The Hatchet Falls on Marketing ... Is it slow death for the institution?

Budget cuts are certainly hitting every sector, some more than others. Education is feeling the pressure, especially state funded institutions. I had my first conversation with a client that said something to the effect of " ... the budget cuts hit and our marketing department at the college was eliminated."

Short term fix with long-term implications. We are no longer in a time where marketing is a luxury item. It is a strategic function. In this digital and more competitive era for education, what might the rationale be for such a move?

• Is it that marketers in place are not proving their value? If not, then they were either the wrong people or not doing the job. Marketers need to be pushing out the metrics ... communicating success or lack of it (which in turn helps identify solutions). CRM solutions can also automate this if the marketing person says "I don't have the time to do this."
• Are marketers not leading and evangelizing the science of marketing in the non-marketing environment of academia? Most colleges and universities I've visited do not see marketing as a science. Therefore, marketers cannot just throw their pretty pictures out there and say this is marketing ... folks, that's advertising. They need to educate others on the strategic and tactical process of marketing, as well as the science and financial side of it. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but return on investment says a whole lot more.

A drastic move of eliminating marketing may cost this institution so much more in the long run.

• They may pay more in outsourcing costs.
• They may leave the strategy and branding decisions to outside parties (which is sometimes better ... ask me about it sometime).
• They may fall into the creative and tactical trap of "getting things out there" as opposed to having strategic marketing leadership guide the way.
• The cost of a cutting two or three low paid marketers may be followed by lower revenues if the marketing doesn't get out there or the message or strategy isn't correct.

To me, it seems like this short-term decision could send this institution spiraling in the wrong direction. I saw it 10-15 years ago at a college when I was adjunct teaching at in Vermont ... Trinity College. I remember sitting in a faculty meeting and listening to them argue against distance education. As an adjunct, my comments fell on deaf ears. Ultimately, the decision to control short-term costs impacted potential long-term revenues and market expansion. The college closed a few years later.

State colleges and universities should not be cutting these types of costs. The premier brands will suffer while the state and community colleges should benefit. Cost/value leaders should be investing now ... not cutting, especially their marketing.

Bold Predictions for 2009

2008 was a challenging yet exciting year for many. We saw exciting primaries and the election, but experienced a downturn in the economy. However, with each of these major events comes change for continuing and professional education. A new secretary of education will be put in place, business and industry will value distance education more and trim their benefits, and different international markets will continue to grow in their demand for education.

With these events, we can expect to see greater dependence and accountability with marketers. Continuing and professional education units will demand greater results, accountability and leadership from marketing. For 2009, I expect the following:

• Education leaders will demand more from their marketing directors. Marketing directors will be asked to get out of their comfort zones. For the creative types in marketing leadership positions; strategy, metrics and CRM will be new to them. They will avoid these areas with the excuse of "I am too busy dealing with our paying customers to address these new initiatives."
• Enrollment management will continue to develop as the need for metrics and accountability grows. No longer will showing off the new view book or catalog suffice. Monthly, objective reporting will become the norm for many.
• Customer relationship management (CRM) systems will continue to evolve as a strategic imperative for many continuing and professional education units. For some, it will require investing tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars for some institutions. The smart ones will see the return on investment.
• Organizational structures and the status quo of marketing will be challenged. Old school advertisers will be replaced with new school marketing scientists and strategists.
• There will be a continued move to customer centricity, which will require more focus toward strategy and positioning. The word "brand" will mean more. Advertising staff (not marketing staff) will no longer be able to hide behind "we have to protect the brand" statements and have to understand where the brand is going.
• E-marketing, including electronic public relations and search engine optimization, will continue to grow. Given that these tools are still evolutionary, marketers and their deans will continue to strive to stay caught up with new, as well as basic developments.
• Market research will continue to move from being a luxury item to a basic necessity. Institutions will be asked to validate potentially expensive new program development initiatives, new marketing efforts and eliminate lagging programs.
• Pricing will be a critical battleground area, as with increased competition and tighter budgets comes a greater need for revenue maximization.

There will be so much more, but marketers will have to do more with less. This will mean not necessarily "awareness building" but a focus on greater conversion. Why send hundreds of thousands of inquirers and prospects to the institution's website or call center and convert just one or two percent? Institutions will focus on activities that will double or triple conversion, such as training representatives to truly answer questions and not push paying customers to the web for simple questions, building smoother e-commerce systems to make payment easier and developing stronger metrics to react to market changes quicker.