Marketing Plan Excerpt

The information below is an excerpt of a marketing plan I researched and developed for Undergraduate Student Recruitment at the USF College of The Arts. This strategies outlined in this plan are still in process of taking place since in large part the plan requires a change to the traditional approaches towards arts education outreach. 

To develop this plan, I performed marketing research studies with in-person interviews, online questionnaires, marketing reports, and analytics of our own digital media communication platforms. This study took place over a year, and after buy-in from higher-ups in the university administration, our college is underway to transform its web presence to achieve the recruitment goals set by the university.

Executive Summary................................................................... 5

Market Analysis........................................................................ 6

Market Needs..................................................................................................................... 6

The value in college-level creative arts degrees:................................................................. 6

The Arts at USF................................................................................................................... 7

Organizational Values..................................................................................................... 7

Educational Offerings..................................................................................................... 8

Market Trends.................................................................................................................. 10

Situation Analysis............................................................................................................. 10

Market Growth................................................................................................................. 11

Competitive Situation....................................................................................................... 12

Sustainable advantages................................................................................................ 15

Cost of attendance........................................................................................................ 16

Strengths of competitors............................................................................................... 16

Market Demographics.............................................................. 17

Student Demographics:................................................................................................... 18

Parent Demographics:..................................................................................................... 20

Market Geographics:....................................................................................................... 21

SWOT Analysis........................................................................ 23

Strengths........................................................................................................................... 23

Weaknesses...................................................................................................................... 24

Opportunities................................................................................................................... 25

Threats.............................................................................................................................. 26

Issues Analysis........................................................................ 27

Marketing Strategy................................................................... 30

Value Proposition............................................................................................................. 30

Price/Quality/Service Position vs. Competition............................................................ 30

Action Plans............................................................................ 33

Plan 1: Google AdWords Campaigns............................................................................. 34

Google AdWords, part A:  Architecture Recruiting Campaign................................... 35

Google AdWords, part B: Art Recruiting Campaign.................................................... 38

Google AdWords, part C:  Art History Recruiting Campaign...................................... 42

Google AdWords, part D:  Music Recruiting Campaign.............................................. 45

Google AdWords, part E:  Dance Recruiting Campaign............................................. 50

Google AdWords, part F:  Theatre Recruiting Campaign........................................... 53

Plan 2: Facebook Ad Campaigns.................................................................................... 59

Facebook Ads, part A:  Architecture Awareness Campaign........................................ 60

Facebook Ads, part B: Art Awareness Campaign......................................................... 62

Facebook Ads, part C:  Art History Awareness Campaign........................................... 63

Facebook Ads, part D: Music Awareness Campaign.................................................... 64

Facebook Ads, part E: Dance Awareness Campaign................................................... 65

Facebook Ads, part F: Theatre Awareness Campaign................................................. 67

Plan 3: Landing Pages for High School Students............................................................ 67

Landing Pages, part A: Architecture............................................................................. 68

Landing Pages, part B: Art............................................................................................. 70

Landing Pages, part C: Art History................................................................................ 71

Landing Pages, part D: Music....................................................................................... 72

Landing Pages, part E: Dance....................................................................................... 74

Landing Pages, part F: Theatre..................................................................................... 75

Plan 4: YouTube Video Recruitment Series.................................................................... 76

YouTube, Part A:  Architecture Recruitment Video Series........................................... 79

YouTube, Part B:  Art Recruitment Video Series........................................................... 80

YouTube, Part C:  Art History Recruitment Video Series.............................................. 81

YouTube, Part D:  Music Recruitment Video Series...................................................... 82

YouTube, Part E:  Dance Recruitment Video Series..................................................... 83

YouTube, Part F:  Theatre Recruitment Video Series................................................... 84

YouTube, Part G:  IRA Information Video..................................................................... 85

YouTube, Part H:  CoTA Information Video.................................................................. 85

Time Line for Action Plans......................................................... 88

2015................................................................................................................................... 88

2016................................................................................................................................... 89

2017................................................................................................................................... 91

2018................................................................................................................................... 92

2019................................................................................................................................... 93

Action Plan Budget................................................................... 96

12 Month Budget.............................................................................................................. 96

Appendix A:  One-on-One Interviews............................................ 98

Degree Choices:........................................................................................................... 98

About the College of The Arts:.................................................................................... 101

Communications:........................................................................................................ 103

Demographics............................................................................................................. 106

Appendix B: Online Survey....................................................... 107

Section A: Immersion in the creative arts before college.......................................... 107

Section B: Filtering Questions for High School Students and College Students........ 115

Section C: About choosing a degree and college...................................................... 117

Section D: Communications........................................................................................ 128

Section E: About the USF College of The Arts............................................................. 134

Section F: Demographics............................................................................................ 143

Works Cited.......................................................................... 149

          In a time of rapid technological advancements in communications, and politically charged economic issues on a national, state and local level, the USF College of The Arts (CoTA) is struggling to achieve a balanced budget, along with increasing student enrollment, event attendance, and donor contributions. As its objective, this marketing plan intends to evaluate the external influences affecting higher education undergraduate recruitment for CoTA and to advise on strategies to improve awareness and first-time undergraduate student enrollment. The reason to choose undergraduate students as a focus is that recent high school graduates make up the largest percentage of a university’s population, accounting for 75.8% of the average enrollment in colleges and universities in the US as of 2011 (Culbert 16). Because of a slow economy and high levels of unemployment, more high school students are aware of their grim job prospects if they choose to not pursue higher education (Snyder 7). Under the current economic climate, now is the ideal time to increase efforts to recruit all levels of higher education. However, since the scope of this report is limited to only first-time undergraduate student recruitment for CoTA, further research is recommended to expand into recruiting in other student groups not covered here. 

          As a parallel project to help inform to this marketing plan, one-on-one interviews were conducted with high school students and their parents, and an online survey was conducted among current college students attending CoTA. The full interview and survey results are attached in appendices A and B. From the information collected we were able to confirm their increased use of electronic communication as a means of obtaining information about colleges and universities they are considering attending. The action plans included with this marketing plan include multiple recommendations for increasing electronic outreach to prospective students in efforts to increase awareness and enrollment.

          Finally, this report contains an evaluation of all the competing creative arts colleges and universities in the state of Florida. From that evaluation, it is safe to say that USF CoTA’s list of creative arts degrees and specialties is one of the most comprehensive available throughout the state and it is a fact that is currently being undervalued in marketing efforts by CoTA and USF. As such, it should be a point of future discussion for increased efforts in continuing to expand the repertoire of degrees to keep USF on the forefront of the creative industry in Florida.

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The research that informed the marketing plan was conducted by myself and a team of three graduate assistants for course credit during the time I was studying to earn my master's in Marketing. Separate from that research course, I wrote the entirety of this marketing plan by myself as my thesis project for my master's.

After completing my master's, I have pulled from the resources in this marketing plan to help shape additional policies and decisions in various communication strategies in the Office of External Relations, where I work now. 

The biggest project to come out of this marketing plan has been the complete overhaul of all of the college's websites. Everything from the language and the organization structure to the design and technology has been changed.