Brain Waves Blog

The 2019 Online Conversation Benchmarks for Higher Education: A Campus Sonar Social Listening Study opens with “[t]he internet is real life,” and continues with a discussion of how institutions of higher education can use the internet to connect with their communities. It goes on to say, “...the reality is that their online presence is a combination of what they say about themselves and what others say about them.” As soon as I read that, I realized the importance of this study. The combination of what institutions say about themselves and what their community says, if we remove the online part, is also known as educational or campus ethos, which is the story, narrative, or mission institutions build around themselves but don't directly control.

In higher ed, reputation is an institution’s number one priority. The problem is, it’s not totally in your hands. Public perception is reality and anyone who has an opinion can share it online for the world to see. There’s a trust problem in our country, especially in higher education.

“Two ears. One mouth.”

It’s a sentiment that’s been attributed to everyone from Epictetus to the Discovery Channel’s Mike Rowe, but the idea that we must listen more than we speak is one that rings true no matter the source. In higher education marketing, listening to our external and internal audiences is critical to developing communications and strategies that drive meaningful change—whether that’s growing enrollment, protecting and growing the university brand, or telling our stories in a way that connects with audiences on an emotional level. At the same time, as marketers, we’re challenged with attracting prospective students in a crowded marketplace where these students may be questioning if college is even worth it.

So you’ve got a new program to market. But instead of a message, you receive directives about where to spend advertising dollars. When you don’t receive the data you need, here’s how to find it yourself so your marketing aligns with your brand strategy.

Late in February, with the college basketball season hitting its home stretch, the sport’s biggest rivalry returned to the biggest stage, with the eighth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels visiting the top-ranked Duke Blue Devils.

If we asked you to define your brand right now, could you? Would your response be based on your gut or tangible evidence? If you can't, did you just panic a little bit? Don't worry; you're certainly not alone.