Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/56539
tive stakeholders, such as donors and alumni, still prefer to see the traditional print ad or glossy magazine. "The medi- um we use depends on the audience we're targeting and the objective of our communication." Stakeholders also want each medium to offer somewhat different content, Andrews notes. "A Web site might tell prospective students that a school's representatives will be in San Francisco to deliver an admissions road show. But when those prospective students show up in San Fran- cisco, they want to hear something that's not on the site. The viewbook should give them additional information. It's important to integrate across platforms, but each one should say something slightly different. No school wants a student to pick up its viewbook and say, 'Oh, this is exactly what's on the Web.'" Challenge: Small Budget Creating an integrated but nuanced message across many media becomes even more difficult when there's not enough money to do it right. Fifty-two percent of respondents say their greatest challenge is working within their budgets. To get the most from those limited budgets, marketing professionals recommend using less expensive communica- tions channels, such as e-mail marketing, social networking, webinars, online chats, and other Web-based efforts. For The Right Hire ing departments get the go-ahead to hire additional employees, what kind of candidates should they look for? Many business schools are interested in hiring professional marketers from outside academia, says con- sultant Margaret Andrews of Mind and Hand. "In the past, some schools W wouldn't even call what they did marketing," she says. "But as competition increas- es, schools have to get the hen overworked and understaffed market- word out about how they're different, so there's been an uptick in the amount and sophistication of marketing being done. At the same time, new technology has really raised the bar." Faced with an onslaught of new responsibilities, today's marketing profes- sional must first be able to manage priorities, Andrews says. "Schools have limited resources in terms of money, people, and time," she says. "They must know where they're going to put their emphasis." It's equally critical for a new staff member to excel at execution as well as strat- egy, says Gary McKillips of Georgia State. "Make sure the person you're hiring can do things, such as draft copy and design materials. If you have the luxury of bringing in a great marketing mind, make sure that person is will- ing to contribute more than just ideas. Or hire the 'great mind' as a consultant whom you call on periodically for advice. The marketing war instance, says McKillips, an online annual report can look impressive but cost very little. In addition, budget-strapped marketing departments can put more effort into PR than advertising, says McKil- lips. They might encourage faculty to get involved with con- ventional public relations activities, such as speaking at local events and writing op-ed pieces. Meanwhile, the marketing department can pitch stories to local and national media, a labor-intensive but relatively inexpensive option. Jackson also recommends looking for help close at hand: hiring tech- savvy students to handle IT work and journalism or market- ing students to write articles and press releases. Schools with limited budgets also should invest in research before they launch ad campaigns, says Andrews, so they can target their audience more precisely and produce a crisper message. "Every school wants to send just the right amount of marketing, but it's difficult to know what that is," Andrews says. "Some schools are now looking at how many e-mails they can send before recipients unsubscribe. Schools can use that kind of data to determine what kind of marketing works." While the MaCC survey was not detailed enough to determine how much a typical marketing department has to spend, it did ask respondents how their schools establish their budgets. Martin-Kidd notes that, in most industries, there are rules of thumb that guide the way budgets are set. is won in the trenches with people who can develop compelling copy—people 44 BizEd MARCH/APRIL 2009