Promotion Strategies for the Marketing of Educational Services

Promotion Strategies for the Marketing of Educational Services

The establishment of business including non-profit organization and educational service requires that the firm make key decision. This decision effects the total marketing programmes of the firm simply put the marketing strategy.  However, one vital area of such decision which demand proper attention is the promotional strategies educational institution must initiate promotional policies and programmes to inform persuade, and educate it’s target audience of the existence of the organization and their services.  Although creation of demand for a firms product services may be the ultimate objective.

The firms must put in place a set of activities aimed at stimulating demand for the services.  This may involve determining the optimal combination of the promotional mix, advertising, sale promotion, personal selling, publicity, public relation, direct marketing and packaging to achieve its promotional objectives.  The optimal blend is a function of the promotional resources, nature of the product just to mention but a few.

Adirika, Ebue and Nnolim (1996:35) see promotion as the component used by the organization to inform, educate, and persuade the market regarding their companies offerings, advertising personal selling, sales promotion, publicity and public relation and the major variable of promotion.

Promotion is a vital ingredient of survival and development without adequate promotion, product may not sold where they sell, their continuality is not in doubt.

The art and science of marketing promotion, which comprises of advertising personal selling sales promotion public relation and direct marketing is often associated with glamour and flamboyance.

Infact, most of the budget of some companies is spent on promotion because of the need to service in the competitive marketing environment (Oppo.J. (1972:201) confirm that the promotional tools to serve as supreme vehicle in competition and provide the only way a market researcher can hope to penetrate on established market.  He went further to state that for a company must value the importance of promotion, educational institution engages in promotional activities in order to increase patronage.

With the proliferation of educational institution in Enugu State, there is the need to appraise the promotional strategies used by the educational institution in facing competition in the industry which is becoming keener everyday.

Manufacturers and producers of good and service including tertiary are now aware that promotion does not only inform and persuade but can strive towards profit making through increased sales.  It is in this light of this importance attached to promotions these researcher seeks to look at promotional strategies the marketing of educational services with particular interest on ESUT operation in Enugu Metropolis.

 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Inadequate customers patronage are often given by entrepreneur as major cause of their failure.  A careful review of their circumstances often reveals abnormal ignorance of need for promotional skill or deliberate neglect of the necessary strategies.

Quite often, marketers are very optimistic about sales (patronage) they conceive the wrong motion that their good will sell themselves forgetting that even the best product services still need to be stimulated in order to move out of the stores infact the creation of effective promotional strategies are on essential move towards creating a market.  The above statement applies equally to tertiary institution.  Despite the numerous advantages inherent in effective Dr-miro as a result of proliferations of educational institutions, and the battle to wine customer (students) there is need to take serious look at promotion as one of the survival strategies tools.  Most of the potential students are not aware of educational institution like tertiary institution.  This is as a result of many education al institution in the country and lack of coordinated promotional strategies .

In this project the researcher will look at the promotional strategies in the marketing of educational service with particular interest on ESUT – Enugu.

 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The primary aim of the study is to evaluate the promotional activities in the marketing of educational service in ENugu metropolis with particular interest on ESUT.

1. To determine the extent to which consumers were of educational in Enugu metropolis
2. To evaluate the promotional activities in tertiary institution in Enugu metropolis in order to determine the viability
3. To determine the impact of promotional strategies on consumers interest for educational services
4. To fined out it promotional activities of educational institution lead to increase desire for their service.
5. To determine the extent to which promotional activities educational services and achieved the institutions promotional objectives.
6. To determine the impact of promotional activities of consumer (students) on the patronage of institution
7. To examine the major set back on promotional activities of educational institution
8. To make appropriate recommendations based on the findings of the study

 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Based on the problem and objective of this study, the

following research question have been formulated.

1. Does promotional activities of educational institutions lead to increase awareness of the institution to its consumers?
2. does promotional law affect negatively on promotional activities of educational services?
3. Does promotional activity of educational institution lead to increase consumer (students) patronage?
4. To what extent does promotional activities adopted by these institutions in Enugu metropolis?

  SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

Odo (1992) stated that significance of a study simply mean how the different users and readers of the project will view the study.  In the light of the above this study will be the great benefit to the operators of higher institution and most importantly (tertiary institutions) as the study will unveil some of the cost effective and efficient promotional game plan that could be adopted the boost or embrace the performance of their operations not only in Enugu metropolis but also within Nigeria.

Promotional consultant have been deprived of excellent performance in their operation because of scarcity and insufficient data and inadequate literature available in this research.  This study went successfully completed and adequately supervise will be a addition to the essential literature needed in promotion and vital areas of marketing communication.  Promotional practitioners and consultant will therefore use it extensively for reference.  Above all this study will also be if beneficial to both the researcher and reader understanding in the areas, which could stir up further study.  Based on the pre-group it become indisputable that the need for this study is worthwhile.

 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study concentrated on promotional activities of tertiary institution.  However, due to the researchers predisposition and many other limitations, which could not allow this, the scope of this study has been narrow down to ESUT in Enugu metropolis.

 DEFINITION OF TERMS

1. Promotional strategy: it is controlled integrated programme of communication method and material designed to present a company to prospective customer (Adirika, Ebue, Nnolim).
2. Advertising:  Is a group of activities arming at an inducing dissemination of information in any paid no personal from consuming an idea product or service to compare action accordance with the import and identifiable sponsor.
3. Sale promotion public relation, the deliberate planed and sustained effort to establish and maintain.  Mutual understanding between an organization and its public (Edoga and .
4. Direct marketing it an interaction marketing media to effect a measurable response
5. Personal selling face to face interaction with one or more prospective purchase for the purpose of making presentation answering questions and producing of order.
6. Public relations and publicity: A variety of programme designed to promote on protect a company’s image or its individual product.

   LITERATURE REVIEW

A scholarly write up without the examination of what experts in the field have opinionated stands acquitted.  This is why every effort are made to revisit the achieves to excavate the ides of major successful and outlets, contributors and writer.

The essence is to give the work creditable and acceptable stand and worthy to quote ad be used by other.

This chapter reviews these, the thoughts, opinions, postulations, assumption, exaggerations, theories and concept of the previous writes in the areas of discussion.  The researcher examines these varying journals, textbooks, margarines, mimeograph unpublished thesis/projects, newspapers, work shop/seminars materials etc.  The work of post graduates scholars were examined through equally believing the redder uses, project supervisors etc. will have and consider the word academic and standard.

Chinaka (2000) carried out a survey on 50 consumers out of which 30 agreed to have patronized 0’ Neal plaza and the remaining did not, this finding were that customer are made up to businessmen, civil servant, company and traders, he discovered that customers patronize the plaza because of the quality of service rendered and the polite and courteous staff which serve them for the information gotten from all the respondents the plaza still have a long way to go in serving their customer and maintaining customer.  This conclusion was that the plaza has known their faults and are trying to amend it although the plaza is not applying the public relation concepts to the fullest, they are doing it gradually.

In (2001), Agwura, in a research study on effective communication strategy for the supermarkets in rural areas. As a case study of Idemili South Local Government area of Anambra State its findings, were that supermarkets have becomes writable factors of improving the economic lots of rural dwellers, by providing a wide variety of product assortments.  However, there supermarkets despite this key position are yet to fully appreciate the importance of designing an optimum promotion in their operations.  From these findings the research concluded that in Nigeria, supermarkets have not been give appropriate attention as in developed economics.  This conclusion was h\based on the fact that supermarkets in Nigeria should include the ideas proper promotional strategy’s effectively improve the positioning the retail system of business, more especially how that competition is very keen in the retailing business.

Ehegn (2001), in a research study on the effect of sales promotion on consumer purchase of beverages.  A case study of Bournvita of Cadbury Nigeria Plc, in Aba metropolis Umuahia Abia state.  His findings revealed that consumers are not usually royal in their former brand of beverage after sales promotion.  They switch back to their former brand thus sales promotion for Bournvita does not lead to repeat purchase of the product more than other promotional elements taking in congrusance on level of economic development and attitude to Nigerians to (free thought), from these findings, the researcher concluded that consumers react in sales promotional element more than advertising personal selling or publicity. In a recessionary economy like ours, sales promotion being short term strategy is really helping out because at the point of sales, the impact of advertising and publicity is reduced except in personal selling situation and this is if the salesmen can really sell himself out.

On a tertiary institutions in Enugu (Ogechi and Nwaabian, 2004) their findings were that potential students patronage of higher institutions is influence by the charges including school fees.  These clearly indicates that potential customer are price conscious.  They noted further that, the use of sales promotion and personal selling in the activities of tertiary institutions is not well pronounced. This could be attribute to the fact that demand is greater than supply.  In the view of this, the researcher concluded that in spite of the existence of promotional activities and their usage by these institutions, there institution public image have not been positional projected.  They still operate below average dealing the researcher justify this study because all the tertiary institutions were involved and a reasonable sample size of 690 including staff and students which is representative enough were used.  Marketing promotion often referred as marketing communication is of the key marketing mix or variable used by marketers or any in marking organization in formulating marketing strategy of embrance a variety marketing activities whose primary role is that of persuasive communication.  Explaining the relevance of promotion Ebue (1996:1), noted that a marketer who build a product or create a service and then sit back and wait nothing to happen usually discover that not much does happen, packaged it brilliantly, price it rightly, distributed it magnificent and positioned it to best meet the need of customer, all these will around to a more exercise in fertility, of the product.

Ebue (1995:2), noted that modern marketing does not stop at developing a good product pricing it attractively and marketing it readily available to the customers but must also communicate the product benefits and attributes among other things to the target customer in spite of the importance or promotion yet a lot of people have come against it.  But Olakunori (1999:232) believed that the criticisms are just a few exception is situation where some companies carry out promotional activities authentically, however, it is important to not that is clear-out focus on that target customer are necessary, hence an integrated communicated plan consistenting of various promotional method should be designing to ensure that customers of a product or market cluster get the right message and maintain a long term cordial relationship with the company.  The type of organization, nature of product and operational activities adoptable by the institution in creating and maintaining credible and reputable organizational image, having detected that tertiary institution renders service oriented product aimed at remodeling the behaviour of human beings as well as equaling than with the technical know, skills competencies and lost of others to face his dally challenging need of the societ0y at large in agreement to the personalized need of the concerned individuals, realizing that tertiary institution do not offer tangible product like furniture, cloths, computers, it means that they must adopt the promotional activities that suit their trade in the educational industrial.

Consequently, they adopt promotional activities that in general terms, the following strategies:

1. Advertising
2. Public relation
3. Publicity
4. Personal selling
5. Direct marketing

The above mentioned promotional activities will be examined in the subsequent to give them a clear picture of understanding.

—This article is not complete———–This article is not complete————
This article was extracted from a Project Research Work/Material Topic

“PROMOTION STRATEGIES FOR THE MARKETING OF EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

(A CASE STUDY OF (ESUT) ENUGU STATE UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY)”

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