Bloomsburg UniversityMarketing and Communications

2017 / 2018ANNUAL REPORT

Bloomsburg University’s Office of Marketing and Communications is the university’s representative to local, regional and national media organizations. Our mission is to communicate effectively and promote public awareness and support for the university and its mission.

Marketing and Communications is responsible for maintaining a consistent editorial and graphic identity in all official university publications and communications.

Our services include:

• media relations • marketing • web • brand strategy• social media • design and photography • writing • editing• public relations • publications • advertising • sports information/ athletic marketing

Introduction

NewsMedia efforts 14-15 15-16 16-17Press Releases 147 142 105Pitches 25 31 40Media tip sheet (events) 161 163 189

Placements 14-15 15-16 16-17Stories placed in the media as the result ofpitches, news releases and tip sheets. Local, including Press Enterprise, WHLM, CCN8 and WPGM 53 91 64

Regional, including Daily Item, News Item, Times-Leader, Pocono Record, Record Herald, Standard Speaker, Pahomepage.com, Sun-Gazette, WNEP, WBRE/WYOU and WVIA 53 28 64

National, including Inside Higher Ed, @aascu, Religion News Service, Student Achievement Measure website and Enspire website 11 13 11

Media effors by collegeCollege of Business (COB) 22College of Education (COE) 15College of Liberal Arts (COLA) 44College of Science and Technology (COST) 23

All four colleges on local TV in the spring semesterThree of the four deans interviewed on TVFour front page positive stories in the Press Enterprise

Coverage 14-15 15-16 16-17Positive Stories 409/59% 490/54% 370/59.1%Negative Stories 279/41% 266/46% 247/40.9%

Coverage worth notingAnchor Program - PE, WKOK, Inside Diversity, Daily Item, WBRE(x3), Fox 56, WNEPMike Shepard, NASA Story - WBRE, Fox 56, WNEP, Daily Item, Press EnterpriseSoil Judging - Press EnterpriseConcussion Research - WKOK, WNEP, WBREDog Pound - PE, Daily ItemPhil Polstra, Cyber Security - Fox 56, WBRE, Press EnterpriseNew President Announcement - Pittsburg, Allentown, Doylestown, Daily Item, Press Enterprise, WBRE, WNEP, Fox 56

Student Produced Videos

Student-produced videos coordinated by the Office of Marketing and Communications provide a key element to the university’s digital marketing strategy. A variety of video styles are developed to include short promos, news feature shorts and longer mini-documentaries. These videos provide a dynamic element to bloomu.edu and social media platforms, bringing forth the engagement of key strategic topics that focusing on prospective student marketing and overall brand enhancement. Videos produced just this past year generated more than 22,000 views — by far the most successful campaign to date.

News: Digital MediaPage Visits Time on Page Bounce % Exit %Home 2017 2,462,040 :49 11.53% 15.14%Home 2016 1,437,476 :53 11.68%. 14.61%Home 2015 1,792,258 :51 12.10% 13.74%Admissions 2017 242,592 :50 34.60% 18.72%Admissions 2016 129,947 :43 31.98%* 15.97%*Admissions 2015 132,526 :37 25.54%* 12.30%** increased bounce and exits rates could indicate users leaving for online application

COB 2017 14,008 1:19 30.20% 20.90%COB 2016 7,171 1:19 27.59% 31.40%*COB 2015 17,012 :33 35.92% 10.05%*COE 2017 7,999 1:16 25.52% 21.75% COE 2016 4,343 1:31 27.05% 25.60%*COE 2015 12,087 :54 33.72% 14.83%*COLA 2017 34,198 1:25 37.68% 24.72%COLA 2016 3,179 1:58 31.11% 30.48%*COLA 2015 1,506 :48 48.98% 11.15%COST 2017 8,687 1:34 31.05% 28.73%COST 2016 3,414 1:45 36.62% 32.07%*COST 2015 24,226 :43 37.38% 10.94%** increased exits rates could indicate users leaving for online application

Overall audience, Three-Year Trend 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 Home page 4,094,166 3,172,414 2,462,040 Today page 1,364,866 1,113,853 871,824Admissions 300,708 281,505 242,592About Us 150,629 121,043 88,885Student Life 142,297 125,083 94,751College of Education 27,823 14,881 7,999College of Science and Technology 55,768 23,869College of Liberal Arts 34,198 14,829 7,103College of Business 37,892 22,031 14,008

Other most views pages are Current Students with 2,054,229 views, Student Email Login with 1,820,218 views, Student MyHusky Login, 707,911, Faculty and Staff with 410,521 views and Jobs with 132,975 views.

PASSHE Facebook

Bloomsburg 26,032California 22,250Cheyney 3,982Clarion 18,225East Stroudsburg 18,224Edinboro 19,621IUP 47,637Kutztown 28,803Lock Haven 4,006Mansfield 17,522Millervsille 20,571Shippensburg 24,867Slippery Rock 24,521West Chester 59,525

PASSHE Twitter

Bloomsburg 12,287California 7,118Cheyney 2,786Clarion 6,041East Stroudsburg 7,035Edinboro 8,282IUP 12,370Kutztown 10,905Lock Haven 3,118Mansfield 3,029Millervsille 9,084Shippensburg 8,105Slippery Rock 11,806West Chester 14,910

PASSHE Instagram

Bloomsburg 10,172California 1,701Cheyney 474Clarion 2,461East Stroudsburg 3,362Edinboro 1,595IUP 5,746Kutztown 4,931Lock Haven 955Mansfield 1,773Millervsille 465Shippensburg 3,950Slippery Rock 9,799West Chester 7,815

News: Social MediaSocial media has continued to be a popular mechanism to communicate and receive information, and in many ways is the preferred method of college students. Bloomsburg University’s social presence and engagement is among the best across Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education and has kept pace with social media trends, such as the launch of Periscope and Snapchat, through significant growth over the past six years.

TwitterJuly 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017 July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016Followers 12,287 10,483Tweets 1,004 843Tweet Impressions 2.6 million 2.3 millionMentions 3,222 3,024 New Followers 1,804 2,130

InstagramJuly 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017 July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016Followers 10,172 7,818Posts 210 230Likes 90,096 75,360Comments 503 1,338New Followers 2,354 2,453

Facebook July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017 July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016Followers 26,032 24,924Posts 512 538People Reached 2.5 million 2.4 millionEngagement(clicks on posts)461,203 452,647New Followers 1,108 3,439

Sports InformationSporting Events CoveredTotal ...................................................................................... 417Home ..................................................................................... 149

Hosted:2017 Eastern Wrestling League Championships2017 PSAC Individual and Team Tennis Championships2017 PSAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships2017 NCAA Division II Women’s Lacrosse National Championships

Press Releases ...................................................................................... 991All press releases are posted on the website and emailed to our media list.

Photos Taken ................................................................ More than 10,000

Website Traffic2,293,153 page views295,212 users2:26 average duration of visit

Social MediaTwitter 7,459 followers (gain of 1,017 over previous year)5,569,200 Impressions2,995 Tweets7,189 reTweets8,625 Favorited Tweets16,744 Likes30,940 Link-Clicks1,022 Mentions

Facebook3,839 followers (gain of 649 over previous year)

Instagram3,537 followers (gain of 493 over previous year)398 Posts54,178 Likes

PSAC Facebook FollowersSlippery Rock 4,222Millersville 4,000Bloomsburg 3,839Kutztown 3,660West Chester 3,604Mansfield 3,518East Stroudsburg 3,353Gannon 2,954Shippensburg 2,808Clarion 1,996Mercyhurst 1,840Lock Haven 1,826California 1,718Indiana 1,546Edinboro 1,403Cheyney 1,015Pitt-Johnstown 796Seton Hill 181

PSAC Twitter FollowersIndiana 8,773Slippery Rock 8,440Bloomsburg 7,459West Chester 6,611East Stroudsburg 6,538Kutztown 5,507Millersville 5,416Shippensburg 5,097Mercyhurst 5,084Lock Haven 4,431California 4,236Edinboro 3,995Gannon 3,863

PSAC Instagram FollowersSlippery Rock 3,833East Stroudsburg 3,551Bloomsburg 3,537Shippensburg 2,914Millersville 2,908Indiana 2,479Lock Haven 1,608Kutztown 1,341Mansfield 1,206West Chester 942California 808Clarion 720Pitt-Johnstown 525Gannon 488Seton Hill 315Mercyhurst 203Cheyney N/AEdinboro N/A

Admissions Communications Print pieces to support admissions include the Viewbook, Transfer Guide, Husky Head cutouts, posters and roll-up banners. A series of CRM messages was created to aid admissions and for yield enhancement; these were greatly expanded upon in the current year. Additionally, fliers were created to support College of Education graduate programs. Winter College and Summer College programs were supported with advertisements, fliers, posters and billboards. To aid in yield, orientation mailers and programs, redesigned the previous year, were updated in Marketing and Communications to make them more professional in appearance.

Advancement Communications MarCom took an active role in the It’s Personal campaign coordinating announcements with the Bloomsburg University Foundation.

President’s Annual Report The President’s Annual Report, Vision, illustrated accomplishments of progress on the university’s strategic initiatives.

General Photographic Support University print and online communications were supported through more than 200 photo shoots undertaken by MarCom.

The Week Ahead - a mini newsletterA weekly e-mail highlighting campus news and events.

Bloomsburg: The University MagazineThe magazine continues to tell the university’s story through the people involved.

Celebrity Artist SeriesMarketing and Communications promoted CAS programs with a full-color brochure, individual press releases for each performer and information, including video, on the university website.

Arts, Culture and EventsIn addition to press releases, MarCom promoted arts, culture and other events on campus through the design of approximately 20 posters for campus and community distribution.

Publications/Print Design

Media BuysThe following are examples of negotiated media buys by MarCom: WNEP-TV, November 2017 to February 2018Telemundo, September to January 2018 along with a digital campaignComcast Cable, September and October 2017WYOU & WBRE-TV, February to March 2018, northeast PennsylvaniaSportsFever, October 2017

Additional digital adsVia Media targeting general undergrad admissions September to

November 2017 and April to June 2018FacebookPrint ads

Winter CollegeAdvance College Experience (ACE) Program Summer CollegeAllentown Morning Call College GuideTimes Leader College GuideLong Island newspaper group, Anton Media, College Guide

Large Format advertisingBillboards, September and October 2017, February 2018Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, year-roundPhiladelphia Soul Arena, year-round

Awards Bloomsburg University’s Viewbook won an honorable mention in the CUPRAP 2017 publications awards.

The 2017 issues of Bloomsburg, The University magazine, won the Gold Award in the 2017 Marcom Awards, administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals. Approximately 15% of entries won Platinum Awards and 20% of entries Gold Awards. Over the years, the marketing and communications office has won seven gold and three platinum Marcom Awards.

In 2017-18, MarCom promoted programs through an integrated strategy that aligned print and digital promotions to create comprehensive suites of marketing collateral. This included better coordination of content and messages shared across platforms, distribution times and visual complements.

Digital ForensicsDigital forensics was featured in college guide ads for the Allentown Morning Call and Wilkes-Barre Times Leader in the fall of 2017. The program was also promoted in digital advertising through our partner ViaMedia and in social media advertisements.

Results: Total enrollment in the program grew from 184 to 217 students, while the related major of computer science also increase from 148 to 160 students.

Biology/Health SciencesBiology/science imagery was featured prominently in general admissions advertising, such as college guide ads.

Results: Total biology enrollment grew from 644 to 704 students.

MBAThe MBA program, both on campus and in Philadelphia promoted in digital advertising through partner ViaMedia and in social media advertisements.Marketing materials: Fliers for each option, roll-up banner and additional military-themed banner.Public transit display ads

Results: Total MBA enrollment increased for the second year, going from 61 to 69.

RN to BSNTargeted Facebook campaign running in late spring 2017 and summer 2018.Custom flier and banner created for in-person meeting at hospitals

Results: An initial class of five students doubled to 10 in fall 2017.

DNPTargeted Facebook campaign running in late spring 2017 and summer 2016.Custom flier and banner created for in-person meeting at hospitals.

Results: An initial cohort of nine students started program in fall 2018.

Graduate ProgramsRollup banners and paper collateral materials were created/updated for graduate programs. Graduate programs were also featured on the back cover ad of the Spring 2018 magazine.

Results: Total graduate student enrollment grew for the second year from 663 to 681 students.

BASTLCustom fliers for each community college partnerRoll-up banners and folderPhiladelphia Transit AdvertisingDigital advertising through Viamedia

Results: Enrollment in the program increased for the second year from 91 to 99 in the fall of 2018.

General Admissions MarketingGeneral digital advertising through ViaMediaLarge print ads in the Allentown Morning Call College Guide and Times Leader College GuideCommunity newspaper college guide in Long Island (Anton Media)Multi-Panel prospect mailers in Late Summer of 2017 (10,000 quantity) and Spring 2018 (36,000 quantity)Postcards for Open Houses, Reserve Your Spot (pay deposit) and Husky Decision Day. College of Business large brochure to share with high school students Husky Dog Pound entrepreneurship competition in spring 2018Summer and Winter Sessions and Advance College Experience (ACE) Program. (billboards, ads and posters)Motivos (Spanish language news magazine)

Results: First-time freshmen enrollment grew from 1,450 to 1,598, an increase of 148 students (10.21%)

Academic ProgramsHeavily Promoted in 2017-18

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