Messaging for the Individual: How Data Can Help You Create Engaging Stories (Part 2)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:07.190 You are listening to the Higher Ed Marketer, a podcast geared towards marketing professionals 2 00:00:07.230 --> 00:00:11.869 in higher education. This show will tackle all sorts of questions related to student 3 00:00:11.949 --> 00:00:16.230 recruitment, don't a relations, marketing trends, new technologies and so much more. 4 00:00:16.989 --> 00:00:20.230 If you are looking for conversations centered around where the industry is going, 5 00:00:20.750 --> 00:00:29.980 this podcast is for you. Let's get into the show. Welcome to the 6 00:00:30.019 --> 00:00:35.140 High Ed Marketer podcast, where weekly we explore ideas and insights of marketers that 7 00:00:35.259 --> 00:00:39.649 we admire in the higher red community. My name is troy singer and I'm 8 00:00:39.729 --> 00:00:44.490 with my cohost, Mark Taylor. This week we are continuing our conversation with 9 00:00:44.689 --> 00:00:49.609 Julie Bailog, Chief Marketing Officer for the University of Kentucky, and Christine Harper, 10 00:00:49.929 --> 00:00:55.799 associate advice president of enrollment management at the University of Kentucky. Let's jump 11 00:00:55.840 --> 00:01:02.719 back into the conversation. Julie and Christine, thanks for continuing the conversation now. 12 00:01:02.840 --> 00:01:06.469 We know that both of you are big believers and utilizing data to drive 13 00:01:06.510 --> 00:01:10.870 segmentation your messaging and outreach. So, Christine, maybe you can start us 14 00:01:10.870 --> 00:01:14.790 off by explaining the trends that you're seeing in utilizing and I believe you may 15 00:01:14.829 --> 00:01:19.340 have a few examples, like how you regard or approach undecided students. Sure, 16 00:01:19.379 --> 00:01:23.299 yeah, so I love data. I think we talked in the first 17 00:01:23.340 --> 00:01:26.780 episode about the art in the science of the work that we do. So 18 00:01:26.939 --> 00:01:29.620 I love a good graphic and great content, but I love data the dry 19 00:01:29.659 --> 00:01:33.810 gives it. In my role I look at data weekly, daily, you 20 00:01:33.890 --> 00:01:37.370 know, I take a size of the pool each week and really look and 21 00:01:37.489 --> 00:01:41.409 dive into our freshman I look in on our transfer seeing what trends we have. 22 00:01:42.049 --> 00:01:45.489 On a daily basis I'm checking our numbers, but also looking at things 23 00:01:45.569 --> 00:01:48.560 that I get from Julie's team on open rates, so we can see how 24 00:01:48.680 --> 00:01:52.280 some of the communications have been, you know, picked up and received and 25 00:01:52.359 --> 00:01:55.560 how the pool is shaping up. But you know, when I have time, 26 00:01:55.879 --> 00:01:57.560 which which is few and far between, I really like to dive in 27 00:01:57.680 --> 00:02:02.230 deep and so just this winter break I was diving into a lot of data, 28 00:02:02.909 --> 00:02:07.430 looking a lot at our prospect pool down to sophomores and juniors, and 29 00:02:07.510 --> 00:02:13.389 then was really taking a look at our senior prospects as well as our students 30 00:02:13.430 --> 00:02:16.819 that had been admitted or in the process that had applied and notice that we 31 00:02:16.900 --> 00:02:22.580 had seen as substantial uptick in students applying in certain areas and that there was 32 00:02:22.659 --> 00:02:25.740 definitely a trend that covid had impacted and influenced. But one of the areas 33 00:02:25.780 --> 00:02:30.889 of growth was our undecided or exploring students. So that does change throughout the 34 00:02:30.930 --> 00:02:35.370 cycle and depending upon when institution you're at, may go up and down and 35 00:02:35.530 --> 00:02:38.849 for us it just seemed like it was much larger. And for a university 36 00:02:38.129 --> 00:02:43.449 like UK we have lots of options for students. But how do you help 37 00:02:43.530 --> 00:02:46.159 explain that when somebody is coming in? They want the experience but they're not 38 00:02:46.360 --> 00:02:51.800 sure? And so over the break I packed Julie and Katie and said, 39 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:53.199 you know, I'm seeing some things in the date. I really feel like, 40 00:02:53.560 --> 00:02:57.560 you know, this is an opportunity for us to to convert some of 41 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:01.110 our prospects, share some information and then for our admitted students that were exploring, 42 00:03:01.469 --> 00:03:07.069 share a little bit about why they should choose UK, because they could 43 00:03:07.229 --> 00:03:12.310 do an undecided major exploring at any university. And so reached out to colleagues 44 00:03:12.349 --> 00:03:15.379 and are stuck a career center and some of our colleges that also have exploration 45 00:03:15.460 --> 00:03:21.539 programs and surface some information and said, okay, okay, Katie, here's 46 00:03:21.580 --> 00:03:23.539 here's what I have, here's information I've surface now can you, can you 47 00:03:23.580 --> 00:03:29.930 get it into something for our incoming freshman? And, as she typically does, 48 00:03:30.129 --> 00:03:34.289 takes all of these data points and information that's pulled off websites and reports 49 00:03:34.370 --> 00:03:37.050 and and comes up with something great. But I think, you know, 50 00:03:37.169 --> 00:03:40.210 being able to respond to what you're seeing in the data is important. You 51 00:03:40.289 --> 00:03:44.080 know, you can have a tone and a tenor for the what you're what 52 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:47.439 you want for student from when they're a prospect or even a sophomore in junior 53 00:03:47.560 --> 00:03:52.120 than a prospect in the senior year application and admit and have all of that 54 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:54.319 set together, but if you're not responding to what you're seeing in the data, 55 00:03:54.319 --> 00:04:00.629 you're really missing opportunities, opportunities to to help informed educate the students about 56 00:04:00.710 --> 00:04:03.990 why I do firmly believe that there's an institution out there for any student and 57 00:04:04.349 --> 00:04:08.949 that the student success is on the fit. And so how do we help 58 00:04:09.069 --> 00:04:12.460 explain and uncover some of these things so they can say, oh well, 59 00:04:12.580 --> 00:04:15.699 actually, this does sound like a place where I can see myself being successful. 60 00:04:15.939 --> 00:04:19.180 And here are some things they're sharing with me early on in the process. 61 00:04:19.420 --> 00:04:23.500 So that was just something. You know, when one example of something 62 00:04:23.699 --> 00:04:27.009 that was data informed through the cycle, I like to say you know, 63 00:04:27.290 --> 00:04:30.170 in some of my other previous ex variences I had access to a lot of 64 00:04:30.250 --> 00:04:36.610 data, but I was data rich and analysis poor, and I think the 65 00:04:36.769 --> 00:04:42.759 collaboration that Christine and I have is that together we're able to take that data 66 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:47.240 and really make it actionable and use it as a as a road map of 67 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:54.230 how to really impact change. It doesn't matter how much data you have if 68 00:04:54.269 --> 00:04:57.670 you don't know how to look at it, make sense of it and then 69 00:04:57.750 --> 00:05:00.709 turn it into something useful, and I think that's a she leads us very 70 00:05:00.750 --> 00:05:04.670 well in that way. And then once once we understand, okay, this 71 00:05:04.709 --> 00:05:08.540 is what it's telling us, then we know how to work with it in 72 00:05:08.699 --> 00:05:12.939 and make it make it more useful. It's great. I know that when 73 00:05:12.980 --> 00:05:16.579 we talked on our pre interview conversation you were not trying to make commercials here, 74 00:05:16.660 --> 00:05:20.529 but you know you're utilizing some some really sophisticated crms and a lot of 75 00:05:20.610 --> 00:05:25.209 the lot of the listeners and marketers that are listening to the podcast, I 76 00:05:25.290 --> 00:05:28.850 mean they are probably utilizing either sales force or slate. I mean you guys 77 00:05:28.850 --> 00:05:31.410 are using both of those and certainly there's a lot of other crms out there. 78 00:05:31.569 --> 00:05:34.410 You know, some of the smaller schools might be finding other ones. 79 00:05:34.410 --> 00:05:38.319 But I think the important thing that you both just mentioned was that finding and 80 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:42.079 utilizing the data that you can gather from those systems, as well as that, 81 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:45.800 ther other analytics systems, whether it's open rates on your mail, whether 82 00:05:45.879 --> 00:05:48.399 it's social media are wise, maybe it's, you know, key performance indicators 83 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:51.829 in Google analytics. Are So many places that we can start to gather the 84 00:05:51.870 --> 00:05:55.990 data. But if, to Julie to your point, if your data rich 85 00:05:56.110 --> 00:06:00.189 but you're not analyzing, you're not doing anything with it, you're not creating 86 00:06:00.269 --> 00:06:04.899 that into segmented marketing messages that can move the needle for that particular group. 87 00:06:04.899 --> 00:06:09.259 I think that's so important and I know that even even Christine, I know 88 00:06:09.459 --> 00:06:13.220 we had earlier conversations about, you know, the the idea of how to 89 00:06:13.339 --> 00:06:16.980 segment it either for the first Gen's or segmenting it for siblings of current students. 90 00:06:17.019 --> 00:06:19.930 I mean there's there's so many different ways to segment that data once you 91 00:06:20.050 --> 00:06:25.129 have it and be able to nurture and massage those messages a little bit better 92 00:06:25.170 --> 00:06:28.930 to make them more effective. Yeah, we we really have to have our 93 00:06:29.009 --> 00:06:30.810 ear to the ground, and so I in my in my side. I've 94 00:06:30.810 --> 00:06:35.000 got that going on and then Julie has hers also. So where I'm pulling 95 00:06:35.240 --> 00:06:40.560 is I'm looking at information that's coming out of common application of what are they 96 00:06:40.600 --> 00:06:43.600 seeing and what does that mean? And I think that, because that's one 97 00:06:43.639 --> 00:06:46.519 of the larger sources. Again, we're not doing any kind of we have 98 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:48.470 a couple different sources we use, but but they do a nice job of 99 00:06:48.550 --> 00:06:54.069 putting out information and as one of the larger application sources, were the first 100 00:06:54.110 --> 00:06:57.269 to pick up some things that you're seeing in the national media about FAFTS, 101 00:06:57.350 --> 00:07:02.259 the filing rates being down for seniors and low income students and and Firstgen students. 102 00:07:02.300 --> 00:07:05.899 And Kentucky as a state, you know we have a huge commitments of 103 00:07:05.939 --> 00:07:11.139 the Commonwealth and we know that we have a large portion of our populations low 104 00:07:11.220 --> 00:07:15.459 income, and so this pandemic has this isn't surprising, right. There was 105 00:07:15.540 --> 00:07:19.490 information in the spring of the senior year which students, if you looked at 106 00:07:19.569 --> 00:07:25.089 the population in total, most seniors were worried about missing those end of the 107 00:07:25.129 --> 00:07:29.649 year events. But when you segmented that data and look at low incompel eligible 108 00:07:29.689 --> 00:07:32.879 students or looked at students of color or looked at students that were first jed, 109 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:38.360 their concerns were very different. Can I afford to go to school? 110 00:07:38.360 --> 00:07:42.040 Am I going to graduate? So that's it. You know, we talked 111 00:07:42.040 --> 00:07:45.470 at the end of the cycle last year at the pandemic with populations of they 112 00:07:45.589 --> 00:07:48.550 need a different message because they're feeling something differently and the same thing. Now 113 00:07:48.870 --> 00:07:53.029 recently, as we've come to some of that data, Julie and I were 114 00:07:53.069 --> 00:07:55.550 looking at it and say, okay, we have an issue with First Jen 115 00:07:55.629 --> 00:07:59.100 and we have, you know, we are down and some of the a 116 00:07:59.220 --> 00:08:01.259 lot of the activities having to right at the deadline. But we can't wait 117 00:08:01.339 --> 00:08:03.939 for the deadline to hit and see where we're going to be. So how 118 00:08:03.939 --> 00:08:07.740 are we going to inform some of this? And so Julie and I talked 119 00:08:07.779 --> 00:08:11.980 and we got a big again, another broad table. We have our first 120 00:08:11.060 --> 00:08:16.209 Gen Office of First Gen initiatives, but that serves not only incoming students or 121 00:08:16.370 --> 00:08:20.290 our prospective students, as well as our current students, members of different colleges 122 00:08:20.490 --> 00:08:24.250 and marketing team and members of the enrollment management team, both financial aid and 123 00:08:24.290 --> 00:08:30.160 undergraduated missions, to really talk about how do we target this at different segments 124 00:08:30.279 --> 00:08:35.399 in the population, and and Julie's seem really I mean Katie then started working 125 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:39.159 with partners that could support so I kind of put the table together. Julie 126 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:41.950 and I put the table together. said here's the problem, here's the data, 127 00:08:41.350 --> 00:08:43.389 and Julie, want to take it from there. As as we're moving 128 00:08:43.429 --> 00:08:46.190 forward and some of the things we're doing. Sure, sure, so. 129 00:08:46.509 --> 00:08:50.429 What we did is, for instance, we've created an op Ed, a 130 00:08:50.470 --> 00:08:54.710 joint oped with some of our other universities across the state, and so we're 131 00:08:54.779 --> 00:09:00.779 publishing those with other university present presidents from our president. We also are creating 132 00:09:00.940 --> 00:09:05.659 some social media assets and we are going to push those out and then, 133 00:09:05.820 --> 00:09:11.090 working with our there's a person on Jay Plant and staff, Mark With who 134 00:09:11.169 --> 00:09:16.450 specializes in media pitching and he's going to help us by reaching out to small 135 00:09:16.490 --> 00:09:20.809 town newspapers, radio stations, TV stations across the state to really share. 136 00:09:22.690 --> 00:09:26.080 Listen, we need college as possible for you, but it has to start 137 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:30.759 with filling out your fast but and at the end of the day, this 138 00:09:30.919 --> 00:09:33.960 is one of those things where I like to say where the University for Kentucky, 139 00:09:33.080 --> 00:09:37.279 not just the University of Kentucky, because at the end of the day 140 00:09:37.799 --> 00:09:41.629 we just want these students to understand that going to college can be transformational for 141 00:09:41.750 --> 00:09:46.669 them and and if they don't come to UK, that's okay. They just 142 00:09:46.830 --> 00:09:52.350 need to find the place where they can get that transformational experience. So many 143 00:09:52.710 --> 00:09:56.980 of the people in Kentucky, you know, going to college is not always 144 00:09:56.059 --> 00:09:58.620 as easy for them as it might be in some other states, and so 145 00:09:58.659 --> 00:10:03.379 I think we both felt pretty passionately about that because we know I'm, I 146 00:10:03.460 --> 00:10:07.100 said in the first episode, I'm an example of that. You know, 147 00:10:07.649 --> 00:10:11.970 my father had a sixth grade education and the fact that I was able to 148 00:10:11.049 --> 00:10:16.850 go to college and this literally transformed in my life. To me it's a 149 00:10:16.929 --> 00:10:20.090 mission and I think for a lot of our students we serve abroad array, 150 00:10:20.759 --> 00:10:24.039 but I go back to you can come here and you can do anything and 151 00:10:24.759 --> 00:10:33.559 we've got the most amazing wrap around services for these students and we don't we 152 00:10:33.639 --> 00:10:39.190 don't do things for them that we we create ways for them to be successful 153 00:10:39.389 --> 00:10:41.870 and and you know I won't Belabor this too much, but to me this 154 00:10:41.950 --> 00:10:46.629 is an important distinction. A lot of people like to say they're innovative, 155 00:10:46.909 --> 00:10:56.659 and innovation is a good word, except for innovation usually can be funded or 156 00:10:56.740 --> 00:11:01.059 bought. Apple is innovative because they have a whole lot of money. What 157 00:11:01.220 --> 00:11:07.090 you are at UK is we've got ingenuity, because with ingenuity that's what you 158 00:11:07.210 --> 00:11:11.210 get when you're smart and you're clever and you look at the resources you have 159 00:11:11.049 --> 00:11:15.129 and you figure out how do you make the most of them, could be 160 00:11:15.169 --> 00:11:18.360 successful, and so I always I like to make that distinction. I think 161 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:24.559 that there's a lot of ingenuity that happens here, but in that probably is 162 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:28.720 a good way to describe the relationship between Christine and me and our teams. 163 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:31.559 It's a lot of ingenuity, it's a lot of roll up your sleeves, 164 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:33.669 it's a lot of get it done. We're not spending a whole lot more 165 00:11:33.710 --> 00:11:37.470 money than other people, we're just trying to be really smart about how we 166 00:11:37.549 --> 00:11:39.909 do it. Yeah, and Julie, I would add that's that passion to 167 00:11:41.429 --> 00:11:43.230 I mean we really do, and you probably can hear it come through. 168 00:11:43.590 --> 00:11:48.779 We're concerned about students across the board. We hope they land somewhere. I 169 00:11:48.820 --> 00:11:52.779 think the pandemic has just made some of the more vulnerable populations even more so 170 00:11:52.379 --> 00:11:56.259 with Internet access, you know, lack of that. I know some students 171 00:11:56.460 --> 00:12:00.860 that are non traditional instruction in high school and they're working a full time job 172 00:12:00.940 --> 00:12:03.529 and then catching up at night because that's what they need to do right now. 173 00:12:03.889 --> 00:12:07.090 And so that ingenuity is really critical. And then the passion I think 174 00:12:07.090 --> 00:12:09.210 that a lot of us bring, because that really, it really does steep 175 00:12:09.330 --> 00:12:13.250 through it. We are committed to and so yes, we have growth goals 176 00:12:13.289 --> 00:12:16.399 and and we're doing all those things to get that happen. But I too 177 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:22.360 am somebody who ultimately, like I said, fit is important and if you 178 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:24.879 have an impact in helping students find that right choice. Sometimes it may not 179 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:30.509 be us, but then maybe us later, and so that authenticity and that 180 00:12:30.629 --> 00:12:33.990 ability to try to raise everybody up, you're going to be successful. If 181 00:12:33.029 --> 00:12:37.870 that's the approach that you take. That's great and I know I really appreciate 182 00:12:37.990 --> 00:12:41.470 what you've talked about with the ingenuity because I mean, as I mentioned to 183 00:12:41.509 --> 00:12:45.220 you, you know in our on our previous conversations, a lot of the 184 00:12:45.299 --> 00:12:48.460 audience of the High Ed Marketer is our schools of all sizes. I mean 185 00:12:48.460 --> 00:12:52.860 we've got schools the size of UK all the way down to schools that have, 186 00:12:52.019 --> 00:12:54.659 you know, fifty or a hundred students. And but I think that 187 00:12:54.779 --> 00:12:58.850 the ingenuity, you know, because I can hear people saying, well, 188 00:12:58.210 --> 00:13:01.330 but it would be great to have slate, it'd be great to have that 189 00:13:01.490 --> 00:13:03.049 kind of budget to be able to do that type of thing. But the 190 00:13:03.090 --> 00:13:07.009 data that you get, you can ask students about that, take in that 191 00:13:07.090 --> 00:13:11.009 data and then it's and then you can start analyzing it, you can start 192 00:13:11.090 --> 00:13:13.399 segmenting based on what you're asking people. So it's not the fact that you 193 00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:16.919 guys just have all the extra resources, it's the ingenuity of if I need 194 00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:20.360 that data, I need to figure out how to get that date and sometimes 195 00:13:20.360 --> 00:13:22.480 you have to ask for it. So I love that and Julie also love 196 00:13:22.519 --> 00:13:26.350 the fact that we kind of talked about the wrap around services with that UK 197 00:13:26.549 --> 00:13:31.470 has for these different groups that are going to be that mission fit for for 198 00:13:31.629 --> 00:13:33.190 the university, and I know Troy, you've got a couple questions about that 199 00:13:33.309 --> 00:13:37.750 with what just kind of what those partnerships with the other departments look like. 200 00:13:37.429 --> 00:13:41.940 Yes, they both, Julie and Christine, talked about the dedication to the 201 00:13:43.019 --> 00:13:48.100 Commonwealth and I wanted to ask a little bit about the community involvement in the 202 00:13:48.220 --> 00:13:52.179 partnerships that are with outside agencies. Julie, could you tell everyone a little 203 00:13:52.179 --> 00:13:56.649 bit about the partnership that you have with the College of Agriculture and how you 204 00:13:56.809 --> 00:14:03.889 reaching out into the counties and helping out the Commonwealth with that partnership? Sure, 205 00:14:03.889 --> 00:14:07.850 Kentucky is one of those states that has many, many counties. We 206 00:14:07.929 --> 00:14:11.720 actually have a hundred and twenty counties and in each of those one hundred pointy 207 00:14:11.799 --> 00:14:20.559 counties the College of Agriculture has an egg extension agent and they are a university 208 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:24.509 employee and we have great collaboration with them in a lot of ways. They're 209 00:14:24.710 --> 00:14:28.909 often opinion leaders in their communities and so, for instance, when I was 210 00:14:28.950 --> 00:14:35.429 down at UK healthcare, we partnered with them initially to get population health information 211 00:14:35.669 --> 00:14:41.539 out, so, for instance, diabetes information or healthy heart information, and 212 00:14:41.700 --> 00:14:48.100 so they became a hub that we could use to push out information and they 213 00:14:48.659 --> 00:14:52.299 devoured it, they loved it and shared it, and so we're kind of 214 00:14:52.340 --> 00:14:56.529 applying some of that same model here. So one of and I love of 215 00:14:56.730 --> 00:15:00.250 that the College of Bag is just game for anything. So Christine had this 216 00:15:00.330 --> 00:15:05.450 really good idea last such last summer, and so it was this idea of 217 00:15:05.730 --> 00:15:11.360 adulting one on one where we would teach life skills to high schoolers. And 218 00:15:13.159 --> 00:15:16.759 let Christine tell the story. But yeah, we pitched it and boy did 219 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:20.669 it take off. Yep, yeah, most it was almost too successful. 220 00:15:20.710 --> 00:15:24.590 Yes, it was an it was a quick turnaround. I mean the pandemic 221 00:15:24.669 --> 00:15:28.070 of just hit right where. Just we were talking through the spring. We're 222 00:15:28.110 --> 00:15:30.909 like, okay, well, you know, if we need to get our 223 00:15:31.429 --> 00:15:33.950 students in here, what can we do? What could be helpful? And 224 00:15:33.149 --> 00:15:37.659 so Julian I went to Cafe, our college of Bag Environmental Science, and 225 00:15:39.220 --> 00:15:41.740 then they basically were like, Oh yeah, we're on board. We've got 226 00:15:41.779 --> 00:15:45.539 all these extension agents. They're looking for things to do. They've got other 227 00:15:45.659 --> 00:15:48.779 things, but this would be great. So put these modules together in this 228 00:15:48.940 --> 00:15:52.370 course and we had over five hundred and sixty plus students sign up in a 229 00:15:52.490 --> 00:15:58.210 very short period of time. You know, the marketing was great. The 230 00:15:58.330 --> 00:16:00.850 students loved it. Cafe came back to us, the College of Bag, 231 00:16:00.929 --> 00:16:03.360 and said Hey, can we do it again this year? So when you 232 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:07.440 have a partner that's coming back and saying this is good, how do we 233 00:16:07.480 --> 00:16:08.840 enhance it, you know, and what else could we do? And we've 234 00:16:08.840 --> 00:16:12.279 talked about other other suites of things that we could offer because, you know, 235 00:16:12.519 --> 00:16:17.720 that was pretty small lift, I mean and they're engage. So we've 236 00:16:18.039 --> 00:16:22.230 worked with the Dean to this year, much like we did previous years with 237 00:16:22.269 --> 00:16:25.470 our alumni association, to kind of help them be out there. We're now 238 00:16:25.509 --> 00:16:29.549 working with all the extension agencies, particularly. We started this before, but 239 00:16:29.669 --> 00:16:32.899 it's it was very timely. We started in the fall and then, as 240 00:16:32.899 --> 00:16:37.860 we saw the fast of filing information those extension agents in the counties, particularly 241 00:16:37.860 --> 00:16:41.860 at a time where the students are not as easy to see in a high 242 00:16:41.860 --> 00:16:45.779 school or, you know, access, they are readily accessible. So we 243 00:16:45.899 --> 00:16:49.009 have now already trained our extension officers on admissions and all of that and we 244 00:16:49.129 --> 00:16:52.970 can push out. We are having students that are having challenges as fast and 245 00:16:52.970 --> 00:16:56.289 the high school counselor is maybe having trouble connecting with some of these students. 246 00:16:56.330 --> 00:17:00.049 If you see them, can you hit this and make sure that you know 247 00:17:00.409 --> 00:17:02.759 they know there's a resource and point them and you may not have all the 248 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:03.960 answers, but you can point them in the right direction and we'll get them 249 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:08.079 what they need. So those collaborations really are fantastic and it happens in multiple 250 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:11.799 different ways. Julie, I mean I remember you calling me on a Saturday 251 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:15.750 morning maybe, and said, hey, we're going to do a vaccination clinic 252 00:17:17.150 --> 00:17:21.230 in about a week. Yes, so what? What? What do we 253 00:17:21.309 --> 00:17:22.509 what do we think? What you know from it? I'm like, well, 254 00:17:22.869 --> 00:17:26.430 you know, and we're doing all the educators right, and we both 255 00:17:26.509 --> 00:17:30.660 were like up, college of Ed. They've got some great continuing education, 256 00:17:30.740 --> 00:17:34.740 they've got some great masters programs. They're mostly online. That's the doctoral program 257 00:17:34.819 --> 00:17:37.740 I'm in. But it just continues to go from there, as I talked 258 00:17:37.740 --> 00:17:41.460 about hitting on all cylinders, and Julie just like pitches me in the morning. 259 00:17:41.500 --> 00:17:42.140 I'm like, Yep, there's something here. What are we going to 260 00:17:42.180 --> 00:17:48.009 do? Yeah, and I'm happy to report that the web engagement around the 261 00:17:48.210 --> 00:17:51.970 Graduate Program for the College of the head and teachers is up ten percent and 262 00:17:52.049 --> 00:17:55.529 I'd like to think that it has something to do with the fact that we 263 00:17:55.609 --> 00:18:00.440 activated at our Vaccine Clinic when we were vaccinating K through twelve educator. So 264 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:03.359 can't take all the credit, but those are the kinds of moments that you 265 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:04.880 have to be Nimble, and that's another word we use, like you got 266 00:18:04.920 --> 00:18:08.920 to beat Nimble, and if you kind of already have some of these things 267 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:15.589 in motion, it's easier to implement them if if you're not starting from scratch. 268 00:18:15.069 --> 00:18:19.150 Yeah, that's wonderful. I love that idea of all these different things 269 00:18:19.230 --> 00:18:22.430 going on with the partnerships, but trying to make sure you're living out the 270 00:18:22.509 --> 00:18:27.619 brand, being nimble enough and, you know, going forward with ingenuity so 271 00:18:27.700 --> 00:18:30.900 that you can say, how can we take advantage of we're going to be 272 00:18:32.059 --> 00:18:36.500 in the in the community, we're going to be providing mobile clinics for vaccines 273 00:18:36.539 --> 00:18:41.299 or we're going to be providing, you know, agg extension offices. How 274 00:18:41.380 --> 00:18:45.650 can we activate that for enrollment? How can we activate that for the for 275 00:18:45.769 --> 00:18:48.529 the for the good of the community? Because I mean to your point, 276 00:18:48.569 --> 00:18:51.769 Julie, and and you know, try and I both our first generation students 277 00:18:51.769 --> 00:18:55.369 as well, the idea that if we can impact those first gen students, 278 00:18:55.410 --> 00:18:57.359 even if they're, you know, fourth graders, that are standing in line 279 00:18:57.359 --> 00:19:02.039 with their parents for the vaccines or with grandma and GRANDPA, they're getting an 280 00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:04.279 idea and an impression of what UK is all about. Their living out that 281 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:07.960 brand, their understanding that, Oh wow, I have an opportunity to be 282 00:19:08.039 --> 00:19:11.710 a part of this in the future. I just think that's amazing and I 283 00:19:11.750 --> 00:19:14.150 think that, you know, job well done to the both of you to 284 00:19:15.029 --> 00:19:18.869 not only serving the community but also, you know, activating the community as 285 00:19:18.109 --> 00:19:22.109 part of that. So I think that's I think that's great. Thank you. 286 00:19:22.349 --> 00:19:25.099 We in a I will share this. This is this is new, 287 00:19:25.700 --> 00:19:30.339 but this just this past week because our clinic, our vaccine clinic at Kergerfield. 288 00:19:30.500 --> 00:19:33.339 This is separate from our mobile clinics that were taking out. Our clinic 289 00:19:33.420 --> 00:19:37.700 is doubling in size point where we're vaccinating word to five thousand people a day. 290 00:19:37.259 --> 00:19:42.849 It's all volunteer driven and we need more people. So we created very 291 00:19:42.849 --> 00:19:48.490 quickly a program called cats give back and we've invited our students to volunteer to 292 00:19:48.529 --> 00:19:52.880 go work at the clinic as registrars, as wayfinders. Two thousand students have 293 00:19:53.079 --> 00:19:57.160 signed up and that just you know, I use the phrase when I talk 294 00:19:57.200 --> 00:20:02.640 about the University of Kentucky students we run to, not from. They like 295 00:20:02.799 --> 00:20:03.839 to be part of the solution, they like to be part of it, 296 00:20:04.039 --> 00:20:07.430 and I thought that was a great example. I mean students just raise their 297 00:20:07.470 --> 00:20:10.109 hand and say, Yep, I want to be a part of that. 298 00:20:10.190 --> 00:20:11.589 Tell me how I can do it, and that's great and right. There 299 00:20:11.750 --> 00:20:15.630 is another story that can be packaged and sent to Christine and, you know, 300 00:20:15.829 --> 00:20:19.150 used as part of the message, which is wonderful. That's great. 301 00:20:19.190 --> 00:20:22.380 Yeah, Yep. and Julie's in those meetings, so she helps get the 302 00:20:22.460 --> 00:20:26.099 door and right. I'm not an enrollment management going to be at a meeting 303 00:20:26.099 --> 00:20:30.220 about vaccinations necessarily like maybe tangentially. But when we talk about mobile clinics and 304 00:20:30.259 --> 00:20:33.019 I said Hey, we'd love to get out in front of these families, 305 00:20:33.059 --> 00:20:37.650 I mean when you talk about the different areas that we're going to first gen, 306 00:20:37.930 --> 00:20:42.569 I mean access to healthcare in particular and with vulnerable populations is important. 307 00:20:42.849 --> 00:20:48.089 And to your point of educating a fourth grader, we've gone out and done 308 00:20:48.130 --> 00:20:49.920 some some work just to say, Hey, did you know that these healthcare 309 00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:56.240 careers are available to you? You may not see a physical therapist in your 310 00:20:56.359 --> 00:21:02.160 community, but this is what one does and for some young child that maybe 311 00:21:02.359 --> 00:21:04.549 the Huh, this is something I can do and I can be and I 312 00:21:04.630 --> 00:21:07.589 can and UK brought it to me, you know, and so those are 313 00:21:07.750 --> 00:21:11.430 really great things and we're pleased, because Julie's in that room, that she 314 00:21:11.509 --> 00:21:15.509 reaches out and so when the mobile clinics go back for the second shot, 315 00:21:15.869 --> 00:21:18.660 they'll prime come. We're going to have some some fastt information sessions. We're 316 00:21:18.660 --> 00:21:23.099 going to have information. So if you have students or children that that you'd 317 00:21:23.140 --> 00:21:26.700 like that information shared with or you would like it yourself, will have people 318 00:21:26.779 --> 00:21:32.779 there, poison ready to go. So it really is we're very fortunate to 319 00:21:32.890 --> 00:21:36.250 be set up the way that we are and have such great collaborative efforts going 320 00:21:36.289 --> 00:21:38.609 on. That's great. That's great, troy, as we knew the end 321 00:21:38.609 --> 00:21:41.569 of the episode, I'd like to ask each of you if you have a 322 00:21:41.690 --> 00:21:47.480 relevant idea, trend or nugget that you could share that others can use right 323 00:21:47.559 --> 00:21:52.119 away. What would that be? My nugget would be it would be to 324 00:21:52.279 --> 00:21:56.440 understand the journey that in this particular case, the student it's on and to 325 00:21:57.279 --> 00:22:03.269 assess that journey because again, marketing is where can I most influence them at 326 00:22:03.309 --> 00:22:06.589 the time they're making their decision. So one of the things that Christine's team 327 00:22:06.589 --> 00:22:08.269 and I did, we did this right when I first started. We mapped 328 00:22:08.309 --> 00:22:11.910 the entire journey. We looked at how are we communicating with an email, 329 00:22:12.109 --> 00:22:17.140 postcard, things like that, and then we assessed. We realized in some 330 00:22:17.339 --> 00:22:22.339 areas we were extremely heavy, probably to the point of oversaturating. But then 331 00:22:22.380 --> 00:22:25.700 we looked through the rest of the psycle we realized there are sometimes that we're 332 00:22:25.740 --> 00:22:30.210 probably under communicating. So we tried to together our teams figured out, okay, 333 00:22:30.250 --> 00:22:33.809 let's look at this cadence. But then, in another phrase that I 334 00:22:33.890 --> 00:22:37.369 like to use a lot, its intellectual honesty. We were really intellectually honest 335 00:22:37.410 --> 00:22:41.890 with ourselves of is what we're saying really relevant? Is it authentic? Is 336 00:22:41.970 --> 00:22:45.400 it live our brand? Or we just to see the same and so we 337 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:49.519 spent some time read and in that was a that was a laborious exercise, 338 00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:52.720 but it was also an aullhall moment. And you know what, you can 339 00:22:52.759 --> 00:22:56.400 do that if your budget is zero. You can sit down and you can 340 00:22:56.519 --> 00:23:00.750 map that journey and understand what are you saying it, because it's always the 341 00:23:00.789 --> 00:23:06.589 right message to the right person at the right time. Thank you, Christine. 342 00:23:07.230 --> 00:23:10.150 Yeah, from my perspective I would say, you know, if you're 343 00:23:10.150 --> 00:23:12.299 sitting in my roles a chief and Roman officer, fine, your chief marketing 344 00:23:12.380 --> 00:23:18.059 officer and get really close and and connect. I think that it's really important 345 00:23:18.059 --> 00:23:23.140 to have strong relationships. But my big piece is that I think that education 346 00:23:23.220 --> 00:23:29.089 and cross pollination is critically important. So the more that you can share and 347 00:23:29.730 --> 00:23:33.650 cross pollinate, so having your marketing people in your enrollment management meetings occasionally. 348 00:23:33.690 --> 00:23:38.049 Last year I was in the huddle with Julie's team. My understanding of the 349 00:23:38.210 --> 00:23:44.240 work that their team is doing I can now share with our it team that's 350 00:23:44.279 --> 00:23:47.440 working on a problem. So Julie doesn't have to be there until we get 351 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:51.400 to a certain level. But by doing that, in Cross pollinating and educating 352 00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:55.359 everyone, Katie Benet, who's on her team, is like, well, 353 00:23:55.359 --> 00:23:57.390 you know what, this idea came from this meeting that we had, and 354 00:23:57.670 --> 00:24:00.470 she understands a work we're doing. I understand the work they're doing, and 355 00:24:00.869 --> 00:24:06.470 so it really helps you get further faster. And so if there's anything I 356 00:24:06.549 --> 00:24:08.750 would say is is really you got a partner tight but you also have to 357 00:24:08.829 --> 00:24:12.660 make sure that you're providing in the information and you're listening and that you're using 358 00:24:12.740 --> 00:24:17.500 that to inform the decisions you're making moving forward. Thank you, Christine, 359 00:24:17.539 --> 00:24:21.579 and thank you, Julie. Thank you both for your time and being part 360 00:24:21.619 --> 00:24:26.650 of our first two episode experiment. I think Bart would agree that it has 361 00:24:26.690 --> 00:24:30.089 gone extremely well. So again, thank you for joining us on the Higher 362 00:24:30.130 --> 00:24:36.930 Ed Marketer and for our commercial. The Higher Ed Marketer podcast is sponsored by 363 00:24:36.930 --> 00:24:41.960 Kable solutions and education, marketing and branding agency and by thing patented, a 364 00:24:41.079 --> 00:24:47.359 marketing, execution, printing and mailing provider of higher it solutions. On behalf 365 00:24:47.400 --> 00:24:51.200 of my partner in creation, Bart Taylor, I'm chroice singer. Thank you 366 00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:56.549 for doining us. You've been listening to the Higher Ed Marketer. To ensure 367 00:24:56.630 --> 00:25:00.430 that you never miss an episode, subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast 368 00:25:00.470 --> 00:25:04.829 player. If you're listening with apple PODCASTS, we'd love for you to leave 369 00:25:04.869 --> 00:25:08.380 a quick rating of the show. Simply tap the number of stars you think 370 00:25:08.380 --> 00:25:11.940 the podcast deserves. Until next time.