I earlier wrote on “The Imperative of Marketing for Private Universities in Nigeria”,(See https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/imperative-marketing-private-universities-nigeria-solomon-itegboje) where I highlighted the key findings of our research on Nigeria’s Private Universities. In this article, I attempt to begin to offer/suggest solutions to they keyest issue of all: Low Student Enrollment.
Most Nigerian Private Universities, in terms of student enrollment, are both anaemic and haemorrhaging: they have very few students and year on year enrollment numbers are dropping. This is inexorably breeding a vicious circle…
I have termed it the imploding concentric vicious spiral. The ineluctable destination is extinction.
When you are both anaemic and haemorrhaging, the first thing any doctor will do is to arrest the haemorrhage, then transfuse blood; only then will they have a chance to treat the fundamental issues.
For Private Universities to enter into an exploding concentric virtuous spiral, they require either an increase in enrollment (get more students) that will generate more cash or an exogenous infusion of cash that will fund the University to produce higher quality output.
I will focus on the former which is where my expertise lies, and also because Universities are established to attract students.
I strongly recommend the adoption of “Brute Force Marketing” to drive enrollment for the relatively unknown, unbranded and struggling (for enrollment) Private Universities in the short term.
Stop! Don’t go researching the literature for Brute Force Marketing … the results will depress, miseducate and mislead you. The literature on Brute Force Marketing is neither rich nor enlightening and is disappointingly mostly negative; It is not efficient, not effective, alienates your audience, destroys your brand, pays homage to the past…
This stems from a fundamental misunderstanding, misconception and misdefinition of what Brute Force Marketing is and especially, what should be its purpose. (In another article, I will address these misconceptions). Suffice to say that people commonly mistake “Spray and Pray Marketing” or “Shotgun Marketing” for Brute Force Marketing.
Here I will focus on why Private Universities need it and how they can make it work.
What is Brute Force Marketing?:
It is reaching, canvassing, convincing and helping your target in every relevant way and with every thing that is germane to their decision making process, and midwifing them through the adoption/conversion funnel. It is identifying them and not letting them go until they convert (or you are sure that they will not convert).
The three keywords of a desirable and likely to succeed Brute Force Marketing Strategy are:
- Target: You must be reaching the people who need/require your service.
- Relevant: You must reach them on (all) platforms that are apposite and with messaging that is relevant and refreshing.
- Midwife: You must nurture them through the funnel.
What is its ideal Purpose?:
It is meant to give short-term boost, stamina and stability to give you (your University/start up/business) a fighting chance of long-term survival and sustainability. It fast tracks awareness, it engenders salience and calls for making a choice after you have put your thumb on the scale.
The Key Elements of Brute Force Strategy:
- Define, macro and micro segment your targets (For example; what is your catchment? What uniquely identifiable group of potential students can be targeted? Use Demographics, Psychographics, Geography, Behavior and Interests. You can also use means of reach and access).
- Identify and adopt every apposite platform of engagement (This does not mean all platforms. For example, Universities driving enrollment though TV Ads are throwing money away, whereas making University Ads unavoidable in well identified education portals is a very good investment).
- Drive a progressive nurturing approach: identify which platforms educate, which drives top of mind and which drives action/conversion.
- Reach through all touch-points (those who need you would not be put-off by your ubiquity).
- Reach often with relevant messaging.
- Reach them with an integrated approach (ensure symmetry, alignment and complementarity of messaging across all platforms).
- Midwife targets through the conversion funnel.
What to Focus on?:
- Drive targeted Awareness and Salience.
- Educate and Convince.
- Claim uncontested ‘mind territory’ (If you are the first to say that “Our University is located in a quiet and serene environment”, you have to fight to own that in peoples’ mind… even if many other universities are also in a “quiet and serene environment”).
- Elicit Choice (while avoiding comparison).
- Have a very clear “Call to Action”.
- Set, measure and track clear KIs/KPIs
- Take learnings and make quick pivots. (if a tactic or activity is not working, have metrics to help you know so on time, course correct or pivot away).
Why it will work for you:
Brute Force Marketing is probably the most effective short term marketing strategy for a commoditised products (we used it to grow enrollment for a client by 25% within 4 months. For this admission season, we are looking at using it to double enrollment). In a broad “commoditised market” that most Private Universities currently operate in, Brute Force Marketing can, well executed, certainly drive significant enrollment growth… at least in the short term.
It brings targets to the point of true awareness and salience of/about the University and gives the opportunity for Universities to take “the first moment of truth” test. You are forcing a choice and calling for a decision. If you came with a compelling case or offer, especially where competition is regally absent, you will get an unbelievably good conversion/enrollment rate.
It also creates “a barrier to entry to the next competitor… It gets you to market much faster… It teaches focus,” (https://lunarmobiscuit.com/brute-force/)
It buys you time to put your house together, develop and implement more sophisticated and better long-term Marketing and Brand Building Strategies. It helps you to raise the cash that you can invest in recruiting more qualified faculty, providing better facilities and improving your (students) user experience.
The Budget:
We recommend that you start with 3 – 5% of your current First Year tuition Revenue or from N25Million, whichever is more (internationally, Private Universities spend from 15-25% of First Year tuition revenue or 5-9% of life-time tuition revenue on Marketing and Enrollment. See http://learn.ruffalonl.com/rs/395-EOG-977/images/RNL_2018_Cost_of_Recruiting_Report_EM-005.pdf. Also see https://vtldesign.com/digital-marketing/content-marketing-strategy/percent-of-revenue-spent-on-marketing-sales/).
Target quick wins. As you grow enrollment (early in the enrollment cycle), increase your budget and if possible, begin to sow the seed for long term brand building.
Some Cautionary Words:
Brute Force Marketing, misunderstood and mis-executed, can do a lot of harm to and compromise your ability to build a brand (an established brand should have no business with Brute Force Marketing).
- It could reinforce the notion that you are a commodity (not a brand)
- It could smack of desperation (even if you are, you do not want to put it on display to the whole world)
- It could put-off some of your target (though this risk is naturally mitigated by the fact that there are new targets every year).
No matter how successful Brute Force Marketing is, it should not be depended upon to build your brand or drive long-term sustainable growth.
Having said so, except for Private Universities with tons of cash, Brute Force Marketing provides the clearest beginning on the path to health for most of Nigeria’s Private Universities.
Solomon Itegboje, is the Managing Partner of LBH Educational Consulting (www.lbh-consulting.com) that supports Private Universities to grow enrollment and build their brands. In his former life, he was Country Director of Marketing for Coca-Cola Hellenic. He can be reached on sitegboje@lbh-consulting.com