One-of-a-Kind: Marketing the Uniqueness of Your School

WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.919 --> 00:00:07.240 You were listening to the Higher Ed Marketer, a podcast geared towards marketing professionals 2 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:11.960 in higher education. This show will tackle all sorts of questions related to student 3 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:16.800 recruitment, don'tor relations, marketing trends, new technologies and so much more. 4 00:00:17.079 --> 00:00:21.000 If you are looking for conversation centered around where the industry is going, this 5 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:29.359 podcast is for you. Let's get into the show. Welcome to the high 6 00:00:29.399 --> 00:00:33.280 end marketer podcast. My name is troy singer and I'm here with my cohost, 7 00:00:33.399 --> 00:00:37.880 Barb Kaylor. Today on the show we interview Lindsay Nyquist. She's a 8 00:00:37.880 --> 00:00:43.600 director of Marketing Communications for Fort Louis College in Durango, Colorado, and this 9 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:49.200 episode is all about how to market the uniqueness of your school, in Fort 10 00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:54.439 Lewis College, as a very unique college in rural Colorado. Yeah, it's 11 00:00:54.600 --> 00:00:58.200 it's a great episode. We kind of get started. We met Lindsay through 12 00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:00.840 they were the inaugural episode of the College Tour and you know, on episode 13 00:01:00.840 --> 00:01:04.840 forty seven we interviewed Alex Boylan, the producer and host of the college tour, 14 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:07.359 and so we kind of get started on that, but we also kind 15 00:01:07.400 --> 00:01:11.280 of get into the whole idea of you know, Fort Lewis is a very 16 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:15.920 unique school. It's a public liberal arts school. It's in rural Durango Colorado, 17 00:01:15.959 --> 00:01:19.480 in the middle of the ski mountains, and fifty nine percent of their 18 00:01:19.480 --> 00:01:25.079 student population are students of color and come from various backgrounds, including native American, 19 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:27.599 and so I think it's a very interesting conversation. She kind of walks 20 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:33.079 through a number of things. So I think you're in store for a great 21 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:40.519 a great podcast. I agree. Here's Lindsay Nyquist. It's our pleasure to 22 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:46.120 welcome Lindsay Nyquist, director of marketing and Communications for Fort Louis College in Colorado, 23 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:49.640 to the high rid marketer podcast and before we get into our conversation of 24 00:01:49.719 --> 00:01:53.920 how to market, the uniqueness of your school, and you'll see that Fort 25 00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:59.480 Lewis is a very unique college in Colorado. If you could tell us, 26 00:01:59.560 --> 00:02:05.439 Lindsay a little bit about the school and the makeup of it population, what 27 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:09.879 village it's in. Very unique school, absolutely so. We are a technically 28 00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:15.919 Colorado's public level arts college. We have about thirty five hundred students but again, 29 00:02:15.080 --> 00:02:17.719 speaking to the uniqueness of it, of more than fifty percent of our 30 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:23.120 students or students of color, around fifty nine percent, and a large proportion 31 00:02:23.159 --> 00:02:28.120 of those are students from native American or Alaska native backgrounds. And I would 32 00:02:28.120 --> 00:02:32.439 also say just our location in Beautiful Durango Colorado is a big part of who 33 00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:38.840 we are and the way that we address education, both by being really connected 34 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:43.400 to the place where we are in an academic way and in a student life 35 00:02:43.400 --> 00:02:46.400 way. So yeah, I would say that's how we stand apart. I 36 00:02:46.439 --> 00:02:52.960 first got was familiarized with the school through the show the college tour, and 37 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:58.960 in your episode it's very evident it's a school where your students are outdoors a 38 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:01.960 lot. Absolutely, and you know that that takes many different forms. That 39 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:06.840 can as I mentioned before, that could be an archeology field school, or 40 00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:09.919 it can be students in our adventure ED program who are out there leading trips 41 00:03:10.039 --> 00:03:14.759 with first years. It can be students who just like to go out and 42 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:19.840 ski on the weekends, which is very popular with our first year free pass 43 00:03:19.879 --> 00:03:23.439 to our locals here resorts. So yes, very much. The core of 44 00:03:23.439 --> 00:03:27.039 who we are is that connection to place. That is a very cool perk, 45 00:03:27.159 --> 00:03:30.879 especially for the winter time like it is again, Lindsay, we were 46 00:03:30.919 --> 00:03:35.759 first introduced to you through the college tour. In our conversations with you were 47 00:03:35.800 --> 00:03:39.240 around that experience. So I know that you were one of the first, 48 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:44.919 if not the first, episode or school that they approach. If we can, 49 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:47.719 if you can, give us a sense of how that opportunity came to 50 00:03:47.800 --> 00:03:53.919 you and the decisionmaking process of you saying yes, this is something that we 51 00:03:53.960 --> 00:03:57.840 would like to take on, because I don't think anyone else has said yes 52 00:03:57.879 --> 00:04:01.800 to them until you did. Absolutely yes, we were episode one, season 53 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:05.199 one of the college tour and we're really proud of that. It really came 54 00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:09.800 from you know, I'm sure anyone who is in a position similar to mine 55 00:04:09.879 --> 00:04:14.240 knows that you get cold calls from vendors many times a day. So sometimes 56 00:04:14.280 --> 00:04:15.680 it's really hard to sift through and find out what's going to be a good 57 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:19.319 fit for your school and ways to reach your students. And when that one 58 00:04:19.399 --> 00:04:23.560 came to us, we were really in the in the early stages of the 59 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:27.399 pandemic, and Beth, coming from the college tour, reached out to us 60 00:04:27.399 --> 00:04:30.600 and presented this idea and it just seemed really you week and different to us. 61 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:35.319 So the idea that we could be on Amazon prime, on IMDBTV and 62 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:39.399 that we could really you know, we're a small regional school, but we 63 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:42.839 do have students from all over the country and how can we reach more of 64 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:47.680 those students and really show off that unique all of our unique characteristics and try 65 00:04:47.720 --> 00:04:51.000 something new? So we really took that leap of faith. We met up 66 00:04:51.079 --> 00:04:55.879 with the producers, Alex Boylan and Lisa Hennessey, right off the bat and 67 00:04:55.879 --> 00:04:59.680 we're just really impressed by them. They really cared about who we were, 68 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:02.720 who we are, and they took the time to listen to any concerns we 69 00:05:02.759 --> 00:05:06.040 had and you know, they were feeling out the same way we were. 70 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:10.959 So I think we got some extra special attention from them and it was just 71 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:15.240 it was a really fun experience the whole the whole way through. So the 72 00:05:15.240 --> 00:05:17.160 way that we actually made it happen was we were, because of Covid we 73 00:05:17.160 --> 00:05:21.040 were really reassessing what our budget looked like and how we could use it more 74 00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:26.560 effectively. So one thing that we chose to do was stop our advertising in 75 00:05:26.600 --> 00:05:30.199 the Denver Airport because travel was pretty slow at that point, and we reallocated 76 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:34.360 that money towards the college, to our experience, and it just really paid 77 00:05:34.360 --> 00:05:38.480 off for us. We had such a good time and it's really cool to 78 00:05:38.480 --> 00:05:42.560 see so many schools signing on there at I think they're over fifty schools on 79 00:05:42.600 --> 00:05:46.199 that on that show now, and that we were part of the the beginning 80 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:48.319 of it was really powerful. Yeah, that's really interesting. We had Alex 81 00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:54.160 Boilan on the the podcast a few episodes ago, one episode forty seven, 82 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:58.319 and it was it was fastinting. I mean he's such a such an exciting 83 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:01.240 guy and he's got such a passion for what he's doing and I and I 84 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:05.079 think that you know, for you guys to be the the inaugural episode and 85 00:06:05.079 --> 00:06:08.639 then to actually see where it's gone, like you said, fifty episodes, 86 00:06:08.920 --> 00:06:13.800 it's pretty amazing and I love that they come in with such a high level 87 00:06:13.879 --> 00:06:17.519 of production and professionalism. I mean having experience on, you know, amazing 88 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:21.399 race and survivor and all those other shows that they've done before, it really 89 00:06:21.480 --> 00:06:26.920 kind of helped you guys, you know, articulate and and hone your own 90 00:06:26.920 --> 00:06:30.680 stories to be able to tell that was that was that your experience? Absolutely 91 00:06:30.839 --> 00:06:32.000 so I was. I mean we knew they were coming in with that high 92 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:35.680 production value, but it still blew us away and I think it was just 93 00:06:35.720 --> 00:06:40.079 such a cool experience for the students. We had ton of our students featured 94 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:43.480 on the show and they just loved everything they got to do. I mean 95 00:06:43.519 --> 00:06:46.680 they were treated by big stars and they get to share their individual stories. 96 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:50.000 Alex did a great job of prompting them to write their own scripts. They're 97 00:06:50.040 --> 00:06:56.199 not handed language to regurgitate. It's really they're telling their own stories and we 98 00:06:56.279 --> 00:06:59.959 just help shape it in a way that works and I just it was such 99 00:06:59.959 --> 00:07:04.079 a cool experience and it helped us rethink how we shoot our media because, 100 00:07:04.199 --> 00:07:08.040 you know, we have a full time videographer and a full time photographer and 101 00:07:08.120 --> 00:07:11.959 staff. But the way they came in and got so much content in one 102 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:15.639 week, I really sort of reconsidered the idea of a blitz. So really 103 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:17.120 just, you know, go out on one day and try and shoot in 104 00:07:17.160 --> 00:07:20.959 ten locations and make sure that we're focusing on that side. Because of Covid 105 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:25.120 we haven't actually been able to do that, but as soon as mass a 106 00:07:25.240 --> 00:07:29.600 off, we fully intend to, you know, take that habit into our 107 00:07:29.639 --> 00:07:32.680 production schedule as well. That's great because I'm just kind of reminiscing now about 108 00:07:32.759 --> 00:07:38.399 last week's episode with Dr Mark Job at Moody Bible Institute. He really talked 109 00:07:38.439 --> 00:07:44.199 about the importance of authentic storytelling and really leaning into video and it seems to 110 00:07:44.279 --> 00:07:46.360 me like that's a lot of the lessons that you learned through this experience with 111 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:49.879 the college tour and and it would probably go forward, like you said. 112 00:07:49.560 --> 00:07:54.439 Now tell me a little bit about how I mean anytime you invest in some 113 00:07:54.519 --> 00:07:58.000 new way of communicating, I mean certainly everybody says, Oh, if I 114 00:07:58.040 --> 00:08:01.079 can put a billboard up at the airport or at this location in town, 115 00:08:01.079 --> 00:08:07.560 than I can expect these kind of results. What kind of tangible results have 116 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:11.399 you guys seen from from, you know, being the inaugural episode on this 117 00:08:11.079 --> 00:08:16.639 Prime TV, imdb type TV experience? You know it. The Roi is 118 00:08:16.680 --> 00:08:18.439 tough too, and I always struggle with this. Is, you know, 119 00:08:18.680 --> 00:08:24.199 proving a very clear Roi and the efforts that we make. I will say 120 00:08:24.199 --> 00:08:28.240 that it's just anecdotally, it's been phenomenal. So we were really focusing on 121 00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:31.200 reaching perspective students, reaching their parents, and that's about as far as as 122 00:08:31.200 --> 00:08:37.679 we were expecting. The other audiences we reached have been so powerful to, 123 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:41.399 you know, our leadership. So we reached our you know, other college 124 00:08:41.399 --> 00:08:46.720 presidents were superimpressed. Other, you know, people who are on foundations that 125 00:08:46.759 --> 00:08:50.759 we have close relationships with. It really really reach through all sort of levels 126 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:56.200 of society, which was and just every single constituency. The alumni loved it, 127 00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:00.639 the parents loved it, current students loved it, and so we were 128 00:09:00.679 --> 00:09:05.279 just really pleased with the how far they the message really reach. It was 129 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:11.120 tough to make a exact correlation between being on the college tour and and how 130 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:15.519 we are performing admission wise, but our admissions up, we just said, 131 00:09:15.559 --> 00:09:20.639 are in the fall we had our largest freshman class in fifteen years and our 132 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:24.480 largest overall class in five years. So I definitely the college tour had something 133 00:09:24.519 --> 00:09:26.879 to do. It do with it, even if we couldn't make every single 134 00:09:26.960 --> 00:09:30.559 line connect there. That's great. That's great. I think it's it's unique. 135 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:33.759 It's interesting to me that, as you describe the different constituents that kind 136 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:37.120 of were touched by that, you know, you obviously that's a that's a 137 00:09:37.159 --> 00:09:39.240 diverse group of people that you just talked about with. You've got your board, 138 00:09:39.320 --> 00:09:43.600 you've got other college presidents, you've got your own leadership, parents, 139 00:09:43.639 --> 00:09:46.080 I mean all kinds of people. I guess that kind of even reflects back 140 00:09:46.120 --> 00:09:50.240 to Troy's initial conversation early on, is that when we look at how, 141 00:09:50.279 --> 00:09:54.159 you know, even like the Tallet College tour could impact, you know, 142 00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:56.919 the internal constituents that are very diverse, but that kind of starts to reflect 143 00:09:56.919 --> 00:10:01.360 a little bit about how the college tours also impacting your external diversity because, 144 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:05.919 I mean, as you mentioned earlier, got a very unique and diverse community 145 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:09.919 making sure that that's represented. I mean, certainly that was happened in the 146 00:10:09.960 --> 00:10:13.759 college door, but how are you taking those lessons learned and kind of making 147 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:18.440 sure that the rest of your marketing communications are really reflecting that diversity and who 148 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:20.600 you really are across the board? Authenticity is the name of the game. 149 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:24.159 So we really, you know, we try not to stage too much. 150 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:30.240 We lean very closely into representing our real students and their real stories the same 151 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:33.080 way we did with the college tour. Is What's reflected on our social media 152 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:37.440 and we've got a new social media coordinator in place and she is coming up 153 00:10:37.480 --> 00:10:41.960 with all kinds of amazing new video series that can really show our student story. 154 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:45.799 She is pushing US way into more video. We used to do, 155 00:10:45.960 --> 00:10:50.360 you know, heavily on photography and let the video creep in on our social 156 00:10:50.440 --> 00:10:54.519 and now I'd think it's an eight twenty split the other direction. We're incredibly 157 00:10:54.559 --> 00:10:56.799 heavy on video and on making sure one of the things we're focusing on this 158 00:10:56.840 --> 00:11:01.240 semester on our team is making sure that the student story is what's told by 159 00:11:01.320 --> 00:11:05.519 students. So we're always hoping to do that. But we're doing a lot 160 00:11:05.559 --> 00:11:09.720 more day in the life videos with students on you know, shooting their own 161 00:11:09.720 --> 00:11:16.320 content. We're doing working with our influencer and ambassador programs and we're starting a 162 00:11:16.360 --> 00:11:20.679 new series called college cuts that will highlight our student research in the words of 163 00:11:20.679 --> 00:11:24.279 our students. So super excited about all those options. That's great. Just 164 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:28.039 out of curiosity. What what social channels are you leaning on for this? 165 00:11:28.360 --> 00:11:31.759 The student stories? We're really heavy on Instagram, mostly on reels these days, 166 00:11:31.799 --> 00:11:35.679 and you know, as instagrams pivoting sort of within itself, I think 167 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:39.759 it's a very interesting platform. Tick Tock is another really fun one for us 168 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:45.399 and that's where we really push truly student generated content, because you don't want 169 00:11:45.399 --> 00:11:48.679 to look like the old guy and the one who doesn't know how it's supposed 170 00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:52.720 to be working or the one taking itself too seriously. It's exactly yeah, 171 00:11:52.840 --> 00:11:56.639 we're really you know, we're soliciting ideas from students really actively. We hire 172 00:11:56.679 --> 00:12:01.519 a ton of student interns so that we can make sure that our audience and 173 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:03.840 that we're using media in the right way to reach our perspective students. I 174 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:07.799 love that because I think that far too often, I think that we try 175 00:12:07.799 --> 00:12:11.919 to think at it, think of the marketing through the Lens of who we 176 00:12:11.960 --> 00:12:16.480 are personally. So, you know, like myself, a fifty two year 177 00:12:16.519 --> 00:12:20.399 old, you know, White Male, is not going to necessarily know exactly 178 00:12:20.519 --> 00:12:22.279 the right way to do social media. I mean, I'm a professional, 179 00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:26.679 so I can point in the direction by asking questions like this and observing. 180 00:12:26.759 --> 00:12:30.720 But at the same time I think you're right. The students voice is going 181 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:35.000 to be a lot clear, a lot more articulate and more powerful on platforms 182 00:12:35.080 --> 00:12:39.720 like tick talk and Instagram, whereas you know, maybe that maybe there's more 183 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:45.840 ways to use facebook and other areas for alumni and some of those other constituencies 184 00:12:45.879 --> 00:12:48.200 that we talked about, but I think that's just a I bring that point 185 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:54.080 up because I find still far too many schools are relying on facebook to try 186 00:12:54.080 --> 00:12:58.639 to recruit students and I'm guessing that's not part of your strategy. They are 187 00:12:58.679 --> 00:13:01.799 not there. I mean we're absolutely putting content out there, but you're right, 188 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:05.440 we're angling it more towards influencers. Be that. Parents do that, 189 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:11.399 you know, high school counselors. So we're trying to be in every platform 190 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:13.960 where we can actually do it well. I always say that it's better to 191 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:18.120 be on fewer platforms and get it right than to try to be everywhere. 192 00:13:18.279 --> 00:13:20.879 But you know, when we're reaching students, were making sure that we're hitting 193 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:24.679 the right demographics of those media. That's great. If anyone has a conversation 194 00:13:24.840 --> 00:13:31.320 with Lindsay, you going to hear the phrase the Skyhawk Way and I'm assuming 195 00:13:31.399 --> 00:13:35.440 that's part of the DNA when you are at Fort Lewis. But like to 196 00:13:35.480 --> 00:13:41.639 talk formally about branding and you know your approach to how you develop your brand 197 00:13:41.720 --> 00:13:46.159 and if you could share with us over the years how that's come about. 198 00:13:46.279 --> 00:13:50.320 Absolutely I think we've had a really interesting journey in that in that world. 199 00:13:50.360 --> 00:13:52.600 You know, five ten years ago we didn't even have much of a marketing 200 00:13:52.600 --> 00:13:56.080 department. When I started here fifteen years ago, the marketing department was one 201 00:13:56.120 --> 00:14:01.200 and a half people and it's slowly grown over time. But because of a 202 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:05.159 lack of resources, both human and financial, we didn't have a lot of 203 00:14:05.159 --> 00:14:09.200 clarity around who we were and who what our brand was. So in two 204 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:13.519 thousand and eighteen, two thousand and nineteen, we started really addressing that. 205 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:18.000 It started with a website audit where we just wanted to update our website and 206 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:20.840 the company we worked with on that audit said you you can't even start on 207 00:14:20.840 --> 00:14:24.360 your website yet. You need to figure out this core of who you are 208 00:14:24.519 --> 00:14:28.000 first, and so we took their advice. We really reached out for an 209 00:14:28.039 --> 00:14:33.799 ARP for our brand articulation. We ended up with a firm called one hundred 210 00:14:33.799 --> 00:14:37.759 and sixty over ninety. It's out of mostly Lah and Philly, and we 211 00:14:37.879 --> 00:14:39.840 the you know, they spent a lot of time on our campus. We 212 00:14:39.879 --> 00:14:43.960 talked to them nonstop and they did an incredible job of diving deep into who 213 00:14:43.960 --> 00:14:48.679 you are and really helping us articulate our brand both visually and conceptually and verbally, 214 00:14:50.200 --> 00:14:52.519 and that is has given us this really powerful playbook that we still use 215 00:14:52.600 --> 00:14:56.960 till today and will continue to use on for many more years. For sure. 216 00:14:56.960 --> 00:15:00.360 That's great. I've got a great deal of respect for that company. 217 00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:03.759 They do they do great work and I think that, you know, I 218 00:15:03.799 --> 00:15:07.840 think it's such a powerful tool and I think it really, kind of, 219 00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:13.039 really, kind of gives some freedom to the clients when they can clearly articulate 220 00:15:13.080 --> 00:15:15.919 the brand. Because, I mean, I think everybody kind of gets it 221 00:15:15.960 --> 00:15:20.200 internally and it's like I get it, and especially we hear that when students 222 00:15:20.200 --> 00:15:22.080 come to do a campus visit. I mean every every school will say, 223 00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:24.200 well, if I can get them on campus, then I know that they're 224 00:15:24.200 --> 00:15:28.480 going to come. And I think that that is the fact that the students 225 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:31.360 are coming in there experiencing the brand. They're they're living it out and I 226 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:35.360 think part of the challenge for schools and high reed marketers is how can we 227 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:41.240 articulate that and put it and put it into a playbook that we can repeat 228 00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:43.679 outside of a campus visit. We can repeat in, you know, in 229 00:15:43.799 --> 00:15:48.000 a in a show like the college tour, we can repeat and in an 230 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:52.080 instagram post or, you know, an ad in a paper, click add 231 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:56.120 or other ways. I think that you know what was some of those threads 232 00:15:56.200 --> 00:16:00.279 that they found when they looked at the Skyhawk way, I mean, if 233 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:02.720 you kind of look at your playbook, what are kind of those threads that 234 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:03.879 kind of go through that? A lot of it, I mean we have 235 00:16:04.039 --> 00:16:07.559 our students come from such diverse backgrounds that that's something we always struggled with. 236 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:11.720 And when you talk about a lot of times people on campus have the right 237 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:17.120 concept. It's just struggling to articulate it. Even within campus we really struggled 238 00:16:17.159 --> 00:16:21.799 to to all be consistent about saying who we were. Some people believed we 239 00:16:21.799 --> 00:16:25.799 were a very classic Leoberal Arts Institution. Others thought it was more of a 240 00:16:25.799 --> 00:16:30.519 ski and adventure school. So we had a lot of different inflicting messages and 241 00:16:30.600 --> 00:16:34.039 so a lot of the work that we did with one sixty over ninety came 242 00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:38.279 out to this common threat of Grit. So whether our students are coming from, 243 00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:44.360 you know, inner city Denver or a reservation in New Mexico or, 244 00:16:44.399 --> 00:16:47.799 you know, Marine County in California, they're all bring a certain amount of 245 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:49.759 grit with them and that's what led them to Fort Louis. We be life. 246 00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:55.279 So it's just really interesting to find that commonality among our very disparate student 247 00:16:55.440 --> 00:16:59.480 group. And so a lot of our our you know, our pillars of 248 00:16:59.480 --> 00:17:03.640 our brand speak to that and speak to working through challenges and, you know, 249 00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:07.519 finding your own way. Things like that became the key of who we 250 00:17:07.559 --> 00:17:11.720 are and you know, it's really helped us. I think our increased enrollment 251 00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:18.119 numbers speak to finding students that are excited to be here and want to connect 252 00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:21.680 with it. You know, we're a small rural school. We're not for 253 00:17:21.720 --> 00:17:25.519 everybody. We don't have Greek life. We, you know, are we 254 00:17:25.559 --> 00:17:27.359 do have an NCAA division two. We have a lot of great sports, 255 00:17:27.400 --> 00:17:30.279 but it's very different than a big state school, even like the one I 256 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:36.640 attended. So I think finding students that are excited to be here for what 257 00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:40.279 Durango and the Fort Louis campus offers, those of the students that are going 258 00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:44.599 to stick around, be really successful and take advantage of what's here. That's 259 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:48.680 great. I love the I love that. How even that Word Grit, 260 00:17:48.680 --> 00:17:52.359 I mean that's obviously not showing up in your in your headlines and all that 261 00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:56.480 necessarily, but I think it gives you a framework and I think that's one 262 00:17:56.480 --> 00:18:00.200 of the important things that a brand, a clear brand articulation and really walking 263 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:04.440 away with a good brand deliverable can allow you to do because all of a 264 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:07.799 sudden it gives you that framework to be able to say, how do we 265 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:15.240 communicate these these these stories that overcome challenges, how do we share these different 266 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:19.680 aspects of who we are through this, through this filter and lens of Grit, 267 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:23.759 without necessarily, you know, saying that you know specifically, and I 268 00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:27.920 think that's what really makes up a really good grant brand program several times. 269 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:32.960 So that's great. Lindsay, if you've listened to this show, you know 270 00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:37.400 that we always ask from your perspective, and I guess, in through the 271 00:18:37.480 --> 00:18:42.279 Lens of uniquely marketing a brand, if there's a piece of advice or theory, 272 00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:48.359 an idea that you could offer other marketers out there that they could implement 273 00:18:48.440 --> 00:18:52.839 almost immediately. What would your advice be? I think my best advice is 274 00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:56.240 to hire good people and to listen to them. You know, and in 275 00:18:56.319 --> 00:19:00.519 my role we've talked about as as we sort of age out of digital marketing 276 00:19:00.599 --> 00:19:04.079 or social media, it's so important to stay in tune with young staff and 277 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:11.200 students and just staff with very specific areas of expertise and really let them do 278 00:19:11.240 --> 00:19:15.119 their thing and support them in that journey. So that's I mean, I 279 00:19:15.160 --> 00:19:18.359 am so fortunate to have such an amazing group of team of people that I 280 00:19:18.440 --> 00:19:22.319 get to work with every day and they just create the most amazing stuff and 281 00:19:22.359 --> 00:19:26.880 they collaborate well and we get recognition for it and we are able to serve 282 00:19:26.920 --> 00:19:30.599 the students that we do because of that. So it's that's something I feel 283 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:37.319 pretty passionately about and I see sometimes a larger organizations just the complexity. Let's 284 00:19:37.400 --> 00:19:41.559 that not happen. If you have a super rigid brand, I think you're 285 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:45.279 not able to flex and be creative like a creative team should be. So 286 00:19:45.480 --> 00:19:49.079 listen to your staff. That's great. That's great. Thank you, Lindsay. 287 00:19:49.160 --> 00:19:55.079 If anyone would like to contact you as a result of this conversation, 288 00:19:55.759 --> 00:19:57.799 what would be the best way for them to do that? Definitely can reach 289 00:19:57.799 --> 00:20:02.359 out to me on Linkedin, Lindsay, and I quest it might be the 290 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:07.160 only one. That's great. Thank you for being a guest with us. 291 00:20:07.200 --> 00:20:11.799 Really enjoyed learning more about you and Fort Lewis Awesome. Thanks so much to 292 00:20:11.799 --> 00:20:15.839 both of you. Bart do you have any thoughts that you would like to 293 00:20:15.880 --> 00:20:18.640 share before we close out today? Yeah, I just have a couple things 294 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:21.799 that I kind of want to pull to the top of the surface here from 295 00:20:21.799 --> 00:20:25.359 what Lindsay has said, and I want to encourage everyone because I know there's 296 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:29.079 a lot of different demographics of schools that listen to the podcast. I mean, 297 00:20:29.079 --> 00:20:32.119 we've been growing over the past year and we're grateful for that, but 298 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:34.559 I know that there are some schools out there that listen to this and you 299 00:20:34.599 --> 00:20:38.079 have one person or one and a half people, as Lindsay kind of talked 300 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:41.640 about, you know, fifteen years ago when she started at Fort Lewis. 301 00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:45.559 I just want to encourage you that as things change, as things grow, 302 00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:52.559 as marketing impacts things on campus, your team will grow as well, and 303 00:20:52.599 --> 00:20:56.839 I think that what you're hearing Lindsay say today is it should be encouragement for 304 00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:00.160 you to kind of look and prepare and head down the path, start doing 305 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:03.200 the things that are kind of maybe what you can do because you're nimble, 306 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:07.279 because you're small, but also kind of listen to the the the wisdom that 307 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:11.720 comes through this show. I mean Lindsay kind of talked about the authenticity that 308 00:21:11.759 --> 00:21:15.839 she's trying to and her team or trying to come come across with with their 309 00:21:15.880 --> 00:21:18.720 storytelling, with their video, what they learned from the college tour. And 310 00:21:18.759 --> 00:21:21.880 maybe you're not going to be able to have the college tour come to your 311 00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:25.960 campus, but you can watch several seasons of that college tour and see how 312 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:27.839 see the patterns that they do and how they're doing that. You know, 313 00:21:27.960 --> 00:21:30.960 borrow from that. I mean, and I think that Alex would say that 314 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:34.720 just as much as as he did on his episode, take advantage of that 315 00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:38.000 and to and see and look at what other people are doing apply it to 316 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:41.559 your own school, obviously to be the most authentic, but kind of lean 317 00:21:41.640 --> 00:21:45.400 into those places. And then also just this whole idea of brand really taking 318 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:48.799 the time and if you can, if you can afford to have somebody on 319 00:21:48.839 --> 00:21:52.119 the outside come in, it's probably going to be better. But even if 320 00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:56.039 you just want to do your own exercises internally just to say who are we 321 00:21:56.079 --> 00:21:59.920 and what makes us different, there's all kinds of books, there's resources out 322 00:21:59.960 --> 00:22:02.799 there to be able to walk you through that. But if you can have 323 00:22:02.839 --> 00:22:06.519 that and you can have a playbook, all of a sudden your marketing starts 324 00:22:06.519 --> 00:22:08.240 to take off and it really starts to get legs of its own, and 325 00:22:08.279 --> 00:22:11.000 I think that Lindsay kind of demonstrated that in some of the stories that she 326 00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:17.160 told and the way that they're seeing success in their enrollment and seeing success and 327 00:22:17.240 --> 00:22:22.000 some of the marketing aspects they're doing even by, you know, internal recognition 328 00:22:22.079 --> 00:22:25.640 from the board or from other presidents in the region. It's a lot of 329 00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:29.119 things that can kind of play into that. So again, authenticity, video 330 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:32.839 and brand and being encourage that, even if you're a small shop, you 331 00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:36.720 can continue to do the good things and grow into something much bigger. Well 332 00:22:36.920 --> 00:22:40.759 said, Bart. That brings us to the end of another episode of the 333 00:22:40.839 --> 00:22:45.440 High Ed Marketer podcast. I show was always sponsored by Taylor solutions and education 334 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:52.519 marketing and branding agency and by think patented a marketing execution company combining print and 335 00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:59.160 personalization for engagement success. On behalf of Bart Kaylor, my cohost, I'm 336 00:22:59.240 --> 00:23:04.759 Troye singer. We are grateful that you joined us. You've been listening to 337 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:10.200 the Higher Ed Marketer. To ensure that you never miss an episode, subscribe 338 00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:15.079 to the show in your favorite podcast player. If you're listening with apple podcasts. 339 00:23:15.079 --> 00:23:18.359 We'd love for you to leave a quick rating of the show. Simply 340 00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:22.400 tap the number of stars you think the podcast deserves. Until next time,