The opening plenary at the AMA Higher Ed conference by Dr. Steve Robbins was spot on great. With a neuroscientific underpinning, he presented the human desire for inclusivity as a biological need we all share as part of our survival instinct. Playfully using the rivalry between Michigan State and University of Michigan, he pointed out how we make excuses for “insiders” (those in our affinity group). When they exhibit frustrating behavior, we often give them a pass. At the same time, “outsiders” are seen as annoying and exhibiting behavior typical of their group. No pass for them.
Opportunities to Meet the Intead Team
- PIE Live North America, Boston TODAY Look for Ben on stage at the IIE Open Doors: What is the Latest Data Telling Us? session at 2:30 in Grand Ballroom A&B.
- AIRC, Seattle-Bellevue, Washington, Dec. 4-7 -- including our pre-conference global marketing workshop. A full day of Intead global intel (lunch included ; -). Details here.
- AIEA in March and NAFSA in May, we'll be presenting our latest findings at both. Let us know if you want to connect at either of those two events.
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With 1,800 people in attendance, this year was the AMA Higher Ed’s largest conference attendance yet. And from what the AMA says, that is the largest attendance of any AMA branch conference. People from 14 countries were there. And of the 1,800 attendees, about 430+ US higher ed institutions were represented.
Dr. Robbins’ approach to introducing and promoting the idea of inclusion to those who may be of the mind that DEI and “woke” perspectives are simply too much to handle is welcome and perhaps the necessary path forward. Since this is the AMA, we are looking at inclusion in light of human (read: consumer) behavior and the importance of understanding this human desire to be part of a group as it relates to student marketing and recruitment. Diversity results from inclusive policies and practices.
Dr. Robbins discussed the importance of feeling valued within the tribe you join. As a consumer of education or any other product or service, there is an affinity we are aiming to acquire. That connected and valued feeling leads to student retention and marketing concepts of customer lifetime value (think continuing education and alumni engagement).
He also talked about the opposite effect: when people do not feel welcomed or included. These feelings light up the same pain centers in our brains that physical pain (a slap or a punch) elicits when experienced. And so, when we don’t promote inclusive practices, we are pushing people away and prompting quite literally a painful experience.
People I talked to at the conference found Dr. Robbin’s talk a welcome and eye-opening presentation. Another aspect of the conference I found valuable: AMA’s use of Topical Idea Exchanges. These gatherings were smaller groups who circled up the chairs and focused on specific topics. The two I attended (one on celebrating and leveraging milestones (think: centennial celebrations), the other on leveraging organic social channels using institutional and senior leader accounts (think: managing chancellor social accounts). Both sessions were well led and filled with smart people who shared ideas and perspective, asked great questions, and overall made networking and information gathering comfortable and valuable. Though, I did hear some mixed reviews on that format from others.
I attended a couple of sessions during the 1-day I had available at the conference. Kerry Salerno, vice president marketing and communications at Babson College and my co-presenter this week at PIE Live in Boston, talked about presenting marketing results to leadership. A great topic, as in, how do you simplify all the marketing information and results in a meaningful way that prompts wise decisions from the top? The short answer: simplify.
What I most valued in Kerry’s presentation was her candor about how, over the past 6+ years in the position at Babson, she has made a concerted effort to train and adapt her marketing team to embrace a data informed culture. That work is hard and laborious. Having run a marketing agency for more than 30 years now, when I consider all the elements of running a business, the hardest part is always choosing and developing the talent around me to achieve the goals. How do you accommodate all of the personal, professional, and financial goals for each person and align that with company goals?
It’s a lot. Always.
Which brings us back to the idea of inclusivity. Who is part of the tribe? How do you help them feel valued? How do you maintain that feeling despite the challenges that your team, your administration, your students will inevitably face over time? Are you taking the time to figure this very difficult stuff out? How strong is your team’s affinity for each other and the work? Read on...
Don’t get me wrong, the conference was not all touchy-feely HR stuff. There were plenty of sessions focused on CRM and SIS pairings, paid search, website content, RFI forms, and the like. Key among those conversations was the combination of the demographic cliff and the search cliff we are all facing.
Point in fact: as of January 2025, new regulations are going to make the list purchases you have relied on much less robust/valuable than they used to be.
For the longest time, Intead has promoted a holistic and customized approach to identifying student leads around the world and engaging them. Still our stance today, paired with how we position each client as digital targeting tools become more sophisticated.
Why our approach is increasingly valuable to institutions: the payoff success of simplistic list purchases, as an example, has been declining for years. 100,000 leads purchased from any number of student lead generators produces far fewer conversions today than that purchase did a decade ago. To produce your desired enrollment results you are now pouring increasingly larger budgets into those generators. It’s not a winning strategy.
Better: use those list purchase funds for customized digital marketing campaigns that tell your institution’s story and put that story in front of the most receptive audiences you can find. Let them opt in to your institution’s energy and the opportunities you offer. Those are leads worth cultivating. There are many marketing channels to employ.
Our team talks about an omnichannel approach. This works because it plays to your institution’s differentiators. If you don’t know what those are, come talk to us. Be careful. If you tell us your differentiator is that your institution truly cares about the students, you’ll find our team rolling their eyes. Trust us, the next institution just down the road from yours cares very much about their students as well, and they, unfortunately, claim that as their differentiator as well.
Differentiators are, by definition, those attributes that help you swim your way out of the sea of sameness. Your prospective students know exactly what we are talking about.
At the conference, AI was on every vendor booth’s signage and part of every discussion at some point. (It used to be "predictive modeling"). As so often happens, the vendors are far out in front of the institutions’ readiness for their offerings. That, my friends, is a blog post for another time.
If you are looking for a team of truly smart, kind, inclusive people who understand student marketing and have become long-term partners to marketing teams around the world, we are ready for you. Be in touch: info@intead.com.
