In the fast-moving world of digital, finding the necessary talent and tools required to support the needs of today’s customer is a challenge many organizations face. Unfortunately, there is a growing trend of companies approaching it in a siloed manner, often treating it as “doing digital” and hiring digital-only roles such as the Chief Digital Officer to lead all digital efforts across the organization. I truly believe this is not a long-term strategy and hinders the capability of the company and its brand. We all know that digital is here to stay and is impacting all aspects of an organization, but what does that mean for higher ed?
Many higher ed marcom departments now are responsible for managing the institutional brand and are spending time considering how all digital and physical experiences – from the student journey to campus facilities to the onboarding of new employees – should reflect the university brand experience. As marketers, they are implementing digital within their unit by running the institutional website, shifting investments from traditional media to digital, managing the institution’s voice in various content formats and mediums, and implementing meaningful KPIs and benchmarking metrics to inform strategy and track progress. However, they often still suffer from a siloed approach to staffing, with one or two people (or if you are lucky, a team such as “web services”) responsible for “digital.”
Digital has grown to encompass so much more than a website. Today’s complex, fragmented customer journey requires rethinking each and every interaction with the university. So how does the higher ed marketing and communications division begin to integrate digital into every team and role? There are five key players (people or skillsets) needed to become a digital-first organization.
Digital needs to be integrated into every team and role. Each of these individuals need to work hand-in-hand to develop content and manage the brand in a digital world. In the end, it is really about building a culture that thinks and behaves differently – moving quickly, adapting, integrating, working together – to put digital first.