Marketing on a Shoestring: A Case Study Elizabeth A. Evans UNC-Chapel Hill ITS Teaching and Learning December 2007

its.unc.edu 2 Think About This (You’ll be asked later.) What marketing have you tried? What have been the results?

its.unc.edu 3 What We Wanted Increased use of our computer- based training service (CBT)

its.unc.edu 4 Why We Want(ed) It  Cost of license  Decreased face-to-face training  Learning style flexibility  Supplement face-to-face training Modular Point of need Review

its.unc.edu 5 And You? What would you like more people to use or do or attend? Why?

its.unc.edu 6 Caveats  This isn’t rocket science.  We do what we can with what we have; we’re not perfect.

its.unc.edu 7 Long Ago (in technology terms)  Previous CBT service About 500 users Mostly technical courses (OS, programming, etc) Self-contained authentication Publicity was primarily announcements to technical staff lists First began by 1997 (might have been earlier)

its.unc.edu 8 The New Service  Replaced technical courses with productivity ones (~500)  Used single sign-on server (campus login/password) for authentication  Changed vendors User interface change Users have to “subscribe”  Go Live Date: June 2005 (pilot: May 2005)

its.unc.edu 9 Modifications to the Service: August 2006  Decreased number of license seats  Added many technical courses (~2200)  In collaboration with HR, added soft skills courses (~40)

its.unc.edu Results First

its.unc.edu 11 Some Data New Subscribers by Month

its.unc.edu 12 Some Data Total Subscribers Growth

its.unc.edu 13 Some Data Number of Logins by Month/Year

its.unc.edu 14 Some Data Number of Logins by Month/Year

its.unc.edu 15 Some Data  By Aug 2006: 755 courses completed by 341 people  By Jul 2007: 1790 courses completed by 686 people  By Aug 2006: 2373 courses attended by 893 people  By Jul 2007: 5828 courses attended by 1849 people

its.unc.edu The Marketing

its.unc.edu 17 Marketing Elements: Articles  Original announcement: faculty/staff newspaper, ITS publications, campus lists (electronic)  Ongoing: New courses, Milestones, Contest  Milestones: Number of subscribers, Collaboration with HR for soft skills courses  Reminders: General, annual development plans  Others: Departmental newsletters

its.unc.edu 18 Marketing Elements: Brochures  Black and white  Can be photocopied in-house  Copies to anyone who will make them available  Information fairs  Events

its.unc.edu 19 Marketing Elements: Lists  New courses  Offer brochures  Try to tie content to specific list (eg. technical courses to technical lists, soft skills courses to University Managers Association list, etc)

its.unc.edu 20 Marketing Elements: Mass Mail  Reminder to staff/students in January  Reminder to faculty in fall/spring  Development plan reminder to staff April/May (with Human Resources)  Formerly: reminders to never-logged-in subscribers

its.unc.edu 21 Marketing Elements: Summer 2006 Contest  Two $50 gift certificates to Student Stores (contributed by vendor)  One entry for a new subscription  One entry for completing a course  The more courses completed, the more entries  Open to faculty, staff, and students

its.unc.edu 22 Marketing Elements: Info Fairs  Employee appreciation event  SPH student info fair  International student info fair

its.unc.edu 23 Marketing Elements: Human Resources  HR Training Guide  Employee Learning Connection  HR certificate programs  HR Training & Development Web site

its.unc.edu 24 Marketing Elements: Web Sites  Link from Faculty/Staff Web site  Links from ITS Web sites  help.unc.edu searches  Others we don’t know about or control

its.unc.edu 25 Marketing Elements: Presentations  Carolina Technology Consultant updates  Mentioned in presentations about other things

its.unc.edu 26 Marketing Elements: Incoming Students  Info at student orientation sessions

its.unc.edu 27 Marketing Elements: Milestone Markers  Numbers of subscribers (5,000 coming up!)  Collaboration with HR  Adding technical course catalogs

its.unc.edu 28 Marketing Elements: Hidden Publicity  Newsletters, Web sites, messages that are created by others in response to what we do

its.unc.edu 29 A Quick Summary  Frequent  Multiple formats  Repeat the same message  Look for opportunities for new messages  still works for staff

its.unc.edu 30 In Other Words  Once is not enough.  Three times is not the charm  A Web site is not sufficient publicity.  An announcement of a new service is not sufficient publicity.  Point of need matters.

its.unc.edu 31 My User Wish List  More student use  Fewer “no logins”  Hit the license ceiling :-)  More faculty use???

its.unc.edu 32 My Marketing Wish List  Facebook advertisements $  Facebook fan site (just created!)  Nicer brochure $$  Sandwich board walkers $  Info table on quad  Other ideas?

its.unc.edu 33 The Big Question: Your Turn What is the saturation point of this or any other service?

its.unc.edu 34 You’ve been thinking about… What have you tried? What have been the results?

its.unc.edu 35 Finally Questions? Comments?