EADTU Staff Week 2024

1. Marketing and communications at JYUOpen
www.jyu.fi/en/open-university
Marketing Specialist Anni Karhunen
EADTU Staff Training | 16 May 2024

2. JYUOpen, part of the
University of Jyväskylä
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 An independent institute within JYU
 Bachelor-level studies in 50+ subjects from
the faculties of JYU
o Some courses offered in English
 Open uni studies are open to everyone, no
entrance requirements
 Courses are offered mainly online
and developed especially for adult learners
 Year-round flexible enrolment
 Affordable pricing
 No degrees
#1 open university
in Finland
(out of total: 13) for many years
running, in terms of study
credits completed
25 % market share
National decrees regulate
all open universities

3. Communications and Community staff at JYU
Director of Communications
University Communications
(16 people)
Faculty comms. Science
comms. Personnel comms.
Student comms.
Translation services.
Marketing (8 people)
Student recruitment: domestic
and international. Website
development. Social media.
Visual marketing. Open uni &
continuous learning.
Societal relationships and
collaboration (8 people)
Events. Alumni activities.
Fund raising.
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2 people in charge of Open University marketing and
continuous learning marketing

4. Marketing aims at
fostering…
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 Wide awareness of JYUOpen and its services
 Popularity in key target groups
o Working age population (~25 to 65) looking
to develop skills
o Young adults seeking their first uni degree
o Current JYU degree students
 Good customer experience from the first
encounter, built by the whole JYUOpen
community

5. Going where the potential students are
 Website
 Social media: Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn,
YouTube, TikTok
o Promoting posts through ad campaigns
 Newsletter (monthly, 7.5k subscribers)
 Search engine marketing
 Media releases
 Events: study fairs, webinars, JYU events
 Videos
 Adverts in magazines, online platforms
 Print: leaflets, roll-ups
 DOOH = digital out-of-home ads
 Screens on campus
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Also: JYU's main social media
accounts, alumni newsletter,
degree students' newsletter

6. Content marketing as a key method
Production + dissemination of content that interests and
serves the target groups
 Authentic student stories/testimonials/blog posts
 Teaching staff's blog posts
 News stories about new releases in the course selection
 Study guidance webinars
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 Inspiration and motivation
 Awareness of different studies
 Tips for combining working life and studies
 Information, how-to's
 Supporting the branding

7. Working life as our
main focus
 The sectors are designed to help us
present our study selection in a
customer-friendly way (compared
with scientific disciplines)
 Sectors also help in targeting
marketing actions
 Market research 2023
o Most interest: short trainings,
building specific skills
o Decision to study: immediate + long-
term benefit in current job
o Most likely to study: the highly educated
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Teaching and education
Healthcare and social services
Environment and sustainability
Society, culture and communications
Business and management
Technology and security
Sport and well-being

8. In development
 Alumni as a target group for further studies
 Organisations as partners for both RDI and education
collaboration > e.g. open university studies for work communities
 Changes in our operating environment: pressure to raise prices, a
previously popular subsidy for adult learners is coming to an end,
a new national online platform for continuous learning
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