Thanks to the College Public Relations Association of Mississippi for hosting me as a keynote speaker at their annual spring convention this week.
In preparation for their presentation entitled "Getting their Attention: Finding Your Niche in the Gen Y Crowd," I went down several paths before finally settling on the one that I believe is key to college recruitment success in the immediate future. This group will hear my petition for them to step out of their traditional marketing box: loads of mass mailed print materials, and learn about modern communication tools that can provide more bang with much less budget. Hot button issue in their world revolves around the budget. Students, however, are a different issue altogether. They are communication and techno savvy. They are busy, and they are easily distracted. They don’t appreciate interruption, but they can be terribly loyal. These are generational facts. How can colleges mesh their issue (short budgets and old methods) with the needs of a very demanding generation?
Stay tuned for more thoughts on this subject. In the meantime, if you have a success story related to college recruiting or marketing to the Gen Y crowd, please share it with me.
