"Build it and they will come" does not always transfer to "Build a distance learning course and students will come."
If your program is new, or if you are taking an established program to a new audience, you may need to utilize marketing strategies to reach the potential participants and effectively match your program to their interests. Marketing is not difficult. It is really a matter of communicating and asking the right questions!
People don't want to be "marketed TO"; they want to be "communicated WITH."
- Flint McGlaughlin
How do you ‘market’ a class or a program?
Consider the ‘Market Niche’ pyramid illustrated below as a place to begin. On each level of the pyramid, you can click for additional resources on the topic featured. To use the pyramid, start at the base, answering the key questions and utilizing resources as needed. By the time you reach the advertising stage, you’ll have a much better idea where the market niche is for your class, and how to connect with that market.
1. Doing the Homework Before the Class! Know the market.
What are the trends, interests, needs, and desires of the population in the area you wish to serve? Think about how you have determined this. Does your method of information gathering include all the stakeholders? Does it include potential participants?
Do participants have access to a learning location or distant technology? What are their constraints in terms of time, class, seasonal or work schedules, or transportation availability? Has your method determined their willingness as well as their ability to pay?
What motivates distant learners? Are their needs different from learners in a campus-based program? Has a distant program been available to this population previously? How did they respond to this program?
2. Matching the Market to the Mission
What are the interests, objectives or mission of the organization you serve? Do these match the needs you’ve determined above?
What will it take to produce a program? What do you need in terms of time, money, personnel and other resources, such as technical support, equipment, and supplies? What about internal support? Do you have what you need at your disposal?
Is anyone else serving the population you wish to serve, including internet entities? What are they doing? What are their strengths and weaknesses? What is their goal? How successful are they? Is there anyone within your own organization, i.e., other programs that meet the needs above? If not, why not?
Depending on what you have learned from your market research, which has told you about your potential participants, their needs, etc., and your competition and what they are or are not doing, you’re ready to look at the program or class you wish to develop. As you develop it, consider all of the information you’ve gleaned from the questions above. For valuable assistance in developing a class or program, go to the "Developing a Distance Learning Class" page in the Toolbox.
Your previous homework will also indicate the best location for your program. ‘Place’ is anywhere the class, or product, is delivered. This might be the participant’s home, place of employment, community organization center or a classroom such as one of the OSU Learning Centers. For a list of locations available for distance programs, see our map of videoconferencing facilities.
If price is not predetermined by institutional standards, you can also determine a price based on all of the above information.
Now, you’re ready to promote the class, or advertise! Your homework indicates what, where, when, how and to whom you should present information about your program. Don’t forget to consider low-cost methods as well as paid promotional efforts.
| Congratulations! You have now positioned your program in a ‘market niche.’ Of course, marketing continues through all aspects of programming, delivery and follow-up. But answering these few questions before offering the class may help position your program for success from the start! |
You must have mindshare before you can have marketshare.
- Christopher M. Knight