SimpsonScarborough partnered with The Chronicle of Higher Education for a comprehensive study of marketing investments in higher education. The survey covered a range of areas, from budgeting and staffing to the status and responsibilities of marketing departments at four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. We are thrilled to be able to share the results with you today and want to thank each of you who participated and shared your insights.
Highlights from the report include:
- Budgets vary widely: marketing budgets vary dramatically even within the same category of institution, with respondents reporting a range of $300k- $25M.
- Decentralized staff with diverse duties: there is a centralized marketing department on most campuses, but 30% of you have 20 or more marketers who are a part of other departments.
- Marketing executives on the leadership team: while only 8% of top campus marketing leaders bear the title CMO, over half are members of their institution’s cabinet or executive leadership team.
- A young field, with diverse backgrounds: 45% of respondents hold positions that didn’t exist five years ago and most worked in fields other than higher education prior to their current role.
- Success often measured by enrollment: undergraduate enrollment is the top indicator of marketing success for all types of institutions.
The report dives deeper into each one of these key takeaways and also explores the diverse responsibilities of the marketing department, how departments spend their time, and immediate and future priorities as we look ahead to 2015.
