Academic Career Planning: Project 2

II. A) The Marketing Environment 

1.   Competitive Forces.

-       Competitive forces working against ACP

a)    Many students find it hard to make time in their schedule to visit ACP or attend events ACP offers due to other student organizations, clubs, classes, social activities, and work.

b)    Getting students to become more involved and excited about the ACP services dealing with career development.

-       Competitive forces working for ACP

a)    Aids in career planning and development not only throughout college but also after students have graduated.

b)    Helps students develop their skills in finding a job and how to act professionally.
c) Offers assistance with graduate school exploration and the application process for graduate school.

d)    Helps employers and alumni connections aware of students in the job searching process.

e)    Makes students more aware and educated on career planning and objectives throughout their careers.
2.   Economic Forces.

-       Economic factors against ACP

a)     Low levels of job availability.

b)    Employers looking to pay lower wages.

c)    Competition of more qualified or over qualified people applying for lower level job positions due to job shortages.

d)    Students unable to spare time and use ACP services due to working or other extra curricular activities.

-       Economic factors working for ACP

a)    Offices located on campus convenient for students living on campus which makes it convenient for students to stop by the office between or after class.

b)    Have the ability to communicate with students via the internet with essentially no cost consequences.

c)    Funded by the school to aid students in any form of career planning or guidance whenever students need it.
3.   Political Forces.

-       Political forces working against ACP

a)    Other organizations and clubs trying to capture the attention and time of students outside of the classroom.

-       Political forces working for ACP

                  a) available throughout the week any time students are available

4.   Legal and Regulatory Forces. 

- ACP follows the guidelines of the National Association of Colleges and Employers as well as the National Academic Advising Association. 
- NACE- National Association of Colleges and Employers connects professionals with campus recruiting and career services.NACE Website

- NACADA- National Academic Advising Association's mission is to enhance student learning and development, promote involvement, and anticipate the academic advising needs of the future. NACADA Website

5.   Technological Forces.

-       growing technology and social media affecting students and pressuring ACP to also become involved and keep up with the growing social media trends.

-       facebook, pinterest, blogger, enews, twitter and various social media websites enable ACP to communicate quickly and effectively with students.

6. Sociocultural Forces.

-       Seeing ACP on facebook and pinterest can change students attitude towards ACP when they see all the events and services they offer.
b) Visiting ACP may also change students attitude towards what major they want to pursue and how they feel about job opportunities.

-       Students cultural values may impact the types of jobs they are looking for and how they go about looking for those jobs. This impacts ACP because they have to accommodate those changes in the way students search for jobs which is mainly online now. ACP can use their facebook and pinterest as a way to advertise job openings that they know of. While ACP does help students look for jobs online they encourage face-to-face interaction with potential employers because anyone can submit an application but that face-to-face interaction really increases students chance at getting the job.

B.  Current Target Market(s) 

-       Current Target market(s) at ACP is the current students at Meredith college as well as students that have already graduated Meredith college who want to or need help in their career planning with the guidance of a professional career planner available through Meredith college.

C.  Current Marketing Objectives and Performance.

-       To connect with students through social media websites

-       To get students excited and interact more with ACP

-       To create awareness of the services that ACP offers

-       To become involved in traditions or create some of their own to get students involved not only with their career planning but to get to know the people available to help them through the process.

III. SWOT Analysis

1.   Strengths

-       ACP offers free career help including resume & interview workshops, internship & job help as well as preparation for graduate school.

-       ACP’s resources don’t end at current students, their services continue to extend to alumni.

-       ACP already advertises a calendar of events in numerous places around campus to make them known to students.

-       ACP adding Pinterest as one of its social media websites to appeal to the Meredith students that use Pinterest on their computers and smart phones.

2. Weakness

-       Not a lot of students utilize the services and resources that ACP offers

3. Opportunities 

ACP has the opportunity to impact students lives and futures as students take advantage of ACP's services to help decide on a major and find a job. ACP's desire is to take their opportunity they have while each student is a student at Meredith to help them find a job or get into a graduate school. 
-    Students also have the opportunity while at Meredith or after they graduate to take full advantage of ACP's services.
-    Using new social media to reach out to students

4. Threats 

-       Along with the all the many emails students receive from different campus offices, if ACP just sends out an email about their new features, it would most likely just get deleted.

-       Many students that do know about ACP do not utilize their resources and services unless they are required to do so for a certain class.

IV. MARKETING OBJECTIVES

-       Strategies for ways to release the news to students about ACP’s new features that include a Pinterest profile, CareerSpots videos, and Campus Career Coach blog (both of which are already embedded into each students’ Career Link account).

V. MARKETING STRATEGIES

-       The marketing strategy is to attract interest into ACP’s new Pinterest site, Career Videos and Blog.

-       The best marketing strategy for ACP to use that would help encourage students to check out the new social media advances is to really get the word out there about the sites. Often times students become so busy and caught in their school work that they forget about all of the extra-curricular activities that Meredith has going on. ACP should be sure to make  every Meredith student aware of the developments that ACP is incorporating to its social media.   

A.   Marketing Mix

            1.   Product

-       ACP has created a product of a Pintrest site, Career Video, and a blog in hopes of gaining more interest in the office and to reach out to the student body in order  to create more student involvement.

2.    Price

-       Any money spent on advertising would be about the only money that ACP would spend for this product. Perhaps some money would be spent on postage or printing.

3.    Place/Distribution

-       ACP would distribute and place office information around the campus. Freshman dorms should really be saturated with information so that the freshmen feel a warm welcome from the office, as well as, feel like they are aware of all the benefits that ACP office has to offer not only to juniors and seniors looking for jobs but also for freshman trying to find a major. Freshman dorms can contain flyers and bulletin boards with ACP's information about their services and activities going on. Since CareerSpots & Campus Career Coach are not very well known to students and alumni, put up advertisements around campus that only feature these three new features.  With this, students will be able to find out what these new features are, what they have to offer and how students can use them to their advantage.  On the advertisement, ACP can include the top and best features about the sites.
-        ACP can add a link to their email signature for the pinterest, CareerSpot, and Campus Career Coach websites so everyone that receives an email from ACP has a direct link to their services and does not have to go searching for the sites.

4.    Promotion

-       Information of all the socials and new improvements should be promoted through lots of advertising.  ACP may find it beneficial to create a Twitter account so that it can develop followers and let their followers know about all the events offered and the new changes the office is making. Updates on the Facebook Page would also be helpful. These updates would include status updates, more pictures of students participating in the office programs, links to the ACP Blog, and create a group on Facebook for ACP at Meredith and invite all Meredith students to attend any upcoming events, as well as, invitations to any new social media developments.

The best ways to grab the attention of each class:

1)    Freshmen

-       Make sure each Freshmen finds out about ACP office as soon as they arrive on campus. A social at the beginning of the year just for freshman would be a good idea so that they can mingle, get to know one another, and also find out about the many activities and services  that ACP has to offer. A follow up email or flyer in their mailbox would also be a good idea (maybe later in the fall semester) so that ACP can remind them that the office is always there for them. ACP could say things like "Come get help with your resume!" "Come meet other Freshman at the ACP social!"

2)    Sophomores

-       Welcome each sophomore back to campus! Send out invitations to check out the Pintrest site, Career Videos and Blog via email or flyers in their mailbox. Maybe even make flyers to post in the parlor above a bucket of candy that would catch their eye. Publicizing these social media sites may also be beneficial in BDH.

3)    Juniors

-       Juniors living on campus or in the Oaks can be reached in most of the same ways as the Sophomores, providing flyers in the mailbox and in the parlors, the Oaks, and around classroom buildings. Some sort of reward or incentive to come into the office would also be helpful. Maybe if students could receive a convocation credit for coming and meeting with someone in the office they would be more likely to come. Flyers could say something along the lines of "Convocation Event: Come get professional opinions on your resume!"

4)    Seniors

-       Seniors are mainly going to be using ACPs services to find jobs. Through posting job openings in the blog and on the website this might help students use ACP more for job searches. Also some sort of reward from professors like extra credit for students coming to receive resume help may remind them of ACPs services and make them more likely to come in. Flyers and posting advertising for the Seniors could say "Let ACP  offer you professional help you with your job search and interviewing techniques!"

5)    All Students

-       In addition to putting out flyers around campus and in mailboxes ACP could mail postcards to student’s home addresses. Sending postcards home will help parents become aware of the services that ACP offers so they can encourage their student to go visit ACP.

            

VI. MARKETING IMPLEMENTATION

A) Who in the Marketing Organization will implement the plan?

-       ACP can utilize their current intern and staff to have full responsibilities of social marketing and promoting to ensure that each product is publicized in an effective way.

B)   What are the marketing activities they will carry out?

-       The member that is in charge of all marketing capabilities will be sure that each social media network is being updated regularly. Students enjoy viewing pictures, status updates, and any new information that is added to the site. Updates will spark interest in students and get them excited about the new developments that ACP has to offer. In order to create a following on these social media sites, the member in charge should connect with as many Meredith students as possible by friending them on the social media sites. The member will also make appropriate flyers , designed in an eye catching way, that could be distributed around campus.Flyer Slogan Example: “Show an Interest in our Pintrest!” 

               

It is best to reach out to students on the new advancements right in the beginning of the semester. It would be more beneficial to launch each new product at different times.  The Pintrest site should be launched right at the beginning of school. As the semester continues, updates from the office should be made so that students will keep hearing from ACP. The Career Videos should be released mid semester and the ACP Blog should be released a few weeks following the career video release.