April 2010 Newsletter
Build a Better Catalog
Course catalogs are still very much an effective form of promotion and one of the top marketing channels used by our most successful ed2go partners. Although even a poorly designed catalog will produce results, an exceptionally designed catalog can result in success surpassing expectations. There are two key strategies for successful catalogs. The first is placement of online offerings in a specific section of one's catalog. Typically these sections are titled "Online" or "Online Courses." The other strategy is to integrate the online titles with the listing of classroom courses in the catalog. An example of this is when an institution is promoting a classroom medical billing and coding course in the Healthcare section of a catalog and the online billing and coding title is also featured. There are benefits to both strategies and each targets a different audience. Doing one, or both well can yield big results.
Catalog Marketing Templates
The intent of placing online courses in a specific section of the catalog is to target those individuals who open the catalog to search for a specific type of course. They might browse the entire catalog, but ultimately they are interested in finding out more about your online offerings. This strategy works well because it allows prospective students to view online course titles, and descriptions in some cases, without having to comb through the entire catalog.
Would it surprise you to learn that one of our current Partners, Santa Rosa Junior College, found a way to grow their ed2go Online Course enrollments by 500% in the last year? First we said "Wow!" and then we started asking "How?" In past years, Santa Rosa promoted the ed2go Online Courses in their print catalog by dedicating three-quarters of a page to ed2go. This typically generated 8-10 enrollments per month. Last year, Santa Rosa Junior College replaced the old information in their catalog with the ed2go designed seasonal full-page marketing ad that they found on their Online Administration Center marketing page. By simply adding an extra quarter page and using an ed2go template, their enrollments jumped to 40-50 per month. A growth of 500%!
That's it? An extra quarter page and a seasonal template? It is that easy! The ed2go templates showcase the most popular courses, provide short, catchy course descriptions, give students enrollment instructions, and offer you customizable fields for your school name, pricing, ed2go URL, and phone number. According to Kerry Campbell-Price at Santa Rose Junior College, "This was the only change we made and the only reason for the boost in enrollment activity."
Other partners have experienced the same results. Edmonds Community College inserted a two-page template into their fall catalog and also saw a large growth in their enrollments. They combined this with upgrading their school Web site to make it easier for students to find the courses on the school's site. (We'll be talking more about successful electronic marketing tips in a future issue.)
Do you need to use the ed2go designed templates in your catalog to be successful? No, however the templates have been proven over the years to work. The reason is they contain the information that students are looking for and directs them to where and how they can enroll.
Although it seems logical that if you list a lot of course titles on a page you will have higher enrollments, that does not always ring true. By listing only the title, students do not have enough information to make an informed decision on whether this course is right for them. It's important to include a description of what they will learn and all of the available ed2go templates include this short description.
A statement heard frequently is "We do not have enough space in our catalog to list all 300+ titles." You don't need to! Each template includes the most popular titles (even those that are one page or smaller!) and informs students where they should go next to find out more information or to view more titles.
We've covered a little about why it's important to have a catalog page for your online courses and programs that contain a short description, price, and clear instructions on what the next step for the student should be. Next we will talk about integrating your courses and programs directly into your catalog.
Catalog Integration
The intent of integrating online courses with classroom courses is twofold. First, you're targeting prospective students who have an idea of what course or program category in which they would like to receive training, but have not made up their mind or necessarily thought about how they would like the course delivered; a traditional classroom format or online. Many times these individuals are not aware of their online learning options and even if there was an "Online Courses" section to the catalog, they may not choose to go through it.
Many times an individual will begin to browse through a catalog with no intent of enrolling in an online course, but when seeing that online is an option they jump at the opportunity. The second intent of integrating online course titles with classroom courses is to give prospective students options.
A mistake that many institutions make when assessing their online offerings is looking at them as competition to their classroom training. Online is not a replacement to classroom, but rather a substitute for those individuals who are unable to make or find the time to work with a set schedule of start dates, meeting times, end dates, etc. When a prospective student goes to the Test Prep section of a catalog and finds the GRE Test Prep classroom course is only offered during times when they have prior commitments, having an online option listed with the classroom course title prevents one from losing the individual altogether because an alternative option has been presented to them. And the key is that the online alternative is presented to them immediately. No page flipping or additional catalog browsing is necessary.
Which Type of Catalog Strategy is Right for Me?
Designing a catalog can be a very daunting task and the first question you need to ask when deciding how to feature online courses into your catalog is, "How much space do I have to work with?" The answer to this question will dictate how and where you feature the online courses that are being offered. Typically, if your hands are tied and you can only afford to dedicate one or two pages of space to "Online", the best strategy is to utilize an Online Courses section. Those who have a bit more freedom in terms of space should definitely explore the option of integrating online course titles and descriptions with your classroom courses in the appropriate categories throughout the catalog.
There is also the option of utilizing both strategies and not taking up much space at all. This strategy involves the use of symbols or wording to denote online being option for certain course titles. Many of ed2go's most successful partners use this strategy when integrating online courses into their print catalogs. A symbol, such as a tiny computer monitor, or simple phrase such as, "Also Offered Online", when listed under a classroom course title and description can go a long way. Not much space is taken up and an online section can still be featured in the catalog to highlight the most popular online courses and training programs in your area.
What's Next?
Hopefully this information has been helpful and given you ideas as to how online courses will be featured in your next print catalog. An in-depth look at online course, catalog integration strategies will be explored during a webinar presentation on April 13 at 2pm EST (1:00PM CT, 12:00PM MT, and 11:00 PT). The strategies explained in this article will be expanded upon and specific examples of catalogs will be shown and examined. Please respond to; ed2go.marketing@cengage.com, if you're interested in attending this presentation.
Spring Cleaning Your Catalog
With flowers blooming and spring in the air, that must mean spring cleaning is near. Spring cleaning your catalog, that is--and ed2go can help.
Many partners now take advantage of our new course opt-in. If you aren't already doing this, maybe now is the time to reconsider. Each time we release a new title, we will automatically add it to our catalog. This service is available for both online courses and career training programs, so you can relax knowing your catalog will always be up-to-date. We can also help you in adding older titles into your catalog that may have been missed.
If you are interested in joining the new course opt-in or having a catalog rebuild, please contact your Account Manager.
Building a Better Catalog Webinar
Learn how to get the most out of your print catalog in this informative new webinar. Full details, including how to sign up, will be emailed the week of March 29th. Mark your calendars now for this important event!
Date: April 13th, 2010
Time: 11:00 AM PST
Duration: 1 Hour
