Author: admin

5 Lessons From Successful University Marketing Campaigns

Post author By admin
Post date October 28, 2021

Colleges and universities looking to stay relevant with today’s potential students are presented with a unique challenge to create and share content that entertains and inspires. And, as new student enrollment continues to decline year over year it’s becoming increasingly important to implement marketing strategies that have a proven track record. So, here are 5 lessons your institution can implement into your next campaign to help engage potential students.

Lesson 1: Get Emotional

According to several studies, appealing to your prospective student’s emotions with a positive spin can help make your message resonate. In fact, a Nielson study found that individuals are 8.4x more likely to trust a company and 7.1x more likely to make a purchase when they feel a positive emotion from that brand.

What’s more, showcasing real and shared experiences with photography and video can help invite your prospective students in, such as an inspiring story of an alumni’s financial life after getting their degree, or showing how networking through school helped change a life. For example, a Harvard University campaign showed how two graduates with disabilities connected and worked together to form a resource that empowered other students. Whichever stories you choose to highlight, as WordStream notes, it is import to “think outside the box and pull together some compelling story lines to draw new leads in.”

Lesson 2: Emphasize Career Outcomes

In a 2019 survey of American college freshmen administered by the Cooperative Institutional Research Program at UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute, the most popular reason cited for attending college is to get a good job. While that may come as no surprise to some, it emphasizes the fact that alumni careers are an effective strategy to showcasing the possibilities with a degree-seeking students. One great way to do this is to highlight outstanding alumni and work with them to become brand ambassadors off campus. Another, is to take Boston College’s approach with a webpage dedicated to listing the career outcomes for their previous students.

Lesson 3: Know Your Audience

When it comes to reaching prospective students, instead of a general and wide approach, aim for narrow and niche. Is your university known for environmental science? Or an outstanding business school? Personalizing your message to prospective students with interests in the programs your University is known for is more likely to resonate and engage those prospective students. This is especially true in targeted social campaigns across age, gender, detailed targeting and interests for current high school students. Justing as we’ve covered in 5 Post-COVID Branding Trends for Universities, “If you try to appeal to every possible student looking to go to college, you might not be speaking as directly as you could be to those students who would be the perfect match for your school and who are more likely to enroll if you’re able to connect with them in the right way.”

Lesson 4: Pivot to Video

It’s a phrase popularized by the rise of short-form content on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, Snapchat and TikTok. But it couldn’t be more true when it comes to getting your university in front of prospective students. Video content is digestible, visually stimulating, has the power to convey a powerful message effectively and is suited to the mobile experience. And seeing as how 8 in 10 students visit college websites on mobile, this is an incredibly important factor. Furthermore, marketers who use video grow revenue 49% faster than marketers who don’t. It’s also no secret in the higher education industry, with 86% of universities and colleges having a presence on YouTube.

One great example is a Leeds University campaign ‘Student Life at Leeds’ which “not only speaks the language of existing and prospective students, but puts people in the shoes of someone studying at the university in a way that is visually inspiring.”

Lesson 5: Showcase UGC

A study from Digital Marketing Institute found that “brand engagement improves by 28% when consumers are exposed to both professional and user-generated content.” Plus, the same study found that 9 out of 10 students consult a college search review site when researching where to study. From this, it’s clear that prospective students trust the insights and opinions of their peers, which is all the more reason to leverage user-generated content (UGC) in your next campaign. This could take the form of student social media takeover days, student-led Q&A sessions via Facebook or Instagram live and even guest blog posts on your institution’s website written by existing students or alumni. Any of these UGC strategies can help your prospective students to connect with existing students on a personal level, which shows transparency and builds trust with your brand.

For more on how Push can help with your education marketing efforts, contact us or here or call 407-841-2299.

Marketing Communications Digital Media Advice

7 Ways To Bring More Customers With a Google My Business Listing

Post author By admin
Post date October 7, 2021

When it comes to search, Google is the undisputed heavyweight champ of the world, getting an average of 40,000 search queries per second or roughly a whopping 3.5 billion searches a day. This makes Google an incredibly powerful tool for businesses to gain brand awareness, improve website traffic, acquire new leads and more.

Below we discuss seven ways to use Google My Business to increase customers. If you haven’t already set up your Google My Business account, we suggest you do so now. It’s free, so why not?

1. Become more visible online, aka rank better in search results.

Google likes business that are trustworthy and offer high quality goods or services. By setting up a Google My Business account, you are letting the search engine know that you are a legit business that has disclosed accurate information about your company. Your unique information helps you stand out from your competitors and can help you rank higher.

2. Increase trust and credibility with customers.

There are many Google My Business features that can make your listing more appealing to viewers and credible to potential customers. You can upload different types of photos to show off your physical space, your products or services and more. There’s even an option to publish an indoor Street View as a virtual tour of your business. Is it worth the effort to enhance your Google My Business listing? Yes! Listings with photos and a virtual tour are twice as likely to generate interest. As far as increasing your online credibility, customers are 70% more likely to visit businesses with a Google My Business listing and 29% more likely to buy something.

3. Show customer reviews.

These days, online customer reviews can make or break a business. In fact, 87% of potential customers won’t even consider businesses with low customer ratings. Google My Business not only allows you to display customer ratings, it allows you to respond to customer feedback and reviews, which gives you the opportunity to resolve problems and demonstrate great customer service.

4. Improve discoverability/visibility.

Almost everyone starts with search to find your business or products. Make it easier for them to do that. A Google My Business account ensures that when someone searches for your company or product online, your company shows up on Google Search and Google Maps. Once it does, your listing has all the information they are after, like website, location, contact info, how to visit, etc.

5. Keep customers quickly and easily informed.

Having your company’s information clearly displayed on your Google My Business listing helps customers get important information instantly. But beyond listing helpful things like your address, hours of operation and contact info, Google My Business allows you inform customers of updates, like that you’ve expanded your services, temporarily closed or fully reopened. This is a valuable feature, as updates like these can help avoid customer confusion and build trust.

6. Be discoverable on local searches.

When someone searches for a restaurant using search terms like, “restaurants near me” or “restaurants in…” Google displays local listings. These local listings have seen an increase in visibility over or organic search results. So having your accurate info in Google My Business is the best way for your company to be discovered when people are looking for products or services in your area.

7. Customize your listing to perform best.

We’ve discussed how you can use Google My Business to increase sales, boost traffic and elevate your search rankings, but you can customize your listing to make it do even more. Add your business phone number to enable people to contact you in a click. Or consider adding buttons like “Share,” “Make a Reservation” and “Call Now” to allow people to take immediate action.

Google My Business is a powerful resource to put to work for your company. It’s free and takes just a few minutes to set up, which makes it a no brainer. Ready to step up your search game? This is a good place to start.

Marketing Communications Advice

Increase Revenue and Reduce Costs with Employee Communication

Post author By admin
Post date September 30, 2021

We all know the importance of good communication in our personal relationships and the positive impact it has on our lives. So it’s important to remember that open, clear and ongoing communication in a business setting has just as many benefits that leads to better profits. In fact, it’s been reported that companies with effective communication strategies see 47% higher total returns to shareholders. Here, we’ll take a closer look at the very real cost of poor communication with employees and offer a few ways to improve your internal communication strategy, and in turn, the health of your business.

How Does Employee Communication Affect Your Bottom Line?

Poor communication can have several adverse effects on your business, and all of these issues result in one common thing—less profit. Here are just a few of the issues that can arise and end up impacting your bottom line.

Weakened culture

A breakdown of communication can cause a collapse of company culture when employees don’t feel engaged. The Gallup State of the American Workplace report put it succinctly: “Actively

disengaged employees aren’t just unhappy at work—they are resentful that their needs aren’t being met and are acting out their unhappiness. Every day, these workers potentially undermine what their engaged coworkers accomplish.” These disengaged employees can be a drag on productivity, morale and profit. Inversely, a Gallup study of nearly 200 organizations reported that companies with the highest levels of employee engagement were 22% more profitable and 21% more productive than those with low levels of engagement.

Decreased employee productivity

Even when your employees are engaged and striving to do their best, if you don’t have the proper communication channels set up, productivity can still suffer as they’ll waste time looking for vital information or have to take the time to redo something if they weren’t clear on a process or protocol to begin with.

Higher employee turnover

When employees don’t feel like they’re connected to company culture or are confused about their role and what’s expected of them, turnover is likely to follow. Employee retention and profitability go hand-in-hand because employee turnover is costly. As studies have shown, it costs employers 33% of a worker’s annual salary to hire a replacement, while other research suggests that it costs as much as three times their salary. So eliminating poor communication as a reason for employee discontent can certainly save you money in the long run.

How You Can Improve Your Communication and Your Profits

Now that we’ve discussed the importance of employee communication, let’s take a look at some ways you can better internal communication in your business.

Utilize communication channels and techniques

The first step to clear communication is establishing the foundation for how you will communicate with employees. Take advantage of technology resources that can make it easier to connect and establish a clear flow of how information is disseminated within your business. Additionally, make sure there’s an emphasis put on communication in your company culture. Expert Laquita Clear advises to “create a culture of communication within your organization” and to “establish new processes that focus on effective communication education and commit to maintaining awareness for the long-term.”

Ensure your employees have a voice

Making sure your employees are heard can go a long way in improving your culture of communication. This is vitally important given that as many as 78% of employees say they’d work harder if their contributions were recognized. And as we previously noted, employees feel more connected to and invested in your business when they feel listened to and heard. Setting up an ongoing way to collect their feedback and ideas can be as simple as an old-fashioned suggestion box, dedicated email address or a Slack channel where people can easily collaborate.

Create consistent training

Finally, getting everybody on the same page when it comes to communication starts with training. As we discussed in an earlier post, proper training ensures they feel connected to your business from day one and they can better communicate your brand story and make customers feel even more connected.

There are more ways to increase revenue with improved employee communication, but we hope these ideas are a good jumping off point for your business. For more on how Push can help with your education marketing efforts, contact us here or call 407-841-2299.

Branding Education

Using Former Students to Accentuate Your Branding

Post author By admin
Post date September 23, 2021

Alumni can be powerful brand ambassadors for your college or university, and are a direct extension of your institution’s values and voice in the community. But are you utilizing them enough to accentuate your education branding? A recent report from Alumni Access found that 85% of alumni in a professional field believe that universities and colleges are coming up short when it comes to engaging alumni—particularly those of the younger generation. So here are a few ways to engage with and use alumni to build your brand.

Find Your Ambassadors

To avoid alienating your alumni, ensure you are targeting the right people with the right message via a CRM that integrates information across departments. This not only allows tracking, but can help you personalize your communications for a greater response rate than a one-size-fits-all approach. This personalization is important because according to Educase, “of students who received personalized communications, 87 percent said that those communications were an important factor in their enrollment decision.” Then, reaching out to alumni with a personalized message via a survey—both active and lapsed—can provide your team with key insights about which alumni are most prone to engagement. Prioritize the most promising respondents to become part of an ambassador program with the opportunity to share their experiences and knowledge with you and potential students.

Share Your Alumnus’ Success

Whether they’re an ambassador or lifelong fan of your institution, proud alumni are happy to speak glowingly about their college years. And it means more to your potential students if it comes from your alumni. As DMI found, millennials trust user-generated content 50% more than other media, and 86% report that it’s a good indication of the product. So asking for and then highlighting key alumni success stories across newsletters, social and collateral can not only serve as great testimonials for your institution, but can also rekindle relationships with past alumni who may want to but don’t know where to share their successes.

Organize Meet Ups

While social media, and especially LinkedIn, are a great way to connect with alumni, there is no substitute for relationship building through in-person contact. And this goes well beyond reunions. Organizing alumni travel groups, interest groups, community causes, inviting alumni to judge competitions, meet ups based on areas of study and even guest speaking roles are all great ways to reconnect with and reengage alumni.

Make a Lifelong Partnership

According to Educase, the key to alumni engagement is relationship building. And keeping your alumni informed can help foster a lifelong partnership with graduates, college and university leaders—ultimately leading to countless opportunities to advance your programs. Just as we’ve noted before “An updated alumnus is an engaged alumnus. So provide them with consistent and fresh content that keeps them in the loop with their alma mater and then invites them to share their resources such as their time, career insight, pro tips from their time as a student and more.”

For more on how Push can help with your education marketing efforts, contact us or here or call 407-841-2299.

Restaurant Branding

How to Craft an Identity for Your Restaurant

Post author By admin
Post date September 16, 2021

With more than 1 million restaurant locations in the United States in 2021, restaurant branding is now more critical than ever. Not only does having a strong brand identity help restaurants stand out in an extremely crowded market, but it also helps current and potential customers make deeper emotional connections with restaurants. This can translate into more frequent visits, more positive reviews and more word-of-mouth referrals. But developing your restaurant’s brand identity is much more than simply creating a logo and choosing brand colors. Here we briefly discuss some basic steps on how to brand a restaurant.

Define your mission and values.

Clearly defining who you are and what you believe in is the foundation for establishing a strong brand identity. And it all starts with knowing your why. Why is it you do what you do? Why are you in the restaurant business? Why do you want to serve whatever food you specialize into guests? Once you know your why, you can develop your mission and values and have a deeper impact. Your unique mission and values will not only differentiate you from your competition and create unity among employees, but it will also establish a basis for everyone in the company to make better decisions. But it’s not just employees who want to know what you stand for. Customers are more interested than ever in supporting companies whose beliefs align with their beliefs. In fact, 64% of consumers say that shared values help them create a trusted relationship with brands.

Understand your target audience.

Having a clearly identified and defined target audience is crucial for developing your restaurant’s brand identity. You need to research who your existing customers are—their age, income level, marital status, family type and daily routine. Try to go beyond basic demographics and uncover some psychographic factors, like their likes and interests, what other brands they have an affinity for, what is their motivation to spend, and even identify some emotional characteristics. This will help you visualized the exact type of people you are targeting and evaluate your brand through your target audience’s eyes.

Have a consistent voice.

Knowing what you want to say and who you want to say it to are major factors in developing your brand identity. But how you say things is equally important. You must communicate to your target audience in the voice that will resonate with them the best and that they will respond to the most strongly. For example, if you are a casual restaurant with a fun and exciting menu offerings that appeal to Gen Z, then your brand voice should reflect this. A fun, irreverent voice that utilizes current internet slang/trends may be perfect for your communications. But if you’re a fine dining establishment catering to boomers and older millennials, then a more refined, sophisticated voice may be a better fit. That isn’t to say fine dining can’t have a playful voice, as that may be what works for your brand and resonates with your specific audience. Just be consistent. Maintain the same voice across all communications and platforms. Not only will this solidify your brand’s authenticity in the eyes and ears of fans, but it can boost your bottom line as well—brand consistency across all platforms can increase revenue by up to 23%.

There is much more to crafting a strong restaurant identity than these initial steps, but this gives some basic understanding of the process. Whether you decide to hire us, another branding firm, or try to take on the task yourself, we’re here to help. Restaurant branding, including multi-location restaurants, is one of our specialties, so feel free to reach out to discuss this topic further.

Retail Marketing Communications

5 Strategies to Bring Customers Back to Your Retail Shop

Post author By admin
Post date September 9, 2021

A year and a half into the pandemic, we all know that COVID-19 has led to dramatic changes in the retail landscape and has altered consumer expectations. Many retail stores have had to shut their doors or lack in-store experience due to a shortage of merchandise or staff. Customers have also grown more accustomed to shopping online over the past year, making it even harder to get them to come in. Even so, a little effort to get customers back into your store can go a long way, especially since a sizable 82% of Millennials still prefer in-store shopping to online. Consider these five strategies to attract customers and drive them to your shop.

Give guests a reason to visit.

One of the simplest ways to drive guests in-store is to give them a reason to visit with real benefits. Maybe that’s offering a special in-store discount. If that’s not possible for all guests, consider an initiative that rewards loyal customers for coming back, seeing as 62% of customers expect discounts or offers based on past purchases. You could also consider hosting local events that make the in-store experience more compelling or offer exclusive products and services in person that aren’t otherwise offered online.

Drive visits from your digital platform.

Even if you want your store to be your customers’ final destination, they’re likely going to find you online first. So make sure you have an updated website and active social media presence that will help keep you relevant and top of mind with customers. A digital presence that matches your in-store aesthetic will also help motivate people to visit to see more after getting a peek at what you have to offer online.

Invest in local SEO.

But to get those visits from your digital platforms, people need to be able to find you first. That’s where a strong local SEO presence will help. Given that 72% of consumers have been shown to visit a store within five miles when they did a local search online, it’s worthwhile to work with an SEO expert and invest in this area to make sure your site is optimized as it should be.

Focus on health and safety.

Given that we are still in the midst of a pandemic, it’s important to make sure your customers know you care about their health and safety. Clearly post or display the precautions your store is taking and what is expected of guests in-store. And if you do need to close due to illness or exposure to COVID-19, make sure to post your updated hours of operation on your website and social media pages so customers aren’t frustrated if they try to visit in person.

Leverage your employees.

And finally, be sure to utilize your employees to help boost your marketing efforts—a topic we wrote about in more detail here. Your employees are the people who can best advocate for your business and help spread the word through their networks. A few ideas to consider are allowing them to post guest blogs or updates from your store’s social media pages and encouraging them to share those posts to their own channels. Another area not to overlook is training. Making sure your employees are all on the same page and have the same solid understanding of your store can help them accurately reflect your brand’s values to customers and to their broader networks.

We hope these tools and tips can be used to help shore back up invaluable in-person traffic to your store. For more on how Push can help with your retail marketing efforts, contact us or here or call 407-841-2299.

Digital Media Education

How Content Marketing Funnels Can Grow Student Enrollment

Post author By admin
Post date September 2, 2021

By definition, a content marketing funnel is a system that introduces new customer leads to your business through different types of content. These leads then have the potential to become customers by progressively ‘funneling’ them through more types of relevant and useful content. While getting the right message in front of the right people is nothing new, organizing your marketing tactics strategically through a funnel can lead to converting more potential students into full-time students by considering three basic marketing funnel phases: Awareness, Inquiry, and Conversion.

THE AWARENESS PHASE

At the top of the funnel is the awareness phase, which focuses on brand awareness and driving site traffic. This part of the funnel is all about generating content that grabs attention. According to Forester, on average, a person consumes 11.4 pieces of content before making a decision. And as this applies to potential students, it’s important to focus your recruitment campaigns in the right markets via the right mediums to build awareness. Depending on the goals of your college or university this could include a heavy focus on social, digital media, and search engine optimization in addition to traditional advertising (radio/TV), public relations and earned media coverage, high school recruitment events, pay-per-click (PPC) ads via Google Adwords and relevant blog posts that capture the culture of your institution.

INQUIRY PHASE

In the middle of the funnel is the inquiry phase, which focuses on lead generation in the form of nurturing, educating and informing your potential students. At this stage, it’s important to consider the type of marketing content that will best inform and grab the attention of your ideal audience. Depending on the goals of your institution, this may include involving your current students whenever possible as they will connect best with students considering enrollment. Successful inquiries from your potential students can also be achieved through statistical comparison content that highlights the key statistical areas your college or university is strongest, virtual tours and campus walkthrough content, inviting inquiring students to tour campus and shadow classes, promoting your financial aid and scholarship offerings as well as being accessible for potential student inquiries.

CONVERSION PHASE

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 19.7 million students were enrolled at U.S. colleges in fall 2020. And that number has the potential to grow even bigger in the conversion phase of the marketing funnel. As it applies to enrollment, this phase is all about making the decision to enroll as easy as possible. The content you serve potential students should be highly personalized to drive interest and make the potential students feel wanted so that they are inclined to officially commit. Successful conversions that lead to enrollment can be achieved through student success stories or testimonials, using CRM software to send personalized communication to students and families, and investing in training for admissions staff given that they are your direct line to potential students.

IMPROVING YOUR FUNNEL

As student demographics and the goals of your institution change, it’s important to re-evaluate how well your marketing funnel is serving you. For example, you may be catching the wrong prospects at the top of your funnel if your targeting is too wide or you may be losing qualified prospects through leaks in the middle of your marketing funnel. Worse yet, the conversion phase of your funnel may lack a personal touch, discouraging potential students from enrolling. If there is a problem, sometimes getting an expert, an outside perspective can lend some insight. With decades of experience working with colleges and universities for recruitment help, we are always available to talk.

For more on how Push can help with your education marketing efforts, contact us here or call 407-841-2299.

Restaurant Marketing Communications

How Restaurant Menus Evolved During COVID

Post author By admin
Post date August 26, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic forced restaurants to make major changes, especially when it comes to their menus. And while some changes are temporary, some are most likely here to stay. At least for the foreseeable future. What will restaurant menus after COVID-19 look like? No one knows for certain. But the changes that have already happened may be a good indicator of what’s ahead. Let’s take a look.

Fewer Menu Items. Greater Kitchen Efficiency.

Labor challenges, supply chain interruptions, and safety concerns caused restaurants to rethink their menu offerings. As a result, many restaurants have reduced ancillary items, eliminated single-dish ingredients, and limited customizable options to help save time, increase efficiency and focus on their core revenue-driving menu items. They’ve also reduced or ditched sharable items all together for safety reasons. But the good news is, most diners don’t mind. In fact, 76% of people have no problem with restaurants offering a reduced menu upon reopening.

Have Food. Must Travel.

Due to lockdowns, capacity restrictions, and consumer safety concerns, off-premise preference has skyrocketed. So much so, that 92% of restaurant traffic is now off-premise. Since more people are using delivery services and grabbing to-go than ever before, this has caused an increase in challenges for operators, including more incomplete or incorrect orders, deliveries arriving late, and food being cold and unappetizing upon arrival. To combat this, restaurants are prioritizing menu items that will travel well for delivery and takeout. To-go packaging is also getting reimagined, with innovations in venting, insulation, dividers, and production materials to help food travel better.

Paperless & Disposable Menus

One of the biggest changes diners may notice in restaurants after COVID-19 is a lack of physical menus. Reducing or eliminating physical menus was prompted by safety concerns for staff and guests but has benefits for operators, including cost savings and increased efficiencies. As experts in menu design who work with numerous restaurant clients, Push developed Paperless Menu to give restaurants the ability to quickly and easily convert their physical menu into a robust interactive digital menu. Not only do digital menu solutions like Paperless Menu eliminate the production costs and waste associated with traditional physical menus, but they can also be instantly updated to accommodate today’s changing needs and unexpected challenges. Better for diners, operators, and the environment, digital menus in some form or another are here to stay.

More Innovative Value Options

With so many people experiencing economic hardship during the pandemic, people are looking to get more for their money now more than ever. The fact that 66% of diners say “value” is a top factor when deciding where to eat has prompted many restaurants to make value offerings an even bigger deal. From new combo meals and food bundles to create your own at-home meal kits, restaurants are finding creative ways to provide larger portions at a greater price.

These menu changes came fast and furious due to the pandemic and some have been difficult to implement and adjust to for both guests and operators alike. But they aren’t all bad. In fact, many of these temporary solutions to unprecedented challenges have brought positive outcomes already and will continue to do so in the days, months, and years ahead. Welcome to the future. Can we take your order?

Retail Marketing Communications

Getting your Employees to Add to your Marketing Efforts

Post author By admin
Post date August 19, 2021

The people who can advocate best for your business are often the people who live and breathe it every day—your employees. They can be an incredibly valuable asset as you look to improve your marketing and communication efforts. So how can you utilize them effectively? Take a look at the following four ways to help bolster your bottom line with the help of your employees.

Listen To Their Ideas

Your employees are often the ones closest to the day-to-day operations of your business, and they likely could provide critical insight into better ways of working or offer ways to get the word out that you may not have thought of yet. More importantly, they’ll feel more connected to and invested in your business when they feel listened to and heard. So make sure you have an ongoing and exciting way to collect their feedback and ideas, whether that’s an old-fashioned suggestion box, dedicated email address, or even a Slack channel where people can drop ideas or easily collaborate.

Encourage Them to Spread the Word

We know word-of-mouth marketing works, and your employees can be some of your most powerful megaphones. In fact, 42% of online customers ﬁnd recommendations from friends and family inﬂuential, and your employees can help make your business seem more relevant to their peers and social circles. So encourage employees to spread the word about your business via their social media channels, whether that’s posting about certain products, sharing their positive experiences as an employee or even just by sharing, liking or commenting on your brand’s social pages. To help incentivize them to do so, you could consider giving employees personalized coupon codes and rewarding those who help to bring in the most business.

Promote Employees on Your Social Channels

Put a face to your business by promoting your employees on your social channels. Not only will that help make customers feel more acquainted with your brand, but it could help your employees feel more attached to your brand and more motivated to re-share your store’s posts on their own social channels. For example, you could do short proﬁles on employees, have them take over your page or handle for a day to give customers a look into your story from their unique POV, or even write a guest blog. They could also demonstrate a favorite product or model new clothes, knowing that 73% of consumers are more likely to purchase a product or service if they watch a video explaining it beforehand.

Incorporate Them Into In-Store Marketing Efforts

Statistics show that 70% of customers make their ﬁnal purchases in brick-and-mortar shops, not online, so it’s important that your in-store marketing efforts are equally as compelling as those online, and employees can be a huge part of that push. Start them off on solid ground and help them put their best foot forward with proper training. This will ensure they can effectively help customers, communicate your brand story and make visitors feel even more connected with your store.

We hope you’re able to apply some of these employee marketing tips to help drive business. For more on how Push can help with your retail marketing efforts, contact us or here or call 407-841-2299.

Marketing Communications Education

Using Alumni to Boost Student Retention

Post author By admin
Post date August 10, 2021

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the retention rate for full-time degree-seeking undergrads who entered 4-year degree-granting institutions in fall 2018 was 81%. And the retention rate of private, for-profit 4-year institutions was just 63%. But this doesn’t have to be the case for your college or university. By involving your alumni now, you can boost the confidence of your undergrads and ultimately retain more of your student body. So here are a few strategies to engage your alumni for long-term student retention and growth.

HIGHLIGHT ALUMNI ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Current students are more likely to gain confidence in their university if they see what their alumni have accomplished out in the world. After all, an alumni’s success after graduation is the university’s true “proof of concept.” So it’s important to showcase your successful alumni by displaying “alumni spotlights” to current students in the classroom, on social media and through special events on campus such as speaking events or career fairs.

FOSTER MENTORSHIPS

Forming an alumni-student mentorship program could also be key to increasing retention rates. As illustrated by The Nursing Journal, 76% of full-time students who’d been mentored successfully by an older student completed the semester. By contrast, the completion rate was just 36% for students who hadn’t been mentored.

With this in mind, consider engaging alumni for mentorship opportunities based on the same field of study via LinkedIn or quarterly in-person events to help your students and alumni develop relationships. Inviting alumni that are experts in specific fields to guest lecture is another excellent way for them to get more face-to-face time with students. Your alumni will feel more connected with your university if they know a few current students and can be a resource to them.

KEEP YOUR ALUMNI IN THE LOOP

two street signs that read Alumni DR and Homecoming Circle

An updated alumnus is an engaged alumnus. So provide them with consistent and fresh content that keeps them in the loop with their alma mater and then invites them to share their resources such as their time, career insight, pro tips from their time as a student and more.

This could include inviting them back for more than just reunions to stay connected, playing up the nostalgia of being a former student and amping up the feeling of youth with your communications, or making your alumni feel important by asking for their input on surveys for future decisions in the university. The latter is also an excellent way to keep alumni employment and demographic info up-to-date to help better inform your future marketing strategies.

In all, retaining your student body is all about connections. If your students have an opportunity to meet with past alumni, see their success, as well as a path to their own success, your students are more likely to graduate from your college or university. Alumni involvement and engagement is vital to the long-term life of your university. So give them every opportunity to stay engaged, visit and mentor the next generation of alumni.