Growth-hacking is a concept applied in the startup world, but it also provides a framework for growing applied baccalaureate programs on a limited budget. An alternative to traditional marketing, growth-hacking focuses on experimentation across marketing channels, fast feedback, continuous product / degree improvement, and rapid adaptation to change.  At Green River College, we growth-hacked a BAS in Software Development, meeting and exceeding our 5-year enrollment target in under 3 years — all on a virtually nonexistent marketing budget and during a climate of historically low unemployment. From leveraging free web tools, creating shareable content, building strategic partnerships, and organizing grass-roots events, we’ll talk about our journey to becoming one of the largest applied baccalaureate programs in Washington state, including a discussion of the challenges that come with rapid scaling.

1. Launch Your Degree With a
Startup Mentality:
A Guide to Growth-Hacking
New AB Programs
March 18, 2018
Community College Baccalaureate Association
Tina Ostrander | Ken Hang | Andy Orr

2. Outline
 Speaker Intros
 Program Demographics
 What is Growth-Hacking?
 Integrated Product Team
 Strategies
 Technology Stack
 Challenges to Rapid-Scaling
 Activity: Rapid Prototype your Marketing Plan
 Q & A

3. Speaker Intros
 Tina Ostrander
 Instructor, Software
Development
 Ken Hang
 Program
Director
&Instructor,
Software
Development
 Andy Orr
 Program Manager,
Software
Development

4. Program Demographics
 120 unique students < 4 years from launch
 40% non-white
 38% first generation
 60% financial aid eligible
 90+% student retention
 All on a virtually non-existent marketing budget!

5. Growth-Hacking
 Framework for growing programs on a limited budget
 Concept applied in the startup / tech world
 Alternative to traditional marketing plans
 Fast feedback, experimentation, continuous
improvement, and rapid adaptation to change
 Marketing is built into the product / degree itself
 Analogous to LEAN startup

6. Being Agile
 An “inspect and adapt approach”
 Focus on creating minimum viable products / services
 Incremental development
 Driven by observation and data, vs. up-front planning
 We teach Agile, we live Agile
 Examples
 Job fairs >>> targeted recruiting
 Website + Google form >>> Landing page + lead
generation
 Personalized response >>> automating initial contact
+ appointment scheduling

7. Being Agile Continued…

8. Integrated Product Team

9. What does a Program
Manager do?
 Day-to-day ops plus long-term vision
 Marketing and outreach
 Content development
 CRM specialist
 Official program communications
 Targeted advising (250+ students)
 Student tracking
 Admissions
 Program record keeping
 Intent, advisor, tuition coding
 Data guru
 Monthly event planning and promotion
 Internship hub and career services
 Liaison with campus stakeholders
 Employer relations
 Strategic partnerships
 Alumni tracking and engagement
 Institutional know-how

10. Strategies
 Marketing is built into the product / degree itself
 Strategic partnership building
 Meetups and events
 Lead generation mentality
 Automate the boring stuff
 Strong web presence
 Targeted outreach efforts
 Deliver shareable content that tells human stories
 Find opportunities to co-brand
 Leverage campus partners

11. Our Technology Stack
 SEO-optimized program landing page
 Interest form to capture contact info
 Google Analytics
 Automated email campaigns using a
CRM or a free tool like MailChimp
 Free appointment scheduling software like Calendly
 Maintain active presence on social media
 LinkedIn and Facebook
 Start a blog with steady flow of relevant content
 Publish content that co-brands / adds value to
others to increase sharing
 Online internship hub and virtual career center
 Meetup.com and EventBrite for events

12. (Very Real) Challenges
 Student services, especially tutoring, are difficult to scale
 Physical space constraints
 Publishing and writing takes time
 Meaningful social media presence takes time
 Educating stakeholders on campus about our Agile model / product
team for running an AB program
 Rapid-scaling creates administrative overhead (think student
tracking, and waitlist maintenance and refinement)
 Rapid-scaling presents threat of having to turn students away
 Rapid-scaling = more sections = difficulty recruiting tech teaching
talent

13. Interactive Exercise
Question: What steps would you take
on your campus to growth-hack a new
AB program?
 Self-organize into groups of 7 +- 2
 Write down ideas on sticky notes
 Dot vote to select your top ideas
 Nominate a speaker to step up and
present in a lighting round (30
seconds max)

14. For More Information
Landing page
https://www.greenriver.edu/software
Program blog
https://medium.com/green-river-web-mobile-developers
Meetup
https://www.meetup.com/South-King-Web-Mobile-Developers/
Online internship hub and virtual career center
http://itconnect.greenrivertech.net/
Ken Hang
khang@greenriver.edu
Tina Ostrander
tostrander@greenriver.edu
Andy Orr
aorr@greenriver.edu