10 Tips for Higher Ed MarCom Campaigns

Last year, I had the privilege of managing three campuswide marketing communications campaigns at Cal Poly Pomona, one of three polytechnic universities in the California State University system.

There was Scholarship Fest, an annual effort that encourages students to apply for scholarships as well as inspires departmental committees to award them; the Inclusive Campus Survey, which asked students, faculty and staff to “share their view” about the campus climate; and an information security campaign that required the campus community to sign up for two-step authentication in order to increase IT safety and to comply with requirements set forth by the California State University system. 

When evaluating the outcomes, we identified both not surprising and unexpected trends. We realized that in addition to writing detailed reports, mostly read by leadership, we could summarize the findings for campus communicators. 

“How about a one-pager people could just hang in their cubicle and refer to all the time?” our CCO asked. This resulted in a “cheat sheet” with 10 top tips.