Working with
Marketing and Communications
A Guide for Clients and Staff
Our commitment is to provide you with high-quality, timely marketing
materials and to work with you as partners in marketing your programs
and services. In addition to following the guidelines outlined in this
guide, please help us by sharing which marketing strategies work for your
programs and which do not.
Client list
Services and costs
Marketing your programs—Consultation; Development;
Implementation; Evaluation
Advertising—Print; Radio and TV; Campus e-mail;
Direct mail
Exhibits
Photography
Publications—Submitting a job request; Submitting
copy; Proofing; Printing
Publicity—Promoting your program via the media;
Media coverage during an event; Feature articles
Distribution and mail lists
Web Site
Appendices
Publication timeline
Electronic copy submission
Editing policy and style notes
Publication copy checklist
Choosing a format
Graphics
Paper
Copyright
Division of Continuing Studies
· Adult and Student Services Center
· Dean's Office
· Liberal Studies and the Arts
· Professional Development and Applied Studies
· Senior Programs such as PLATO and UW-Madison OLLI
· Summer Sessions
· Wisconsin Alumni Lifelong Learning
Campus Outreach Units
· Continuing Education in Nursing
· Office of Education Outreach
· Library and Information Studies, Cont. Education Services
· Small Business Development Center
The Marketing and Communications (MaC) office of the Division of Continuing Studies
develops brochures, ads, mail lists, press releases and other marketing
products for faculty and staff involved in continuing education and credit
programs. We compile, edit and produce the UW-Madison Continuing
Education Programs catalog, the Summer Timetable and Divisional publications such as newsletters and annual reports. We also create the text and graphics
content for Division Web pages.
In addition to producing marketing materials, we handle Division media
relations, including distribution of story tips and other information
to media in the Madison area, the state and the Midwest; build awareness
of outreach activities within the University community; respond to inquiries
from the public via phone, mail and e-mail; and provide marketing and
mail-list consultation and research.
Specific services include
Marketing consultation—developing marketing plans, researching the best
ways to reach particular audiences, and evaluating the impact of marketing
campaigns.
Publications—consulting, writing, editing, design and layout, producing
art, obtaining photography services, requesting estimates, and managing the process of printing publications.
Publicity—writing and editing releases and features, media tips, and
news briefs for Wisconsin Week and other media outlets such as
radio, TV, newspapers, and magazines.
Advertising—researching ad rates; writing, designing and placing display
ads; follow-up research on effectiveness.
Direct mail—managing in-house lists, finding outside
lists, and evaluating list performance.
Web—designing and maintaining the Division Web site; coordinating efforts
to use the Web as a marketing tool.
Exhibits—coordinating registration, equipment and materials at conferences,
trade fairs, and community events.
Service costs
Most of our marketing consultation and
production services are free to Division clients. Costs for printing,
postage, and mail lists for DCS continuing education programs
are generally paid by the client.
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MARKETING YOUR PROGRAMS—four steps to consider
Step 1: Consultation with MaC staff member(s)
Step 2: Developing a marketing plan
Step 3: Implementing the plan
Step 4: Evaluating the impact of the campaign
Step 1: Consultation--We are happy to meet with you, whether
you are planning a new program or service, looking for ways to enhance
an existing one, or want to brainstorm new ideas. We can help you find
answers to these questions:
· What are your goals for the program or service?
· What are the features (speaker, location, topic, etc.) and benefits (new skills, life enrichment, etc.) of your program or service?
· Who is/are your audience(s)? Why might they want this program
or service?
· How will you reach your audience: by mail, e-mail, on the Web,
via media, etc.?
· What is your projected timeline? What is your marketing
budget?
· Who are your competitors ( institutions, businesses, etc.)?
What are they doing?
· What image do you want to convey?
Step 2: Developing a marketing plan—Once we have worked together
to answer these questions, we can help you develop a marketing plan. This
plan may include: reviewing brochure copy; designing and producing a publication; publicity; ad copywriting, design, and placement; mail list development,
and evaluating how well the campaign performed. If you are
preparing a grant proposal that involves marketing a program or service,
contact us about marketing cost estimates.
For details on Summer Sessions marketing and communication services,
see the UW-Madison Summer Handbook for faculty and staff.
Step 3: Implementing the plan—Marketing plans for your program
often have two goals. Each goal requires a different set of activities,
though they may overlap:
GOAL 1: Persuade people to register for your event.
To generate registrations, we can help you: target brochure copy to your
specific audience, produce an attractive brochure, locate a new mail list,
write ad copy and arrange ad placement, and help write and carry out marketing
surveys to enhance program development and evaluate the effectiveness
of promotions.
GOAL 2: Inform the public about your event as it is happening or afterward.
To encourage the media to cover your program, we can write and distribute
news releases, public service announcements, background memos, and media
tips. For selected events, we can place calls to the media to suggest
interviews and other coverage, and we can handle media contacts during
the program itself.
Step 4: Evaluating the impact of the campaign--It's important
to evaluate every marketing effort. We can help you with coding mail-lists,
tracking phone calls from news releases and ads, and surveying class
participants to discover how they learned about your program. When we
learn which strategies worked and which did not, we can plan your next campaign more effectively.
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Contacts
Al Abramson, 262-3265; aabramson@dcs.wisc.edu
Mary Lock Albrecht, 262-9792; malbrecht@dcs.wisc.edu
We can help you decide where to run ads, get cost estimates, write copy, develop an ad campaign, design
your ads, place them with the appropriate media, and evaluate how well
they worked.
Print
Print advertising can be cost effective if you focus on specific media
such as trade journals, magazines, and newsletters. Consider newspaper
ads only if your program is likely to appeal to a general audience. Put the biggest benefit in the headline and display a phone number
prominently, along with a Web site and e-mail address. Running the ad more than three times significantly increases
the chances of your ad being read.
Preprinted inserts can be distributed with newspapers to specific zip codes. This option
is especially appealing
when you need to include a lot of information or want to print a registration
form in your ad.
Campus e-mail
Short, informational e-mail messages to selected lists of UW-Madison
personnel have proven very successful for general-interest courses. Tell the reader exactly what to expect from your message in the "Subject" line; this is not the place to get creative.
Include a link to your Web landing page in the first few sentences for maximum impact. Choose from lists such as academic staff, faculty, classified professionals
and program assistants. Targeted lists of e-mail addresses can also be purchased from list-rental
companies.
Direct mail lists
Contacts
Al Abramson, 262-3265; aabramson@dcs.wisc.edu
Mary Lock Albrecht, 262-9792; malbrecht@dcs.wisc.edu
Direct mail can be a cost-effective way to market your programs
and activities if you have
the right addresses. You might mail to an in-house list of people and
companies that have expressed interest in a particular topic. You might
also include lists maintained by other companies and offices, if you believe
their audiences are interested in your program. These could include subscribers
to a particular magazine, specialists registered with the state (such
as nurses, teachers or chiropractors), or members of a special category
(village presidents, lawyers, legislators, etc.).
Mailing to these lists can cost as much as an extra $.20 per name. Marketing and Communications, various outreach units, and other campus sources
maintain lists you can often use for free. Lists include such groups as Wisconsin
media, previous participants in outreach programs, teachers, librarians, and state and local
government employees.
Other options include mailing to all postal customers in a zip code or
area.
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Contacts
Reserving a display: David Disch, 262-5364; ddisch@dcs.wisc.edu
Display design: Joann Schrage, 262-0074; jschrage@dcs.wisc.edu
Marketing and Communications coordinates exhibit registration, equipment,
and materials for the Division.
If you wish to exhibit at a conference or other event, call us to reserve one of our displays for
that
event.
The Division has several displays: an 8-10 with a UW-Madison
red background, a smaller version of the large exhibit, and three folding tabletop
displays. Our newest displays are vertical
"window shades" with various photo images, easily transported and set up by one
person. We also have display headers, and photos of campus life and students in a variety of sizes.
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Contacts
Consultation: Christina Finet, 262-3319; cfinet@dcs.wisc.edu
Scheduling: Sheila Olig, 262-2723; solig@dcs.wisc.edu
Designers: Nancy Koberle-O'Connell, Merikay Payne, Joann Schrage
Submitting your job request
For each publication, you must complete and submit a Job Request. You
may either use the online form or e-mail Christina
Finet or Sheila Olig with the necessary information. Submit requests as
soon as you know when the program will be held and have an approximate
mail date for the publication. Copy is not due with the Job Request but
may be included at that time.
Jobs are scheduled:
- within three days of a client turning in a Job Request;
- on a time-available-for-production basis, first-come, first-served.
Each staff member is scheduled for a specific number of hours per week.
When all staff hours have been scheduled, any remaining jobs are scheduled
to fit the next available time slots. If this changes your mail date,
we will contact you.
TIP: The mail date for your publication should be at least eight weeks
before your program, about 10-12 weeks for a conference. Ideally, a Job Request should be submitted at least eight
weeks before your mail-date (16 weeks before your program). This allows
time to schedule, format, design, proof, print, and mail a publication.
Display
ads are usually done in a few days.
When is your copy due?
After we receive your completed Job Request and schedule your job, we
e-mail you a Job Confirmation, which includes the job number, the date
complete
copy is due, when and to whom a proof will be sent, and a checklist to
use when preparing copy. The form also confirms the distribution
date.
If you need a publication that doesn't fit our standard timeline (see
Publication Timeline), call us. We
can suggest alternatives. Our goal is to accommodate requests whenever possible.
If your copy is late, the job cannot be done during the week it is scheduled;
so we bump it to the next available time or reschedule it with another
staff member. During busy times, this can be difficult. Please contact us if you are having trouble meeting a copy deadline.
Summer Sessions Publications—For details on Summer Sessions publication services, see the UW-Madison Summer Handbook .
Submitting your copy
To get your job out on time, we need your complete copy by the
copy-due date listed on the Job Confirmation. If complete copy is not
submitted by the due date, your entire schedule may be delayed; we cannot
guarantee completion dates for late copy.
The way you prepare your copy affects production time. The Publication
Copy Checklist contains detailed information about preparing copy.
Submit copy in one of three ways:
- New copy—Submit electronically.
- Substantially revised copy—Submit electronically. Include hard-copy
for reference, or a printed copy of the previous publication.
- Day/date changes only—Make changes on a copy of the previous publication.
If you ask for a consultation on your Job Request, someone should contact
you by the begin-work date; if not, please call us. Whether or not you
request a consultation, if staff have questions we will contact you before
beginning work. Depending on the project, consultation may be an ongoing
process. In any case, please contact us with any questions, changes, or
concerns—the earlier the better.
If the publication has been done previously and you want to use the same
format, it helps to include the previous job number, located on printed copies of the brochure at the bottom of a panel
in the format below:
DCS-MAC-000-XX/00
(DivProg InfoJob#Mo/Yr printed)
If you have a sample of a printed piece with a look and
feel you'd like for your publication, please share it with the designer assigned to your job.
Proofs
To ensure accuracy and to stay on schedule, timely proofing by you is
critical. Extensive changes, or delays in returning proofs, will likely
make your job miss its distribution-date. You receive a proof of every
job you submit; the Job Confirmation lets you know when to expect your
proof.
We expect to give you a proof approximately five to seven working days
after starting on a three- or four-panel brochure. We allot three days
for you to check the first proof. Second and third proofs delay jobs;
if your publications routinely require more than one proof, consult us
and together we can determine causes and find solutions
Correcting your proof
When you receive the proof, review it and note corrections clearly
on the copy in ink. Try to limit corrections to typos, date or fee changes, name
corrections; now is not the time to rewrite copy. Extensive
changes may make your publication late.
Reread all copy when proofing. Errors can creep in during formatting
or design, particularly if copy has been re-keyed or a paragraph added.
Carefully check spelling of instructors' names. Be sure marketing codes
on final copy correspond to the quantities and codes you have requested
on the proof sheet.
Signing and returning your proof
Each proof is accompanied by a Proof Sheet, which must be signed
by the client or person reviewing the proof. Return the corrected proof
and
the signed Proof Sheet to us. Once we receive a signed Proof Sheet the
job generally goes to the printer within one or two days.
If you have extensive changes or questions and would like to consult
us, call first. If you don't need to discuss a proof, drop it off
at 1305 Linden Dr, 3rd floor; in the dropbox outside 735
Lowell Center; or send it via a student.
We can also e-mail you a pdf file and proof sheet if time is very tight.
IMPORTANT: We do not send a job to the printer until we have a signed
Proof Sheet. The person signing it is responsible for the accuracy of
the final copy—including dates and times, spelling of names, grammar, and completeness
of information.
Printing
MaC submits your job to DoIT Printing Services, 30
N. Murray St. The
printing office reviews the job order and schedules the job.
Options
include in-house printing or external (contract) printers. Staff
at the printing office determine where the job will be printed based on workloads, kind of
job, quantity, size, binding, etc.
We receive printer's proofs on all jobs, which we review and return the
same day; when we okay a job, it is printed. The printer is responsible
for delivery to the sites you specify on your Proof Sheet. For campus
deliveries, jobs are usually delivered to a loading-dock rather than a
room.
General printing timelines
Standard time for printing a 3- or 4-panel brochure is 10 working
days, which do not include weekends or holidays. Allow extra days during
late summer and December holidays. If you have a firm deadline such
as taking brochures to a conference, please let us know when you submit
copy.
Large quantities and complex publications may take as much as an extra week to print.
Publications with other types of binding, and special items such as tab
dividers, portfolios, three-ring binders, labels and forms require special
handling. Many of these items are better purchased directly from UW Printing
or Purchasing.
Sharing Files with Other Service Providers
Marketing and Communications gets many requests for electronic files of documents
and graphics we have created. See third-party requests for details.
For special printing needs contact
DoIT Printing Services, 263-5383
Purchasing Services, 262-1526
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Contacts
Al Abramson, 262-3265; aabramson@dcs.wisc.edu
Mary Lock Albrecht, 262-9792; malbrecht@dcs.wisc.edu
If you're publicizing a new program or want to improve enrollments for
a program you've offered before, it's a good idea to review your distribution
plan. Plan the distribution of your publication early in the process:
preferably, before you submit the job to MaC. You'll need an accurate
count before
you review the proof copy; when filling out the Proof Sheet, you need to
specify the total number of copies, as well as the quantities with preprinted mailing
codes and indicia.
Contact Al Abramson or Mary Lock Albrecht to explore MaC mailing lists and other mail-list
sources and ideas. We can also discuss U.S. Postal Service rules that
might affect your costs, address corrections, and mailing requirements.
Options for distributing your job:
· U.S. Postal Service
Self-mailer—When planning your job, leave room for a mailing panel;
include a return address in your copy.
Order the university bulk-rate permit indicia printed only on as many
copies as you will send at bulk rate through U.S. mail. When you
use the university bulk-rate permit, the return address must include "University
of WisconsinMadison."
Envelope—indicia should not appear on publications mailed in envelopes.
Are you planning to mail other pieces with this one? Let us know; we may
reduce the size of the job slightly to accommodate added bulk. All pieces
need to be produced and ready at the same time. You can use your own stationery,
or the Bulk Mail Center can provide envelopes at a reasonable price.
NOTE: If you are cosponsoring a program with an organization that is
not recognized as an educational nonprofit organization by the U.S. Postal
Service (Internal Revenue tax-exempt status is not sufficient), and you
wish to acknowledge this organization in the publication, you may not
use the nonprofit mailing permit on the publication.
Check with UWEX Bulk Mail
if you have questions about specific mailings.
· Campus Mail
You can obtain lists of campus personnel through the Budget Planning and
Analysis Office. A setup fee of $30 and a cost-per-label are applied.
MaC maintains lists of some campus offices, including department secretaries
and department chairs. Campus Mail can also deliver to state agencies which saves you postage.
To obtain lists of state agency employees, contact Mary Lock Albrecht.
· Drop-sites
These include campus locations, libraries, drugstores, groceries, bookstores,
and other sites. Please make your own arrangements to distribute to these
locations.
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Contacts
Heidi Zoerb, 890-1031, hzoerb@dcs.wisc.edu
Mary Lock Albrecht, 262-9792; malbrecht@dcs.wisc.edu
Alex Hancock, 262-2102; ahancock@dcs.wisc.edu
Promoting your program via the media
Local media might help publicize a program far enough in advance to
generate enrollments or phone calls, if the program is free to the public
(such as the University Summer Forums), or has a very wide appeal or some
immediate news angle.
On a limited basis, the Madison newspapers might promote continuing education courses or services on one of their specialized
pages—especially if the program is free, newsworthy or both. Daily and
weekly papers in the communities surrounding Madison are often more
willing to run brief
articles publicizing particular programs.
Print publicity
The most reliable outlet for print promotion of continuing studies programs and Summer Sessions is Wisconsin Week (wisweek@news.wisc.edu), which comes out every two weeks from September to mid-May,
and has a circulation of about 20,000 on campus. For every issue, we send
Wisconsin Week a set of news briefs (each about 35-50 words)
on upcoming classes of general interest to broad populations on campus
such as program assistants or faculty members. These briefs usually appear
from two weeks to a month before the starting date of a course or service.
You may submit your own briefs or request assistance from us.
Radio and TV publicity
Talk-shows on WHA-AM 970, the Wisconsin Ideas Network, often feature
speakers and instructors of continuing education classes and conferences.
Other radio stations are occasionally interested in interviewing a guest
instructor. They may also run free public-service announcements if they
feel their audience is interested in the program. If you have a topic that
you or one of your instructors are willing to discuss on TV or radio,
contact Mary Lock Albrecht.
Media coverage during an event
The Madison media are often willing to cover a large workshop or conference
while it is taking place, especially one that draws a national or international
audience or that features a renowned or controversial speaker. Such coverage
comes too late to generate enrollments. It also can raise awareness of the
university's continuing education efforts and can plant the seed for increased
enrollments next time the program takes place. The media usually need
one or two weeks' notice to cover an event, although phone calls or faxes
two or three days before an event sometimes work.
Feature articles
We offer this service on a limited basis, primarily for conferences perceived
by the media as having news value.
Other outlets
Web pages, Community Calendar, Craigslist (?!)
Photography
Contacts
Mary Lock Albrecht, 262-9792; malbrecht@dcs.wisc.edu
Christina Finet, 262-3319; cfinet@dcs.wisc.edu
MaC staff take digital photos for Division catalogs and do limited photography
for individual clients. We also employ student photographers who provide services for an hourly rate as their schedules allow.
Student photographers are provided with a list of programs every semester. They contact instructors directly and make arrangements with them to photograph classes. Please contact Christina about programs you wanted added to the list. Return to Contents
Christina Finet, 262-3319; cfinet@dcs.wisc.edu
Merikay Payne, 262-6192; mpayne@dcs.wisc.edu
The Division Web site is a marketing tool for the Division and its departments
and units. It provides public access to information about Division activities,
markets Division programs and services, and shares information within
the Division.
The Departments of Liberal Studies and the Arts, and Professional Development and Applied Studies Web sites are managed by Celeste Anton, 263-6320; canton@dcs.wisc.edu.
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