Chapter Audience:

• Program Managers

Marketing

Without marketing and promotion, a new program risks becoming your institution’s best kept secret. While established programs may be able to rely on word of mouth and reputation to recruit learners, new programs must expend considerable resources to raise awareness about the new training among prospective learners and employers. They must also convince their targeted audience that completing the program will be a good investment of their time and money, resulting in tangible outcomes that address their needs. The journey that the learner takes as they move from becoming aware of the training to enrolling and using their new knowledge is captured in Figure 1.

This chapter provides resources for developing a promotional strategy to help facilitate the learner’s journey, particularly through the early stages of becoming aware of and choosing a program. It also presents two approaches for developers to select from for launching their new program.

Timelines

There is a tendency to market a new program only once it is fully developed or nearing completion. The rationale for adopting this approach is twofold. First, it buffers against delays in the development of the program and ensures that there are no false starts. The second reason is that institutions want to invest marketing dollars to generate registrations; if a program is not ready to enroll learners, there is a tendency to view the promotional expenditure as not generating a return on its investment.

Waiting to market a new program once it is developed can work, especially when the institution is well known in a particular field. It is also appropriate when there is a partnership with an organization that has committed to sending its employees to the training and a short marketing period is sufficient to recruit learners.

However, when the micro-credential is new, and in a field where prospective learners may not know to turn to the institution for training, or where there is no built-in pool of registrants, it may be wise to consider promoting the program earlier.

While the program is under development, it is generating content that could be used in its promotion. This content – syllabi, video clips, blogging by the instructor with updates on the course’s development, milestones in registration (e.g., 75 per cent full), interviews with employers helping to develop the program – could be posted on social media. This kind of advance promotion acts as “sneak peaks” that raise awareness and enthusiasm among prospective learners. It also gives them an authentic feel for what the program will provide and who is involved, helping them make the decision to enroll in the program.

Thinking about the program’s promotion could even begin sooner, as early as its inception. In the Using Start-Up Models case study below, Joyce Ip of Capilano University suggests promoting the prospect of a new micro-credential as a way to gauge interest in a program through the response of prospective learners. In other words, promotion and the needs assessment for a new program are merged into a single step.

The take-away from this section is that planning the marketing of a program should go hand in hand with its development.

Envision Your Target

Identify Your Goals

As with any project, it’s best to begin with a clear goal and direct all your efforts toward that target. If your goal is to increase your unit’s reputation in a field, the marketing tactics that you will use will likely be different from those that seek to generate registrations in a particular program.

Ask yourself why you are investing resources in marketing. The answer for most micro-credentials is likely to be that you want to generate registrations. However, there may be other goals as well. For example, your goals may be to:

• Generate excitement for a new program ahead of its launch.
• Obtain a list of prospective learners for your program, as a way to gauge interest in a new micro-credential and to market new programs related to these people’s interests as they become available (in marketing speak, this is called “generating leads”).
• Let the community know that a long-awaited program is now accepting registrations (e.g., a Level 2 training for an existing successful program).
• Increase traffic to your unit’s website, particularly if you offer a suite of related micro-credentials (in other words, the goal of the marketing is not to register prospective learners in one micro-credential, but to solicit the interest of people who might be interested in several programs you offer).
• Raise awareness and educate employers about the merits of a new micro-credential so that they can become allies and endorse the new training.
• Position your program or institution’s reputation as a trusted source and authority in a particular training domain^[1].
• Celebrate the success of your program, e.g., by sharing the outcomes of learners who completed the program.
• Attract “repeat customers,” i.e., learners who have taken training from you previously return to refresh their skills and credentials (e.g., to recertify for a credential that has an expiry date).

Create Client (Learner) Profiles

When developing your marketing plan, an important step is to articulate who you are trying to reach and then take steps to gain a deeper understanding of the messages that will resonate with them.

Are you hoping to communicate with prospective new learners, returning learners, employers, or some other group? The messages you craft will be different for each audience.

Identifying your marketing targets is only one step. The next is to research who they are and what they want. Adult learners can be broadly classified into four categories, each with different goals, motivations, and preferences (Eduventures, Inc., 2008; Wiley University Services, 2022):

• 40% are career advancers,
  Who are looking for career progression in their field and want their chosen program to be relevant to their work context;
• 30% are degree completers,
  Who want to finish a degree in order to be agile in the workplace and they want credit for their prior skills and experience;
• 20% are career searchers,
  Who are looking to change careers and seek mentorship and networking opportunities;
• 10% are lifelong learners,
  Who are returning to school for personal growth and enrichment and who seek low-cost opportunities to socialize while learning new thing.

Marketers often create client profiles (sometimes called customer profiles or persona) to envision, in concrete ways, the people for whom they are crafting their messages.

As you create your client profiles, consider the following questions:

Brainstorm answers to these types of questions, but also be prepared to conduct research to ensure your assumptions don’t miss the mark. A short online survey can help generate insights. Some data can also be obtained online in other ways. For example:

• Not sure which social media platform is used by your target audience? Hirose (2022) has a guide with descriptions of the typical user of the main social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and TikTok).
• Marketing tools on most social media platforms allow you to gain insights into their users’ behaviours, interests, demographics, and connections. You can drill down into the data to learn, for example, how their users interested in a specific topic are distributed across the country or how they break down into certain age groups or employment status. What’s more, some social media platforms allow you to create “look-alike” audiences, which are users of the platform who may resemble the people that already follow you on social media.
• Statistics Canada makes census data available and searchable to aid in your research.
• Canada Post’s Precision Targeting tool offers a wealth of information on Canadian neighbourhoods organized by postal code. You can use the interactive map to learn whether the people living in certain neighbourhoods have children, their level of education, their average income, etc.

The Suggested Resources section of this chapter provides examples and templates to create your client profiles.

Articulate Your Program’s Unique Value Proposition

Once the characteristics of the target learners are known, the next step is to articulate how your program can help them achieve their goals and meet their needs. It’s a way to frame the benefits of the program from the perspective of the learner. Identifying this will help you formulate messages that are tailored to your audience.

Beverley Oliver has developed a framework to help institutions think through the value of a training program for learners (Oliver, 2021). The framework, shown in Tables 1a and 1b, categorizes learners into two groups: those seeking a career advantage and those seeking personal interest learning. From there, the framework guides institutions to consider eight benefits of micro-credentials and two costs for the learners. Working through this framework can help an institution develop messaging about a micro-credential from the learner’s perspective.

Anderson et al. (2006) caution against making assumptions about what your prospective learners value, and advise that you conduct research in order to understand them and their concerns, constraints, and challenges. They give the example of a paint manufacturer that initially assumed that their customers prioritized low cost in a paint product. However, after conducting research, they realized that paint only accounted for 15 per cent of their clients’ business expenses; the cost of labour was the most expensive element. The company designed a paint that required fewer coats (and hence lower labour costs) and marketed the product as addressing the customer’s true needs. They even priced the paint 40 per cent higher than their competitors. It was a hit because the product’s value proposition resonated with its audience.

If learners have a choice for training between similar programs, the value proposition should also outline what makes your program distinct.

Once you have researched, identified, and prioritized the value of your program for learners, you should capture it in a brief statement that is one to two sentences long. You can think of it as a tag line or elevator pitch. It can be included in your marketing materials (often it is included on brochures, social media posts, and at the top of a program’s web page description).

As you craft your value proposition statement, be sure to include:

• The main benefit of your program (the one that truly matters to your prospective learners and addresses a need or pain point);
• Why your offering is distinct from similar programs.

Here are examples of value propositions from B.C. micro-credential programs:

• “Build confidence in providing care to victims of violence while preserving critical evidence” (from BCIT’s Advanced Forensic Nurse Examiner microcredential);
• “Launch your career as an editor or validate your experience with a respected credential” (SFU’s Editing Certificate);
• “Accelerated entrepreneurship, business administration, and leadership course content tailored to Indigenous individuals, communities, and organizations that partner with our Ch’nook team” (UBC’s Sauder School of Business’s Ch’nook Accelerated Business Program);
• “Understand basic food safety, learn to protect yourself and others from foodborne illnesses and leave with a 5-year certificate” (Selkirk College’s Foodsafe Level 1 certificate);
• “Help expand the potential of people with disabilities by learning to assess, plan, design, and build accessible venues” (VCC’s Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility CertificationTM Training);
• “An award-winning program for recent immigrant and refugee women to learn how to make and sell handcrafted goods at farmers’ markets and craft fairs in Victoria” (Camosun College’s Maker to Market Program).

Know Your Institutional Context

Before you get too far into your marketing plans, be sure to consult your institution’s marketing documentation and policies. Most B.C. post-secondary institutions have them although they will vary in what they are called and their coverage (e.g., here are UBC’s, Langara College’s, and UNBC’s). Your program’s brand will need to align with your institution’s brand, and your marketing will need to comply with your institutional guidelines. The documents may also specify how the institution’s brand assets (e.g., its logo or motto) must appear and how it should be included on all marketing materials.

Develop Your Brand

People often associate “brand” with a logo and a motto or tag line. While a brand does include these elements, they are the output of a discussion about what the product evokes – what it stands for – not the brand itself. Developing your brand means establishing the characteristics of your finished product. For example, do you want it to reflect an edgy program, with a prototype, bottom-up feel that attracts young entrepreneurs? Or, are you looking to create a more polished product that evokes authority, professionalism, and attention to detail that will appeal to mid-career professionals? This should be a discussion with your team and your partners. Once you have sketched out your brand, every aspect of your program – its content and marketing – should reflect that brand.

More information about developing your brand and its importance in attracting learners to your program is available in the Suggested Resources section.

Review Your Assets

Before you shape your marketing strategy, consider taking stock of your financial and human resources, as well as existing communication channels to reach your target audience. This will ensure that you create a plan that is realistic and achievable.

Budget

Determining how much of a new program’s budget should be spent on marketing can seem like a balancing act. On the one hand, marketing is costly, and it can feel like precious dollars spent on resources that are not directly related to the training of learners. On the other hand, if you underinvest in marketing, you may have to cancel the program for lack of registrations. What’s the right amount to put in the budget?

To find out, a first step is to consult people with expertise in marketing post-secondary programs. Consider contacting the marketing department or school of continuing education at your institution. If you are partnering with another organization in offering the micro-credential, your partner may also be able to offer some insights. If similar programs exist at other institutions, consider reaching out to colleagues there to inquire about their budget and experience. These sources may provide a ballpark number to put into your budget as a placeholder.

You can turn to the business world and examine how much they allocate to marketing new products and services. The amount varies by industry (with education usually on the lower end) but it is usually pegged at around 10 per cent of revenues (Business Development Bank of Canada, n.d; Myers, 2021). This translates to between 10 to 25 per cent of the overall budget based on a 2022 survey of 2,937 American companies (Moorman, 2022).

A third option is to draft your marketing plan and then research the cost of each element in the plan. Be sure to build in a contingency for unexpected costs (10 per cent of the budget is a typical number).

What products or services do marketing costs usually cover? Below is a non-exhaustive list.

• Costs for conducting research on your target audience. This could include the purchase of industry reports or providing a monetary token of appreciation to people completing a survey.
• Creation, purchase, and/or design of multimedia assets such as licensing rights to stock images, hiring a photographer to take original photos, hiring a graphic designer to create logos, posting to social media posts, web pages, print ads, pamphlets, etc.
• Paid digital advertising (the cost of embedding your social media posts in your target audience’s social media feeds). These costs can vary widely depending on the channel (e.g., Google Ads compared to Instagram) as well as the aggressiveness of the marketing campaign.
• Traditional advertising, such as newspaper ads, transit ads, print catalogues pamphlets, and radio or television spots. Fees to rent a vendor table at a professional conference.
• Someone to manage digital marketing, including tasks such as optimizing the likelihood that search engines will find your web page when prospective learners search the internet (aka search engine optimization), analyzing the impact of paid digital advertising, and managing social media posts.
• Subscription or access fees to digital platforms to manage social media calendar, marketing analytics, and other tools to manage your marketing campaign.
• Content producers, if the marketing plan includes a content strategy (this means putting out content on social media that not only serves as an advertisement, but also helps to build an audience and shares your expertise on a topic). A possible content producer is the subject matter expert who develops the curriculum. You may consider building this task into their contract.

Team Resources

It may be helpful to take an inventory of the human resources at your disposal before putting together a marketing plan. This will ensure that you draw upon existing knowledge and skills and do not overshoot your ability to execute.

Some of the people to consult include:

Communication Channels

Finally, review the communication channels at your disposal. These may be ones that you have access to or have used in the past to reach prospective learners. Some ways of reaching your audience may include:

Create a Marketing Plan

What Is a Marketing Plan?

A marketing plan is both a strategic and operational document that captures why you are marketing a program (i.e., your marketing goals) and how you plan to achieve these goals.

Why Do I Need a Marketing Plan?

Why should you invest time in writing a marketing plan? There are several reasons. The first is that sitting down and thinking through each aspect of a new program’s marketing will ensure it is complete and each element is aligned. It creates marketing that is deliberate and targeted as opposed to reactive and inconsistent. It also serves as a communication tool for your team so that everyone understands what is being done, why, when, how, and by whom.

It is important to monitor the audience’s response to your marketing tactics and to adjust the plan in light of this data. In addition, situations sometimes change (e.g., the unexpected announcement of a similar program by a peer institution), requiring that you re-examine your strategy. The marketing plan is just that – a plan – and should be viewed as a living document.

How to Write a Marketing Plan

Although there are several models for writing a marketing plan, it typically contains the following elements, many of which were covered in the above sections.

The Suggested Resources section refers readers to further information for developing a marketing plan and guides for developing a digital marketing strategy. It also provides links to templates and examples.

Promotion Ideas

There are many ways to promote a new micro-credential program.

Traditional marketing ideas:

• Put out a press or news release (see CafePress (n.d.) for instructions on how to write one);
• Write an article or editorial on a newsworthy topic for the local newspaper that is connected to your micro-credential (i.e., “earned media”);
• Purchase a print ad in a local newspaper;
• Develop a pamphlet and use mass mailout to distribute it;
• Use email marketing to promote your new program through your newsletter;
• Advertise on transit (bus shelters, buses, taxies, trains, and ferries);
• Advertise on the radio;
• Pay for an ad campaign using social and/or digital media;
• Use your own social media channels to create engagement (through content marketing) and use the audience to promote your program;
• Create a web page to provide information on your program and serve as a landing page for social, digital, and print advertising.

Strategies specific to the promotion of educational programs:

• Create a splash page for a program before the program is greenlit as a way to gauge interest and decide which programs to develop (see Using Start-Up Models in Stories from the B.C. Post-secondary Sector below);
• Host an information session online or in person;
• Attend an event where your audience will be, e.g., host a booth at a professional conference;
• Provide free public lectures on the topic of your micro-credential to attract an audience of interested people (see UBCO’s Experimentation with Promotional Approaches in Stories from the B.C. Post-secondary Sector below);
• Obtain funding to support free or discounted tuition for the pilot cohort. This group can provide feedback to improve your first offering while spreading news about your program through word of mouth (see UBCO’s Experimentation with Promotional Approaches in Stories from the B.C. Post-secondary Sector below);
• Use tuition discount tactics to encourage registrations, such as early bird specials and package deals (e.g., register for the first two courses in the micro-credential and get the third one for free);
• Promote laddering opportunities in your communications. For example, position the micro-credential as a way for learners to test whether a larger program is right for them (its short duration and cheaper cost reduce the risks) (see BCIT Ladders Micro-credentials into Associate Certificate in the chapter Educational Pathways );
• Search past learner’s digital badges on social media to find success stories about the outcomes of the program.

Launch

Once the marketing has brought learners to your program, it’s time to plan the launch. There are two possible approaches to launching a new program: a soft launch or a splash launch. A soft launch is adopted when the pilot is seen as a prototype. This is typically used when the first cohort buys in to this approach (e.g., if the micro-credential received funding to subsidize the pilot offering’s tuition and the first cohort understands that they are expected to provide feedback to improve the program in exchange for the reduced tuition). A splash launch is used when the content of the course is timely and there is strong institutional support for the program (e.g., the program is linked to a current and public concern for skill shortages in a particular industry). Table 2 compares the two approaches. One approach is not better than the other; choose the one that best fits your situation and needs.

Stories from the B.C. Post-secondary Sector

Using Start-Up Models

At the 2021 Forum of the Continuing Education and Training Association of B.C. (CETABC), Joyce Ip, interim associate vice president of strategic growth, analytics, and continuing studies at Capilano University, presented a session entitled “Start-Up CS: De-Risking Your Program Design by Leveraging the Power of Start-Up Methodology.” Inspired by the book The Lean Startup (Ries, 2011), Ip introduced strategies used by start-up entrepreneurs to safely test whether there is interest and a market for new products. Below, she shares the principles behind some of these ideas.

VCC’s Use of Course Development Materials to Create Promotional Materials

Reflecting on his institution’s experience of developing a new micro-credential, Adrian Lipsett, dean of continuing studies at Vancouver Community College (VCC), realized that a marketing campaign could have started during the program’s development.

UBCO’s Experimentation with Promotional Approaches

Megan Lochhead is manager of curriculum and academic programs in the Irving K. Barber faculty of science at the University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO). As part of her role, she uses her expertise in curriculum design to support faculty and departments as they create new micro-credentials. The faculty has been successful in promoting these new programs. Lochhead shares some of the approaches they have used and the rationale behind them.

Suggested Resources

Works Cited

Image Descriptions

Figure 1 Learner Journey

The journey starts with:

• Hear, browse
  • be aware and understand
• Consider, decide
  • choose
• Enrol
  • commit
• Prepare, engage
  • pre-commence
• Learn, belong
  • commence & focus
• Quality, assess
  • complete
• Claim badge
  • celebrate
• Publish, share, enrol
  • use & reconnect

[Return to Figure 1]

Media Attributions

• Figure 1 Learner Journey was adapted from Designing and Implementing Micro-credentials: A Guide for Practitioners by Darien Rossiter & Belinda Tynan, Commonwealth of Learning, CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.