LERN Club Articles
Still Pressure to Eliminate Your Brochure
32%, or one-third, of lifelong learning programs report they are under pressure to eliminate their print brochure, a disastrous move that cuts your registrations and income by half or more.
Use of Targeted Brochures Increasing
This year LERN has seen an increase in members using subject specific brochures to target a certain audience. These brochures only list a certain type of programming and then can be used to target customers that have shown interest in those subjects.
What the Best Will Do Next
Here’s what our expert practitioner panel on Integrated Marketing will be doing next:
Conference Report: Analyze Data Every Two Weeks
Develop a rolling metric on how well your online advertising and social media are working, says Rodney Holt of Red Deer, Alberta. He says measuring promotion results every two weeks gives you better information on what promotion is working, and not working, to plan for future promotion.
Survey Results: Still Pressure to Eliminate Your Brochure
Some 32 percent, or one-third, of lifelong learning programs, report they are under pressure to eliminate the print brochure, a disastrous move that cuts your registrations and income by half or more. If your program is under pressure to reduce or eliminate your print brochure, email [email protected] and ask for our exclusive research report on
Conference Report: More Members are Making Data Driven Decisions
LERN has found that this year more members have taken advantage of the Market Segmentation Analysis then ever before. This has lead to more informed marketing, programming, and decision-making. More specifically, members have been using LERN’s 80/20 reports to know which categories, subcategories, and courses are their stars and dogs, and where to allocate resources
Conference Report: Better Photography in Brochures
LERN finds that the best photographs in a brochure leave the reader guessing whether they are stock photos or real photos from the organization. The best stock photos should look like high-quality real photos, and the best real photos should be high quality enough to leave the reader wondering if they are stock photos. Using lower
Ideal Staffing Percentages
Every continuing education and lifelong learning program is unique, although 80 percent of what each program does is the same – develop and offer courses, market, manage operations. Some programs also sell contracts. Uniqueness is dictated by where the program is located, the institution or organization the program is part of, the market segments being
Ready for Liftoff: Drones Offer Big Potential for Programming
The Federal Aviation Administration predicts there will be 7 million active drones in the U.S. by 2020 – up from the 2.5 million drones flying over American skies now.
Tips for Targeted Summer Camp Mailings
Making sure the right people get your brochure in their hands is one of the most important aspects of the brochure production and distribution process. This becomes even more important when you are targeting a specific type of programming, like summer camps. The kids/parents that are signing up for summer camps are normally not the
In a recent survey of LERN members, more than half of the nearly 700 respondents said they are currently facing pressure or had faced pressure in the past to eliminate their print brochures. Of the 526 who responded, 168 said they are currently facing pressure to cut their brochures, and another 113 said they had
Submit your LERN International Awards Nomination Today
The LERN International Awards are the most competitive, respected, and prestigious in the field of lifelong learning. Each year LERN recognizes member programs in the areas of marketing, programming, community service, website design, management, and catalog design. We’re now accepting nominations and we encourage you to submit your great work. All entries must be postmarked by Oct. 6,
LERN members who participated in the Gender Discussion were seemingly split on the value of collecting gender information – for marketing purposes or otherwise – when collecting registrations. Some members reported they are required to collect the data for reporting purposes or for grants, while others simply collect it to ensure proper staffing and resources
New! Summer 2017 LERN Magazine
The Summer 2017 LERN Magazine is out now! Click here for the latest issue: Summer 2017 LERN Magazine
Going On Now! LERN Club Discussion: Should you be collecting gender for marketing purposes?
Join us. Just look in the upper left-hand column for “Discussion” and then click on “Latest Topics” for our Gender Discussion June 5-8.
Successfully using stories to sell programming
The creative and smart use of stories in a high-quality, impactful brochure and online is an innovative approach that more programs could benefit from, even on a smaller scale.
Rather than charge a fee for the yoga classes, participants could make a donation to the cause of the day.
Successful program planning happens when decisions are based on all the information that’s available. Rather than rely on hunches or gut feelings, Metro Continuing Education relies on data, and it has proven quite effective for the program. The program serves 17,000 Edmonton, AB area students per year through offerings in adult continuing education, K-12 and
Can a single event achieve multiple goals? If the planning is strategic and the goals are clear, then the answer is a definite “Yes,” as proven by the Willamalane Park and Recreation District in Springfield, Ore. The program was ramping up classes and programs for adults ages 18-49 and wanted to increase awareness for all
A Closer Look: Unique Brochures for Target Audiences
The print brochure continues to be the most important marketing tool for lifelong learning programs, one way to increase its effectiveness is to create brochures that feature certain types of classes or programs and send them to a targeted audience. In recent years, LERN has seen many programs creating specialized brochures to target specific
Web design, software and app development – they’re just a few of the top job-demand industries and they all require coding skills. Various types of coding account for four of the 10 technical skills with the biggest increase in demand, according to a recent article from Forbes. CNM Ingenuity – a non-profit organization founded by
Lifelong Learning Website Trends for 2017
Your website is essential to your program. Essential to marketing your classes, events, and products. Essential in providing important information and content to current and potential students, and clients. Essential in remaining relevant in an increasingly digitally-driven world. Thanks to Google searches, email blasts and social media posts, your program’s website can now be the
Does it Pay to Pay for Facebook in Lifelong Learning?
Discover how one program saved an event by spending less than $50 on Facebook.
Top 5 Brochure Cover Strategies
For lifelong learning programs, the print brochure is the cornerstone of all marketing efforts and the cover of the brochure is where a program can make a splash – or fall flat – with potential students or customers.
When designing a brochure cover, consider these five key design and informational elements:
Top 25 Take-Aways from the Big LERN Conference
We asked LERN leaders to contribute their top take-aways from the big LERN annual conference this year. Here’s the top 25 tips they are taking back to their programs.