Student Organization Marketing Guidebook

Student Organization Marketing Guidebook Rozet 1

Student Organization Marketing Guidebook Jason Rozet Website jasonrozet.com Email [email protected] LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/jasonrozet Twitter twitter.com/jasonrozet Summary This document is meant to serve as an overview of (nearly) all the different marketing platforms available at a college/university. It can be used as a resource and guide for student organizations aiming to optimize their marketing efforts, or even simply to make sure that all bases have been covered. In this way, the guide can double as a checklist to ensure that marketing methods have not been overlooked. It may act as a shortcut, but readers should strive to learn continuously through coursework, internships, industry trades and so on. The recommendations offered here are not hard and fast rules, but guidelines based on my personal experiences in coursework, student organizations, internships, employment and consulting, and a wide variety of readings. Recommendations are also informed by my successes, mistakes and observations. Specific sources, examples, articles, etc. are not cited unless deemed necessary. If you have questions/disagreement/curiosity about a topic or recommendation, feel free to contact me! I’ll gladly respond to any inquiries. Executive board members and students in marketing roles vary in several aspects. Knowledge of marketing. Confidence in their knowledge. Confidence in themselves. Some feel like they know what they’re doing, others don’t. All of this with a million things happening simultaneously. The reality is that marketing often does not feel intuitive. So whether you are a first-year Sociology major stepping into a marketing role, or a senior IMC major and the president of an organization, I urge you to read this guidebook in its entirety and keep an open mind. It will go a long way! Lastly, please don’t read through this document in one sitting. I’ve tried to make it as concise as possible, but it might be long-winded and overwhelming all at once. Connect Again, feel free to connect, email, tweet, or get in touch with me in any way. Whether you’re an individual student working on your personal brand / trying to learn more, or a student organization trying to improve / working on a campaign, I’m here to help.


Table of Contents

1. Evaluation of what has been done in the past 3 2. Logo or theme 3 3. Research 4 – 6 4. Marketing Methods and Strategy 7 – 15

• Print 7 – 8 • Online 8 – 11 • Measuring social media ROI 11 – 12 • Direct 12 – 13 • Interactive 13 – 15

5. Results: Evaluating Effectiveness 16 – 17 6. Recap 17 7. Extra Tips 17 8. Conclusion 18 9. Sampling Marketing Campaign Template/Checklist 19


1. Evaluation of what has been done in the past Where has the organization been? Where is it going? Before starting to plan for a rush night, event, or just about anything, it is important to first take a step back and look at the big picture. If the success of previous efforts is not evaluated from the outset, then the organization will be more likely to repeat previous mistakes and failures. Evaluating what has been done in the past creates a benchmark for current and future efforts – a bar to set higher and things to improve. Consider:

• Previous event/meeting attendance figures • Previous membership application figures • Quotes from previous attendants/participants/members • Previous logos, themes, advertisements • Benchmark against other student organizations at your college/university • Benchmark against similar student organizations at other colleges and universities

Basically, everything that has happened before you began to read this. 2. Logo or theme Without a logo, a student organization may find it difficult to distinguish itself apart from others. Online and in other media, students tend to gloss over organizations that use a group photo or something other than a logo as identification. However, a logo isn’t enough by itself to create awareness of an organization. Also, a logo is not a brand by itself - it is just one small part. Consistent colors, imagery and some kind of theme are necessary for defining the organization. For online social media profiles, organizations should have a matching or slightly different profile picture/avatar on all accounts. Internal brand management may be facilitated through the development of a brand manual that lays out technical standards for usage of the organization’s name, logo and other imagery. For examples, search online and look at the branding standards of your college/university. Major brands have similar documents. On the external side, a press kit could be created so that when an organization is a sponsor or part of an event, it will be easy for partners to find and use its logo/other images. For events in particular, it is highly important to consider the nature of the event. Themed events, seminars, webinars, workshops, classes, conferences and learning sessions – they all have a different purpose and target audience. Marketing methods that work well for one event might fail completely if used for another.


3. Research As touched upon in section 1, it is important to benchmark against similar student organizations at your college/university and others. A simple search online can yield tons of insight into what others have already done – ensuring that you don’t repeat what has failed in the past, and only improve! Target Audience Research includes establishing different target audiences. For example, an organization may try to target students for an event who are different from its general body members. It is necessary to determine the specific target audience whenever an activity includes a group of people. This is an “ideal profile” of the types of students that are expected to attend a rush night, event, general body meeting, and other functions. The creation of a target audience starts at a broad classification, such as class year (2012, 2013, 2014 etc.) or academic school (School of Business, School of Music, etc.). At the broadest level, it includes all students on campus before drilling down. Once these factors are combined with demographics and interests, the target audience becomes clearer. Evaluation of what has been done in the past, benchmarking against similar organizations on campus and other schools, and recent feedback will also beneficial. If a target audience is not established, then it will be difficult to assess whether the student organization has been successful in gaining new members, increasing event attendance, and so on. A spaghetti-on-the-wall approach won’t work – in reality, there may only be 15 students on campus that would even be interested in your organization (in an extreme example), but this wouldn’t be evident without doing some form of research. If this were the case, you could end up putting work into something a very small number of students would be interested in. A population that could be difficult to reach or specifically identify. The list of issues goes on. Metrics To put things in perspective, let’s do some very simple math. The total number of undergraduate students at Ithaca College is approximately 6,000 from year to year. Of that total, each class (first-years, sophomores, juniors, seniors) is comprised of approximately 1,400 to 1,500 students. These numbers also vary from year to year. An unknown combination of these students will become members of student organizations and attend events; the executive board is responsible for guesstimating these numbers (the items in point 1 would help). With these numbers available as a foundation, there is no excuse for lack of measurement. Put another way, the total population of Ithaca College students trickles down in a funnel or inverted pyramid shape. This plays out for every meeting, event – any type of function that demands student participation – and ends up as the final number of students in attendance. Take a look at the following example:


Lead Generation A lead is someone who is more likely to convert to being a participant of your organization’s functions in some way – donating, volunteering, attending, whatever the case may be. Leads are converted into active participants through all interactions with the student organization. This includes their impressions of the organization’s Facebook page, Twitter profile, student organization fair table, and more. The organization’s executive board should determine how such aspects of the organization affect potential new members. There should be a strategy in place that outlines how prospects are driven to participate through online and offline channels. For example, when leads stumble upon one of the organization’s online profiles, they might read the description and see some photos or posts. Then what happens? This next step – the point where students explore further or go do something else – is what the organization’s board should create a flowchart for. There should be an answer, in some format, for this question. All touchpoints between the student and organization should be outlined. Ideally, students should be led to a site or service through which they can submit their contact information. In this way, the organization can remarket to them and form a stronger relationship. But there are a variety of methods for forming relationships. Leads are nurtured and eventually become active members by feeling valued or gaining interest through continuous engagement. Organizations should try to spark the development of a relationship with every new prospect. Specifically, every target prospect. Their contact information should be confirmed and maintained periodically. If students ask to be unsubscribed from a listserv, judge the situation and ask why they would like to be removed. It can turn into a deeper discussion, after which they might reconsider involvement. Otherwise, remove them from the listserv immediately so that they don’t get annoyed – and tell others how annoyed they are.

approximately 6,000 undergraduate students

approximately 700 Business students

approx. 150 Marketing students

40 join American Marketing Association / attend meeting


Get students to opt-in and provide their information by tabling on campus and at events. Have a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet or Google Document open with labels titled: Name, Class Standing, Previous Involvement, etc. Don’t use a paper sheet because you will have to re-type the details anyway and possibly read or type them wrong. Member Retention Personally invite students to events or meetings, and welcome them upon arrival. Re-engage old opportunities – you should notice when previously active members have stopped attending meetings. Reach out to them and say that you missed them at a recent meeting, and invite them to future functions. Ask them why they are now less involved. If you don’t care about them, they won’t care about the organization. Don’t take your members for granted. Students can stay engaged as volunteers, or members of a street team. Provide some form of tangible benefit for all active members. I strongly discourage point systems because they alienate and exclude older or experienced members. Points are highly subjective and unnecessary – there are many other ways to reward members. A point system skews engagement and your measurement of it; organization members should be there for everything but “points.” If you need points to generate involvement, something is wrong. For more on this topic, read Drive by Daniel Pink. A good rule of thumb is that it takes three to five times as much effort to acquire a new member as it does to keep an existing one. Given that, all marketing and management methods should be used as tools to keep active members loyal and engaged. If students complain about your organization, don’t immediately go on the defensive. Hear them out, and then respond accordingly. Don’t ignore negativity, because it will likely fester and make a small problem bigger. Ask for suggestions on how to fix the problems people have. This simple action will often quell the frustration, and in the meantime you can absorb the feedback and use it for improvement. People often just want to be heard. Research has shown that if you take a stakeholder in a heightened state of concern, frustration or anger and help them somehow, they may actually become advocates of your brand. In other words, they might start promoting your brand to friends and strangers simply because you reached out to them or listened and helped them in a moment of need. Be more proactive than simply responding once problems come to the surface. Delight and surprise your stakeholders every chance you get. And check-in a few weeks later to make sure things are still okay.


4. Marketing Methods and Strategy This section outlines methods that can be used to effectively reach different target audiences. It is highly important to note that all methods should be used purposefully. Otherwise, the different platforms will post irrelevant content and turn off visitors. Structure your marketing plans so that they are channel neutral. Simply put, use different platforms because they are right for your organization, right for its brand, right for the message you are trying to convey, and right for your target. Don’t use Facebook or Twitter just because they are “cool” or “everyone else is doing it.” How would you justify your plan to a potential employer? Not all of the following methods described should be used by a student organization. It is not necessary to use every single marketing method, or to try to advertise as much as possible – that is very wasteful and inefficient. It is up to the executive board to evaluate the entire list of options, and determine which combination of marketing methods will be most efficient and effective. Print Marketing Print mainly consists of posters and flyers that can go up around campus. Residence halls tend to have fewer posters than other campus buildings; because there is less clutter, the student organization might choose to post only black and white posters (less expensive than full color posters). Bulletin boards in academic buildings are beneficial locations because they are very visible and have a lot of traffic. For these reasons, they also get filled up quickly. Whether in full color or black and white, posters must have an interesting or funny design in order to stand out from the sea of boring posters. Don’t rely on public, cluttered bulletin boards. Putting an advertisement in the campus newspaper is another form of marketing in print, though it can be hit or miss. Advertising this way can be very expensive, and even a great design might go unnoticed in black and white. On top of that, the organization’s target audience might not read the publication, or the issue in which an advertisement was placed. Creating flyers to be placed as inserts in dining hall napkin dispensers can be an effective way to target first-years, sophomores, and even some juniors. As with the other forms of print marketing, napkin dispenser inserts must be eye-catching and interesting or funny in order for students to actually read them. Play with the design and its relation to the dispenser’s format. Think of replacing the napkins with an extension of the image. Posters and flyers should include the student organization’s logo. Event posters should include the date, location, time and contact information. These can be made clear without explicitly writing “date:,” “location:,” “time:” anywhere – keep it simple. Depending on the nature of the poster, it might be necessary to include a standard disclaimer about attendees with disabilities contacting the organization to plan accommodations. This is a good practice to be inclusive. This clause is not necessary or mandatory for all marketing methods and advertisements (ex. if you are not advertising something for students to physically attend). However, do make sure to


include the statement in your organization’s online profiles; organizations often tend to ignore this and thereby exclude many potential recruits. Posters are one of the best methods of ensuring that at least some large group of students became aware of the organization or its upcoming function. Students might not check their email or write down Facebook event details, but a great hallway poster could stop them in their tracks. Online Marketing Online marketing presents a wide variety of tools to connect with students. Student Organization website A website can serve as a hub for lots of content about the organization, including contact information, photo galleries, and more. This will make the organization more visible in search results as well. Facebook Student organizations often (and quickly) turn to Facebook as a marketing tool, because the target audience is there. Organizations can create events, post status updates, connect with members, and much more. However, the site has become more cluttered over time. Students are now often bombarded with many event invites at a time, and a lot of information is presented on each page. For these and other reasons, Facebook does not ensure that students will receive communications or be active participants. Students might receive event invites and say they will attend, but this is not guaranteed. They might become fans of a student organization’s profile, but this does not mean they will become active members. In determining usage of Facebook, a student organization first needs to determine whether it will create a Group or Page account. Each type of profile has important differences, which change as Facebook makes changes. Before creating an account, the organization should brainstorm the specific ways it will use Facebook. If a Facebook account is created “just because,” then it will be ineffective at the outset. Twitter Twitter is a great alternative or complement to a student organization’s marketing efforts, particularly a pre-existing Facebook account. With Facebook becoming more cluttered and confusing, and other methods having their own drawbacks, Twitter has become a stronger platform for connecting with engaged followers. As with any other marketing method, a potential Twitter account should be evaluated before its creation. It should only be created if it will serve a purpose and specific target audience. If it won’t help the organization or provide value to members, then there is no sense in creating it.


Once a profile is created, it should immediately be customized. A stylish background design will convey to visitors that the account is worth following. If it displays a boring background or one of the defaults provided by Twitter, visitors will be much less interested. Students don’t want to follow a generic account that is just getting off the ground. Within the brief biography, a link should be displayed that goes to a more fleshed out profile of the organization. This could be a Facebook account, website – whatever the executive board deems most appropriate. A nice redirect would be a location where students would be able to sign up for more information or join the organization roster. Brainstorm and finalize hashtag (#) ideas far in advance. Make sure they are short and simple to type, so that they take up as few characters as possible in tweets. Hashtags should be used in moderation for maximum impact, and only when it is determined that students will be likely to actually use them. Twitterfall and similar websites can be used to display a real-time stream of tweets that use a certain hashtag. This is great for events with many participants that take place in larger venues such as Emerson Suites. Pay With a Tweet is a tool that can be used to spread awareness of an organization or event when online or offline content is being given away. For example, an organization could plan a giveaway in exchange for tweets. To determine whether the Twitter account is actually serving a purpose and providing value, the executive board must first select important metrics. Does the organization want to increase the number of followers, tweet replies, direct messages, a combination of those metrics or something else? It is important to note that these numbers don’t have true meaning until the executive board assigns it – tying it back to specific objectives. To put it in perspective, let’s do some math again. The total number of undergraduate students at Ithaca College is approximately 6,000. Of that overall group, each class (first-years, sophomores, juniors, seniors) is comprised of approximately 1,400 to 1,500 students. An unknown combination of these students will become members of student organizations and attend events; the executive board is responsible for guesstimating these numbers. Put another way, the total population of college students trickles down in a funnel or inverted pyramid shape. This plays out for every meeting, event – any type of function that demands student participation – and ends up as the final number of students in attendance. Take a look at the following example:


At the time of this writing, most Ithaca College-based Twitter accounts have fewer than 350 followers. Not all of those followers are even current Ithaca College students or active organization participants. Most Ithaca College-based Facebook accounts have fewer than 200 likes. For all of those likes, the organization would have to go through them to see if the people that liked the page became active members or attended events. Both Facebook and Twitter face the issue that followers or fans contribute to those metrics, but eventually they graduate or become less involved. So even if a student organization has, for example, 500 likes on Facebook and 600 followers on Twitter, that doesn’t necessarily mean these marketing efforts were successful. The organization needs to set goals and create strategies for meeting those goals. Example: a group may have the goal of “connecting” with as many first-year students as possible. As mentioned previously, there are approximately 1,400 to 1,500 first-year students at Ithaca College each year. After gaining Facebook fans and Twitter followers, the organization could then monitor to see how many of them are first-year students. HootSuite and TweetDeck are two popular and effective tools for managing Twitter accounts. Sites like Buffer, Twuffer and Timely.is can be used to schedule tweets far in advance. They are also helpful for determining the best times to post tweets – times when the organization’s target audience will be likely to read them. Klout is a somewhat effective tool for measuring the effectiveness of social media efforts without paying for expensive social media software. However, note that its algorithm places more weight on certain connected accounts. Other sites to explore include TwitVids, Twylah, and many more. The number of tools that student organizations can use to enhance their social media marketing efforts is truly limitless.

approx. 6,000 undergraduate students

approximately 700 Communications students 150 follow organization's

Twitter account 50 see Tweet

promoting event 20 click through ? attend event


YouTube, Flickr An organization’s online presence can be significantly enhanced through visual content. It has been shown that on Facebook, Twitter and other sites, users are more likely to click on content that includes more than just text and hyperlinks. Students don’t engage with just status updates and tweets – that’s boring! Even if students don’t comment on videos and photos, that content can provide real value – and visual evidence of what the organization has accomplished. Blog Student organizations sometimes consider creating a blog, in order to keep members informed of current events and to have a greater presence on campus. It is difficult for a student organization to maintain a blog on a campus for a number of reasons. First, the number of potential readers is already limited due to the total number of students on campus (if this scope is relevant). Blog posts should be written consistently and provide unique value – if the posts aren’t interesting or funny, then students just won’t care. Before committing to the creation of a blog, the executive board should determine what purpose it will serve. Beyond that, someone must be in charge of maintaining the blog and writing new posts or adding other content. Measuring return on Social Media Effective social media usage extends far beyond simply gaining new Twitter followers and monitoring Facebook “Likes.” As with other marketing methods, the value of social media needs to be measured in order to determine what works and what doesn’t. Social media platforms can be measured in many ways, which makes it difficult for companies – let alone student organizations - to understand the best way to go about it. Social media metrics can be broken down in a way that bears resemblance to other marketing summaries: quantitative metrics, qualitative metrics, and return-on-investment (ROI) metrics. Quantitative metrics are data-intensive and focused on numbers. Between Facebook insights and numbers available just from glancing at a social media profile, it can all get quite overwhelming. An organization should focus on the key metrics that most influence success and not get bogged down or frustrated with the rest. Those metrics might include unique visits, page views, followers, demographics, frequency, bounce rate, or just about any other metric that is specifically data-oriented. Qualitative metrics have an emotional component to them. For example, if 25% of students surveyed think that an event was boring or ten students have mixed feelings about an organization, those are qualitative metrics that have an impact on the organization. This information can be gathered from the “word on the street” – by simply tabling in high-traffic areas or reaching out to students for their opinion. Return-on-investment (ROI) metrics are especially important to social media efforts, but all marketing methods should lead to ROI or conversion. That is, students submitting their contact information into a form, joining an organization, attending meetings, attending events, spreading the word, and so on. But in the context of social media, such platforms aren’t just about being


social without measurement. They are being used to recruit members, engage students, and promote the organization. If the organization tracks what percentage of people converted from being a prospect to a participant through online profiles, then it will be able to measure the success of its social media campaigns on the basic of ROI metrics. Ultimately, all of this data needs to be compiled, cross-referenced and made sense of. What insights are gained from this information, what does it all mean for the organization? The bottom line is that social media, like any other marketing method, must be measured in order for the organization’s marketing chair to prove that his or her efforts actually paid off. Direct Marketing Direct marketing consists of methods that guarantee better receipt of communications. This means that students will be very likely to receive what student organizations send them, but they might not read it or convert. Email Email is one of the strongest marketing methods on campus because it provides a greater guarantee that students will receive a message about something. This could be regarding a rush night, an upcoming event, quick questions to answer, and more. Emails can also be used to share articles, press releases, event invitations, informational documents – the list goes on. Student leaders and active members will be likely to open such emails. However, many other students are quick to ignore or delete emails based solely on their subject line. Emails should be used only when necessary, and written as concisely as possible. Some students might not receive emails if their inbox is full. Exercise caution when using alternate email addresses because students might not like receiving certain emails in their personal accounts. Mailchimp is a recommended tool for measuring the effectiveness of email communications. It allows the sender to see whether an email was opened, read, and what sections were clicked on. Some student organizations have recently begun sending out e-newsletters in the body of an email, but this is generally not recommended. Sending out communications in a newsletter style does not make an organization more credible, nor the emails more valuable. For an e-newsletter to be effective, it needs to have a good design and purpose. If the content does not change, then the e-newsletter will become repetitive and meaningless. This speaks to the earlier point about being as concise as possible. When sending emails, the student organization should consider who the recipients would be. If the exact attendees or target audience are known, then only those students should be contacted. Otherwise, the organization will try to make people outside that audience aware – and they will end up getting annoyed. If the organization is trying to reach as many people as possible, it has several tools at its disposal. It could use student listservs, contact professors / staff / faculty, contact similar or partnering student organizations, and contact school newsletters.


Direct Mail Direct mail functions much in the same way as email, except that it is physically tangible. Student organizations can distribute approved flyers and other direct mail pieces to student mailboxes. This method can have mixed effectiveness, because some students rarely check their mailbox unless they have received an email/slip to pick something up. This method may also exclude juniors and seniors, who tend to live off-campus (so their mailboxes can take somewhat more effort to locate and deliver to). On the bright side, direct mail can have a very personal touch, especially if handwritten. This could be an effective tactic for event invitations or collateral / brochures. If the mail is printed on heavier / thicker / higher quality paper or has a creative design / shape, students will be more likely to read and keep it. Interactive Marketing Interactive marketing is where prospective students can be converted in some of the most creative ways. It focuses more on having conversations than simply sending out messages. QR Codes QR codes have become a hot topic recently, but their impact on a large scale has been all over the place. The purpose of the codes is well understood in Asia, but the transition has been slow moving beyond Europe to the United States. Not all U.S. consumers know what they are, and might not want to scan them even when directions are provided. On the Ithaca College campus, QR code usage in marketing has been mostly ineffective. Many students don’t know what they are, many students don’t have a smartphone, and many students don’t have an app for scanning the codes. This funnels down to the fact that if something like a poster displays a QR code, a very low number of students will be likely to scan it – and those students might not be part of the organization’s target audience. Before a student organization creates and displays a QR code on marketing pieces, it should first answer some of the questions raised above. How many Ithaca College students have a smart phone? How many of them have an app that can scan QR codes? How many students understand the purpose of a QR code? How many students are likely to scan a QR code – why or why not? If these questions are left unanswered, the idea to use a QR code is already off to a bad start. If the organization gathers enough information to make conclusions about these questions, and does decide to include a QR code, there are more considerations to make. The code image needs to be creative and interesting – enticing enough for students to wonder where it leads and scan it. If no changes are made to the black and white QR code, it will look like every other generic, boring code. QR codes can be customized in many ways – color, surrounding imagery, an image/logo inside, rounding the corners and much more. Some examples of creative codes are shown below.


Bulletin Board By taking some time to setup a bulletin board, an organization can get greater exposure from a place that students pass by daily. As long as the board is creative, stylish, funny or simple, students will stop in their tracks to look at it; they will form meaningful impressions. Handouts can also be put on the bulletin board so that students walk away with something after seeing it. A student organization can also create premade bulletin boards for Resident Assistants to put up. If you’re reaching this guidebook, it is very likely that you have seen premade bulletin boards without even realizing it. Some examples are the health promotion boards and Relay For Life boards. Resident Assistants are able to put up a small amount of premade bulletin boards per semester, and like doing it because it decreases their workload. Even if the organization can’t think of something super relevant, it can at least make something related to the community or current events, and discreetly include the organization’s logo. Display cases in Campus Center Like full bulletin boards, display cases can be put to good use when marketing for an upcoming event or just creating general awareness of an organization. As with bulletin board creation, putting together a display case will require hands-on work and creativity in order to be successful.


Tabling Many students pass by tables without even glancing at them, so those who are tabling must make a strong effort to stand out from the crowd. One effective method for several student organizations has been to cover the table in a banner that drapes over the front. Whether there is a banner or not, students passing by a table don’t quickly or easily see the materials on top of it; a banner draping over the front will grab their attention. To even better alleviate the visual problem, the organization would benefit greatly from creating a tri-fold display. This would be used during general tabling, at student organization fairs, and for other purposes. Giveaways College students love free stuff, even if only for a little while. The organization that gives them free stuff shows that it has resources for cool events or activities. In general, branded giveaways create awareness for the organization across campus. Giveaways can include nametags, lanyards, pens, pencils, stationary, stickers, sticky notes, folders, notepads, raffle prizes, coffee mugs, water bottles, t-shirts, and much more. Most vendors offer a similar selection of merchandise, but for bigger or more expensive items (and regardless), it would be wise to do some research. Passive Promotion More subtle giveaways include thank you gifts for presenters / speakers / panelists / hosts / etc., and t-shirts or something else for event volunteers. A small token of appreciation can be very meaningful to volunteers and others who work with the organization; they will be more likely to help out in the future. Student organizations commonly purchase t-shirts, hoodies or other clothing for the executive board. This is helpful for events and meetings, so that prospects can easily distinguish who might answer questions or be in charge of things. On the days leading up to an event, and on the day of an event, the executive board should wear such clothing to create some awareness. Sticky notes put up amongst crowded flyers in academic buildings and other locations can stand out because of their size and block color. If placed in some discreet or selective locations, those who stumble-upon them might feel like a lucky few that found a secret (even though the organization planned this). Sticky notes or flyers can be effective if placed on the backs of toilet stalls, because the viewer is already “captive” in a sense. Personal Selling For some students, selling or pitching an idea is seemingly a natural talent. For others, it is an acquired and gradually developed skill. By directly speaking with people about an organization or event, that action may be what causes them to convert. Be sure to plug upcoming events during a current one. Plug your organization or event in your classes, and other classes or learning sessions that would be relevant to what you’re discussing.


One of the ultimate results of all your marketing efforts will be (hopefully) positive word of mouth. If an organization creates something valuable, different, interesting, funny, controversial – something that grabs students’ attention somehow – they will be likely to talk about it and suggest it to their friends. 5. Results: Evaluating Effectiveness Once a marketing campaign for any type of function has concluded, the organization’s executive board and particularly the marketing team should begin evaluating the campaign immediately. Survey methods include an online survey form (which could be available online through SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics, or other sites), written survey form or questionnaire, focus groups and interviews. Many other survey formats and tools exist; the organization should determine what vehicles would be most appropriate and tailor them accordingly. Feedback should be gathered in a 360-degree approach – from essentially all stakeholders and participants. This includes student organization members, new participants, the executive board, presenters / speakers / panelists / hosts, the organization’s advisor, and more. As mentioned previously, evaluation should include a heavy focus on metrics – quantitative, qualitative, and return-on-investment. This would be for every single marketing method that was used, to the most specific and accurate approximation as possible. Sample measures should minimally include: Qualitative Evaluation:

• What did students like about the event or meeting? What did students dislike? • How do students now feel about the organization as a result? • Why did new attendees show up? • Through which marketing methods did people find out about the organization or

function? • How many organization members actually contribute to event planning, projects and so

on? • Were there issues in carrying out any marketing methods? • Has the event improved in comparison to previous years/semesters? How so?

Quantitative Evaluation:

• How many people attended the meeting or event? How many were new attendees? • Demographics • Frequency • Facebook Insights • Followers • Unique page visits • New event attendees (who have not previously attended) • Page views


Return-on-Investment Evaluation:

• How many direct mail pieces were sent out? • How many posters/flyers were put up? • How many people were pitched to directly? • Compared to Likes, Fans, Followers, etc. – how many of those people are active

members? It’s all about figuring out what worked and what did not. The marketing methods that did not work should be evaluated, and improved or scrapped until later. The methods that did work can always be refined and improved. Improvement should be the bottom line of evaluation – the status quo is simply not good enough. 6. Recap After a meeting or event concludes, and success is evaluated, that doesn’t mean the work is really over. Keep the conversation going by recapping how great that event was, what students are now looking forward to, and how your organization will provide the awesomeness they’re looking for. Highlight the best moments through new Tweets, Facebook statuses, recap emails, and more. Use services like Storify to recap events – doing so also creates new content (compilations awesome moments from past events) that future prospects will see. 7. Extra Tips After evaluating what has been done in the past, establishing a logo or theme, and performing research, make sure to establish a clear timeline. This is a crucial step in the planning process, to ensure that marketing methods are completed smoothly and in the necessary amount of time. Otherwise, some things will be rushed and others will fall apart. Create an editorial calendar for messaging, including all social media communications. External Assistance / Consultation Apart from learning as you go, reading news and articles on marketing / advertising, it is important to remember that you as an executive board member or entire organization are not alone. Most organizations don’t even think of leveraging the strengths of their peers, sometimes seeing them as competitors. Several student organizations and departments might be willing to work with you to put on an event, create marketing materials, or perform other services.


8. Conclusion All methods should be used for a unique purpose, but simultaneously share a common thread. Something needs to tie the organization’s profiles together, both online and offline. If duplicate content is posted anywhere, and students notice this, they will likely get annoyed or bored. Connect As stated in the introduction, feel free to connect, email, tweet, or get in touch with me in any way! Whether you’re an individual student working on your personal brand / trying to learn more, or a student organization trying to improve / working on a campaign, I’m here to help. Jason Rozet Website jasonrozet.com Email [email protected] LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/jasonrozet Twitter twitter.com/jasonrozet


Sample Marketing Campaign Template/Checklist

1. Evaluation of what has been done in the past 2. Logo or theme 3. Determination of the target audience and the modes of publicity to effectively reach that

audience 4. Creation of print materials

• Poster • Postcard • Flyer • Brochure • Must include: organization logo, date, location, time, contact info

5. Use of web resources: create ready-to-use announcements • Website • Facebook • Twitter • Email • Pinterest

6. Interactive Marketing • Bulletin Board • LCD screens • Tabling • QR Code (with metrics)

7. Ideas for other ways to get the word out to relevant populations including other offices, student leaders, listservs, circles of influence • Word of mouth • Fliers for Residence Halls • Pre-made bulletin board for residence halls • Display cases in buildings • Dining hall napkin dispenser inserts

8. Evaluating Effectiveness of marketing campaign • Direct survey form or questionnaire (written) • SurveyMonkey • Google Analytics

Student Organization Marketing Guidebook

Business

inverted pyramid shape

individual student working

demands student participation

premade bulletin boards

improve working

email jrozet1 gmail

direct mail pieces

social media efforts