Things have changed.
Millennials range in ages 17 to 36. As a school whether you are marketing to students or parents, in most cases, you are marketing to Millennials. Millennials are not buying homes like generations of the past because of insecure job markets. Millennials rent and prefer to stay more transient while being able to pack up and move to another city for work on short notice. As they have children, their kids may change schools more often, and it’s already happening.
Interacting with Millennials from a marketing standpoint is different than other generations.
In the 50’s & 60’s we used radio and print to advertise or deliver a message. In the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and early 2000’s we added television to that mix. Television was a huge draw with millions of people watching. In the late 90’s the Internet was created and slowly we have introduced to a new exciting media. Social media! How amazing is it to those who market that people will get online and tell you their age, location, interests, hobbies, income, employment, where they vacation, who their friends are, and more? A literal dream come true for marketing. No longer does anything have to be done with a shotgun approach? We can put your message right in the face of the exact people who not only want, but can afford a product or service and walk them through a buyer’s process that ends in a sale. For schools, it’s no different. We put a message in front of a parent or student considering a change, and we walk them through the journey until we achieve enrollment.
As a superintendent, you deal with kids on a daily basis. You most likely have children of your own, so you understand the world our children are growing up in. We’ve gone from pagers to pocket size computers. Something that will tell us where to eat and give us directions to get there. Our kids are now exploring the realm of virtual reality movies and gaming. Facebook and Instagram are an integrated part of their lives.
Why is it that schools seem to be missing the boat on social media? Is it that they don’t understand how to use it? Are they scared a post may offend a student, parent, or taxpayer? There is a HUGE opportunity here for schools to create stronger relationships with their students, parents, and communities.
The Internet has become a critical path for research.
“The explosion of use and interest show the potential for the Internet becoming one of the major society shaping forces of the future.” – Jeff Cole
In 2000, Jeff Cole of UCLA began an ongoing study of the growth of the Internet with a project called Surveying the Digital Future.
You can read it here: http://www.digitalcenter.org/
The report documented that television ratings for kids had dropped for the first time. They found something they liked better, the Internet. “While television is about entertainment and leisure, the Internet is about work, school, and play.” It also stated the primary reason people go online is to obtain information quickly, followed by work needs, and then access to email.
That was 16 years ago! Now in 2016, 91% of Americans use the Internet, and they spend an average of 21.5 hours online each week. 79% of them access the Internet from their smartphones. These same people spend 12 hours per week online at work and 16 hours at home.
32% of Internet users stopped a subscription to a newspaper or magazine because they get the same information online.
Ask your local cable company how may subscriptions they are losing to Netflix. It’s a sign of the times when charter cable providers are providing more internet subscriptions than cable subscriptions.
Wake up and smell the social media.
Each day Facebook has an average of 1,440,000,000 active users. 1 BILLION EVERY DAY!
874,000,000 are coming to Facebook from their smartphones. A device that is literally within arms reach 24 hours a day.
48% check Facebook the minute they wake up.
Facebook works if you know how to work Facebook.
If you would like US to help YOU attract and retain more students, click below to download a video presentation on how to increase enrollments online. We will teach you and your staff about using social media and present you with our Enrollment Booster Program.
