Q: We produce 3 catalogs a year with timelines around what classes are included in the catalog. All of these classes have assigned dates/times/prices. We also produce 4 specialty brochures and these all correlate with our 4 main programming areas (HR/Leadership, Computers, Healthcare, and Construction). Our team met earlier this week to discuss the possibility of removing the dates and times from the “specialty brochures” only. They would be mailed as such and in our classrooms/brochure racks we would have a price list of all the classes that would be updated on a regular basis. The brochure would really try to get people to use our website for more info and registration (thus finding the most current dates/times/prices).
Part of the suggestion of removing the timelines from the brochures (not the catalogs) would be so they would have a longer shelf life and could be produced cheaper. The front cover of the brochure would actually change mid-year to keep a fresh look but the “guts” of the inside of the brochure would remain the same. Knowing this requires programming to think ahead to decide what they would want to offer for 1 year. We do realize that we will not hit this 100% every time, but some feel that they 80%+ that we do offering routinely would out way remaining ones that might change or be added/deleted. Programming would use past brochures to gauge what that 80% norm would be to see what they would include in each brochure. Hoping this explanation makes sense.
As stated above, PROS are reduced cost, less production time, potentially reduced inventory leftover as we would use them for the year (not 4 months each), most likely more website activity because we force them to go out our site for full details (or more phone calls which give us the opportunity to personally talk with people and possibly fill more needs).
CONS are programming would need to program 1 year in advance, no sense of urgency to register because no dates/times are listed, if website is not the main source for more information it could lead to more phone calls and therefore more of operation team’s time.
Currently the decision is to go forward with no dates/times starting this Fall. Is there any data to support either one of these directions? Do you have a feel from talking with people in the field about this? I certainly appreciate any advice you can share and data to support either direction. I look forward to hearing from you and/or someone on the LERN team.
A: You probably know, from working with Greg, that LERN recommends producing 4 catalogs per year for maximum enrollments. Although there are costs for production of the additional brochure, these are typically more than covered by increased enrollments. Additionally enrollments for classes that occur later in your session are likely to have lower enrollments than they would if they were offered early in subsequent term. People typically don’t sign up for courses that occur more than 8 weeks after your term begins. With 3 catalogs, this can be problematic. Of course, your experience may be different, but it is something to review.
We also produce 4 specialty brochures and these all correlate with our 4 main programming areas (HR/Leadership, Computers, Healthcare, and Construction). Our team met earlier this week to discuss the possibility of removing the dates and times from the “specialty brochures” only.
They would be mailed as such and in our classrooms/brochure racks we would have a price list of all the classes that would be updated on a regular basis. The brochure would really try to get people to use our website for more info and registration (thus finding the most current dates/times/prices).
I need to understand more about the specialty brochures. I would want to know whether you have tracked the effectiveness of these brochures. Do they actually drive people to your site? Do you know whether they impact your enrollments? We may need to discuss this, but I am wondering about ROI on these. If your goal is to generate enrollments, not raise awareness, then I would not recommend removing dates or not listing prices.
It can be helpful to your program to mail brochures that are geared to creating awareness of your programs, and these do not need to have dates. They have a longer shelf-life because they are not promoting specific programs or classes. Targeted post-cards can be very effective—or more effective than mailing a larger piece if your goal is to drive traffic to your website. I would test this against what you are already doing to see what kind of results you are getting.
Price lists without course descriptions which are not available except in pick-up sites might not be the best way to get this information to people receiving the specialty brochures. If you are promoting a class to generate enrollment, it is important to have a price with the information. Expecting people to find price information online or on supplemental sheets is not as effective.
Part of the suggestion of removing the timelines from the brochures (not the catalogs) would be so they would have a longer shelf life and could be produced cheaper. The front cover of the brochure would actually change mid-year to keep a fresh look but the “guts” of the inside of the brochure would remain the same. Knowing this requires programming to think ahead to decide what they would want to offer for 1 year. This is not an ideal solution. While you do want to have as much planning done ahead as early as possible, planning all courses for an entire year could be challenging. We do know that multiple mailings of the same brochure do increase response rate, so mailing the same content with different covers can work. Drawbacks would be:
· Having two brochures with separate content—one your regular catalog and one your special brochure
· People could think that the content is similar and not look for your more complete offerings in the catalog
· Although new courses have a higher cancellation rate than the 80% of classes you offer each session, you might find that if they are not included in the special brochures, you will achieve lower enrollments and some classes that might otherwise make will not have enough registrations.
We do realize that we will not hit this 100% every time, but some feel that they 80%+ that we do offering routinely would out way remaining ones that might change or be added/deleted. Programming would use past brochures to gauge what that 80% norm would be to see what they would include in each brochure. Hoping this explanation makes sense.
As stated above, PROS are reduced cost, (will the reduced production costs offset any lost enrollments. Calculate how many enrollments you can afford to lose to make the production costs worth it. You could lose considerably if your customers do not go to the website as you hope or if they are frustrated by lack of information on dates, times, and cost.) less production time, potentially reduced inventory leftover as we would use them for the year (I would recommend that you include a section of new courses in each brochure as a centerfold so that you at least have all your courses in the brochure. Do a smaller print run if you have too much left over).(not 4 months each), most likely more website activity (This is an unknown, and I would not count on it.)because we force (it is very difficult to “force” them to do anything. They might just put the brochure down and not come back in time since there are not dates, etc.)them to go out our site for full details (or more phone calls which give us the opportunity to personally talk with people and possibly fill more needs).
CONS are programming would need to program 1 year in advance, no sense of urgency to register because no dates/times are listed, if website is not the main source for more information it could lead to more phone calls and therefore more of operation team’s time. These negatives outweigh the positives—particularly the lack of dates, times and cost. This could make your brochure very ineffective. Frustration by callers who find phone lines backed up if calls are increased could also be a problem. This method for driving potential customers to your website is not the most effective way to do it. I am going to ask Suzanne Kart, our marketing director to send you some suggestions on the best way to increase web traffic.
Currently the decision is to go forward with no dates/times starting this Fall. (If you are thinking this is the way you want to go, I would STRONGLY recommend that you test on a small scale before making an overall change). Whenever you make changes in your marketing, you run a risk of having it fail and of losing enrollments. I would not move forward with these changes without careful testing. I think there might be some significant problems with you proposed approach).