4.0 Marketing Strategy

In year one FYESuccess will position itself to service 2nd tier universities and colleges. These initial universities will essentially be paying participants for our beta phase and serve as valuable stepping stones. Their use will in effect provide an additional layer of quality assurance. Their feedback will be essential to product and process development. Their references will provide instant credibility. And, these initial universities will help FYESuccess refine internal business strategy. Once FYESuccess has developed a solid product and systems that scale, we will seek to push into 1st tier universities.

Our marketing strategy parallels this growth. FYESuccess will focus on a mix of integrated marketing channels targeting 2nd and then 1st tier universities. Our focus will be at first limited to the United States and Canada.

FYESuccess’s target customer is typically a ______at a small university. At larger institutions, our customers is typically a ______.

4.1 Mission

FYESuccess’s mission is to become the industry’s premier educational software provider focusing on first year student programs. FYESuccess seeks to play a vital role in meeting the technological needs of colleges and universities. In meeting these needs, we will integrate ourselves into client processes and become an essential member of the team. This partnership will effectively create a one of a kind solution for first year student programs. The result – higher student retention from effective student relationship management.

4.2 Marketing Objectives

1. Create a name. FYESuccess will establish our brand as a brand synonymous with innovative educational software. We will build a strong Client List, develop solid case studies and references.

2. Educate potential customers of the need. Because of the unique nature of our software and the newness of first year experience programs, FYESuccess will need to educate the market about the application and benefits of our software.

3. We are the experts. FYESuccess will establish ourselves as industry experts through press releases, making ourselves available to the media and authoring an industry blog.

4. Work up the ladder to 1st Tier universities. FYESuccess seeks to become the software of choice for 1st tier universities.

4.3 Financial Objectives

  1. Xclients producing $Y in revenue for year 1
  2. Profit margins of Z%
  3. Long term revenue goals of $YY at for year 2 and $ZZ for year three

4.4 Target Markets

  1. 1st Tier Universities/Colleges – These are higher education institutions with student enrollments exceeding 10,000.
  2. 2nd Tier Universities/Colleges - These are higher education institutions with student enrollments below 10,000.
  3. Educational Consulting Firms – These are third party consulting firms serving colleges and universities with professional services. An example is a firm like the Institute for Professional Development.

4.5 Positioning

FYESuccesswill position itself as an essential technological resource that assists universities in retaining first year students.

4.6 Marketing Mix

  1. Corporate Identity. FYESuccess will implement a corporate identity that consists of a unified outward presentation.

Our logo is:

Additionally, our internal identity will parallel our communication. We are a hungry, young company seeking to provide true innovation and pioneer an industry – software for first year experience programs.

  1. Print . We will utilize a limited print campaign consisting of business cards and brochures.

A sample business card is below:

Our brochures will be developed as a sales support tool and will highlight FYESuccess and our software.

  1. CD-ROM Company Presentation. To assist the sales process a CD-ROM presentation will be developed. The presentation will explain why universities need our software, highlight the benefits of our software and provide an interactive demonstration.
  2. Interactive. FYE Success’ Interactive Marketing strategy is based on a phased approached that: a) pushes the FYE Success brand, and b) effectively pulls in prospective client universities and third parties witha preexisting interest.

Website Development. FYE Success will employ a user friendly website that provides optimal information and promotes three main actions: Leads, Trial Download, Email Subscription.

Search. Search engine advertising consists of purchasing text ad spots that appear in search engine result pages (SERPs). The benefit of advertising on SERPs FYESuccess will be advertising to an audience that pre-qualifies their interest in our company. For instance, searchers that type in “first year experience program” or “student retention strategy” demonstrate that they are very likely part of our target market, they have a preexisting need and they are actively seeking to satisfy this need. Therefore, it is imperative that FYESuccess positions ourselves in the search results such that we can connect with potential customers at the point of search.

The following are examples of potential search terms where FYESuccess might position ourselves.

Example Branded Terms Monthly Search Count on Yahoo

Volume / Search Term
2828 / education software
334 / student retention
147 / online education software
142 / education consulting
116 / educational software company
44 / higher education consulting
31 / student retention strategy

Options Include: Yahoo Search Marketing, Google’s Adwords, MSN’s Adcenter, Ingenio’s Pay Per Call and to a lesser extent Ah-Ha, Kanoodle, Mamma, Miva, Enhance.

Email Marketing. FYESuccess may explore list rental; however, our initial primary goal will be to build and market to an in-house list. One of the main actionable items promoted by our website is the newsletter subscription. FYESuccess will offer a free monthly newsletter featuring industry news and product information. In this fashion, FYESuccess will provide incentive for web visitors to subscribe. On a monthly basis, FYESuccess will use the newsletter as a tool of remarketing efforts.

Affiliate. FYESuccess will explore pay for performance based affiliate marketing. Affiliate networks match merchant sites and affiliate sites. Affiliate sites would promote our software and we would only be charged when a predetermined action occurs (a sale, a lead or a download).

Options include: Commission Junction, LinkShare.

  1. Press Release Campaign. A critical component to our marketing strategy is to establish ourselves as industry experts. A solid press release campaign will allow FYESuccess to garner media attention and favorable new articles. In turn, news and publicity will increase brand awareness and further expose FYESuccess to potential customers.

We will use: PRNewswire.

  1. Industry Blog. Another means to

We will use: b2Evolution.

  1. Viral. Word of Mouth.

4.7 Price

4.8 Promotion

  1. Establishing Ourselves as Experts – via press release and blog.
  2. Viral – word of mouth.
  3. Interactive.

4.8 Market Research

  1. Trade Press