Paul Carringer’s latest article for The CCDaily, published by the American Association of Community Colleges.
What keeps leaders of our institutions up at night? In a recent study of community college presidents by theNational Council for Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR), the top marketing concerns were:
• Budget/finance
• Social media
• Marketing
• Target audiences
Surrounding these concerns is the need for “strategic thinking” by college leaders. The study participants expressed the need to do more with less and being more effective with marketing efforts in a competitive environment. And, with the reality of many constituencies, college presidents worry about targeting each group, traditional and nontraditional, effectively and efficiently.
Part of the job
Telling our institutional story in the news can have a direct and positive impact on these issues. Thomas Garbett described how being the chief communicator and reputation manager for the organization is an “unwritten part of every CEOs job description” way back in 1988. In the book Public Relations and the Presidency, John Ross and Carol Halstead note that presidents identify the media as being a very important audience and that the development of good media relations is a key to the success of the institution and the president.
Paul Carringer’s latest article for the PRSA Perspectives blog.
Millenials rock the smartphone!
A recent study by Experian Marketing Services, a global provider of integrated consumer insights, tells us that “Millennials are the most digitally connected generation, with 77 percent of adult Millennials owning a smart phone” and using it for everything from talking, to texting, to social networking (1). The study is clear that Millennials are digitally driven and interacting with digital media at the rate of almost 10 hours a day, much of it driven through a smartphone.
But, should PR professionals care? If we use the Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) model, the answer is, “it depends.” Are we trying to reach Millennials? And, when, and if we do, what exactly do we want the message to be? Most of all, how do “they” want to receive our message?
The Pew Internet and American Life study informs us that Twitter users tend to be men, 19 to 29, and making less than $35,000 a year. Lee Rainie, Director of the Knight Digital Media Center, notes that 89% of the 18 to 29 year old crowd is into social networking while 60% of the 50 to 64 year old crowd can say the same. The fastest growing group into social is those 65 and older. And, Facebook leads the pack of social media outlets with over 90% of adults in the USA onboard…