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I. The New IIEPassport.org - Jennifer Lewis
II. Getting the Most Out of Your Print Advertising - Lori Faunce
III. Studyabroad.com Announces Quarterly Client Reports - Jennifer Lewis
IV. New Advertisers
V. Traffic Report
VI. Traffic Fact of the Month
VII. Top Ten EDU's
Through a recent strategic alliance between the Studyabroad.com parent company, Educational Directories Unlimited, Inc. (EDU), and the non-profit Institute of International Education, a newly engineered IIEPassport.org (http://www.iiepassport.org) has been launched. Providing a powerful search engine of study abroad programs, IIEPassport.org features a dual search powered by the acclaimed IIE directory data, as well as by academic advertising keyword units.
Featuring over 5,000 worldwide opportunities for study abroad and learning travel, detailed searches for programs on IIEPassport.org can be conducted on up to eight searchable fields, including country of study, world area and city, field of study, organization, and duration, as well as language of instruction and restrictions. As well, significant structural changes include new customizable outreach opportunities on IIEPassport.org.
As evidenced within the Institute's Open Doors 2000 report on international educational exchange participation, foreign and domestic participation are at record highs. The report accounts for over 500,000 international students studying in the U.S. and nearly 129,000 U.S. students studying abroad; the latter a 45% increase within the past four years. Trends support continued development and consumption of international exchange into the next decade; IIEPassport.org has become a revitalized resource through which the market segment will continue to flourish.
Respectively, the leading provider of online academic recruiting tools and the nation's largest educational and cultural exchange organization, EDU and IIE have partnered in response to a growing demand for comprehensive information regarding international education opportunities.
Branding
Many advertisers choose to brand their product or service through print advertising. In this case, direct responses are not a goal; rather, projecting a positive image of the organization or service is what is hoped to be accomplished. For example, a study abroad program wanting to emphasize the cultural experience of its program may feature pictures of local people and historical landmarks with a caption or headline further emphasizing this message. The organization's slogan, if different from the headline, should also be included in the ad.
Branding ads should covey in color and style what their message is trying to say. A southwestern school that chooses to advertise it's warm, desert-like climate should choose warm colors with a scene representing such an image. The scene, however, does not have to be that of a stereotypical cactus and steer skeleton. The scene can instead be subtle, such as the magnificent southwestern sunset over a campus field.
Success of branding campaigns cannot be measured in direct responses from the ad itself. As well, any branding effort that will be taken seriously by the public will consist of more than just one print ad. The overall goal is to impress a certain image in the target audience's mind and therefore, success should be gauged by market research analyzing people's reaction to your organization. The research should show whether or not the correct awareness and impression exists, and how much it has grown since the launch of the branding campaign.
Response-Triggering
When a print advertiser's goal is to generate direct responses, such as applications from the print media's audience, the advertisement takes on a different role. This type of ad should be informative, describing what the offer entails and why the viewer should take action now.
Unfortunately, designers of this type of ad tend to overload the audience with information, trying to cram in every bit of information they possibly can. The effect is the exact opposite of desired, cluttering the ad and confusing the viewer. Potential readers of such an ad will typically move on, so as not to have to discern the message being given. A simpler, cleaner look works much better. Pick the most important information and stick with it. As well, make sure the graphics are clean and provide ample white space so that the viewer is attracted to the core message, not distracted from it.
Response-generating ads should measure exactly that - responses. While this can be difficult, ways to measure responses from print ads do exist. One such way, if advertising a web site, is to place a specific URL in the print ad. For example, instead of directing viewers to your home page, direct them to a mirror image of your home page at a different web site address, such as http://www.yourwebsite.edu/printad. By doing so, your organization traffic reports should be able to tell you exactly how many users came to that particular page, and hence, you will then be aware of how many people responded to that particular ad. The same result can be accomplished with a specific toll-free number or e-mail address.
No matter what the goal of your message is, if you pay close attention to what works and what does not, your campaign is sure to be successful.
An added bonus feature of an effective advertising campaign with Studyabroad.com now reaches you by way of a customized client report. Each quarter, Studyabroad.com is pleased to provide our advertisers with helpful information, including: traffic reporting, site news, helpful hints and much more.
***A Customized Traffic Report***
All program links on Studyabroad.com are enabled with a unique tracking mechanism, which counts and reports the traffic you receive from our site. Through a free online reporting system, Studyabroad.com permits you to verify/analyze the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. Utilizing a uniquely coded web address provided by Studyabroad.com, a custom traffic report is easily accessed online.
***Understanding the Lingo***
Comprehending web terminology is overwhelming. Furthermore, even with a basic understanding of simple web words (link, page view, impression, click-thru, rotating banner, e.g.), it remains difficult to make meaningful distinctions. The Studyabroad.com team, enabled with web-savvy and seasoned customer-marketing expertise, exists as an important resource. Studyabroad.com suggests client information that should be noted; as well, a Studyabroad.com team member can be reached for individual assistance or with further questions/concerns.
***How to Activate a Studyabroad.com Client Report***
Did you receive a Studyabroad.com Client Report at the end of May 2001? If so, we hope that you have used your unique web address and accessed your traffic information. Be sure to check out the reports that we suggested in our communication. Please direct questions and/or feedback to Studyabroad.com.
If you didn't receive a Client Report, please contact us immediately!
Direct all inquiries to: Jennifer@studyabroad.com
Academic Studies Abroad
Canada Student Services Corporation
Marshall Language Services
Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville
Victoria University of Wellington
Where There Be Dragons
Here's a look at unique hosts (roughly the number of unique users) per month visiting studyabroad.com:
June 2001: 140,337
June 2000: 108,392
May 2001: 148,337
May 2000: 99,502
April 2001: 143,789
April 2000: 93,204
March 2001: 140,785
March 2000: 108,291
February 2001: 134,298
February 2000: 121,078
January 2001: 168,375
January 2000: 95,653
December 2000: 128,371
December 1999: 68,538
November 2000: 135,360
November 1999: 98,813
October 2000: 136,961
October 1999: 99,847
September 2000: 200,683
September 1999: 80,074
August 2000: 127,922
August 1999: 70,356
July 2000: 94,076
July 1999: 60,284
The following list details the most frequently searched Studyabroad.com Language Pages, in order:
1. English
2. Spanish
3. Chinese
4. German
5. French
6. Arabic
7. Italian
8. Japanese
9. Portuguese
10.Russian
Here are the current top 10 EDU Domains visiting Studyabroad.com for the six-month period ending on July 2, 2001. Following each school name you will find the number of pages viewed from that campus during the period.
1. Polytechnic University - 13,551
2. University of Virginia - 7,228
3. University of Albany - 6,693
4. Stanford University - 6,324
5. SUNY, Buffalo - 5,969
6. Indiana University - 5,346
7. Columbia University - 5,279
8. University of Washington - 5,155
9. University of California, Berkeley - 5,054
10.University of Wisconsin, Madison - 4,965
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