Response to Offeror Questions document.pdf

Is there any marketing agency that has given you a proposal or communicated with you about this scope of work?

o No Is there an incumbent agency that you use or have used for marketing and adverting?

o No Will you give priority or higher scores to proposers in your state or region? Or, do you reduce the scoring for agencies out of your area?

o In-state or regional proposers have the potential to score higher based on the knowledge of our area.

You list goals in section 4.4. Do you have a positioning statement that states that differentiates you from your competitors?

o Mission Statement: Black Hills State University is a regional, comprehensive, public institution that provides access to a higher education for aspiring students. BHSU offers a generous number of baccalaureate and select master’s degrees, generates new knowledge, promotes excellence in teaching and public engagement, and serves as a regional economic leader. Graduates make significant contributions to the workforce and the betterment of their community.

o Vision Statement: Black Hills State University will innovate to provide cutting-edge education, promote student success, be a sustainable campus, and serve as an economic engine for western South Dakota.

If not, one of your goals states: Attract prospective faculty, staff, community leaders, and industry partners to the university through the strategic execution of a marketing position. Is developing a positioning statement part of this scope of work or do you have one?

o We would like to define a positioning statement.

Do you have a brand promise that focuses on the benefits students realize as a result of completing a degree at Corning? Can you share that with us?

o We would refer to our mission statement.

The proposed budget is set, do you have any expectations in regards to the number of prospective students will be converted with this budget?

o The goal is to increase enrollment by 50 students and 61 FTE (full time equivalency) in 2025.

Do you have marketing software for lead generation? If not, are you open to adding it?

o We currently do not. We would consider it.

What is the anticipated annual budget (including fees)?

o Budget is not to exceed $150,000 for Year 1 and $100,000 for Year 2 and $100,000 for

Year 3.

What is the historical annual budget?

o There currently is not an allotted marketing budget.

What CRM does the institution use?

o TargetX Recruitment, by Liaison

Do you want the proposal to include a recommended media budget, or do you just want the part charged by the agency for managing the budget? If you just want the agency portion, the logical and beneficial amount of time dedicated to managing the budget is somewhat determined by how much money there is to manage. If you know, more or less, what you want to spend annually, could you let me know what that is?

o Budget is not to exceed $150,000 for Year 1 and $100,000 for Year 2 and $100,000 for Year 3.

• What prompted release of the RFP at this time?

• The University rebranded and hired a new director in 2021.

• Do you have an incumbent agency for these services?

• No.

• Are you looking for preliminary recommendations for media strategy? If so,:

o What is your media spend budget?

• Budget is not to exceed $150,000 for Year 1 and $100,000 for Year 2 and $100,000 for Year 3 (including production and media buying). The bulk of the budget should go towards media buying.

o What are your priority Graduate programs and priority Certificates?

• We are currently looking to define these.

o What are your priority recruitment markets?

• Black Hills area, eastern Wyoming, northern Colorado, western Nebraska, and western North Dakota.

o What CRM do you use?

• TargetX Recruitment, by Liaison o What is your desired time frame? Are you looking for a three year plan or a one-year plan with options to renew?

• A three-year plan.

• Section 1.1 mentions “recently launched brand imagery and messaging.” Can you share examples of that work and any background information on how it was developed (by internal staff or external partners, etc.)? We are quite accustomed to both working with existing campaigns and creating all new campaigns.

o In March 2021 we went through a brand redesign by an external vendor:

https://www.bhsu.edu/faculty-staff/marketing-and-communications/Branding-Identity- Standards/Logos

• Section 1.1 also mentions “developing targeted advertising” such as television commercials, paid social media, billboards, etc. Is the university expecting the agency to use only existing assets (photos, videos, etc.) from the “recently launched brand imagery and messaging,” or is the university expecting the agency to produce new assets (photos, videos, etc.)?

o We would like to use both existing assets and newly produced assets by the agency.

• Section 1.1 says “proposals should address budget requirements and an approach for the

University to meet its goals.” Can the university share any specific numeric objectives for enrollment growth either in terms of % increase, or volume increase? Can the university share an approximate expected budget range for annual marketing, advertising and communications efforts to be managed by the agency?

o The goal is to increase enrollment by 50 students and 61 FTE (full time equivalency) in 2025.

o Budget is not to exceed $150,000 for Year 1 and $100,000 for Year 2 and $100,000 for Year 3.

• Can the university share any information regarding current marketing efforts such as target audiences and geographies?

o Currently, our target geographies are Black Hills area, eastern Wyoming, northern Colorado, western Nebraska, and western North Dakota.

• In Section 7.0 cost proposal, is the university looking for hard media costs, a planned media budget proposal or the cost of managed services for execution? Are you looking for info on all three?

https://www.bhsu.edu/faculty-staff/marketing-and-communications/Branding-Identity-Standards/Logos o All three, please.

• Section 7.0 cost proposal, the first bullet point asks for the cost for an “enrollment campaign” but then other bullets list production, media etc., which we assume are part of the enrollment campaign. Can the university clarify exactly what it seeks and what level of detail is needed for this section?

o Those items can be assumed to be included in the enrollment campaign. We are mainly looking for a cost breakdown between the production costs and media buying/placement.

• What is your fiscal calendar? Is it Jan-December or something different? With other institutions, we have had to start campaigns in May, but hold billing until July 1 when their new fiscal year started. So we just want to understand the overall timing. Fiscal year begins July 1.

• In terms of the numeric goals you provided, knowing the Spring 2024 semester is about to begin, are those goals against Spring 2024 and Fall 2024 enrollment periods or Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 enrollment periods? Do you have a summer enrollment period to be considered as well? Those metrics were set against an anticipated goal for Fall 2024. We hope for a growth of 50 overall students in overall enrollment from Fall 2024 to Fall of 2025.

• In terms of student types, is there any priority of student type, such as “on-campus vs. online” or military members and transfer students vs. incoming traditional students? Incoming traditional students is the main priority.

o Can you provide a range of the expected media budget and/or the approximate media spend level over the past year?

o Budget is not to exceed $150,000 for Year 1 and $100,000 for Year 2 and $100,000 for

Year 3. There was no media spend over the past year.

o Can you elaborate on the "Strategic consultation (including travel)" section under the Cost

Proposal?

o If travel from the vendor is expected to the BHSU campus, the cost must be built into the cost proposal.

o What are the tracking metrics that BHSU uses to measure performance and success?

o Performance and success will ultimately be based off on enrollment. The goal is to increase enrollment by 50 students and 61 FTE (full time equivalency) in 2025.

• Have you worked with any creative agencies before, and if so, which agencies?

o BHSU has not worked with a creative agency for a university marketing campaign.

• Are you currently working with an agency?

o No

• What is your desired budget for these projects?

Year 3.

• What are your specific (numeric) goals for enrollment growth?

o The goal is to increase enrollment by 50 students and 61 FTE (full time equivalency) in

2025.

• The RFP states that an ink signature is required for the proposal. Is it permissible to instead use an electronic signature, as the proposal will be submitted electronically?

o Yes, an electronic signature is permissible.

• The RFP mentions recently launched brand imagery and messaging. Was this work done in-house or with an outside partner? Can you share additional information about this brand work?

o In March 2021 we went through a brand redesign by an external vendor:

https://www.bhsu.edu/faculty-staff/marketing-and-communications/Branding-Identity- Standards/Logos

• What qualitative or quantitative research informed the recent brand work? Will these insights be available to the chosen partner?

o Campus and community focus groups and surveys were conducted. Yes, insights can be made available.

• Has there been any audience-specific research completed recently, particularly for the prospective student audiences listed in section 4.4 of the RFP?

o No.

• Has BHSU conducted any sort of recruitment communications flow audit to help narrow down and prioritize enrollment marketing materials?

o We conducted a communication audit through RNL in 2021.

• If the project is awarded to multiple agencies, how do you envision the agencies working together?

o Agencies will collaborate through the guidance of BHSU.

• Who are the core team members at BHSU who will be involved in the day-to-day work with the chosen partner?

o Day-to-day core team members would include Senior Director of Marketing and

Communications and Communications Coordinator with input from Brand Coordinator/Senior Graphic Designer, Media Production Coordinator, Web Communications Specialist, and Director of Admissions.

• What is the timeline for completion of the project? Are there any key milestones we should consider including target launch dates for recruitment marketing?

o First-year campaign launch to the public would begin Fall 2024 and work would continue through the three-year contract. Director of Admissions will be included in discussions regarding other target launch dates.

• What is the budget or budget range for this project?

Year 3.

• Has a media budget been established for this project? Are you able to share past media spend information?

o The media budget is expected to fit in with the overall budget. There has been no past media spends from marketing campaigns.

• Is there an incumbent firm currently handling these types of projects? If so, have they been included in this RFP process? If not, why not?

o There has not been a previous marketing campaign.

• Is there a current media strategy in place?

o The current media strategy relies on free placement (press releases, social media, etc.).

• Are you currently using a CRM as part of your lead generation and capture strategy?

o TargetX Recruitment, by Liaison

• How is media placement currently managed?

o There is currently no media placement to manage other than social media.

• What data do you have access to? What marketing-data tools do you currently use? What data is being used to inform your admissions efforts?

o We use Google Analytics for website data and Meltwater for social media.

• Do you have benchmark metrics in place (cost of the campaign, impressions and reach, total clicks, click-through rate, cost per click, conversions, cost per conversion, and return on investment)?

o Because we have not previously had a paid media campaign, we do not have any of that information.

• What are past campaigns you’ve run that have been successful? What are some challenges you’ve faced?

o We have not previously had any resources to employ any paid campaigns, so that in itself has been by far the biggest challenge.

• The RFP states, “Proposal should include case studies documenting results based on campaigns with other universities similar in size and requirements of BHSU.” Are submissions limited only to vendors with past university campaign experience, or can vendors prove success through other campaigns?

o Other campaigns may be submitted.

• Do you have a set budget allocated for this contract?

o Budget is not to exceed $150,000 for Year 1 and $100,000 for Year 2 and $100,000 for Year 3.

• How will you define if the campaign is successful? What KPIs will determine if the campaign is driving the desired action?

o The overall goal of the campaign is to increase enrollment.

• Do you expect the same campaign materials to run throughout the three-year contract?

o Some campaign materials may run throughout the three years but new content is expected with each campaign as well.

• What is your current demographic for prospective students? Are most people in the area or are you looking for people outside of South Dakota?

o Our current primary recruiting areas include Black Hills area, eastern Wyoming, northern Colorado, western Nebraska, and western North Dakota. We are willing to look into other potential markets.

• Has BHSU conducted market research recently or would you be looking for new research in this contract?

o We have not recently and would be interested in new market research.

• Do you have any majors that you are looking to highlight?

o We are currently determining which majors/programs to highlight.

• Who are your top 3-5 competitors?

o SDSU, USD, Northern State, Chadron State, technical schools

• What is the future plan for BHSU? Are you looking to grow in certain areas?

o We are looking to bolster enrollment through existing majors/programs as well as possibly adding new majors/programs.

• What are the things you want your target audience to know about BHSU? What are the reasons a prospective student should enroll at BHSU?

o Mission Statement: Black Hills State University is a regional, comprehensive, public institution that provides access to a higher education for aspiring students. BHSU offers a generous number of baccalaureate and select master’s degrees, generates new knowledge, promotes excellence in teaching and public engagement, and serves as a regional economic leader. Graduates make significant contributions to the workforce and the betterment of their community.

o Vision Statement: Black Hills State University will innovate to provide cutting-edge education, promote student success, be a sustainable campus, and serve as an economic engine for western South Dakota.

• What sets you apart from other universities?

o BHSU offers a student-centered education that focuses on relationships built throughout the university experience.

• Are you looking for website services included in this contract? Are you open to suggestions for a refreshed website or additions?

o No. We are currently undergoing a web redesign that will launch July 2024.

• What is the budget expectation for this three-year contract?

o Budget is not to exceed $150,000 for Year 1 and $100,000 for Year 2 and $100,000 for

Year 3.

• Why is BHSU seeking a new marketing agency to manage an existing campaign?

o We have not had a past marketing campaign.

• Can you provide any further detail regarding which programs BHSU wishes to promote and highlight?

o We are currently determining which majors/programs to highlight which would include current and possibly new majors/programs.

• Which specific degree fields have been BHSU's primary growth areas during the past three years?

o Teaching has always been our foundation, and we are currently researching growth within our degrees.

• There was a recent, similar RFP and the contract was not awarded to anyone. Is that an option or will this be awarded with certainty?

o Our staff is not aware of a recent marketing campaign RFP. The likelihood of this RFP being awarded is very high.