Q: I have recently moved over to the credit side of the college where they have stopped mailing out a schedule/catalog of classes – everything is online. I know, from my many LERN classes, that enrollment will decrease when you stop utilizing print mail but I can’t find any articles that support this on the LERN site. I want to have support for my idea to mail a postcard to each household to drive them to the website.
A: It has been shown that direct mail increases enrollment in non-credit programs and classes. Promotion of credit programs is somewhat different, although LERN still recommends multiple marketing approaches. Often, credit brochures are not designed as marketing pieces. They are more like line schedules with informtion about current courses designed for students who are already involved in pursuing credit at your institution. This type of catalog does little from a marketing perspective to help promote your programs.
Most educational organizations do direct mail promotion of their programs. The kind of promotion that is often most effective for generating new students on the credit side is different from what we see on the non-credit side. The focus should be strongly on key benefits of taking classes from your organization, key courses or curricula you offer and potential benefits/outcomes of enrolling in your college. Thus, your idea of using a post-card to drive prospective students to your website is very sound. In addition, you should look at other in-bound marketing strategies, including increasing your social media presence.
I have attached an article on why your print brochure is important, as well as one on the value of promoting using post-cards.
http://media.lern.org/webinars/Why-you-should-keep-your-print-brochure.doc
http://media.lern.org/webinars/Post-Card-Mailings.doc