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MARKETING TO SCHOOL LEAVERS
 Build good relations with Career Guidance Counsellors by updating them on ‘School of Hospitality Management
and Tourism’ information on regular basics. This could be done through invites to DIT, electronic emails and
school visits.
 Visits from DIT Lectures to Secondary Schools.
 DIT Lectures to visit colleges where FETAC courses are run.
 Open Days inviting Students to site visits.
 ‘Meet and Greet Days’ with Lectures.
 Take stands in Higher Education Fairs.
 When selling into schools, very specific numbers of past students who have gained employment should be
given.
 School leavers need to know where their chosen course will take them. In terms of a career ladder, using
phrases like, ‘In three years you would find yourself working in said particular industry’.
 Take a look at what Club Societies are available to prospective students and let school leavers know of the
wide range of the clubs they can join.
 Three Day Hospitality Orientation Weekend Event - Partner with Hotels, Event Management Companies,
Leisure Companies, top restaurants, cookery schools etc and have a ‘Three Day Hospitality Orientation
Weekend Event’ where school leavers would get informations and demonstrations on how a hotel or venue
operates, a behind-the-scene look at catering, leisure services and event management. Once the Orientation
Weekend finishes, the students are taken back to the School to learn about qualifications needed to get started
in the Hospitality Industry.
 Virtual College Fair - The following idea would be more of a long term project that could be developed over a
time frame of 1 to 2 years. DIT, in conjunction with other Higher Education bodies, could develop a Virtual
College Fair which would be designed to connect 5th and 6th year students across Ireland, Europe and outside
the EU with Colleges in Ireland. The Virtual Fair would be free and open to students that register through the
Colleges website. Once registered, participants would log onto the site and be greeted by a Virtual Campus,
that would have links to individual colleges virtual booths. DIT Admissions Officers and Lectures could deliver
live, streaming video presentations on course content, along with the application procedure. DIT could also
offer instant message and video chats with lectures and Heads of Schools.
 Tours of Dublin and Campuses to new Students - When selling to School leavers it is important to give them
an understanding of the warm welcome they will receive when they begin their time with the ‘School of
Hospitality Management and Tourism’. Some new ideas could be incorporated into Fresher’s Week. A selling
point to attract regional / overseas students might be the use of the Dublin Sightseeing Tour Buses (which stop
outside Cathal Brugha Street) where first year students would be taken on a free tour of Dublin City Centre to
familiarise themselves with their new city and the route could take in the other D.I.T campuses such as Bolton
Street and Aungier Street. This could also help student classes to get to know each other in relaxed
environment.
Printed Ads
 Ads could be taken out in ‘The Guide to 3rd Level & Further Education’. This Guide is aimed at 2nd level
students along with teachers and Guidance Counsellors seeking up to date knowledge of options available at
3rd Level. The Guide lists all full-time, third level opportunities in Ireland including CAO, PLC, Universities,
Institutes of Technology, Private and UK Colleges.
 Take ads out in music magazines such as ‘Hot Press.’
 DIT to take out ads in school student magazines with schools where they wish to attract students from.
Selling to School Leavers
Advertising to School Leavers

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Radio
 Radio advertising on radio stations such as ‘Spin FM’ and ‘Phantom FM’, where the listenership demographic is
17 to 24 years.
Digital
 Use digital banner advertising on Leaving Cert Websites such as the ‘www.theleavingcert.com’ or
‘www.skoool.ie.’
 A future project to advertise the ‘School of Hospitality Management and Tourism’ to school leavers, could be in
the use of QR codes (Quick Response codes) on posters, publications and direct mail campaigns. QR codes
are essentially a barcode that directs users to a web address with the snap of a smartphone camera. Instead of
using a poster with information on DIT and photos of the campus, a large single image of a giant QR code
could be used which would lead students to a custom ‘Welcome Page’ from our school. This poster would
stand out from the competition as it’s a new and innovative way to interact with students, rather than using flat
generic images of schools and campuses. The QR poster would be a diversion from the normal poster and
would get students talking about the poster and trying to figure out how to access the page, which would be the
whole purpose of the exercise.
 Run an online competition for school leavers to win concert tickets through DIT website.
 Develop a ‘School Leavers’ like portal, where 5th and 6th Year students can log onto to DIT website and find
specific information relevant to school leavers only.
 Utilise Facebook and Twitter to mention relevant news from DIT’s “School of Hospitality Management and
Tourism,” such as Open Days, job news, part-time job postings, student accommodation, etc.
 Give an incentive for a school leaver to 'like' the DIT page, i.e. an Online Voucher for money-off in a sports
shop, etc.
 Keep information current and interesting, i.e. news feeds on careers, education fairs, industry news, student
success stories, etc.
 Create more of a presence online by branching out into Twitter and Google+ and keeping tabs on trending
social media websites.
Video Chats
 School lectures traditionally have had only one opportunity to interact face-to-face with the many prospective
students who live too far from campus to make multiple trips. But with the proliferation of video chat technology,
it could be possible to meet with students, no matter where in the world they are located. Skype could be used
as a cheap free way to do this.
 During the academic year, the school could host several group video chats for students and their parents as it
would give students and parents a feel for who the college are and what they have to offer. Each chat could
have a theme, ranging from admissions, counsellors discussing the application process, through to current
students sharing stories about their study abroad experiences.
Tweeting behind the scenes
 In the past, Colleges’ traditional recruiting practices have typically been one-sided conversations where there
was no other option than to rely only on printed materials. To add more depth to printed materials, and give a
glimpse on what goes on behind the scenes the School could use Twitter to cover a photo shoot for a story
included in the printed or electronically distributed direct mail that they send to secondary schools. DIT could
tweet updates using a hash tag and shared photos and videos of the shoot which could chronicle something
like a student working in a kitchen or on work experience in a top hotel. The result of doing this would be that
students would catch a glimpse of what is going on behind the scenes, almost making it an event, as opposed
to just a piece of direct mail.
Webstite to School Leavers
Social Media to School Leavers

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YouTube
 College recruitment videos typically promote what's best about a school, and often claim that any student can
make that particular campus feel like home. An idea would be to create a YouTube video which could be
called something along the lines of ‘Starting College Life’. The series of videos, which would be hosted on
YouTube, could feature student voices discussing topics not commonly heard on recruitment videos, from the
School's social scene to students being intimidated by the their new city / college and how they overcame
them. It could be these honest, uncensored clips that separate DIT’s videos from its competitors.
MARKETING TO PARENTS
 Press releases could be sent to magazines and newspapers read by parents i.e. supplements with ‘The Irish
Times’, ‘The Irish Examiner’, ‘Sunday Business Post’ and women’s magazines such as ‘Irish Tatler’.
 Community events to attract the attention of families who live near DIT, or to attract students from other cities
and towns to an event could be planned, that encourages participation. Students from other schools in the area
could be invited to do daily exchanges and concerts or gigs could be held on the grounds of the school. A
charity drive, silent auction or a community festival could be organised and DIT students could volunteer while
wearing branded clothing.
 Inviting parents to Open Days.
 Getting parents to participate in Focus Groups within the School.
 Advertising on radio, newspapers, magazines etc, where the target age group is 40+. Examples would be
fashion magazines for women such as ‘Image’ and ‘VIP Magazine’ and men’s sports magazines such as ‘GAA
Match Programmes’, ‘Golf Ireland’ and ‘Irish Rugby Review’.
 Ads could be taken out on publications such as the ‘National Concert Hall Calender of Events’ as the
demographic of audience members who attend these events are approximately the age group of parents of 6th
year students.
 Using advertising to grab parents attention on their way to work e.g. advertise on the Luas, Dublin Bus and use
Metro Herald, which is the free newspaper distributed on the Luas.
 An information stand could be set up in busy shopping centres such as Dundrum, Liffey Valley etc.
 Send out e-shots to parents with details of Open Days, Career Choices news etc.
 Target the household decision maker by using on An Post or Door 2 Door to distribute direct mail campaign
flyers to specified catchment residential areas.
MARKETING TO OVERSEAS STUDENTS
 Establish a link with overseas students, for example, a Chinese foreign exchange student who comes to study
at DIT, could provide critical information to other interested foreign students in his / her home country. For
example, a Chinese student who is studying and living here could assist DIT in putting together PR material to
attract Chinese students. This could be done via webinar, direct mail campaigns and brochures. In other
PR to Parents
Advertising to Parents
Selling to Parents
Direct Marketing to Parents
Selling to Overseas Students

4. 4
words, current foreign students could help DIT to sell international student places to peers in their home
country. They could give real life examples of what it is like to live and study in Dublin.
 Create an event that is specifically aimed at attracting overseas students, for example, an Overseas Student
Open Day at DIT. Invite journalists and other members of the media to attend and allow for a Q&A session.
This will create publicity for the event.
 Advertise through portals such as ‘www.studyportals.eu’.
 Taking out an ad in ‘The Guide to Education in Ireland’, would be another option as this Guide is distributed via
Education Fairs around the world. It is also available online at ‘www. learning.ie’ and ‘www.bookstore.ie’. It is
distributed directly to students in Europe, China, Malaysia and the USA and is aimed at providing them with full
information about their options when considering study in Ireland.
 Ads could be taken out in publications such as Aer Lingus’s in-flight magazine called Cara. Ads taken out in
publications like these where visitors and students are entering Ireland could attract students who have
holidayed here and maybe considering returning to Ireland to begin college.
 Other examples of similar publications are Ryanair In-flight Magazine and ‘Seascape’ which is a free magazine
distributed to passengers on Swansea Cork Ferries.
MARKETING TO MEDIA
 Develop contact list of media staff that look after in PR on mediums where DIT pay for advertising.
 Develop a list of PR contacts in media where DIT is not advertising.
 Get names of PR staff in newspapers, radio and magazines who handle putting together articles on higher
education.
 Create PR that is relevant to today’s job market. Content should contain success stories of student’s exam
results, job placements, industry awards etc.
 Aim to send out press releases every quarter so that there is a pattern of frequency on information being sent
out.
 Where possible, provide photographs to accompany press releases.
 Branding across all printed material such as direct mail, brochures, press ads, social media, website etc
should be consistent with correct logos and images used.
 Website needs to be updated on regular basics with new relevant stories on developments within DIT, staff
appointments, employment offers to students and any new courses offered at DIT.
 A dedicated ‘Press Section’ could be developed on the website. Any media personnel who log into the DIT
website would be clearly directed to the press section where they could download any information they need
on DIT such as course content, contacts, new courses etc.
 Any changes to CAO etc need to be flagged here.
 The website needs to have a front facing section that clearly shows the media all Graduate success stories.
These stories may prompt media outlets to use these stories across mediums such as television, radio,
newspaper etc.
 Enable the text on the website to be easily copied and provide text in Word and PDF formats.
 The photography on the website should be in high resolution.
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Advertising to Overseas Students
PR to Media
Content to Media
Website to Media

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 A list of key journalists from newspapers, trade magazines, radio researchers etc needs to be put together so
the DIT can follow these valuable contacts on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
 All postings on Boards.ie need to monitored. Boards.ie gives colleges and companies the right to reply to all
postings.
 Any free publicity given to DIT in mediums such as radio, press, magazines needs to be acknowledged on
social media sites.
 Competitions could be run in conjunction with press and radio on social media platforms.
 All news worthy happenings within DIT need to be constantly updated across all social media platforms.
 Use social media platforms to interact with the media. On Twitter, for example, a particular time slot could be
allocated for a Q&A session. This is could be used to build positive relationships with the media.
MARKETING TO INDUSTRY
 Get press releases into trade publications such as ‘Vintners Ireland’. This is the official magazine of the
Vintners Federation of Ireland and is circulated to around 7,000 pubs and hotels throughout Ireland.
 Press releases could also be sent into the following:
 ‘Licensing World’ is posted directly to outlets that account for 85% of the buying power of the licensed trade in
Ireland and also to management in breweries, wine and spirit importers, bar equipment and bar food suppliers.
 ‘Hospitality Ireland’ is distributed to the hospitality trade including, restaurants hotels, pubs, bars, and
nightclubs. It is also distributed to institutions involved in catering from golf clubs and hospitals to schools,
nursing homes and office canteens.
 ‘Drink Magazine Ireland’ which is available in bars, clubs, cafes, restaurants, music, fashion retailers, colleges
and on the streets. It can also be purchased through subscription.
 ‘Checkout Ireland’ which is distributed to RGDATA members, Independent Retailers, Cash & Carry’s, Fruit &
Vegetable Outlets, Off Licences, Advertising Agencies, Forecourts and Subscribers.
 ‘Marketing Ireland’ is a subscription-only basis to the country's top marketing executives, advertising agencies,
PR practitioners, research companies, direct marketing, graphic designers and photographers.
 ‘Hotel & Catering Review’ this is circulated to Hotel / Restaurant Owners, Head Chefs, Wine Waiters, Guest
House Owners, Fast Food Outlets, Catering Departments of Schools, Colleges, Hospitals, Industrial
Caterers and sectors in the Catering and Tourism Industries.
 Visiting various hotels and offering them an opportunity to recruit interns or graduates
 DIT could put together a list of industry related skills that students will acquire on completion of a particular
programme.
 Identify specific trade magazines used by industry to advertise in. DIT should then target these magazines to
advertise in.
 Examples of trade magazines to advertise in would be:
Social Media to Media
PR to Industry
Selling to Industry
Content to Industry
Advertising to Industry

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 ‘Discover Ireland’ magazine which is distributed from all Bord Failte's Regional Tourism offices throughout
Ireland, including local Tourist Offices and Travel Agents. There is also a mailing request service in response
to the national advertising and publicity campaign promoting Discover Ireland.
 ‘Ireland of the Welcomes’ which is circulated to subscribers worldwide, mainly USA, Canada, Australia and
Europe. Also available in Eason's in and News stands throughout America.
 ‘Tourism Ireland International Promotional Brochure’ which has13 titles translated into local language targeted
at potential visitors to Ireland.
 Create a search engine related ad, for example when the words Hotels or Tourism etc are typed into Google
an ad would appear with a link to the DIT programmes at the side of the search.
 An online Newspaper could be set up as over 90% of the top 500 college newspapers have editions on the
web, combined with a tab that will link them to a particular employer in the industry.
MARKETING TO POST GRAD STUDENTS
 Direct selling of Masters Programmes could take place by establishing a presence at a Grad Ireland fair.
 Take an ad in ‘The Guide to Postgraduate Study’, which is released to bookstores, newsagents and outlets
every November. The Guide is aimed at post grad, mature and international students. Complimentary
copies sent to public libraries, guidance counsellors and educational institutions.
 Use Mobile Marketing such as SMS texting, e-shots.
 Give away free promotional items such as hoodies, t-shirts, diaries etc.
 Content targeted at Post Grad students should contain important information regarding opportunities on
completion of the Masters Programmes.
 Develop a social network where selected students and employees can join and exchange ideas and
information and that can act as a sourcing tool.
 On the current Website there should be a visible portal where Post Grads can enter and obtain their
information easily.
 Tweeting relevant information about the two Masters courses
 Setting up a Blog for example E-Blogger is a popular website among Potential Postgraduate Students.
MARKETING TO ALUMNI
 Create an Events Calendar on the DIT website, that would contain upcoming events such as class
reunions, Christmas parties etc. The same could be done in the college magazine.
Webstite to Industry
Selling to Post Grad Students
Content to Post Grad Students
Website to Post Grad Students
Social Media to Post Grad Students
PR to Alumni
Content to Alumni

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 Publish an insert that would be carried in the ‘Irish Times’ that would contain information on where
Graduates and past students have made an impact on the Tourism and Hospitality sector.
 On the website there should be an alumni section where Graduates can reconnect with their old classmates, for
example, where members can login and receive information.
 The website should also contain an Events Gallery where a professional photographer would take pictures and
upload them onto the website along with a brief paragraph about particular individuals and their success
stories.
 A monthly newsletter should be sent out to those who subscribe to the Alumni of DIT.
 Develop a database of past students contact details and consider getting their permission to send SMS texts
with relevant updates and information to members.
 The creation of an online Community where old classmates can stay in touch with each other.
 Constant managing and updating of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are very important here also.
 On DIT website an Alumni section should be created. Direct links to all social media platforms could be located
here where articles and ideas could be shared.
 The creation of a benefits scheme being an Alumni member could be looked at. Partnerships with health
insurance providers such as such a discounts to VHI membership could be looked at.
 An Alumni Membership Card could be developed. The user could benefit from discounts to various DIT clubs,
gyms, libraries etc.
 A discount on adult education could be made available also to alumni members.
 As an incentive, discounts could be given to Alumni members who wish to return to study at DIT.
Webstite to Alumni
Direct Marketing to Alumni
Social Media to Alumni
Partnerships to Alumni