The more things change, the more they stay the same in #highered marketing

This post is #2 in a series of 10 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of this blog while looking back at the past decade in higher ed digital marketing and communications.

What does the future hold for digital in higher ed?

How can we know today what is the next technology, channel, tool, content that will matter for our target audiences in 1, 5 or 10 years?

I’m going to share the answer to this million dollar question with you now (drums roll): we can’t.

Since I started blogging about higher ed digitial marketing and communication in 2005, I’ve witnessed the rise and fall of many “next big things,” “shiny objects” and “rising stars.”

Looking back while browsing the 10-year archives of this blog, it’s evident that digital professionals have undergone a fantastic transformation during the past decade with so many new technologies and opportunities.

As more and more of our personal and professional communications were shifting online, most institutions of higher education went from a “put this print document on the website as well” communication approach to a more integrated strategy grasping – for the majority, I would say, as exceptions still exist unfortunately – the importance of digital marketing and communications.

Driven by the new communication habits of their main and young audience (students), the rise of social media and the multiplication of new digital platforms and channels, schools have dramatically changed their attitudes and behaviors in terms of communications.

The Good Old Days? Not really.

And, that’s a good thing.

When I think about my days working as a part-time web editor for a small residential women’s college in New Jersey at the start of this millenium, I clearly remember the long discussions to explain why the website should get more budget, care and attention.

Back in 2003, the world of higher ed communication and marketing was still a world where print ruled and digital was always a second thought.

Fortunately, everything changed when the Millenials went to and graduated from college and a few created some of the most successful online platforms ever: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the rest.

The more things change, the more they stay the same

Despite the fact that many attitudes, behaviors and tools have changed, a few important things haven’t or have only shifted a little bit.

As the web professionals of a decade ago have climbed the career ladder inside or outside of higher education, brand new practictionners have joined digital teams as social media managers, content strategists or assistant directors of the next digital big thing.

During the past decade, most digital teams in higher education have expanded in ranks and expertise.

Yet, the same issues or challenges remains: lack of strategic goals, missing strategic measurement framework, abundance of passionate efforts but scarcity of strategic direction.

In search of the underlining cycle

In higher education, we are used to the academic or recruiting cycles recurring every year like clockwork with only slight change.

The 10 years I’ve spent observing, monitoring and following the digital profession in higher education have led me to believe that other longer cycles are at play as well.

The names, platforms or people might change, but some deep needs, goals and challenges have been lingering for many years. We’ve made some progress on some, but it sometimes feels we haven’t moved an inch on others.

As I’ve started to work on the featured session I will present at the UBTech Conference about this topic in June, I want to explore and discuss more what the past decade can teach us to tackle what the future will bring.

Next stop: my next post, tomorrow. So, stay tuned!