Marketing Plans
- In order to best evaluate our marketing efforts, the University Center as a whole and each of its departments craft a yearly integrated marketing communications plan. The plans run the course of the fiscal year, which is July 1-June 30.
- Each department has five marketing meetings a year. They take place as follows:
- Mid-June: Set marketing goals for next fiscal year
- Mid-July: Evaluate marketing goals from previous fiscal year
- Sometimes, this involves submitting a Graphic Request Form to create an infographic or other visual display on accomplished goals.
- After meetings are complete, the Marketing Assistants will enter the finalized data into the Indesign files of the marketing plans and save a final pdf.
- October: Check-in #1
- At each of the check-ins, Jenny and the Marketing Assistants will record data in the master binder of all marketing plans, and departments should also keep track of their own data.
- January: Check-in #2
- April: Check-in #3
- Five categories of an IMC plan:
- Media (paid and unpaid): print and broadcast (radio/TV)
- Posters, handouts, brochures, TV commercials, radio ads, etc.
- Public Relations: “earned media”
- Unsolicited newspaper stories/radio announcements, attendance at fairs like PIP Info Orbit/RA Resource Fair where we hand out information as a general service, etc.
- Direct Marketing: information that goes directly to the consumer
- This Week in Whitewater, campus-wide emails, items placed directly in Res Halls before move-in
- Promotions: Provides encouragement to do business
- Giveaways, discounts, coupons, prizes, etc.
- Additional Digital/Social: social media, web, and anything that doesn’t fit elsewhere
- Social media likes/posts/retweets/favorites/etc., web traffic, etc.
- Media (paid and unpaid): print and broadcast (radio/TV)
- How to write an objective
- Marketing objectives are designed to help us figure out what we want to accomplish in the next fiscal year and how we go about measuring our effectiveness. To write an objective, first ask, what do we want to accomplish? Then, follow the acronym SMART:
- S: specific (What do you want to accomplish? Think 5 Ws- who, what, where, when, why)
- M: measureable (Again, use numbers! Be sure to have benchmarks or starting numbers whenever possible, and have a measurement plan before you start.)
- A: attainable (Is this goal something you can actually achieve, or are you setting yourself up for failure?)
- R: relevant (How does the goal relate to the mission, vision, and purpose of the organization/department?)
- T: time bound (have a end date)
- Strong vs. Weak goals
- Weak example: Increase attendance by 200 people.
- Strong example: Increase attendance at Roberta’s Art Gallery receptions by 200 people (5 percent) by June 30, 2016.
- Marketing objectives are designed to help us figure out what we want to accomplish in the next fiscal year and how we go about measuring our effectiveness. To write an objective, first ask, what do we want to accomplish? Then, follow the acronym SMART: