3 Tips for Marketing your University to Military Personnel

Even the title of this blog is a painful reminder of the differences between how civilians speak, and how soldiers speak.

For many reasons soldiers make terrific students.  Apart from the fact that Officers and Senior Enlisted soldiers need to obtain Advanced Degrees in order to advance in rank, they are generally disciplined, they have terrific leadership skills, they bring experience from having worked in the worlds’ largest corporation, the Department of Defense, they can help a university improve their diversity targets for minorities, and they generally can pay for the program via their GI bill or have the Department of Defense pay for their degree directly.

Military Marketing for Universities

To be successful in promoting your Masters program or MBA program to Officers and Senior Enlisted soldiers in the United States military, here’s three tips:

1.  Be authentic in your tone when speaking to them about the advantages of your program.

2.  Reach them at the right time in their careers.

3.  Share the right message.

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West Point Launches an iPhone App

Graduates of the Long Gray Line who use the iPhone will be pleased to know that West Point launched an app.  The app contains the full version of “On Brave Ol’ Army Team”, recent pictures, news, polls, videos, references such as the West Point Mission, FAQ’s, parent information, facility hours, and Admission Sheet.  I think my favorite part is the campus map.  The calendar feature is pretty cool as well and lists the major activities, although it would be nice to events from Ike Hall posted there as well.

West Point iPhone App

Candidates can view a checklist for getting into the United States Military Academy as well.  West Point was ranked as the Best College in America by Forbes in 2009.

Engagement Funnel for Social Media for Universities

University Alumni Affairs organizations and recruiting organizations would do well to spend a few minutes learning about how their prospective students and alumni engage with social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. In our postings, we’ll address how Alumni Affairs and recruiting organizations can use social media.  We recently published a social networking guide for the Wharton School Alumni Association board.  In it we included sections that indicated how to use Facebook and LinkedIn to (1) Create groups, (2) Attract a following and (3) Engage the following.

Best practices for how university alumni affairs associations can use Facebook:

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