Lb5232 Marketing And Customer Engagement-Implementation Assessment Answers

The University markets itself through various programs and activities. One of the ways in which JCU markets itself is through paid advertisements in the media. The current marketing strategies of JCU targets customers around globally and for post graduate and undergraduate programs. The strategies of the university targets the  increasing the student’s population by portraying itself as a University that caters for the needs of modern students and produces graduates who are ready for the job market (Luther, 2011). The JCU, Brisbane offers professional internship programs to its students as well as helping students get attachment opportunities by partnering with companies other organizations which later offer employment opportunities to the locals. JCU, Brisbane also partners with other international university through exchange programs (Hiebing,Cooper& Wehrenberg, 2012). The university uses online advertising through its website as well as other online means such as Google.

Profile of the target market

The University of James Cook, Brisbane campus targets graduate and undergraduate programs for international students. The programs offered in Brisbane campus include business courses and information technology. The marketing of the university will therefore focus on promoting the image of the University globally so as to attract more students. The University targets young students who are straight from high school from different parts of the world and meet the qualification requirements to be admitted in into the university. The university also focuses on postgraduate students who are already working and want to further their education as a distinguished internationally recognized university. The target market is therefore very large in size and is geographical distributed to different parts of the world. The age bracket for the target audience is mainly people between the ages of 17-40 years (Evans, 2012). The target market is very selective and very sensitive to quality of products and services offered. The demand for the target market is very elastic to price and consumers in this market are very rationale.

Competitor analysis

There are very many universities which compete with James Cook University, Brisbane. Some of these competitors include the Victoria University, Melbourne, Swinburne University and University of Tasmania. This report will analyze the two competitors, Victoria University and Swinburne University. The competitor analysis helps in determining the strengths and weaknesses of the competitor so as to help in making setting strategies which will help the institution to compete effectively in the market.

The products offered by Victoria University and Swinburne University are very similar to the ones offered by James Cook university. The products that both competitors offer include; graduate and undergraduate programs in , Business management, Information technology, Human resource management, Sustainable resource management and engineering programs. Just like James Cook. This universities offer this programs to international students and therefore the target market is the same for both organizations (Dib, 2016).

The competitors have strengths and weaknesses as analyzed below;

• Plenty of resources available
• Brand name
• Cost advantage because it offers the programs jointly with local students

Weaknesses of Victoria University

• Absence of proper marketing efforts and plans
• Reduced capacity due ti high number of local student population

Strengths of Swinburne University

• Large resource base
• It enjoys industry and market knowledge since it has operated for a long period of time.

Weaknesses of Swinburne University

• Lack of proper international marketing plan
• Very high prices for products offered
• Does not offer specialized services to customers

Strategies used by Victoria University to achieve its objectives

Victoria University uses various strategies to market itself in the international market. These strategies include; strategic partnership with other institutions of higher learning in various parts of the world, engaging in research work which gets international publicity, sponsoring of events and activities especially those concerned with education(Chan, 2012). The university also uses the internet to market its programs to international university through its website.

Strategies used to market Swinburne University

Swinburne University combines various strategies to help it achieve it marketing objectives in regard to attracting international students to enroll in the institution. These strategies include;

Portraying the university as the leading research and teaching institution in the region with unrivaled record of producing excellent graduates who are adequately prepared for the job market anywhere in the world(Scott, 2015). The university markets itself as offering programs that meet and surpass international standards. The university uses techniques such as advertising through the internet, sponsoring of events, publicity by engaging in activities that gain high international media coverage as well as use of social media advertising. The university also pays for advertisements in the local press in countries where they have market segments which they want to target. Swinburne University has higher social coverage based on the competitor analysis done on the two.

Analysis of how technological factors affect the higher education industry in the international market

Technological is a very significant factor in higher learning. The technology environment will have a huge impact on the marketing plan of James Cook University, Brisbane. This is because, technology changes very fast and therefore technology which is seen as very effective and useful today in marketing the institution and the products may become obsolete tomorrow due to invention of new technology to replace the existing one. Technology is used widely in research and learning activities by the University (Chernev, 2014). The use of modern technology in research and learning is one of the core competences of JCU, Brisbane and therefore, it is important that the institution stays innovative and updated on changes in technology. The marketing of JCU is also centered on use of technology. The use of social media advertising has grown in importance unlike in the past where companies depended on traditional methods of advertising such as print media to market their products and services. The university must be aware of new upcoming social media sites where its easy for the university to reach its target customers.

Customer engagement strategy for James Cook University, Brisbane

The new customer engagement strategy for JCU, Brisbane will be centered on use of social media in engaging potential customers as well as existing customers for the business.  Social media marketing has grown in importance in the past few years due to its effectiveness in marketing as well as the low costs of marketing using this technique. The engagement of customers by the JCU will be through the major social media cites such as Facebook and Twitter(Funk, 2013). This is expected to work perfectly for the University since the target market for the business mainly consist of the youth. The following is an analysis of strategies to be used to engage customers through various social media platforms.

Facebook.

Statistics indicate that Facebook users are reducing their monthly and daily activities on the site. Despite this, Facebook still remains a social media giant and it is very effective for marketing higher learning because of the high number of people using the media(Social Media Marketing, 2012). JCU will use its Facebook page to communicate new programs to the customers, changes in curriculum, respond to students` questions, connect international students with their Australian colleagues as well as activities and events the university is engaged in.

Twitter

Research indicates that the concentration ability of the generation of students which JCU is targeting has decreased to eight seconds and therefore, a message which is quick and precise will be received more effectively(Chan, 2012). JCU,Brisbane will communicate activities, events as well as other significant information to students by using the universities` Twitter handle. The strategy here is opening different twitter accounts for different departments as well as programs in order to make communication more effective.

Instagram

Research indicates that customers in the age bracket that JCU is targeting prefer communicating more using images rather than written messages (Anderson, 2010). JCU, Brisbane will open different Instagram accounts through which students can communicate and share images such as those of Brisbane City, ongoing teaching sections as well as various learning materials in image form.

LinkedIn will also be used by JCU to communicate and provide students with an opportunity to share information on employment opportunities and job market.

Implementation and control strategy

To implement the marketing strategies discussed in this report. It is important to develop a strategy that will be followed by the James Cook University to transform the plan into action so as to achieve the desired results. The implementation of the marketing plan will be overseen by the public relations and communications department of the university. The department will oversee and ensure that all departments within the JCU Brisbane campus comply with the regulations concerning implementation of the marketing strategies of the University. The head of communications and public relations department in the university will contract a social media expert who will be employed by the university on a permanent basis(Zimmerman & Ng,2015). The holder of this position will be required to create social media accounts for the whole university and for each department as outlined in the marketing plan. The social media expert employed by the university will be receiving the content to upload to the accounts from heads of departments. He/she will be the administrator of the account and will control the usage and information posted on the social media platforms.

Recommendations

The university should create the position of social media director and include it in the organizational structure.

Social media accounts should be created for various department and programs to ensure easier and effective communication between students

The university should focus on social media advertising since majority of its target customers use social media.

Cut spending on marketing through conventional methods like TV ads and use internet advertising and social media advertising through social media to attract international students to the university.

Conclusion

It is very important for a business organization to have a marketing plan that will help the organization in providing a clear path of achieving its marketing goals and objectives. The marketing objectives of JCU were to increase yearly applications and enrollments through effective marketing of the university to the international community. The marketing of the university and programs has to be offered in a cost efficient manner. The fact that the target market is widely distributed geographically therefore calls for adoption of a marketing plan that can be able to communicate to many people at the same time. This prompted the use of social media marketing as the focus of the marketing plan of JCU, Brisbane. 

References

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