ESBD_369555_1723501339005_Addendum 2 735-2024-8241 Digital Marketing Services 08.12.2024.pdf

ADDENDUM TWO (2)

To Whom This May Concern:

Please see the following questions. Some of these are already answered in Addendum 1.

What was the impetus of releasing the RFP at this time? Information not available per ordering department.

What related efforts have you conducted in the past and what did you learn from them that might help us be successful? Information not available per ordering department.

Do you have past media performance results you can share N/A Besides awareness, what are the key brand metrics you seek to improve upon? Information not available per ordering department.

What are your current strategies, and methods for measuring marketing effectiveness?

Information not available per ordering department.

What are your key marketing KPIs, and success metrics used to evaluate marketing performance? Information not available per ordering department.

Where do you find the most friction in the consumer journey, (e.g., from lead to registration, etc.)? Information not available per ordering department.

You mention advertising goals range from lead generation and registration to brand awareness, is there also a need for retention marketing? Information not available from ordering department.

Will selected vendor have access to your website for tagging and tracking traffic to site? Vendor will work with Web Services to implement tagging and tracking. Direct access will not be granted.

What is the annual budget for this initiative? What was spent last year on 1) paid media hard costs 2) total budget? $175000 to $200,000.

Determining adequate media spend is part of our approach. We work with you to first outline planning parameters, part of which is understanding your budget. Then, as part of our strategy development, we determine adequate media spend to meet your goals and objectives. Knowing this, can you help us understand what you are expecting by these two items:

o “Vendor shall list pricing for minimum purchase and indicate timeframe for minimum purchase.”

Are you asking us to simply list if we have minimum media spends? N/A o Digital Marketing Services (total cost)

How are we to list this if we haven’t discussed any planning parameters with you? N/A

As you likely know, it is nearly impossible to quote production until we have an approved media plan and know what we are producing? Given that proposal costs is 70% of the evaluation weight, how do you envision us determining this at this point? Information not available per ordering department.

If you are expecting costs, are our staff rates ample given we are lacking important information for a full-blown cost proposal and paid media isn’t quoted the same way services are?

Information not available per ordering department.

Is the selected agency expected to provide both the creative development and production of ads as well as paid media planning, purchasing and ongoing management?

o Who currently handles your creative development? Are they participating in the RFP? In house as well as third party handling current campaign.

o Who currently handles your media planning and buying? Are they participating in the

RFP? NO

Can you provide your brand and/or campaign guidelines? N/A What other marketing tactics do you leverage beyond paid media? Information not available per ordering department.

What geographies do most students come from? https://msutexas.edu/institutional-effectiveness/dashboards/dashboard_enrollment.php

Knowing the University is midway between Oklahoma City and the Dallas/Fort- Worth

Metroplex, do you all have a tuition reciprocity agreement for Oklahoma residents? Yes, Oklahoma residents in neighboring counties to Texas, qualify for Texas resident rates. Oklahoma residents in non-neighboring counties to Texas pay $30.00 more per semester credit hour over Texas resident rates.

What services, if any, do you see your team providing? N/A Do you have readily available assets such as photos and videos? Yes Who makes up the team with whom the selected agency will work? Who are the key decision makers? N/A For the RFP, it lists the response requirements in 6.1 and that the response must contain ALL of the marked components in the prescribed order, that said where within the proposal would you like the requirements listed in 6.2? Length of submission: Please keep proposal submission straightforward and concise manner, identifying clearly and concisely any deviations, enhancements and other differences that exist between RFP and the respondent’s proposed services not to exceed 50 pages.

What portion of the target audience are adults returning to school vs. traditional student enrollees? 70% traditional/ 30% working adult (may web and flow through year according to results)

Regarding the target audiences what are your goals regarding marketing to the community?

What other universities do you consider your peers? N/A Which universities do you consider your steepest competition? Why? N/A What other universities do you admire from a marketing perspective? Why? N/A

Firstly, in Section 6.2, you mentioned listing pricing for minimum purchases and indicating timeframes. Would you prefer us to include the minimum required budget for each service or the minimum purchase amount that we believe will work best for you? We cannot tell how to submit your proposal.

Secondly, are there any specific performance metrics or KPIs that the university expects to be met? If so, could you provide examples of these metrics so that we can consider them when pricing our services? N/A

Thirdly, are there any additional costs or fees (e.g., travel expenses, software licenses) that we should include in our proposal? If so, please specify. No

Fourthly, to benchmark our pricing appropriately, could you provide information on the historical spend or budget for similar digital marketing services in previous years? N/A

Finally, would you like us to include creative services costs in our proposal? Additionally, can we propose additional types of services that aren't listed in your Scope of Work but that we believe should be part of your campaign for optimal results? Yes to both questions

Specific DMA’s, Zip Codes, etc, where to Target https://msutexas.edu/institutional-effectiveness/dashboards/dashboard_enrollment.php

Enrollment Goals Increase enrollment for traditional college students, increase enrollment for working adults with some college but no degree

Campaign Goals Information not available per ordering department.

Do you want part of this budget to target international student NO

Are there specific programs that you would like to focus on? Grad, Undergrad? Programs of interest for working adults, specifically those online such as Bachelor of Applied Arts & Science

Do you have specific budgets that we need to be aware of? $175,000 to $200,000.

o Do you require both a mailed and electronic submission, or will an electronic submission suffice? Electronic is preferred.

o Do you have an overall budget for this project? $175,000 to $200,000 o What have you spent historically on paid media? See above o Do you have any guidelines for budget allocation per audience? 70% traditional/ 30% working adult (may web and flow through year according to results) o Do you have any concrete lead, application, or enrollment goals for the traditional undergraduate and adult audiences? N/A o Do you have any priority programs within the traditional undergraduate and online bachelor's program portfolios? For working adults – Bachelor of Applied Arts & Science o Do you have any priority programs within the graduate program portfolios? Not part of this campaign o What are your target geographies (cities, DMAs, or states) in priority order?

https://msutexas.edu/institutional-effectiveness/dashboards/dashboard_enrollment.php o Do you have any lists? If yes, please share list types and their sizes (i.e. 20k inquiries, 10k applicants, 5k admitted students).N/A o Do you have any creative or landing page needs? NO o Are you open to SEO, Google Analytics, or website personalization services? Not at this time.

o Do you offer any tuition discounts for southern Oklahoma residents? Yes, Oklahoma residents in neighboring counties to Texas, qualify for Texas resident rates. Oklahoma residents in non-neighboring counties to Texas pay $30.00 more per semester credit hour over Texas resident rates.

o Are Military audiences a priority? Yes, we are beginning a new initiative.

General Questions

1. Are there any meetings prior to the RFP due dates? NO

2. Who is your current Agency of Record and What specific pain points are you looking to solve with your current agency? Not available from ordering department.

3. What is the current media budget & invoicing structure? $175,000 to $200,000

4. What are the specific goals and objectives of your advertising campaign? N/A

5. What is the desired timeline for the campaign, including any key milestones or launch dates? N/A

6. What is your desired collaboration process between your team and ours throughout the campaign? N/A

7. Are there specific innovative approaches or experimental tactics you're interested in exploring within this campaign? Beyond the required media we would be interested in additional tactics

8. Do we still need an HSP if we are already HUB certified? Yes, even if you do 100% of the work, please note it on the HSP.

Brand Specific Questions

9. Will you provide target audience market research you have to date? Are you looking to supplement this information? We will provide

10. Can you provide insights into your school’s current positioning and unique propositions? N/A

11. How does your target audience currently engage with your brand, and what are the key messages that resonate most effectively with them? N/A

12. Do you have any existing creative assets or branding guidelines that need to be adhered to? Yes. We will provide those.

Media & Analytics Questions

13. What channels or platforms are you currently using for advertising, and are there any preferences or restrictions for this campaign? Mixed

14. Can you provide a breakdown of current media channel spend? N/A

15. What metrics or key performance indicators (KPIs) will be used to measure the success of the advertising campaign? N/A

16. How are you currently tracking ROI for your running media campaigns? Third party vendor.

1) Are you requesting creative services as well as media placement and management in the proposal? If not, will the University provide creative assets? Yes, though it may be a blend with our in-house team

2) Has an annual budget been established? $175,000 to $200,000.

3) Do you have a geographic area you would like to target? i.e. statewide, metro cities etc?

Primarily targets Texas residents

4) Do you have number of ad impressions or leads you are expecting from the campaigns? N/A

1. Why has Midwestern State University decided to release this RFP?

2. What have been your primary targets? Texas Residents

3. What is the budget? Does it include media hard costs? $175,000 to $200,000

4. What was your total budget for the last completed fiscal year for this effort/for a similar effort? See above.

5. Is there an incumbent vendor? Are they invited to participate in this RFP?

N/A

6. Who is the incumbent? N/A

7. Are you happy with the incumbent’s performance? N/A

8. Who are the other co-vendors for this effort? (e.g., PR, web development, etc.) Will work with our in-house team – not other co-vendors

9. What tactics do you consider to be the most successful in meeting your goals? N/A

10. What have been your most successful and least successful tactics? N/A

11. What is your measurement of success? N/A

12. Are you open to using firms outside of Fort Wichita Falls? Yes

13. What are your current/past major campaigns? Which ones, if any, are continuing? N/A

14. What is your current media mix? What was successful/etc.? N/A

15. What are the peaks and valleys like in reference to workload? How drastic are these cycles? N/A

16. What are the peaks and valleys like in reference to workload? How drastic are these cycles? N/A

17. Do you have a current brand guide? Revised guidelines will be completed later this fall. We do have guidelines that will be provided by our team.

18. What type of media have you been running the past couple of years, and what have been the results/how well have they performed for you? Mixed. N/A.

19. What are your key performance metrics? N/A

20. How does MSU currently plan and buy media? In-house or with an agency? N/A

21. What is your overall budget for the year? $175,000 to $200,000

22. Including media placement, direct mail, production costs, etc.?

23. What has been the most successful at generating leads? What has been a failure in the past? N/A

24. Please provide more info on how price/cost will be evaluated. See page 4 of RFP, section 1.14.

25. Do local firms get preferential treatment? (Local to the office or situational geography) See page 4 of RFP, section 1.14 for evaluation criteria.

26. What is the priority of objectives? N/A

27. Where can we view past campaign materials and/or website? N/A

28. Does [name] have any interest in research? Should we include research in our scope of work? N/A Has research been conducted? What research, if any, is available?N/A

29. What partners do you have that participate/have participated in communication efforts? N/A

30. Because our references are highly busy, is it possible to include a letter of reference in case of issues with contacting references? Would this be helpful? See Appendix A.

31. What is the name of the advertising agency Midwestern State University had worked with regularly in the past? N/A

32. Is there an incumbent or another vendor that has worked with Midwestern State University in the past 18 months that you are considering for this RFP? N/A

33. What are the top three qualities Midwestern State University is looking for in an agency partner? See section 6.2 in RFP.

34. Have you discussed this scope of work or possibility of this RFP with vendors prior to the no contact period? No

35. We noticed you are a part of the Texas Tech System. Do you have access to their approved vendor list? N/A If so, is there a reason you did not use the approved list for this

RFP? N/A

36. On 6.2 #6 Can you please provide clarification on minimum purchase?No

37. Section 6.3 refers to pricing information in section 6.1 which did not contain any pricing information. Could you please provide clarification? 6.1Response Requirements are documents that are required in the proposal. 6.3 is listed to be included with the proposal.

38. Would you like us to include planning, creative, campaign development, assets, etc. in our response? Yes, our team does have some photography and video assets

39. Do you have an existing campaign that we would be extending to create the creative assets for those media? N/A

40. Are you advertising the university as a whole or do you anticipate being able to do program specific for lead generation? For the time being, the university as a whole for traditional students. Some programs of interest for working adults, specifically those online such as Bachelor of Applied Arts & Science.

1. Does MSU have an investment level that you’d like Spectrum Reach use to develop a proposal? Or are you just looking for our capabilities/platforms with minimum required investment levels? N/A

2. Does MSU have a specific geographic or demographic target in-mind? (e.g. – State of Texas, Dallas/Ft. Worth DMA, Cities, Zip Codes, College Student Intender Next 6 or 12 months, Current College Student past 12 months, College Graduate, etc.) Texas Residents

3. I’ve never submitted a HUB Subcontracting Plan. Is this required with all submissions? See page 13 (required for solicitation valued at $100,000 or more). See webpage references on Exhibit E.

We have the following questions regarding RFP 735-2024-8241 digital marketing services:

1) Can creative samples be included in the email submitted RFP? Rather than mailed? Yes

2) What is the media budget for this effort? $175,000 to $200,000.

3) Will we lose points if we do not include a HUB subcontractor? See evaluation criteria, page 4, section 1.14 of RFP.

4) Is there an incumbent participating in this RFP? N/A

5) Does there need to be an instate service provider as part of the contract? No

Please remember to acknowledge this addendum on the Addenda Checklist.

Regards, Tracy Nichols MSU Purchasing / Contract Management Office