There are few people, or so it seems, that have a neutral opinion of Donald Trump. It's hard to even find a TV newscast discussing politics that has positive things to say about the man, or his political ideas and views.
So why is he so popular? In a crowded GOP field, how is he leading - when even the Fox News Channel has a bias against him?
He has strong opinions and makes even stronger comments about them in crowds and on TV. He also isn't spouting the same political rhetoric of all of the insider politicians we typically see on those stages.
He. Stands. Out.
At the time of this post, Trump is leading the GOP race for nominee, followed by two other "outsiders". It is widely agreed that the reason these three candidates are standing out from their competitors is because they offer a "breath of fresh air." Doesn't it make sense that your higher ed program could stand out by taking the exact same approach?
The challenge for Trump is maintaining the image and interest for 18 months. Higher education, as an industry, is much more crowded with competition than the GOP field, but for most programs, the recruitment lifecycle for prospects is much shorter, so our challenge isn't as great. We don't need to hold our prospects' attention as long as Trump.
This is where it gets difficult.
We need to stand out from our competitors, while offering the same "features" and in many cases, same programs as they do. That's more like the GOP insiders finding ways to stand apart from each other - but we have to do it without bickering, fighting and calling each other names.
We have to adapt and change our content, We have to modify how we talk about our programs; how we recruit our prospects; how we control our image.
We've offered many resources over the past couple of years to help your higher education marketing and recruitment efforts. Here's a recap of a few, including a new webinar coming up this month:
- Improve your admissions/enrollment staff hiring process with these sample questions.
- 8 Tips to Improve recruitment Efforts
- Email Improvement Checklist
Need more? Email us and let us know what topic you want. We also offer customized training for admissions and enrollment programs.