Responses to questions.pdf

STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK * COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY

P.O. BOX 901 * MORRISVILLE, NEW YORK * 13408-0901

RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS

FOR

SUNY MORRISVILLE

PROPOSAL #25-12

SUNY MORRISVILLE MARKETING SERVICES 2026

MADISON COUNTY, NEW YORK

June 30, 2026

SUNY Morrisville

Business Office

P.O. Box 901

80 Eaton Street

Morrisville, NY 13408

QUESTIONS

1) In addition to the campaign planning and implementation, are you also looking for the creative content creation (video, ads, banners, etc) within the campaign? SUNY Morrisville has full multimedia content creative and web development capabilities and, as such, will develop all campaign creative assets in house.

If there are needs outside of the internal teams capabilities and/or capacity, a separate budget will be used to fund execution with the selected partner or another external vendor.

2) Are you leveraging Slate or is the school using a separate CRM system? SUNY Morrisville uses the Slate

CRM.

3) Will the awarded vendor collaborate with your Slate Admins to build source formats and custom exports?

The Assistant Director of Enrollment Technology and Reporting will provide all information and support necessary to implement assessment and reporting related to campaign performance.

4) Are applications handled by SUNY System or are any programs handled through your own Slate

Application Portal? All undergraduate applications to SUNY Morrisville are submitted through the Common

App or the SUNY Application.

5) Can the awarded vendor create campaign-specific landing pages, RFI pages, static creative, and video assets within the annual budget, or will the college provide existing creative and landing page assets for the vendor to use? The SUNY Morrisville web development and multimedia content teams will create all creative assets for the campaign. If there are needs outside of the internal team’s capabilities and/or capacity, a separate budget will be used to fund execution with the selected partner or another external vendor.

6) Are there any restrictions on media platforms or ad networks where media spend may be allocated (e.g., specific social platforms, search, display, streaming)? No.

7) Will the selected vendor have access to existing brand guidelines, creative assets, photography, and video, or should the agency budget for original creative development? Yes—the selected partner will have access to existing brand guidelines and creative assets, including photography and video.

8) Will the agency have access to SUNY Morrisville's CRM, Slate, or admissions data for audience modeling, lookalike targeting, and closed-loop conversion tracking? The Assistant Director of Enrollment

Technology and Reporting will collaborate with the selected digital marketing partner to provide access to any information or assessment tools necessary to build and assess the performance of the undergraduate digital marketing campaign.

9) Are there historical campaign performance benchmarks (CPL, CPA, conversion rates) from prior marketing efforts that bidders can reference when developing media plans? All past undergraduate digital marketing campaign information, including campaign performance data, will be provided to the selected digital marketing partner (and, perhaps, performance data for other marketing campaigns).

10) The RFP references "undergraduate enrollment objectives" broadly. Can SUNY Morrisville specify the target audience priorities (first-year traditional, transfer, adult learner, military-affiliated, or out-of-state) and whether certain academic programs (e.g., renewable energy, equine science, nursing) should be prioritized in the campaign? This information will be provided to the selected partner upon formal engagement. Generally speaking, however, the targeted audience will be prospective freshman and transfer.

11) Does SUNY Morrisville have specific enrollment targets, lead volume goals, or other KPIs the agency will be measured against, or will success metrics be developed collaboratively with the selected partner?

Success metrics will be developed in collaboration with the selected digital marketing partner upon formal engagement.

12) Are there geographical priorities for the campaign outside of Madison County? Yes.

13) Are there workforce development and/or regional employer partnership initiatives that should be incorporated into campaign strategy? No.

14) Are there specific audience personas or student populations SUNY Morrisville is seeking to grow? This information will be provided to the selected digital marketing partner upon formal engagement.

15) Is traditional media buying such as broadcast/cable TV, radio, print, out-of-home, or direct mail within the scope of this engagement, or is the campaign intended to be exclusively digital? The selected partner will be responsible only for strategic development, implementation, and ongoing management of the undergraduate digital marketing campaign for the institution.

16) Does the $225,000 budget include SEO and answer engine optimization (AEO) services for morrisville.edu, or is the scope limited to paid digital media? SUNY Morrisville has a web development team with two experienced professionals—one in web programming, and one in web development/UX optimization. However, there is some flexibility in how the budget can be invested digital tactics that optimize tuition revenue generation. To this end, the marketing leadership team is open to any evidence based and well-reasoned recommendations.

17) Are incumbent agencies eligible to submit an RFP? Yes.

18) Who is the current incumbent agency? Overit in Albany, New York

19) What prompted the release of this RFP? At present, our engagement with our digital marketing partner is for a term of one year, and a rebid is necessary.

20) Who will be the primary day-to-day stakeholder? Alex Bodenham, Vice President of Enrollment and

Marketing and Communications, and Allisa Coomey, Assistant Director of Multimedia Content.

21) Can you share who the final decision-makers for creative and budget approvals will be? Alex

Bodenham, Vice President of Enrollment and Marketing and Communications, and Allisa Coomey, Assistant Director of Multimedia Content.

22) What undergraduate enrollment goals are you trying to achieve? Enrollment growth.

23) Which KPIs will be used to determine success? Inquiry volume and cost per conversion compared to historical campaign performance and other tactics included in the plan developed. Over time, inquiry quality will be assessed in terms of cost per inquiry, application, and new enrollment, recognizing that determinations related to “quality” will need a couple of cycles to be able to accurately assess.

24) Is success measured by applications, inquiries, deposits, or enrolled students? Or all of the above?

Success will be measured by inquiry volume and cost per conversion compared to historical campaign performance and other tactics included in the plan developed. Over time, inquiry quality will be assessed in terms of cost per inquiry, application, and new enrollment, recognizing that determinations related to

“quality” will need a couple of cycles to be able to accurately assess.

25) Will historical performance data be shared? Yes.

26) What is your current CRM? Slate.

27) Do you have a current enrollment platform? Yes. Slate.

28) Is there a current marketing automation strategy in place? Yes.

29) What analytics tools are already implemented? Google analytics and Slate.

30) What would constitute a successful first year? Historical campaign data will be provided to the selected partner and objectives will be defined collaboratively with the marketing leadership team at SUNY

Morrisville.

31) What percentage of the $225,000 budget is expected to be media spend? We will be evaluating proposals with the objective of identifying a partner that provides the highest value – i.e. most inquiries (and later undergraduate applications and new enrollment) generated per dollar invested in the aggregate budget for undergraduate digital marketing. As such, it may or may not be the case that the proposal that includes the lowest agency fees and highest media spend is selected.

32) Are there geographic priorities? Yes.

33) Is this RFP to target traditional freshmen only? No. All prospective undergraduate student populations.

34) Or is the budget expected to reach additional adult learners, transfer students, graduate students and out-of-state? Out of these populations, only prospective transfer students would be targeted.

35) How often are performance reports expected? The recommended cadence of reporting and meetings should be included in the proposal informed by the prospective digital marketing partner’s extensive experience regarding what is necessary and optimal in terms of outcomes.

36) Is the expectation for the agency to conduct monthly meetings with stakeholders? The recommended cadence of reporting and meetings should be included in the proposal informed by the prospective digital marketing partner’s presumed extensive experience regarding what is necessary and optimal in terms of outcomes.

37) Is the expectation for the agency to conduct quarterly strategy sessions? The recommended cadence of reporting and meetings should be included in the proposal informed by the prospective digital marketing partner’s presumed extensive experience regarding what is necessary and optimal in terms of outcomes.

38) Does SUNY Morrisville currently have an established brand platform and messaging framework? Yes.

39) Are there existing brand guidelines available for use? Yes.

40) What creative assets already exist? There are hundreds of creative assets that have been created for the

“Be More.” digital marketing campaign that will, of course, be available for use with the new partner. If the premise of this question is to determine if development of creative assets should be included in the budget for the proposal—the SUNY Morrisville web development and multimedia content teams will create all creative assets for the campaign. If there are needs outside of the internal team’s capabilities and/or capacity, a separate budget will be used to fund execution with the selected partner or another external vendor.

41) Does SUNY have any current messaging that must be incorporated into this work? Will the selected agency be expected to develop new creative concepts and campaign themes? There is a current campaign theme and creative strategy and hundreds of assets that have been thoughtfully developed which will likely be used for the coming years. Any tweaks or revisions that are determined to be necessary would be covered by a separate budget if the internal web development and multimedia content teams lacked the capability and/or capacity to execute.

42) Are there restrictions regarding messaging, claims, or student outcome statistics? This is a topic that can be better addressed with the selected partner upon formal engagement.

43) Is the agency expected to provide video production as part of the engagement? No. SUNY Morrisville has a full-time videographer and all video production needs can be executed “in house”. If additional resources are required to execute a video production project, it would be covered out of a separate budget.

44) Is photography/videography included within campaign expectations? No. SUNY Morrisville has a full-time videographer and freelance photographers, and all video production and photography needs can be executed “in house”. If additional resources are required to execute a video production or photography project, it would be covered out of a separate budget.

45) We are a Canadian company expanding across the border as we have our EIN number but do not have a

NYS Vendor number. Do you foresee any issues with that?

You can submit a proposal and we will work with you on setting up a NYS Vendor number.

46) Regarding undergraduate student recruitment, are there specific communities, geographic regions, audience segments, or key opportunity areas that SUNY Morrisville would like the selected agency to prioritize? Or should the selected agency identify and recommend target audiences and regions as part of the campaign strategy? Such questions would be addressed in the initial partnership launch with the selected partner upon formal engagement.

47) Are there specific digital channels SUNY Morrisville is interested in leveraging for this campaign, such as paid search, paid social, programmatic display, streaming video, retargeting, or other platforms? All past undergraduate digital marketing campaign data will be provided to the selected partner upon formal engagement. The selected partner will make tactical recommendations based on all available information and the firm’s extensive experience in digital marketing.

48) Are there key recruitment periods, application deadlines, enrollment milestones, or priority campaign windows that should guide the campaign timeline? There are standard timeframes for targeting audiences within the standard higher education undergraduate recruitment cycle, though there has been significant shifts in the external environment that have somewhat shifted paradigms. All of this type of information would be shared with the selected partner upon formal engagement.

49) Will the selected agency be responsible for developing all campaign creative assets, including copy, graphics, video, landing page recommendations, and digital ad variations? There is a current digital marketing campaign—“Be More”—that was thoughtfully developed, which can be used for the coming recruitment cycles. However, if it is determined that tweaks and/or new assets are required, those would be executed “in house”, where possible, or a separate budget would be used to fund the execution by the selected partner or another vendor.

50) Is there any on-site requirement for the selected agency? No.

51) What meeting cadence does SUNY Morrisville anticipate throughout the engagement? The recommended cadence of reporting and meetings should be included in the proposal informed by the prospective digital marketing partner’s extensive experience regarding what is necessary and optimal in terms of outcomes.

52) What reporting cadence is expected for campaign performance updates, and are there specific KPIs

SUNY Morrisville would like included in regular reporting? The recommended cadence of reporting and meetings should be included in the proposal informed by the prospective digital marketing partner’s extensive experience regarding what is necessary and optimal in terms of outcomes. Regarding KPIs, inquiry volume and cost per conversion compared to historical campaign performance and other tactics included in the plan developed will be the general KPIs. Over time, inquiry quality will be assessed in terms of cost per inquiry, application, and new enrollment, recognizing that determinations related to “quality” will need a couple of cycles in order to be able to accurately assess.

53) (Section 3.1.3) The annual budget of $225,000 is described as inclusive of both media spend and agency fees. Does SUNY have a preferred or expected allocation between media spend and agency fees, or is the bidder expected to propose that split as part of their cost proposal? The bidder should break down the agency fee—including a very clear scope of work (there is some budget for projects that fall outside of scope, if necessary)—and media spend in a very clear and transparent fashion. It is important to note that the SUNY

Morrisville marketing leadership team will be evaluating proposals with the objective of identifying a partner that provides the highest value – i.e. most inquiries (and later undergraduate applications and new enrollment) generated per dollar invested in the aggregate budget for undergraduate digital marketing. As such, it may or may not be the case that the proposal that includes the lowest agency fees and highest media spend is selected.

54) (Section 3.1.3) Should bidders present agency fees and media spend as a single blended monthly amount, or as two separate line items within a single invoice? The bidder should break down the agency fee—including a very clear scope of work (there is some budget for projects that fall outside of scope, if necessary)—and media spend in a very clear and transparent fashion. In terms of how this translates to invoicing, this is a topic that can be more deeply discussed with the selected partner upon formal engagement.

55) (Section 4.1 / Section 2.2) Section 4.1 references Section 2 as the mandatory scope. Can SUNY clarify whether the expected scope includes creative asset development, or whether SUNY has existing creative assets the selected agency would deploy? There is a current campaign theme, creative strategy, and hundreds of assets that have been thoughtfully developed which will be used for the coming years. Any tweaks or revisions that were determined to be necessary would be covered by a separate budget if the internal creative team lacked the capacity to execute.

56) (Section 2.2) What digital channels has SUNY Morrisville prioritized in previous enrollment campaigns, and are there any platforms or channels that are out of scope for this engagement? This information will be shared with the selected partner upon formal engagement.

57) (Section 2.2) Does SUNY Morrisville currently have a digital marketing agency of record for undergraduate enrollment campaigns? If so, is the current vendor eligible to bid on RFP #25-12? Yes and yes.

58) (Section 2.2) What are SUNY Morrisville's undergraduate enrollment objectives for the 2026–27 academic year, and how will campaign performance be evaluated against those objectives? Are there specific KPIs — such as applications, inquiries, deposits, or enrolled headcount — that will inform that evaluation? In general, the objective is enrollment growth. As such, the focus of the team is ensuring that every dollar and unit of staff time invested in marketing and recruitment outreach is optimized regarding tuition revenue. Regarding KPIs, inquiry volume and cost per conversion compared to historical campaign performance and other tactics included in the plan developed will be the general KPIs. Over time, inquiry quality will be assessed in terms of cost per inquiry, application, and new enrollment, recognizing that determinations related to “quality” will need a couple of cycles to be able to accurately assess.

59) (Section 2.2) Does SUNY Morrisville have internal marketing or communications staff who will collaborate with the selected agency, or is the selected vendor expected to operate with limited internal support? SUNY Morrisville is fortunate to have a web development and multimedia content team with comprehensive capabilities that will be collaborating and supporting the selected partner.

60) (Section 9.7.3) If a bidder is itself a New York State certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), does the firm's own certification satisfy a portion of the 30% MWBE participation goal, or is that goal applied solely to subcontractor utilization?

Self-performing prime contractor applies towards participation of that MWBE/SDVOB goal.

61) (Section 7.1) Is it anticipated that the contract resulting from this RFP could be made available to other

SUNY institutions as a cooperative purchasing vehicle, or is the scope of the award limited to SUNY

Morrisville specifically?

The scope of the award is limited to SUNY Morrisville.

62) (Section 8.1) Section 8.1 requires physical delivery of three hard copies and one flash drive to the primary contact. Please confirm the street address for courier delivery, as couriers are generally unable to deliver to a PO Box.

SUNY Morrisville

Business Office

Attn: John Gunerman

PO Box 901

80 Eaton St.

Morrisville, NY 13408