Re-balancing & Repositioning the Institution Portfolio

Economists and academic leaders are modeling several scenarios regarding Fall 2020 enrollment amidst a state of recovery. According to the recent Chronicle dashboard, a number of predominant models are appearing across most institutions, from gradual re-opening over the summer, to fully open in the fall, to online and hybrid models.

In any of these scenarios, leading indicators are projecting a significant enrollment and financial shift for all institutions and of every size.
Two such leading indicators are, one, the lower first-time filers and lower renewals of FASFA® applications, off by as much as 17%, according to Bill_Debaun and the National College Attainment Network; and two, the prediction by national academic leaders of an overall 15% downturn in enrollment across the nation’s 4000 two-year and four-year public and private colleges and universities. (Mitchell)

Ammunition Insight
Our most successful clients are countering these emerging trends through an aggressive marketing and recruitment program that begins with our Digital Audit, which is a comprehensive assessment of the school’s position as related to the program, price, and person, all from a digital perspective. By answering the largest fundamental questions around which programs are most in demand, at what price, and whom the target persona really is, early returns are showing that an effective digital strategy that targets these three dimensions are able to offset the downturn in traditional streams.

Re-balancing & Repositioning
An effective digital audit provides an institution with not only a current state analysis, but also serves as a roadmap for our clients to re-balance and reposition based on the the existing strengths of the institution, its placement among competitive peers, and its pricing position in the market. This forward-looking, data-driven roadmap enables decision makers and academic leaders to align their portfolio with market demand, at a competitive price point, and with a value proposition that resonates with targeted personas.

The digital audit has two primary components:

1. An examination of the institution’s digital presence across all channels and how true-to-strategy it may or may not be; and,
2. An analysis of its competitive position based on programs and pricing compared to that of its digital peers

Through our digital audit engagements, we help clients accomplish the following:

1. Honing the value proposition and targeted personas allows the institution to reposition its programs and offerings. Defining the institution’s target personas, and not just audience informs of the single value proposition.
2. Understanding one’s competitive position based on analysis of program offerings, as compared to market demand and offerings of competitive peers, enables an institution to focus growth on the programs with the greatest unmet demand, thereby re-balancing its portfolio of offerings.
3. Lastly, our analysis positions an institution to establish the pricing for penetration plan. Our most successful clients are using our data to reposition their institutions in order to capture the top two tiers of their market from a pricing perspective.

We Are Here To Help
At Ammunition, we are helping our most successful clients by combining the findings of our digital audit engagements with intelligent and informed marketing automation campaigns to offset the impact of leading indicators for Fall 2020 enrollment. The engagement is available at price points that allow us to partner as soon as possible in order to help your institution plan effectively for fall enrollment. Want to learn more about how Ammunition can help you and your institution re-balance and reposition? Let’s talk.

SOURCES

Mitchell, T. (2020). House Higher Ed Supplemental Request [Letter written April 9, 2020 to N. Pelosi & K. McCarthy]. Retrieved May 13, 2020, from https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/Letter-House-Higher-Ed-Supplemental-Request-040920.pdf