There are many different ways to build a communications strategy, but the end result aims to connect the institution with constituents in a way that inspires the desired action. In the education sector, this action can be of many kinds, such as giving, applying, visiting the campus, attending an event, recommending the school to friends or even just coming back for further news.
Here are a few of the most important questions to ask in shaping a strategy that builds these bridges:
1. Who are your key constituencies?
Coming up with good answers to this question can be much more complicated and nuanced than it sounds. Obvious answers include everything from everyone on campus to all alumni to all admissions audiences. But every cohort has meaningful sub-groups.
For example, older alumni typically get their information about a campus in ways different than younger alumni (e.g., even when they’re using the same media, they use it differently). They also tend to think of a campus differently than younger generations. So how these cohorts receive certain types of information (e.g., events, print, TV, video) usually needs to be different.
Meanwhile, among older alumni, there are typically sub-cohorts who might, say, attach their undergraduate memories to a particular tradition, campus location, sports event or president unfamiliar even to alumni only a few years younger.
As a result, cohorts must be identified in a way that is, in the end, actionable. To follow the above example: It doesn’t do much good to know that alumni from the 1950s see things differently (e.g., the campus, the importance of giving) than alumni from the 1970s unless you can communicate with the respective sub-divisions about this subject in targeted ways.
2. What constituent actions do you want to reinforce short- and long-term?
If you don’t know what you’re hoping to accomplish with the communications strategy, it’s more likely wishful thinking than a plan.
For example, the message, channel, frequency and type of media used to reach constituents may all change, in minor to major ways, based on whether you’re trying to raise money, convey important news or inspire a return to campus. Which is to say that the question of what you want to accomplish informs the how and when you communicate it.
3. Are you creating the desired impact?
Tracking the effect of a communications strategy is more art than science, as the saying goes. This is in large part because it’s difficult to judge what precise role a particular communication method had in affecting the action sought (e.g., giving, applying, visiting). The number of variables involved is simply difficult to parse.
At the same time, a variety of data typically can be gathered, and much of it at minimal to no expense. The data points, though, should function as information, not prescription—they offer advice about whether the plan is working (and what ought to be done differently or not) but are too unreliable alone to dictate decisions. So with those qualifiers, here are some types of information-gathering techniques that can be built into the strategy:
Obviously, digital data like open rates, visit rates, page views and length-of-stay (on a webpage).
Electronic surveys* (keep them brief), for everything from news stories to major announcements to admissions campaigns.
Postcard surveys. These can go, for example, in every alumni magazine, asking one or two specific questions each time (i.e., brevity matters). Such surveys can inform judgments of readership rates as well as of which stories are of greatest interest.
One-question surveys, such as after events (e.g., admissions tours, Homecoming) of this kind: Would you recommend this (event) to a friend? Then provide a place where they can tell you why or why not. Just one good question like this can provide quick and valuable insight.
The enclosed graphic shows two other key questions for building a strategy. I hope this outline of three of these important questions suggests how to put all five to good use in connecting strategy to outcomes.
*Good survey language avoids bias, leading questions, asking more than one question in any question, and other pitfalls, so if at all possible create them with the help of an expert—maybe someone on your faculty or among your alumni.
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