Most campuses fall short when it comes to writing a marketing and recruitment plan

In my role with Noel-Levitz, I travel across the country and meet with enrollment managers at all types of institutions ranging from small niche-focused private colleges to large regional and state universities. While the enrollment goals and strategies vary from campus to campus, one thing remains relatively consistent: most do not do a good job of writing strong marketing and recruitment plans. So, I wasn’t surprised when I saw the findings on this topic in our 2011 Marketing and Recruitment Practices Report for Four-Year and Two-Year Institutions.

While slightly more than 50 percent of four-year institutions report that they have a strong recruitment plan (the respondents rated their plans as good or excellent), only roughly one-third report that they have a solid plan that integrates their marketing and recruitment efforts. As shown below right, four-year privates tend to do a slightly better job in this area than their four-year and two-year public counterparts, but, overall, most campuses fall short.

Interestingly, many more campuses indicated that they do, in fact, have an integrated recruitment/marketing plan, but it’s just not very strong. In fact, only about 10 percent of the four-year schools gave themselves an “A” for this endeavor:

Typically when I am on a campus and I ask about the marketing and recruitment plan, I am told “Sure, we have a plan.” What this plan typically consists of is a laundry list of activities or a calendar of events rather than a true detailed plan, which is probably why so many schools report that their plans are not good. A good marketing and recruitment plan is a set of clear and unambiguous goals with associated strategies and action plans that lead to the achievement of the enrollment goals. The plan really should establish the direction for the enrollment enterprise. Strong plans have four main components:

1. Definition of the current state of enrollment for the institution
2. Clear and measurable goals
3. Strategies to support the goals
4. Detailed action plans that outline how each strategy will get implemented and evaluated for effectiveness

Make no mistake: Writing a strong marketing and recruitment plan is not an easy task. It requires a great deal of work and time from the entire team. When I help campuses write these plans, it can often take months to complete. The time invested, however, is well worth the effort. A good plan helps guide current and future strategies and ensures that campuses are not engaged in marketing or recruitment efforts that do not lead to enrollment results.

Given the current economic climate and the ever-increasing challenge to recruit new students, I challenge you to commit to completing a marketing and recruitment plan for your institution. The time spent will surely be worthwhile. If you have questions or would like to discuss your planning process, drop me an e-mail or call me at 1-800-876-1117.