"I believe that as more sites start to incorporate video and work out the pricing models, it will be a great way for institutions in higher education to reach their target audience in a cost-effective manner."

Terrence Thomas

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Terrence Thomas

Ad:tech Conference Highlights Changes in the Advertising Market

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PEOPLE WITH IMPACT INTERVIEW - Terrence Thomas, Chief Marketing Officer and VP of Business Development at eLearners.com, recently attended ad:tech New York, an annual conference addressing the business of modern marketing. In the following interview, Terrence gives an assessment of emerging trends in the online advertising industry as witnessed by him at ad:tech New York.

Q: What new digital media technologies and platforms are higher education institutions utilizing to engage students in meaningful ways?
Terrence Thomas: The trends in online advertising are the emerging platforms—video advertising and social networking. On the video front, I believe that as more sites start to incorporate video and work out the pricing models, it will be a great way for institutions in higher education to reach their target audience in a cost-effective manner. The pricing model for video advertising hasn’t really been established, and while the technology and capability is there, the transactional method has not been fully established yet. But video as a way to connect with and engage prospects will emerge as an important marketing tool for the higher education industry, and will become more available to institutions as more publishers that circulate education-related content offer this as an advertising opportunity.

Q: What effects will video advertising have on communication with potential students?
Terrence Thomas: Video advertising will help the school explain its value in a way that is more in depth and personal. When communicating with college-bound high school seniors, visual images are extremely important. Prior to the web, prospective students read printed material and if they were lucky, they were able to afford to visit a campus. But now, institutions can bring to life the feel of the school through video. This technology will help schools that are “hidden gems” or “best-kept secrets” to attract more students than their more prominent counterparts that have come to rely solely on their school’s reputation.

Q: When do you foresee more of these advertising opportunities becoming available, and what should institutions look out for when they do?
Terrence Thomas: There are going to be more advertising opportunities, especially online advertising, as increasing numbers of sites begin to cater to prospective students. At that point, it will become more challenging to find the right kind of sites on which to advertise within an institution’s specific budget. That being said, price should not act as a deterrent—the online advertising opportunities are limitless because schools can be very creative in how they reach individuals. Schools can utilize anything from a Facebook application to a custom microsite and everything in between. For schools, the limit will not be price constraints but their creativity as technology becomes less and less of a barrier.

Q: How do schools best optimize and deliver their message to drive brand preference?
Terrence Thomas: A fair amount of the branding talk revolved around video and social networking, specifically how to optimize each to foster a more engaging user experience. While the time individuals spend on these social networking sites is increasing at an alarming rate, the advertisers’ returns on these sites has not been up to industry expectations. So the question for schools becomes ‘How do you create engaging applications and engaging experiences on those sites that help your brand?’ The brand discussion now seems to revolve around those themes as opposed to brand marketing vs. direct marketing

Terrence Thomas, a former Naval Officer, co-founded GI Bill Express.com, the leading GI Bill and veteran scholarship resource on the Internet. Prior to joining eLearners.com, Terrence served as VP of Online Acquisitions for Citi Cards, the credit card division of Citigroup. Terrence holds an MBA from the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and a BA in Economics from California State University, Sacramento.

See an index of all the "People with Impact" Interviews

Additional sections of this journal address student recruiting and student retention. We have also placed all articles with a common theme of online education and distance education programs in a separate portal. New articles will be posted each Monday, please check back by bookmarking this site or placing a link to this Innovative Practices in Communicating with Students portal.