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AMA Higher Ed 2018 Recap

November 14, 2018

AMA Higher Ed 2018 Recap

tag creative design | digital marketing | digital media | digital strategy for higher ed | higher education | higher education conference
AMA Higher Ed 2018 Recap

When does the Magic Kingdom open, how tall does my child need to be to ride Space Mountain, is Elsa really the new Cinderella? These are the questions you may expect to hear while in Orlando, but that was not the case for Up&Up while attending the 2018 AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education last week.

So what were the topics buzzing in the halls and breakout rooms? Well, it sounded more like wow, is that a photo booth? Who really are the Centennials? What does it mean to design for the thumb in our mobile-first world? What impact does a guided content experience offer our audiences? What does authentic mean in terms of a brand campaign? These are just a few of the questions we heard, and to be honest, these are the questions that energize our team the most!

Within the higher education industry, change is constant, and the needs of our current and prospective students shifting to the preferred styles of Gen Z, it can be a daunting task to stay ahead of the curve. Luckily for you, we have recapped some of these trends so you can remain in the know. Throughout the coming year, we will continue to update you on even more topics and tips to help you remain on the path to success and growth. 

The era of the Centennial

What is it all about? It’s about reaching an audience of digital natives—a group of individuals who are constantly connected and love to have options to drive change and leave a lasting impact on their community. They are extremely budget-conscious and want the clear ROI from their institution of choice. They fear the crippling results of heavy debt and want to ensure their future looks bright and successful. They also want the truth, but they don’t want to waste time peeling back the layers to a story. They want it up front and they want to trust it immediately. To help better reach this up and coming power generation, also referred to as Gen Z, follow a few tips you can easily implement across your MarCom efforts:

  • Offer an inside look at your institution through student created video highlights.
  • Ready your social media teams with real topics and conversations to discuss with potential applicants.
  • Be app-centric, use the power of apps for campus visits, applications, virtual tours, and more.
  • Don’t neglect your homepage, design it for the thumb (more on that later!)
  • Download our Gen Z guidebook here.

Simple. Clean. Easy. Intuitive. Relevant.

These are words used to describe how content needs to be presented in order to remain relevant to your core audiences. This was another key topic at AMA. Students, parents, and everyone in-between are inundated with content 24/7, but making a few tweaks and designing your content containers to be a guided journey will ensure the right messages are delivered to the right people. A positive user experience has a long-lasting impact, so follow these tips on our recent blog to best reach your skimmers, swimmers, and divers. On your next site redesign project remember to focus on brand, user experience, and content strategy to nail it with your audiences.

We have so much more to talk about following AMA so keep an eye on our blog, subscribe to our newsletter, and be sure to check out our current blogs as we cover topics from the week in greater detail. 

Tell Us What You Think

Were you at AMA? What were your top takeaways? Let us know what you learned!