This presentation at the AEJMC conference in Chicago, gives student media advisers and student leaders a step-by-step guide on creating an integrated marketing communications plan using the ROPE method from public relations. Those unfamiliar with marketing or public relations will find this easy to use and invaluable in managing your student media brand.

1. Marketing and Promoting
Your Student Media
Best Practices in Student Media Pre-
Conference Small Programs Interest Group
AEJMC 2012

2. What do you currently do to market
your student publications?
• Advertise within your publications
• Cross-promote with other student publications
• Host events or contests
• Foster word-of-mouth marketing
• Subscribe to social media
• Collaborate with other campus organizations
• Attend recruiting events
• Attend job fairs on campus
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3. The Big Question:
• How do you determine
which of these or
other choices will
work for you?
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4. How to create “The plan”
• Use the public relations campaign strategy of ROPE
• Create an integrated marketing communication
campaign
• Combine the tools from public relations and
marketing
• Ultimate goal: To increase awareness or visibility of
your student media in the campus community

5. What is ROPE?
• Research
• Objectives
• Programming
• Evaluation

6. Research
• SWOT Analysis
• Research tools
– Primary
– Secondary
– Qualitative
– Quantitative
• How do I choose?

7. Research
• Who are your audiences?
• What works best to listen to them?
– Survey
– Focus Groups
– Content analysis
– Institutional research

8. Why do research?
• Gives us a benchmark
• Tells us what people think, in their own words
• Tells us why people think what they think
• Gives us ideas of how we can improve
• It’s required for assessment and strategic
planning

9. Analyzing the Research
• Where do you start?
• Remember, every research project is
undertaken to get specific information. If you
haven’t made that clear from the beginning,
you’ll have a hard time making sense of the
research.

10. Objectives
• Specific and quantifiable for
measurement/evaluation
• Support your overall goal
• Can be impact and output objectives
• Should be no more than 8 objectives

11. Objectives--Impact
• To improve newspaper perception as a
credible source by 20% by May 2010
• To increase page views on therambler.org by
5% per month
• To increase readership by 20% in 2009-2010
• To increase number of fans to 1000 by Jan.
31, 2010

12. Objectives--Output
• To provide source feedback survey to each
source after the story appears
• To sign-up 10 people per week for e-mailed
updates
• To deliver papers to individual classes each issue
as requested
• To invite 10 new people to become fans per
week

13. Programming
• Start with a laundry list of everything you could
do
• Narrow and focus based on your objectives and
budget
• Make sure your programming supports your
objectives

14. Some examples
• Training programs
• Signage--branding
• News releases
• Joining associations
• Presenting at meetings
• Cross promotion

15. Some events
Left,
Halloween
Booth to sign
up people for
Facebook
Right,
A year-end
banquet
reconnects us
with alumni

16. Other tactics
Left, One of
six kiosks
purchased
around
campus
Right,
Encourage
staff to
participate in
campus-wide
events

17. Announce your
successes--on
campus and in
the community

18. Evaluation
• The other side of the research coin
• Focused on results of objectives
• Should be undertaken throughout the campaign
• Can take many forms, depending on your
programming and objectives

19. Evaluation
Objective
• To improve newspaper perception as a credible
source by 20% by May 2012
Evaluation
• Campus-wide, benchmark survey administered
at end of Fall; mid-Spring; May 2012
• Conduct focus group in early Spring to determine
actions

20. What can you take home with you?
• Marketing and public relations campaigns allow
you to gain more credibility on campus, more
funding from advertisers, and more good
students as recruits
• Taking the time to plan and put on paper a
marketing and public relations strategy will give
you the strategic direction you need to succeed

21. Contact Me:
Dr. Kay L. Colley, Student Media Director and
Assistant Department Chair
kcolley@txwes.edu
817-531-6525
Twitter: @kaycolley
Blog: http://kaycolley.blogspot.com