The Importance of Marketing in Higher Education Decision-Making
In Episode 113 of the Higher Ed Demand Gen podcast, Dr. Matthew Gann, the Associate Vice Chancellor for Marketing, Digital Strategy, and Public Relations at the Tennessee Board of Regents, emphasizes the crucial role of marketing in higher education. He argues that acquiring a seat at the executive table requires demonstrating marketing’s strategic value beyond mere enrollment numbers. Dr. Gann advocates for data-informed decisions that span reputation management and alumni engagement, showcasing the breadth of marketing’s influence.
Effective Communication Strategies for Higher Ed Marketing
Dr. Gann underscores the importance of clarity over cleverness in marketing communication. Effective marketing should focus on concrete outcomes and tangible impacts, such as job placement rates and salary expectations, to resonate better with prospective students and other stakeholders. This approach helps in better engagement and understanding, simplifying complex educational value propositions for a broad audience.
The Role of Reputation Management in Higher Education
Reputation management is a critical component in influencing various stakeholders—from prospective students and their families to major donors. Dr. Gann notes that robust reputation management can attract significant investments and support for the institution, furthering its mission and strategic goals. Marketing, thus, plays a pivotal role in shaping and maintaining the institution’s public image.
Highlighting the Real Outcomes of Higher Education
Dr. Gann believes that marketing should not only focus on traditional degree goals but also on the wider impacts of education, such as local economic development and workforce enhancement. By articulating how higher education benefits local communities and economies, universities can establish stronger partnerships with local businesses and demonstrate their value in more comprehensive terms.
Using Relevant Metrics to Align with Institutional Goals
Metrics are essential to demonstrate the effectiveness of marketing efforts. Dr. Gann discusses the importance of using relevant metrics that align with institutional goals and executive priorities. Tailoring communication and data presentation to what matters most to the leadership can strengthen marketing’s position within the institutional strategy.
Marketing in Community and Economic Development Initiatives
Dr. Gann envisages marketing as a bridge in community and economic development. By reflecting the role of education in these areas, marketing can enhance university partnerships with local businesses, contributing to mutual growth and development. His insights reveal that marketing’s reach extends far beyond traditional roles, integrating deeply with community and economic initiatives.
Networking and Engagement Opportunities
For professionals seeking to expand their knowledge and network, Dr. Gann is available on LinkedIn and Blue Sky. Engaging with him offers opportunities to discuss higher education marketing strategies and explore further insights into the evolving role of marketing in this sector.
Read the transcription
Shiro [00:00:15]:
Hey, everyone. Welcome to the Higher Ed Demand Gen podcast hosted by Concept 3 d. If you like our content, please follow and subscribe to us. As always, I’m Shiro O’Tore, your host. And today, I’m really excited to talk about getting marketing a seat at the executive table. For the conversation, I’m thrilled to have doctor Matthew Gahan join us today. Matthew is the associate vice chancellor for marketing, digital strategy, and public relations at the Tennessee Board of Regents. Matthew, welcome to the show.
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:00:47]:
Thanks for having me, Shiro.
Shiro [00:00:49]:
And I do have an icebreaker for everyone, which is please tell me what you love about higher ed.
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:00:54]:
This one goes, back to my upbringing. I grew up in, you know, low income area of rural Tennessee on a farm. And so I can personally say the difference that higher education can make to an individual and somebody’s family. So I have a passion for what I do, for that very reason. I can see those rural areas, including, people that have not necessarily had the benefit of travel and to see different things, different parts of the world. And so higher education to me means that upward mobility for people.
Shiro [00:01:36]:
Alright. Well, let’s jump in. Can you tell us in about 2 minutes about your role? I think you have a interesting role with the board of regents, so I’d love to dig deeper there.
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:01:45]:
Yeah. So, I started at Tennessee Tech University. I led their digital marketing efforts, and I believe, yeah, that was about 17 years ago. At the time, the Tennessee Board of Regents was comprised of the regional universities in Tennessee, the state’s community, and technical colleges. So, after several years leading the digital marketing efforts at Tennessee Tech, I was brought on to the Board of Regents to do the same thing and eventually made my way up to the ABC level and leading the marketing operation there, really creating the marketing operation at the board level. And so, have a small but mighty team of 8 people. We serve 37 colleges, an online campus, and a pretty complex system office with a bunch of statewide programs and initiatives. So all in all, we serve about a 165,000 students in our academic and our work force programs.
Shiro [00:02:44]:
Amazing. That’s that’s fantastic. And I know as a part of your intro also, you told me a lot about your dissertation that you worked on. Can you tell us a little bit more about that as well?
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:02:53]:
I would love to. So, my doctoral research really examined the ambiguity and how marketing units function in public universities. And it was really through the lens of presidents and how they see the function’s efficacy. And so the findings to me were fascinating, something I I probably already knew under, my belt, but, the chief marketer being at the cabinet level made a statistical difference in marketing outcomes from the viewpoint of the president. And what was particularly interesting was how presidents viewed marketing’s evolution, especially over the years. And then rather than just seeing it as a communications function or a lot of CFOs think of it as really a cost center or something they just have to fund, they viewed marketing and its leadership as really central to developing and achieving strategic goals of the institutions. And the research identified some key themes about that and including, like, strategic alignment and brand evolution and really market differentiation, which is a really hot topic at in the the university space right now, public and private. And president specifically noted marketing’s role in the enrollment stability, fundraising success, and really reputation management of the institutions.
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:04:22]:
The other thing I think is really compelling was how presidents saw marketing as essential for navigating, you know, the enrollment cliff shift, whatever you prefer to call it, and increasing market competition in the university space. I’ve talked about it several times over the the last year of, you know, private universities going into the public university space, public universities going after, traditional community college students, community colleges going after technical college students. It is really a competitive marketplace. And they really emphasize marketing’s need to be integrated into those strategic decision making, conversations really at the highest levels to really, effectively differentiate institutions in that marketplace. Then that’s on the enrollment side. Then you have really, probably not gonna get into it today, but the advancement side of the house, community relations and so forth, but really marketing having the key role in the strategic planning of the institution versus just execution of that strategic plan.
Shiro [00:05:30]:
I mean, this this is fantastic news, I think, for this podcast and all the guests I’ve had and all the listeners because this is this is our market. Right? And and it’s really good to hear that at the presidential level, this is their viewpoint. You know, I know as as your study, right, not every person. Why do you think it’s still so hard that to to make this change happen if it it sounds like here’s the top. Right? They’re starting to see the impact at their enrollment level, communications level, right, actually being a part of the strategic planning. Then you have the people in the ground force. Right? The student workers running social, the the teams working paid ads on the school. Like, where at what point do you think they they merge together to to feel this, synergy?
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:06:16]:
Yeah. You know, and this is further resort research, and, I’ve had some people reach out that wanna extend the research that I did, but it could be a a couple of different things. 1, is is the president did they go through just normal academic pathway to get to the presidency? Have they been exposed to marketing functions? Do they know anything about acquisition costs or the multiple functions that Marcom usually, perform at an institution? Did they come from the business side of the house? Were they in the biz business college and top marketing? I really do believe, the pathway to the presidency really makes a difference, and I do hope somebody, continues that research or research, or I might continue it myself at some point. The other thing is is the exposure of what marketing and communications really does for an advice or they’re just supporting just solely the enrollment function, that top piece of that funnel versus really what Marcom executes at a campus, which includes reputation management, crisis communications, crisis planning, risk management, all of those things. One piece that I found interesting, with one of the on the qualitative side is the exposure to athletics really made somebody, a president, feel differently about what the marketing function does. And then in that reputation management, again, if you have, like, this winning team, great brand of athletics, then all of a sudden you have more students interested, more community involvement. And they translated that athletic side to really institution reputation management. Athletics part, I understood the marketing part.
Shiro [00:08:16]:
Interesting. Yeah. The and does that mean that once the president understood how the athletics marketing work or branding work, they had a better idea of what central comms did. Is is that what it means?
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:08:30]:
I think it it really was. I think the exposure to to brand, to understanding brand execution. Athletics is fun. People wanna get involved in that. Right? Where necessarily going out there digging through data dashboards and understanding a customer journey just isn’t necessarily as fun. So when they got exposed to true brand management, to true marketing philosophy, which athletics is that convenient, you know, exposure, they understood the bigger picture of what marketing and communication could do for the university itself outside of athletics.
Shiro [00:09:07]:
Oh, okay. I see. So the perception on marketing was, they saw marketing as a stronger tool, and they could relate it to other aspects of their university Correct. With a strong athletics marketing program. Yeah. Got it. That’s fascinating. And and so, like, what’s the next step with you with this research? And is there something you wanna go out and do? Is are there bite sized pieces you’re creating? Like, I mean, this is really exciting research.
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:09:34]:
Yeah. I I I am a vocal, proponent of having the chief marketing and communications officer at whatever title they an institution wants, but at least having them a seat at the table for the decision making, especially involvement in the strategic planning process. I was talking via LinkedIn to somebody on a job posting yesterday of this conversation of truly what is a CMO. Does is it just involved in the admissions piece? Well, I was like, that’s not the case in my experience and the research because it deals with so many other things. You know, traditionally, marketing and communications at the university level or any level really was under advancement. And then it kinda moved out, shifted a little bit of gaining its own traction, then they started putting it in enrollment management, or other units within the the structure. But it really is a holistic operation that touches every piece of university or college operations. And at that point, to silo it into one unit, which has their own, you know, philosophies on what they need or what they want or what the, what the outcomes are, really pigeonholes marketing into concentrating on one thing.
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:11:04]:
It’s almost like tunnel vision versus expanding that viewpoint. And so for me, understanding more about what presidents who don’t have a, cabinet level chief marketing and communications officer, what is their what is their hold up with it? Is it their thinking that the strategic enrollment management piece of the pie, just that admissions, Are they thinking that’s the only thing that they need to go after is gaining new students versus keeping the students, the reputation management of really is a student and their families and the community’s perception of an institution going to, really, make a a a factor in their decision to enroll or to give back or to volunteer. It’s just a bigger piece of the pie than I think a lot of institutions look at currently. So, what’s next for me is hopefully getting some more doctoral students to expand my research and dig into a few other things, including perception of, is it the president’s first presidency versus the people who have been in the role multiple times or at multiple institutions or a longer time period. How do they view this function? Expand on that research. But, also, I’m I’ve got about 5 or 6 different topics based on this research that I would like to write for, and get published, especially taking this as the the public university space is my, what my dissertation concentrated on, but moving that into maybe the community college space. Traditionally, I do think community colleges kind of lean on what public 4 year universities do for their execution of certain things a little later. Mhmm.
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:12:53]:
And so maybe we can, you know, put some fire, into that and and community colleges and really get community colleges to concentrate on marketing for one reason. And I know this is a long answer, but it is because of that competition piece. Traditionally, I really do believe community colleges were just concentrating on you’ve gotta get people to go to college. While that’s very important, there is competition in that field now that is traditionally community college technical college students. And if they don’t step this up, they’re gonna have issues going forward.
Shiro [00:13:29]:
Yeah. No. This that was a very, very great answer, and I appreciate that. I know I I I like how you mentioned there’s so much competition going from community to public, public to community, because I do see, like, a lot of public schools now offering 2 year program certificates, you know, this these sorts of programs, which historically 4 year universities didn’t offer up until, like, you know, the last 10 years. So I I see them the competition going both ways, which is very, very interesting. And then to to your comment about the role of the CMO, I’ve talked to a few CMOs on this show, and, I think it’s always interesting to compare to other industries. And I I truly believe the role of the CMO is much heavier in in higher ed, just just for the sheer team size plus the responsibilities. I mean, you don’t have crisis comms in most technology companies or industries.
Shiro [00:14:27]:
Right? Very, very few companies have to deal with that. However, every marketer, has to deal with that at any institution. So I think that’s, like, a big piece that, if you compare it under in industries, it just doesn’t exist in in most cases. So I thought that was fascinating, and I’ve seen some schools actually hire someone to partner at the CMO level. 1 is a CMO, which is, more on the enrollment side, brand side, and some advancement, and then another person takes over a lot of the the crisis comms and traditional media and communication, and they partner together just because they know that role is is so expansive. And I’ve I’d like that creative strategy.
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:15:07]:
And I have seen that. And, you know, I’m not looking yet about 15 years down the road, but at some point, 15 years down the road, I would consider there being a chief marketing officer, chief communications officer, both at the cabinet level. And I know some larger research one universities are looking at it that way. There was a couple of, job postings in the last year where they said they are separating that marketing communications piece into 2 cabinet level positions, but I’m not sure higher ed is there yet, across the board, but I think eventually, probably we’ll get there.
Shiro [00:15:45]:
No. I love this. And I I liked your examples that in our prior call about, you know, where where your institution is at in terms of marketing, and the levels of involvement that marketing as especially at the chief for executive level can can be a part of. Right? And I think you gave some examples around tactical all the way to, influencing programming or, strategic planning. Can you tell us a little bit more about that and maybe the steps an institution can take if they’re kinda, like, on the forefront of just just adopting this?
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:16:15]:
Mhmm. Over the last several years, I’ve been, really concentrating on maturity models. Jamie Hunt is big into this as well, in not just the maturity model of the organization, but the maturity model of the marketing function and then the people within the marketing function, those employee based maturity models. And so recently, I test really all of our colleges to to look at the maturity model of their of their marketing functions to really make them think about, oh, I can’t the marketing function can’t get out of the tactile call because they don’t have the tools to be operationalized. And so that’s how I’m progressing this and looking at those maturity models and how really that chief marketer eventually gets that seat at the table because it has to you have to look a little inwards, to understand where you are as an institution and where you wanna be, and does the function itself support that? I recommend everybody looking at each one of their operational units in a maturity model because it really says, oh, we’re not there yet. We don’t have the budget to get there. We don’t have the personnel, and that person doesn’t have a seat at the table to get us to that full maturity of the operation.
Shiro [00:17:38]:
Yeah. That’s that’s a great point because I think there’s a lot of shiny object syndrome in in marketing as a whole. Right? I’m I’m a marketer myself, and I like that just to reflect on your team. Like, is this something that we can actually even take on right now, or is this just Mhmm. A shiny object and we gotta actually work on what’s realistic for us today?
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:17:57]:
Yeah. I call it the the dancing penguin syndrome. I got that from my one of my mentors, Monica Watts, who is an AVP of communications at the University of Alabama. She always talked about the dancing penguins, the shiny object that they’re concentrating on now. But does that shiny object have any operational significance to what you’re doing or where you wanna go? Or is it just you want the shiny object? It’s the the curse of the make it pretty marketing function, which again is the tactical piece, but really not the, operational side of it.
Shiro [00:18:34]:
Yeah. No. That that makes sense, and I love that you bring the operational aspect to it because I’m kinda thinking I’m I’m using very, high level words, but it you can actually get tactical if you look at how it’s gonna impact your operations. So like that a lot. Sure. In terms of advice for, you know, maybe directors of marketing, AVPs, associate directors, who are trying to make more impact, more influence to the president, maybe to the dean? Like, do you have any advice for just, you know, being heard or trying to make more influence whether from across or to the top?
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:19:10]:
Yeah. There’s a there’s a quote that says if they don’t give you a seat at the table, pull up your own chair. Sometimes you have to step in, and when you see something, do a critical analysis of it and then try to find a way to present that. Same thing with using the maturity models. Say, you know, where you are on that tactical side and then maybe present to senior levels or including maybe a short email to the the president. So this is where we are. This is where we’d like to be. Not necessarily how you get there, but say this is where we see our institutions function at this moment at that marketing level.
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:19:54]:
I believe over the course of my career, it it is one of those times a lot of times I kind of demanded a seat at the table, with my voice, with my expertise, and just with good ideas. This has also been something I take took away from the AMAs and the conversation that I’ve been trying to convey on the marketing side and including, we might get into this later, the naming of programs is literally be clear, not clever. Be clear in your intentions. Be clear in where you wanna go with the unit itself, and be clear that you really do believe to have a strategic influence on the operations of the university or the college that you need to be included in the conversations. And I I I do that myself to this day.
Shiro [00:20:48]:
Do you have any examples you could share of, you know, how you’ve really tried to position yourself to get a higher seat or more, impact across and upwards?
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:21:00]:
Yeah. My suggestion on that is be data informed and show the value of the function. And that goes back into the tactical for the upper versus the operational side of it, including not just being focused on enrollment, but focused on the reputation side of it, the alumnus, or alumni engagement, the foundation piece, all of those. Reputation management, again, I I I kinda say this all the time, marketing, one of their biggest roles is reputation management, but reputation management influences all of those things from the potential student all the way up to the major donor. But use data. Say this this is what we did. This is how it affected enrollment. This is how it affects advancement, and really show the value of the function.
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:21:56]:
I think that always is, the best way forward in kind of proving what you do, and why you need a seat at the table.
Shiro [00:22:06]:
Appreciate that.
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:22:06]:
I think that was clear. Was that clear enough?
Shiro [00:22:09]:
It was very clear. Yes. Yes. And I think and I’d love to ask a question about ROI, but I do think or sorry, what metrics you should share. But I’ve learned that after asking that question so many times, the metrics that matter are different per person, per institution, per goals. Right? So, like, if you do have a bad reputation, maybe there’s, survey results that you can share. Maybe it’s enrollment. So the the data is is very different, I think, from institution to institution.
Shiro [00:22:37]:
And if you don’t know what’s important to your execs, I think starting there is is is a very good, start.
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:22:42]:
Absolutely. Absolutely.
Shiro [00:22:45]:
Alright. Well, shifting gears a little bit, I know another topic we talked about on our prior call was, about one of the things you think is missing in higher ed, and that’s speaking about outcomes, and not just for the individual, but for for the society. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:23:04]:
Yeah. Absolutely. A lot of, marketing folks, and it’s kind of an inside joke, over the years is, traditionally, there’s been a lot of fluff language. And, I will say people love a tagline. Right? But the the go here is you’ll get there, be bold, find your place, learn today, late tomorrow, and so forth, so on. And and you really could replace any tagline at those any college or university with another, and nobody would really know the difference between any of them. And so in my opinion, higher education and this goes into the reputation management of higher education in general, is we need to be talking about, you know, the real measurable outcomes of what we do both for the individual, the family, societal. Just for example, the take our technical programs of just saying, hey.
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:24:01]:
We have a great HVAC program or a great engineering program. We should be telling you that, you know, our graduates are seeing salaries starting salaries of 45,000 with 100% job placement. You come here for this program, you’re gonna have this outcome or that, advanced manufacturing graduates are being hired by, you know, local industries before they can even complete their programs, or that our health science programs have a 100% job placement and can be used anywhere in the country. I really had a great conversation with my, some peers at the senior leader part of the AMAs about clarity, over cleverness. And, you know, I would probably wager that more adult students and first gen learners probably would engage with higher education when we are clear about, the outcomes of higher education, the outcomes of the programs versus the programs themselves, or just higher education. It’s like, hey. You just need a college degree versus you need a college degree because of this. And it also includes program titles, especially at the community college level.
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:25:13]:
I think that’s something, we’re starting to grasp, and then I think the 4 years are gonna move on with that is, you know, we have a program called mechatronics, which means nothing to most people. But if you market it as advanced manufacturing technology or engineering technology, which would be even better, and say local employers are looking for this with starting salaries of x and you have career advancement to y, now you’re speaking language that resonates with both those potential students, families, but also employers and and the communities that they serve. So I really believe it’s about translating the educational opportunities into those clear economic and societal mobility pathways. And so continuing on with that, you know, even for business, we also need to articulate, you know, how our programs directly impact local economies, that societal piece that you’re talking about. And when you partner with those employees, you develop these workforce programs, and you can effectively make those market connections. You’ll see both more community engagement at the colleges and the universities, but, again, that reputation management, building that reputation as we’re not just over there, you know, while communication presentations are very important, but we’re not just teaching that. We’re teaching real career outcomes that can help you sustain a living and have a very good life. So it really is kind of like a shift from the aspirational fluff to really concrete outcomes, that will make us better marketers and, I think, build on the reputation of higher education.
Shiro [00:27:06]:
Yeah. I mean, it I I really like that point. It made me think about reputation management, of course, is a big is a big point for, prospective students. Right? And also community. But for community, there’s also university partnerships with with local businesses, local, companies, and a school’s reputation definitely makes an impact there. And to your point about job placement, like, it has a huge impact there, and I see a lot of alignment there, which is really cool. And speaking to your point of, like, job placement, I remember I met someone at AMA. I think it was Rio Suzuki, University of Nebraska in their, I think, business school, and they have, like, a 99% placement rate.
Shiro [00:27:52]:
But I was like, you should market that statistic. You know? Like, that’s a great marketing statistic of value based outcome that should be added to any of your marketing programming.
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:28:00]:
And I really do think that is, like, when we clearly communicate the real world impact of the program, it’s that placement rate, maybe a licensure pass rate. You know, we’re helping people make the informed decisions about their futures while also doing that other part, demonstrating higher education’s role, really, you know, as an economic development engine for states. And then you when you start talking that language, then you start talking to those legislators and those governors about how universities and our colleges really make a big difference in that that economic output.
Shiro [00:28:40]:
That’s amazing. Well, I think we’re just at about time here today. I’m wondering if our listeners wanna connect with you, what’s the best place to figure out, you know, all the good work you’re doing, maybe more about your dissertation? Let us know.
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:28:54]:
Yeah. Connect with me on LinkedIn or, Blue Sky is the new jam right now since AMA. So my name is just Matthew Gann on both of those and really all socials. So reach out. I’d be glad to have a conversation.
Shiro [00:29:09]:
Amazing. Well, thank you so much, Matthew. It was great to have you and love this topic. So, hope we get to talk on it again soon.
Dr. Matthew Gann [00:29:17]:
Thanks for having me, Shiro.
