Marketing and Public Relations

Marketing tool kit
Photographic coverage for your event, program, professional use, etc.
Speechwriting tips
Plan your media event
Media coverage and placement
Prepare a brochure, exhibit, presentation, or annual report
Write effective news releases Marketing and branding—what are they, anyway?

Photographic coverage for your event, program, professional use

Need to have photos taken? Get coverage of college events, programs, courses, faculty, staff, and students for use in a variety of publications, exhibits, presentations, as well as for news media or professional use.

To schedule the college’s photographer, Edwin Remsberg, contact him at remsberg@umd.edu or 301-405-9235 or contact Loc Hoang at lochoang@umd.edu or 301-405-2915.

Speechwriting tips

USDA’s Communicator’s Guide, "Effective Speeches," has tips on:

How to add style to your next speech
How to deliver effective speeches
Communicating with diverse audiences
Communicating about people with disabilities
20 tips for overcoming fear of public speaking

Plan your media event

We can help plan, organize, and facilitate press conferences, news media open houses, and other media events. Contact Marketing and Media Services director Loc Hoang at lochoang@umd.edu or 301-405-2915 or contact Pam Townsend at pbt@umd.edu or 301-405-4595.

Media coverage and placement

We prepare news releases, alerts, and tip sheets to generate media coverage of the college's most newsworthy academic, outreach, and research programs and initiatives. Read our most recent news releases. Burrelle's Chesapeake Media Directory is our primary source of news media contacts. Names you and others provide supplement this list. Send us names, addresses, phone numbers, etc., of local reporters and editors you’ve worked with.

When to Contact Marketing & Media Relations

Is the program, course, or event open or of interest to a multi-county or statewide audience?
Is the program, course, research, or event related to—or will it have an impact on—major societal events or trends?
Is the program, course, research, or event unique or so different that people outside your local area would find it fascinating?

For help or more information, contact Marketing and Media Services director Loc Hoang at lochoang@umd.edu or 301-405-2915 or contact Pam Townsend at pbt@umd.edu or 301-405-4595.

Prepare a brochure, exhibit, presentation, or annual report

We design and produce brochures, exhibits, presentations, and annual reports to promote the college, Extension, and research, from broad initiatives to specific programs. Contact Marketing and Media Services director Loc Hoang at lochoang@umd.edu or 301-405-2915 or contact Pam Townsend at pbt@umd.edu or 301-405-4595.

Marketing

What Is It?

Marketing is NOT just advertising or selling, a common misconception, says Tom Hayes, a top higher-education marketing expert.

Marketing IS applied psychology. This means EVERYONE at the college is responsible for marketing (even physical plant people). For example, parents of a prospective student ask someone on campus for directions. That person represents the institution and leaves a positive or negative impression.

Good marketing requires that you deliver what students/clients are looking for. Which means market research is vital. Marketing begins and ends with research because you are not your customer. What are people looking for? What do they expect? Did they receive it? Are they satisfied?

You can monitor environments and influence intermediaries, such as parents, guidance counselors, and ministers. Know who your competitors are (What can you offer that they can’t? What is unique about what you offer?) Repeat your core message over and over again. Tailor your message to the group you’re talking to. Customer expectations are going up. Realize that your website is the no. 1 source for prospective student information and is second only to high school guidance counselors when it comes to influencing a prospective student’s decision about where to go to college.

Credit: Tom Hayes PhD., professor of marketing. Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio. “Marketing Strategies for Higher Education” seminar, University of Maryland, May 25, 2005.

Experts at Agricultural Communications at Texas A & M say:

Total program marketing includes everything you do from answering the telephone, to posting signs identifying your office, to planning interpretation events for key leaders, to holding the county recognition banquet. All of these—and more—can work for you in marketing your total program.

Another way to look at marketing is to think about it as strategic communication—that is, communication with a specific goal in mind. It differs from publicity, which is attracting media attention and reporting, public relations, which focuses on creating a feeling of good will towards an organization, and promotion, which is offering incentives to engage in the organization. When we market our program, we construct our message to produce a specific response in the people who receive it.

Credit: Elizabeth Gregory and Ellen Ritter. Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas.

A Way to Think About Marketing

In essence, marketing is delivering value to your customers or clients. Marketing means always focusing on your clients’ needs and desires. Educators and agents in the field instinctively know their job is to find a need and devise services and products to meet that need. Which is also part of the marketing process.

The next step is defining your target audience and figuring out how best to appeal to it. This can involve word of mouth, letters, emails, posters, flyers, brochures, radio spots, newspaper ads, etc. Using a marketing mix—a combination of marketing tools—increases the likelihood your audience will get your message.

That’s key, however, is that your message convey how what you have to offer is of value to your audience. Picture someone trying to persuade you to attend a meeting. You want to know what you’ll get out of the experience. In other words, “what’s in it for me?” Announcing that a program or seminar is taking place isn’t enough. Your program might be great and probably is, but how does your audience know that?

Last, you need to follow through on your promise and deliver the value.

So, marketing isn’t any one thing. It’s more like a process. And it starts and ends with delivering value to your audience.

Branding

What Tom Hayes, an expert in college marketing, has to say:

Branding: Common Misconceptions

Brands are superficial
Brands are: a tagline, an ad, a visual identity

What Is Branding

Branding’s Four Steps

Make a promise that matters
Live your promise
Communicate your promise
Strengthen your promise

Your brand should be

Important
Interesting
Believable
Unique

Branding begins at home!

Brands:

are built through consistency of execution across the institution
are everyone’s responsibility

Brand strength is developed by creatively delivering the brand promise. How?

Service is designed to provide customer satisfaction
Communications are in line with promise
Everyone in organization works together to deliver “consistent brand experience”

Too often people believe a strong brand identity is only something that gets people to buy, refer others…These are all external.

Brand identity can help an organization understand its basic values and purpose.

You can’t achieve a vision that you don’t understand and don’t want to live with.

Internal Branding: Five steps

Identify brand and brand promise
Gain leadership involvement
Communicate internally and train
Align operations
Align recognition and reward systems

Communications and Training

How it affects the employee

How it affects the public

How it makes the institution stronger

Make sure the information is accessible

Internet

Publications

Speeches

Communicate to everyone
All existing employees Prospective employees New employee orientation
Reinforce over time

Credit: Tom Hayes PhD., professor of marketing. Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio. “Building the Brand” seminar and PowerPoint presentation, University of Maryland, May 25, 2005. Used with permission.

For more information, contact Ginny Gerhart

Last updated: 04/2/2008