The landscape of higher education has experienced major changes, but it is set to undergo a sweeping transformation in the years ahead. A smaller Gen. Z cohort, combined with increased talent demands in the industry bring both threats and opportunities for academic instruction. Who will survive, and how will they thrive? In this week’s episode, we tackle two compelling opportunities: how marketing professionals should evaluate the role of higher education in their career ladder, and how schools should borrow from the B2B playbook to competitively market themselves for the future. Take a listen with our esteemed guest, Chad Mezera, Assistant Dean of Online Programs for the Reed College of Media at West Virginia University. Chad literally “wrote the playbook” on online education, and has turned WVU’s higher education programs into award-winning, innovative online degrees.
Three Takeaways
- Education marketing shares many similarities with B2B and hospitality marketing. It requires hyper-smart targeting and segmentation to finite niche audiences. This means a deep need for certain marketing strategies like yield management to optimize the return on fixed costs and overhead.
- While the US market for higher education is shrinking, the global accessibility of online education means a huge opportunity for the future of higher education marketing. Marketers in this vertical should be looking to identify untapped demand and develop specific needs-based offerings designed to serve them.
- For students and professionals looking to level up their skills in marketing, the future likely holds a much broader set of options, all intended to meet the evolving demands of the marketplace across the entire lifetime of their careers.
About our Guest
Chad Mezera is the Assistant Dean of Online Programs for the Reed College of
Media at West Virginia University (WVU). In this role, he oversees all online courses
offered by the college and leads the online programs support team. Before coming
to WVU in 2005, Mezera led the internal corporate communications function of a
major government IT solutions provider. Prior to that, he planned and executed
national and regional marketing campaigns for a non-partisan think tank focused
on developing and teaching best practices in federal, state and local government.
Meet the Hosts
Cyndi W. Greenglass is a founding partner and president at Livingston Strategies, a data-informed, strategic consulting firm that helps clients develop, execute, and measure their customer communications with a close focus on results. Cyndi has razor-sharp strategic skills matched by impeccable on-the-ground savvy and tactical abilities. She is an Adjunct Instructor in the Data Marketing Communications online master's degree program from West Virginia University.
Greenglass has twice been named into the Top 100 Influential BTB Marketers by Crain’s BtoB Magazine and was the 2012 CADM Chicago Direct Marketer of the Year. She is a member of the Board of Advisors for BRAND United and has taught, trained and presented at over 50 conferences throughout the world.
Ruth P. Stevens consults on customer acquisition and retention, for business-to-business clients. Ruth serves on the boards of directors of the HIMMS Media Group, and the Business Information Industry Association. She is a trustee of Princeton-In-Asia, past chair of the Business-to-Business Council of the DMA, and past president of the Direct Marketing Club of New York.
Ruth was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in Business Marketing by Crain’s BtoB magazine, and one of 20 Women to Watch by the Sales Lead Management Association. She serves as a mentor to fledgling companies at the ERA business accelerator in New York City.
WVU Marketing Communications Today: Horizons is presented by the West Virginia University Reed College of Media, which offers renowned online master’s degree programs in Marketing Communications. Interested in growing your career with a master's degree in Data, Digital or Integrated Marketing Communications? Request more information today!