Web Ad.vantage polled university and college marketing directors and web program managers attending the EduWeb Conference. The data reveals that online marketing demand far outpaces college and university resources.
1. Respondent Information
Response pool = 222
Total # of respondents = 33
Response percentage = 14.8%
2. Rank which areas you focus the majority of your online
marketing efforts on, where 1 is the most focus and 4 is the least
focus.
| 1 (Most Focus) | 2 | 3 | 4 (Least Focus) | N/A | |
| Undergraduate Student Enrollment | 66.7% (20) | 20.0% (6) | 3.3% (1) | 10.0% (3) | 0.0% (0) |
| Graduate Student Enrollment | 16.0% (4) | 20.0% (5) | 8.0% (2) | 28.0% (7) | 28.0% (7) |
| Institutional Public Relations | 24.0% (6) | 20.0% (5) | 44.0% (11) | 4.0% (1) | 8.0% (2) |
| Alumni Contributions | 8.3% (2) | 33.3% (8) | 29.2% (7) | 16.7% (4) | 12.5% (3) |
3. What kinds of outreach do you currently do to monitorand assess student marketing trends, preferences and/or tendencies as they relate to digital marketing? (Check all that apply)
|
Response |
|
| Questions included on applications |
40.6% |
| Questions included on entrance documents |
37.5% |
| Online polls/surveys on website |
62.5% |
| Site surveys (conducted by students) |
21.9% |
| Independent researchers/agencies |
40.6% |
| None of the above |
15.6% |
4. If you currently poll student enrollees to learn about how they found your school online, which of these responses MOST applies (Check only one):
|
Response |
|
| I do not poll enrollees on how they found our university web site |
44.8% |
| Most enrollees go directly to the university web site by entering URL |
34.5% |
| Search engine keyword searches by University name |
20.7% |
| Search engine keyword searches by subject area/discipline |
0.0% |
| Search engine keyword searches by Majors/Degrees offered |
0.0% |
| Search engine keyword searches by faculty name |
0.0% |
5. If student polls reveal search engine keyword searches as a main source of traffic to your web site, rank the order of search engine popularity for prospective students.
| 1 (Most Popular) | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 (Least Popular) | |
| 100.0% (19) | 0.0% (0) | 0.0% (0) | 0.0% (0) | 0.0% (0) | |
| Yahoo | 0.0% (0) | 62.5% (5) | 37.5% (3) | 0.0% (0) | 0.0% (0) |
| MSN | 0.0% (0) | 12.5% (1) | 50.0% (4) | 37.5% (3) | 0.0% (0) |
| ASK | 0.0% (0) | 0.0% (0) | 16.7% (1) | 16.7% (1) | 66.7% (4) |
| AOL | 0.0% (0) | 33.3% (2) | 0.0% (0) | 33.3% (2) | 33.3% (2) |
6. Describe your current online marketing team:
|
Response |
|
| One internal staff person | 32.3% |
| Staff of less than 5 | 51.6% |
| Staff of more than 5 | 6.5% |
| Staff of less than 5 and agency | 6.5% |
| Staff of 5 or more and agency | 3.2% |
7. What is your current, annual online marketing budget EXCLUDING Web site design/graphic design:
|
Response |
|
| $0 - 10K | 43.3% |
| $10 - 25K | 20.0% |
| $25 - 50K | 10.0% |
| $50 - 100K | 6.7% |
| > $100K | 6.7% |
| Don’t know | 13.3% |
8. What percent of your TOTAL marketing budget does online marketing currently represent?
|
Response |
|
| 0 – 10% | 44.8% |
| 10 - 20% | 17.2% |
| 20 – 30% | 6.9% |
| 30 – 50% | 10.3% |
| > 50% | 3.5% |
| Don’t know | 17.2% |
9. Rank the following in terms of posing the biggest challenge/barrier to executing online marketing projects for you (1 being least challenging):
| 1 (Least Challenging) | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 (Most Challenging) | |
| Budget | 16.1% (5) | 9.7% (3) | 3.2% (1) | 25.8% (8) | 45.2% (14) |
| Internal Buy-In/Consensus | 25.9% (7) | 25.9% (7) | 11.1% (3) | 22.2% (6) | 14.8% (4) |
| Lack of interest, understanding | 25.0% (7) | 28.6% (8) | 25.0% (7) | 10.7% (3) | 10.7% (3) |
| Limited Online Marketing Knowledge | 18.5% (5) | 29.6% (8) | 33.3% (9) | 11.1% (3) | 7.4% (2) |
| Staffing/Resources | 10.7% (3) | 0.0% (0) | 32.1% (9) | 28.6% (8) | 28.6% (8) |
10. What online marketing tactics you have undertaken in the PAST 12 months. (Check all that apply)
|
Response |
|
| Search Engine Marketing (SEO, PPC, site linking, etc.) |
51.6% |
| Online Advertising (display ads, text links, contextual advertising, advertorial, etc.) |
45.2% |
| Email Marketing (list rental, email campaigns, etc.) |
90.3% |
| Online Public Relations (newsroom and press release search engine optimization, press release online distribution, etc) |
58.1% |
| Social Media (social media optimization/reputation management, blogs, RSS feeds, etc.) |
51.6% |
| Video Marketing or Advertising (YouTube, Google Video, etc.) |
25.8% |
| Mobile Advertising (SMS/text messaging campaigns, etc.) |
9.7% |
11. What online marketing tactics are you currently planning to undertake in the NEXT 12 months? (Check all that apply)
|
Response |
|
| Search Marketing (SEO, PPC, site linking, etc.) |
60.0% |
| Online Advertising (display ads, text links, contextual advertising, advertorial, etc.) |
56.7% |
| Email Marketing (list rental, email campaigns, etc.) |
66.7% |
| Online Public Relations (newsroom and press release search engine optimization, press release online distribution, etc) |
46.7% |
| Social Media (social media optimization/reputation management, blogs, RSS feeds, etc.) |
76.7% |
| Video Marketing or Advertising (YouTube, Google Video, etc.) |
66.7% |
| Mobile Advertising (SMS/text messaging campaigns, etc.) |
20.0% |
| Other (please specify) | 3.3% |
12. Rank your current online marketing efforts in order of importance/budget allocation where 1 is most important, and 6 is least important:
| 1 (Most Important) | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 (Least Important) | |
| PPC (Pay-per-Click Advertising) | 4.2% (1) | 4.2% (1) | 12.5% (3) | 4.2% (1) | 33.3% (8) | 41.7% (10) |
| SEO (Search Engine Optimization) | 20.0% (5) | 12.0% (3) | 16.0% (4) | 28.0% (7) | 16.0% (4) | 8.0% (2) |
| Email Marketing | 38.5% (10) | 26.9% (7) | 11.5% (3) | 11.5% (3) | 7.7% (2) | 3.8% (1) |
| Social Media/Marketing | 17.4% (4) | 26.1% (6) | 17.4% (4) | 30.4% (7) | 4.3% (1) | 4.3% (1) |
| Online Public Relations | 25.9% (7) | 14.8% (4) | 18.5% (5) | 18.5% (5) | 11.1% (3) | 11.1% (3) |
| Paid Lead Generation/Ads | 8.3% (2) | 16.7% (4) | 20.8% (5) | 8.3% (2) | 20.8% (5) | 25.0% (6) |
13. How do you measure/track your current online marketing campaign ROI/effectiveness? (Check all that apply)
|
Response |
|
| Software web analytic tools/reports | 72.4% |
| Agency reports | 34.5% |
| In-house enrollment reports | 51.7% |
| Website traffic reports | 79.3% |
| Unique URLs | 41.4% |
| Alumni contributions | 31.0% |
| Other (please explain) | 0.0% |
Additional Question for eduWeb Conference Attendees. List your 3 main objectives/take-aways you’d like to gain from attending the 2007 eduWeb conference:
General Online Marketing / Advertising information (online
strategy, buy-in, ideas, tactics) = 42%
Social Media (blogs, social networking) = 33%
Website development and improvement (from strategy to content) = 29%
Ideas & brainstorming = 25%
New technologies, tools and vendor products = 21%
Networking with peers = 17%
SEO = 17%
Web Analytics = 13%
Email Marketing = 8 %
Other responses:
better print
options for capital campaign
integrated markets
Related Links:
EduWeb Conference Web site
Hollis Thomases’ ClickZ.com article “Surveying Higher Education About Online Marketing”
WebAd.vantage.net Press Release
back to topYour workshop couldn't have come at a better time! You've helped my company and me gain the knowledge needed to get that 'edge' over our competitors.
Tegrant Corporation/ Alloyd Brands, LPA Member
