? 

RT: Three espressos, black.

For more Rishad facts and figures, watch the entire interview here. 

ICYMI

Catch up on the top Marketing Brew stories from the last few editions.

• Pinterest’s doing well, boycott or no boycott
• Man Repeller’s rebrand led to its recent shutdown
• How to land a marketing job at an in-house brand