oklahoma-city-community-college-rfp-content-strategy-final-emma-lasher

Final Thoughts 23 Executive Summary Oklahoma City Community College is a two-year community college looking to revamp their website to drive more and higher quality applications as well

Oklahoma City Community College

Business / Content Strategy / RFP Report

Emma Lasher

Core Strategy Statement 7 Current Strategy 7 Content Alignment 8 Goal Centric Strategy Observations 8

Messaging Framework 10 Competitor Analysis

Final Thoughts 23

Executive Summary

Oklahoma City Community College is a two-year community college

looking to revamp their website to drive more and higher quality

applications as well as improve overall image and impressions of the

college They recently released a Request for Proposal to revamp and clean up their website, while delivering an OCCC “story” aspect to their content

OCCC currently does not have a large focus on their students on either their websites or on social media The focus is on staff and faculty, as well

as events and awards the school receives Information about who makes

up the student body, such as race, gender, and age, is almost impossible

to find Some college information sites have conflicting information, leaving the student with no real idea who they will be attending classes with

Finding clubs and other activities for involvement involves digging through the site, and a student who may have just been casually looking at schools may find themselves giving up before finding what they are looking for

By shifting focus to a more student centric approach, OCCC will be able to entice more and higher quality applications Shifting social media to focus

on student and club activities, as well as their everyday life will help drive engagement and outwardly show an involved student body to those

thinking about enrolling

Goals can be measured with the following KPI’s:

- Amount of applications received

- Overall image and impression of the college based off surveys

- Social media engagement, both from students and prospective

students

Overview

Oklahoma City Community College

Oklahoma City Community College is a two-year community college

serving over 20,000 students each year The college offers associate

degree programs in a variety of fields Offered degrees and certifications prepare students to transfer to bachelor programs at other institutions as well as immediate employment

Intended Audience

This report is for the Oklahoma City Community College (OCCC) Marketing and Public Relations Department to help them better organize the college’s webpage to provide a more comprehensive user experience

Goals and Audience

OCCC’s Goals

OCCC’s website’s last redesign was in 2006 This has left the site outdated and is contributing to a negative user experience leading users to associate OCCC with a lower quality education Specific improvements requested with the new redesign include; navigation/user-journeys, overall design, dated/inaccurate material and information, storytelling limitations, social integration, as well as others listed in footnote 1 The goal is to create a positive user experience with an easy to use interface that aids in

diminishing misperceptions about the college’s quality 1

OCCC’s Audience

OCCC’s website’s audience is primarily made up of current students,

prospective students and faculty / staff members According to

collegeboard, the average age of all students is 26 years old and the

average age of full time students is 24 years old 58% of the student

population falls between the ages 18-24 according to USNews

Collegeboard also notes that most students are from in state College

review states 43% of the student body are minority, with the majority being Hispanic and Black According to International Student, 4% of students are international The student body also skews female with a 41% male and 59% female ratio according to USNews Given this information, our target audience would be men and women ages 18-30 with a slight focus on

Goal Measures - KPI

Key performance indicators (KPI) help determine the success of a goal In this report we will be looking at KPI’s specific to OCCC’s goals of improving overall public image/impression and increasing application submissions The first KPI is number of applications and enrollments submitted This will measure enrollments/application submissions received in a set time period Things to keep in mind when evaluating success would be: actual number

of applications, number of enrollments, and quality of enrollments based on predetermined factors such as GPA, extracurriculars, etc

The second KPI is overall public image and impression of the college This can be measured through quarterly, bi-annual, or annual surveys to the students, parents, faculty and staff, and alumni These surveys can be sent out via email and be completed either through the website itself or a third party such as Survey Monkey, which will collect and categorize the data Questions for this survey should include: relation to the college (student, staff, etc.), how they feel about the school in relation to other schools in the area, how likely they are to recommend the school, how likely they are to tell someone about an event going on at the school, ect There should also

be a blank comments field allowing survey takers to express comments, concerns, praise, or suggestions

Things to keep in mind when evaluating success are: the percentage of surveys completed and returned, the percent of answers coming from each group (students, staff, parents, etc.), improvement (or lack thereof) in

scores over time, and content of the individual comment field

The third KPI is levels of engagement from students and prospective

students on social media This can be measured in: likes, reactions,

number of shares, comments, and quality of comments (positive or

negative) Things to keep in mind when evaluating success are: percentage

of interactions coming through current students/prospective/faculty/other, are the interactions positive or negative, is the content reflecting what is relevant to the audience, improvement (or lack thereof) in engagement rates over time vs spikes on individual posts

Companies (and colleges) with higher levels of social media engagement are typically seen as more invested in their students and community, which boosts public image Students particularly are more likely to engage with content relevant to them Higher student engagement can show

prospective students that the current students are engaged and valued by the school, making them more likely to enroll

Strategic Alignment Summary

Core Strategy Statement

To encourage prospective students to enroll, we will present our story

through engaging video and visually aided text content featuring student life and positive student opinions showcasing the various benefits of attending Oklahoma City Community College

enrollment from international students

Content Alignment

While OCCC’s website contains endless facts and suggestions about the area the college is located in, there is little to no information on the actual student population Blog style posts, images, and lists of activities and

locations near the college are featured on the home page There is no

video content on the home page but there are videos featured throughout the site None of the blog posts shown on the front page at time of writing showcase students or student efforts Currently the site struggles to tell a story about the college and those who go there, making it less appealing to those looking to apply Since most of the focus is around offered events or things to do in the area, the “story” being created tells more about

Oklahoma City than Oklahoma City Community College

Goal Centric Strategy Observations

Many prospective students want to know what type of person they will be interacting with on a day-to-day basis and it can play a large roll in their choice of schools The fairly even male to female ratio and high minority rates can easily be used as selling points to prospective students Most other information a prospective student would be looking for is buried under drop downs and hyperlinks To find out what clubs are offered from the homepage is anywhere from 3-7 clicks and it’s easy to mistake the end destination of the drop down choices Students applying for college often want to know how they can get involved, especially if they will not be

meeting others through college housing

Showcasing these social interaction opportunities can increase a

prospective students perspective about the school New students are more likely to view the college as a more friendly, approachable place where they will be able to make friends and form bonds outside of class This will

improve the school’s reputation overall by improving first impressions and

showcasing those engaging and involved in bettering their community If the end goal is to drive more and higher quality students to apply, the site needs to show them why they should want to.

Website

The site should feature a video on the home page from the perspective of multiple students and faculty; full time, part time, international, engaged in clubs and activities, and engaged in independent studies or honors

programs The students should be expressing opinions related to why they love OCCC and felt like it was the right choice for them Student

testimonies should be featured throughout the site instead of only tucked away on their own page Pages that feature contact information or the

ability to ask a question are present, but lead to 404 errors and need to be adjusted

Socials

OCCC’s socials do a slightly better job at representing the student body but the focus still seems to skew heavily towards faculty, staff, and hosted

events Student focus seems most present on instagram, showcasing

student events and real life situations such as students in class or studying

in the library OCCC’s Instagram bio also calls out their large level of

Messaging Framework

In order to deliver the appropriate message, it’s important to make sure the user’s needs are met and that the content invokes the intended feeling

For Prospective Students

The first impression prospective students should have upon

interacting with OCCC’s content is, “I can see myself here.” The

prospective student should feel like the current students are valued

by the school and in turn, they would be valued by the school if they went there This can be done by highlighting student

accomplishments and achievements as well as by showcasing

student life at OCCC

For Current Students

The first impressions current students should have upon interacting with OCCC’s content is, “I matter here and am a part of something bigger than myself.” The current student should feel a sense of

community with the school and other students This can be done by highlighting student accomplishments and achievements as well

showcasing club and organization involvement in the community

For Community Members

The first impression community members (faculty, staff, local area residents, and other stakeholders) should have upon interacting with OCCC’s content is, “OCCC is a strong asset to our community.” They should feel the school is working toward bettering education for their students as well as enhancing the local area around the school This can be done by: promoting free/low cost events, showcasing student community involvement, showcasing club/organization community involvement, and highlighting those who attended the school and now have local jobs in the area

Competitor Analysis

Redlands Community College

Redlands Community College is another community college in Oklahoma that offers two year programs to transition to four year colleges and

universities They offer similar programs for lower cost than the area

average Their audience is the same as OCCC’s and they are competing to enroll high quality students from the same pool

Advantages/Differences over Oklahoma City Community College:

- Website is easy to navigate and find information quickly

- Lists hours, email, phone number, and address in the footer

- No graduate-student teachers

- Offers housing for students apartment style

- “Distance-Learning” classes through interactive educational television

- Sports Teams

Disadvantages/Differences to Oklahoma City Community College:

- Does not offer 8 week terms

Their website is easy to navigate and vital information categories such as student life, finances, programs, and applications all link from the

homepage The site includes statistics about the population, their

programs, faculty and finances Everything is easy to find and links lead to the page you would expect without having to navigate through multiple pages

Overall the school offers more of the feel and benefits of a traditional four year university Redlands Community College seems to surpass OCCC in most ways a prospective student would be searching for

Rose State College

Rose State College is a public two-year state college in Oklahoma with an open-door admissions policy It offers associate degrees made to transfer

to a four year college or go directly to jobs in the field similar to OCCC Their audience is the same as OCCC’s except less focus is on minority and international individuals They are competing to enroll high quality students from the same pool

Advantages/Differences over Oklahoma City Community College:

- Classes offered in 2, 4, and 6 week terms

- Sports Teams

- Offers housing for students apartment style

- Student Login is in the footer of each page as well as the top navigation bar

Disadvantages/Differences to Oklahoma City Community College:

- Lower focus on international students

- No concurrent high-school enrollment

Their website is similarly difficult to navigate compared to OCCC’s and pages do not always lead where the user would expect Rose State

College is able to accomplish the “story” feel OCCC is looking for by having

“blog” posts relevant to the students, the community, and the school The pages also include statistics and plenty of images and video showing

student life

Overall, while the site’s functionality is around the same level of OCCC’s, the higher focus on the students provides a more welcoming interface

enrollment and request information/contact

Focus - Pages that the user has come to the site searching for that are also beneficial to OCCC These include topics that entice a user to enroll Examples include: courses, financial aid, clubs/organizations, and majors/degrees/programs

Guide - Pages that the user has come to the site searching for that are not really beneficial to OCCC These pages need to be easy to

navigate to, to improve user experience, but do not need to be a focus Examples include: maps, faculty, and faculty resources

Meh - Pages that the user is not typically looking for and are not

really beneficial to OCCC but should be included on the site Examples include: college history, president's letter, and legal policies

Priority Matrix Chart

Drive and Focus pages should take priority over Guide pages, and all

should take priority over Meh pages The Focus pages are delivering what the user wants, in order to prompt them to the drive pages In this case the priority pages would be: enrollment, request information/contact, courses, financial aid, clubs/organizations, and majors/degrees/programs