Appendix attached to the Office of the Vice President for and Planning’s Annual Report

QC Marketing Western University March 2017

This annual report is a collaborative effort by all members of Western Illinois University – Quad Cities Office of the Vice President for Quad Cities and Planning. The position of Director of Marketing for the Quad Cities Campus was vacated in August 2016. The university then created a transition plan to hire a University Director of Marketing and a Quad Cities Public Information Specialist. Both of these positions are expected to be filled by the start of fiscal year 2018. This document mostly focuses on campus marketing efforts from August 2016 to the present. During this time, all of the responsibilities for Quad Cities campus social media and some for advertising fell to the members of the Office of the Vice President for Quad Cities and Planning.

The overall objective of QC Marketing is to increase awareness and visibility of Western Illinois University - Quad Cities as an institution of academic excellence, and dedication to higher values in higher education and service to the community through a comprehensive, integrated marketing and promotions strategy and continued involvement in community and news that relates to our students, prospective students and external populations. Additional goals are to increase enrollment and to tell the Western Illinois University-Quad Cities story.

A. Accomplishments and Productivity for the past year - Quad Cities Marketing accomplished the following for fiscal year 2017: a. The addition of a marketing intern/student worker was an important goal attained this year. The intern/student worker in summer 2016 was a tremendous asset for boosting our social media presence and gathering important feedback from her peers which aids in market research. She also worked on two an internal communication project i. The first project was to communicate the high cost of printing to desktop printers to faculty and staff. The student worker created an engaging sign that was attached to many printers across campus. The goal was to drive more printing to the Ricoh printers to save the university money. ii. The second project was a scrolling calendar for the VP suite that helps keep everyone informed of upcoming events. The goal for this calendar is to eventually be shown on all the tvs across campus as well as on a mobile app in the future. b. This year WIU-QC was again a sponsor of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra Holiday Pops Communities in Concert. The annual event took place at the Alder Theatre in Davenport, IA and features two performances on November 19, 2016. Sponsorship included a quarter page ad for WIU-QC. c. WIU-QC also was a continued sponsor of the Scott Community College Bash. Sponsorship included a half page ad in the Bash program. Several administrators from WIU-QC also attended the Bash to promote awareness of our campus and programs. d. The Quad-City Times publishes a semi-annual College Guide. This year WIU-QC was again featured as an advertiser in this publication. In the fall edition, we had a 1/6 page ad. In the spring, the ad size was increased to a quarter page. e. WIU-QC was once again a sponsor of John Deere SWE Girl Day that seeks to introduce girls in the area to the day-to-day work of female engineers. The event invited 840 8th grade girls from the area to John Deere sites where they would spend the day with female John Deere engineers on a factory tour, hand-on engineering activities, and Q&A sessions. WIU- QC provided each of the participants with a folder, a pen, a flier about our engineering program and a flier for Math on the Mississippi summer camp.

Appendix attached to the Office of the Vice President for Quad Cities and Planning’s Annual Report f. WIU-QC partnered with WIU Macomb on several marketing projects during fall 2016 and spring 2017. These typically were ads or broadcast messages featuring the 2 Campuses, 1 University message. Ads were run in the Moline Dispatch in a special section for National Hispanic Month, a holiday special on KWQC (now Gray TV), during The Voice finale, and a Military Friendly message and logo on WHBF, and possibly most significantly we were able to run a broadcast ad on KWQC (now Gray TV) during pregame of the Lions v Seahawks playoff game on January 7, 2017. g. From mid-November through mid-January WIU-QC ran a billboard ad on I74 between the airport and John Deere Parkway. The timing and location were chosen to give us the best visibility for those travelling during the holidays in order to increase Spring 2017 enrollment. h. The Quad Cities Campus’s largest paid marketing campaign for FY17 was on WQAD where we ran a multi-platform $24,500 campaign for 12 months. This included 20 30-second broadcast commercials per month, 65,000 plays of an online 30 second live newstream video, 50,000 native ad placements per month in the editorial section of their website, sponsorship of the My Favorite Teacher Awards broadcast in February, December Military Greetings, and 100,000 Weather Channel Mobile targeted ads during August, October, January and March. i. The campus’s largest unpaid marketing campaign for FY17 was on WQPT. j. Increased social media presence on Facebook and Instagram. From August 1, 2016 to March 13, 2017 total page likes on the WIU-QC Facebook page went from 1,895 to 2,017, an increase of 122 newly engaged followers. All of these were organic likes rather than gained through paid advertising. Most recently there has been an increase in people searching for our Facebook page in order to “like” it. k. Most recently we have begun using WIU-QC Facebook page to post internship opportunities. Facebook has recently come out with a “Publish a Job Posting” app that allows for jobs and internships to be advertised in a standard format and for students to respond to them in Facebook messenger. l. In December 2016 WIU-QC joined the Le Claire Chamber of Commerce. We have also reached out and asked to join the Geneseo Chamber of Commerce but have not received an application as of this writing. m. Unique QC webpage tracks the effectiveness of our “click-able” campaigns. We are able to measure visits to the page which can only be accessed by clicking the mobile ad on various websites like QC Times, WQAD, KLJB and KWQC. At this time, no one from WIU-QC VP’s office has access to the Unique QC webpage so we are unable to provide data.

B. Major Objectives for Fiscal Year 2018 – These objectives will become the blueprint for the new Public Information Specialist in FY18 a. Increase the presence of WIU-QC on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. b. Research and write news articles and press releases on WIU-QC faculty, staff and students events and accomplishments and distribute both on and off campus. Disseminate personally and through University Relations. c. Interview alumni and friends of WIU-QC for publication on social media and in news features. d. Assist QC area media by providing WIU-Quad Cities information, scheduling interviews, and planning press conferences. e. Provide information on upcoming events to the media and to the general public with the goal of increasing WIU-QC enrollment. f. Handle all media inquiries related to the WIU-QC campus.

Appendix attached to the Office of the Vice President for Quad Cities and Planning’s Annual Report g. Take photographs of all campus happenings and archive for future news stories, annual reports, board reports, and marketing campaigns. h. Coordinate invitations and outreach for future summits held as part of the President’s Executive Institute or any similar future version as well as invitations to other campus-wide events. i. In coordination with the Assistant to the Vice President for Quad Cities and Planning, create and maintain the Western Illinois University Planning Dashboard. j. Coordinate all aspects of the Bix 7 sponsorship in July 2017, including recruitment of volunteers, logos, etc. k. Coordinate all aspects of Quad Cities Marathon sponsorship in September 2017, including recruitment of volunteers, logos, etc. l. Attend events the campus sponsors as either a volunteer or in the capacity to record/photograph campus involvement. m. Work closely with WQPT to continue broadcast advertising of WIU-QC in their market.