SPEAKER_01
You're listening to the Higher Ed Marketer, a podcast geared towards marketing professionals in higher education. This show will tackle all sorts of questions related to student recruitment, donor relations, marketing trends, new technologies, and so much more. If you're looking for conversations centered around where the industry is going, this podcast is for you.

Let's get into the show.

SPEAKER_00
Welcome to the Higher Ed Marketer podcast, where we explore ideas and insights by higher ed marketers for higher ed marketers. My name is Troy Singer, and I'm here as always with my co-host, Bart Kaler. And, Bart, I think we're going to be treated today because our guest is a neighbor of yours from your state, and you are familiar with the institution.

SPEAKER_02
We're going to be talking with Peter Ashley. He's the vice president for enrollment and marketing at Hanover College. Hanover is one of the small privates here in Indiana with a great reputation.

They're in southern Indiana, and they've got a beautiful campus. And it's just going to be a great conversation with Peter just about some things that they're doing at Hanover and how they're approaching different elements. And he kind of gives us a little bit of insight into some of the marketing that they're doing and some new things that they're doing that they're really seeing some valuable results

SPEAKER_00
in. Yes. He has some great content. We're going to be interviewing Peter in.

We're honored to have Peter Ashley, vice president for enrollment and marketing at Hanover College, which is in southern Indiana, to the podcast. Welcome, Peter. Thanks for having me.

Peter, if you would, please give everyone a glimpse of Hanover and your role there.

SPEAKER_03
Sure, so Hanover College is Indiana's oldest college. And it is 194 years old. And it is located, as you say, in southern Indiana right across the border from Kentucky and along the Ohio River.

It's 650 acres filled with trails and trees and a lot of natural beauty. We have about 1,000 students, so there's a lot of room to spread out. It's got a great reputation, a strong regional reputation, and it's just a wonderful liberal arts college.

But the natural beauty of the campus is what people often talk about when they come visit is how roomy and how beautiful it is. And again, the fact that it's been here for so long, it's a powerful, powerful institution for that reason.

SPEAKER_02
That's great. Thanks for sharing that, Peter. Sure. I know we kind of did a pre-interview and talked a little bit about some things that's going on at Hanover. And I think on everybody's mind is kind of we're coming out of the pandemic.

I know that not only during the pandemic, I mean, 2020 was such a high watermark year with the pandemic, with some of the social unrest that we had with different areas of our society. And I know Hanover's kind of had a unique perspective on your COVID-19 response and maybe even some of the social injustice response and some of those initiatives. Could you tell us a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_03
Absolutely. So they did happen a bit at the same time, which was a challenge, but obviously the pandemic took hold of everybody and dominated everyone's decision making. So one of the first things that we did was to convene a group of stakeholders across campus and really ask the question, okay, what needs to happen to make sure our students are safe and that our campus preserves as much of a college feel as possible.

So obviously that first round, pretty much every campus went home. We did the same thing, which was challenging as a residential campus to pivot quickly to online learning, which we did. But we put in over the summer all kinds of safety protocols, processes, spacing out the classrooms requiring all the things that our public health experts expect.

We also worked with a medical expert from Johns Hopkins University on our strategy and our contact tracing process to make sure that we were using the absolute best process that we could to do that. And we had a very successful fall term. We were able to stay in person all the way to the very end.

I think a week before Thanksgiving, we went optional remote to let students leave if they felt like they wanted to leave because there was a bit of an uptick, as you know, in the cases. But our response was lots of communication to students and staff and faculty about our protocols. We had a weekly, and still have a weekly email that goes out with any kind of updates, updates on our case numbers, reminders to follow the guidelines.

And we've been very aggressive in holding students and staff accountable for following those guidelines. And I think this semester we're still face to face. Our case count is very low.

What we learned is that students really appreciate a face to face experience. There's questions of, you know, why higher ed, why a liberal arts college, why do people want to go to, you know, when you can do everything online. But what we learned is that people really miss being in person.

And our enrollment numbers actually are up so far for next fall. And I think part of that is because we did stay face to face and people really like that ability to do that. So that response was dominating much of the summer.

But then of course, as you mentioned, the various police shootings and other killings and other social injustice occurrences over the summer brought that very close to home for our campus. We have a very passionate campus that's committed to social justice, although we have a history that is not always perfect in that area. So we try to look very candidly at what we do well and where we still need to grow.

We live in a part of the state that's also not particularly diverse. So we have to really focus on bringing diversity here, making people feel welcome and included and have some cultural changes, you know, on our campus and even in our community to help make sure that happens. So we're in the process of launching a equity and diversity and inclusion plan to the campus for review that includes a number of process changes, activities, training, all kinds of things to help really improve and drive home that campus culture of inclusivity.

SPEAKER_02
That's great. I'm so grateful to hear things like that because I think that those, I mean, certainly the COVID-19, it's great to hear how you guys did that. And I think I'm seeing a lot of campuses that the success of those who prepared and did it well, they're reaping the benefits of the trust that they have earned from the parents and the students to be able to come back on campus and want that experience.

And I think that's great. And I do think that that idea of just really helping with the social injustice. I mean, what are some of the things that your students and your campus is doing specifically about that? I mean, are you doing, you know, sessions and seminars or inviting guests on campus to talk?

SPEAKER_03
How does that work? A good question. We've done a little bit of all of that. We had a number of events just, for example, around MLK Day, which is a new, a recent holiday celebration for our campus.

And we had a number of sessions that invited guest speakers. We had something called, I think it's called the MLK Around Table where we had between with music and video and guest lecturers kind of walk everyone through what MLK's life was about and what he was focused on. And what we can learn from that today.

We are very open to, we have some very vocal students who want things to change. And we have some that, you know, that love it. And it's just a matter of letting all the voices be heard.

We've had a number of student led sessions where they would have either a protest, which was really very peaceful, but just, you know, a chance to really vocalize their perspective on what's happening in the world, their perspective on what Hanover can do better. And we want to hear that feedback. And I think part of what helps, certainly from my perspective, is rather than just running around throwing the terms around, right, of equity and injustice and how do we, it's just allowing people to have their say and really embrace those different opinions, do it in a way that's humble and accepting any kind of responsibility, but also looking forward to how we solve some of these problems.

Not just get mired in frustration, but actually look forward. So we've done a number of sessions. We've implemented faculty and staff training on equity and inclusion issues.

As I mentioned, we've had this plan that lays out changes in our recruiting strategy for employees to attract and retain more diverse candidates, additional recruiting activities for our students, focusing on more of a need-based approach to financial aid. So a number of things that we're doing, looking at our student success model and how we, you know, retain first-generation students more effectively, help them succeed, and do a number of practical steps to make sure that we actually are a more equitable campus as opposed to just saying, you know, having the words around that we want to be more equitable.

SPEAKER_02
Yeah. I think that's great. I think that you're demonstrating the fact that it takes some of that intentionality to make change, and I appreciate it and respect that, that Hanover is doing that.

So Troy, I know you've got another question you wanted to ask.

SPEAKER_00
Yes. I wanted to switch topics a little bit and talk about Dr. Lake Lambert.

For those of us who are in the area, we know that he's the president at Hanover, and I think he's a little different than a lot of presidents of colleges and universities, especially of your size, because he is out there, he's outspoken, he's charismatic, and just would like to know, is that him in real life? And give us a peek of how he is on campus.

SPEAKER_03
Absolutely. One of the things that keeps me engaged and loving Hanover College is working for Dr. Lambert.

He is about as genuine a person and as transparent a person as you're going to meet, especially someone in that position. I joke with someone that if he was more transparent, we'd be able to see through him. I mean, he's just very transparent in what he's thinking and his decision making.

He's very open, he's extremely sharp, very tenderhearted as well, and he is outspoken. If something needs to be commented on, he likes to respond and share his feelings on something. It's just a pleasure to have someone who's honest, transparent, happy to be out there.

We use him more in some videos. He put on our Panther mascot suit for some fun TikTok videos. He'll do anything that advances the college, but he's also just very, very focused on the mission of Hanover College and making sure that all those things we're trying to accomplish, not just from the equity and inclusion standpoint, but from the delivering the best liberal arts education we can to making sure Hanover College is growing and thriving and doing it in a way that's, again, very transparent, very approachable, great sense of humor, which I think is sorely lacking in today's world, but a huge benefit to, certainly for people that work for him, it's a big benefit.

SPEAKER_02
That's great. I like the fact that you indicated tying the first question with the second one, is that it seems like Dr. Lambert is engaged in these social injustice initiatives, the talking about that.

I like the fact that it seems like speaking up when others might be silent and needing to speak out. That sounds like it'd be great to work with him.

SPEAKER_03
Yes, it certainly is.

SPEAKER_02
I know one of the things that engaging, not only leveraging Dr. Lambert, like you said, with these TikTok videos and the mascot and other more serious videos, you've touched on the fact that a lot of what's going on at Hanover and especially in your role as a VP of enrollment and marketing, is that it seems like you're trying to develop a little bit more content, maybe leveraging video a little bit more. Tell us a little bit about that, because not a lot of schools are leaning into TikTok yet.

Not a lot of schools are doing as much as they could with video, but it seems like you've discovered some things that at least you're going down the path with at Hanover.

SPEAKER_03
We definitely have embraced video. By the way, I shouldn't say we've leaned into TikTok too much. We had a couple of fun videos.

I don't want to overplay the TikTok focus, but we do tend to focus on more, either messages from our president on various issues, but we've also done a very large number of marketing-oriented videos that really describe life at Hanover. We can talk about that a little bit, but we know that the student that we're trying to recruit, and my role was just overseeing marketing and recently, enrollment has been added to that. Now, the synergies I see between those two departments is tremendous, because almost everything we should be doing as a marketing organization in a higher ed is to attract more students.

That connection is very clear to me, but we realize that of course the generation now is shorter attention span. Everything has to be very clear and lively, and video is a very good way to communicate with that audience. We needed more video resources.

We had a chance to hire a new videographer, and I was able to hire two videographers, because we had two such great final candidates that I made the case that we will put these guys to work quickly. We did, and we hired both. One is a young woman who graduated from DePaul University.

One is a gentleman who recently graduated from Hanover. Having those two perspectives, both very talented videographers and photographers, and within a few months they created more than 100 plus videos on campus life, generating like 100,000 views very quickly. From campus dining to Greek life to a series we've created called Beyond the Classroom, where we take either a music program or even a kinesiology program and take it outside the classroom and show what goes on in that program that doesn't just happen in the actual room.

For one program there was a whole focus on using the natural setting of Hanover to go on hikes and to look at Count Waterfalls and to identify bugs and different things like that. One of the things that we provide a life for students beyond the classroom. Having those videos have really helped let prospective students know, as it is challenging sometimes to come to campus right now, what it's like at Hanover.

We've also done a number of educational style videos. One of the videos we've done is helping people understand their financial aid award letter, which seems very mundane, but we get a lot of questions about it. It's trying to help them understand that.

It's been a huge boon for us to be able to create that content, to tell our story more effectively and to engage a number of campus stakeholders in that process.

SPEAKER_02
That's great. I just want to point out a couple things that I hear you saying that could be benefit of other folks. I've often categorized different types of videos.

You've got the edutainment, which might be that mascot TikTok video with your president, where you're letting people know about Hanover, but it's entertaining. You've got the explainers, which sounds like the financial aid letter, how to read that. Those could be screencasts, they can be videos, they can be all kinds of different things.

Then you've got just your general information. I think a lot of the listeners, maybe when they heard you say that, hey, these two videographers that you brought on campus, they produced over 100 videos pretty quickly. We're not talking, you're not doing 10, 15 minute videos.

These are videos that can be utilized for social media, for email. Tell us a little bit more about what your rule of thumb is for how these videos need to work. I mean, they've got to be short, I'm guessing.

SPEAKER_03
A lot of them are short, some are longer depending on the need. Generally speaking, the videographers support the entire campus, but with a big focus on enrollment and also on advancement and development. Most of the videos are, I would say, three minutes or less and are typically focused on, and you did a good explanation of the different types of videos we would do, but definitely focus on what it's like to be a student handover, what can you expect when you're here? I mean, one of the videos that's got the most views was a two minute tour of campus with basically a sped up camera going through and looking at all the buildings and all the different things.

I mean, I think it's gotten 10,000 views maybe when it was pretty quickly because it's two minutes, it's fun, it's got some nice music and you just zip through campus really quickly. Videos like the financial aid video don't get as many views because it's very, very targeted to certain people. It's trying to find that mix of we know this one's going to get a lot of attention, we know this one is going to help a few people, and we did one, a feature to story, a student who is an arts design major who is learning how to become a tattoo artist and is interning with a tattoo parlor.

We had a whole feature story on her, a bunch of photographs of students and staff that have tattoos. It's kind of a risk because some people might be turned off by tattoos, but at the same time we've gotten tremendous positive feedback just because it's showing another angle of what someone can do at handover.

SPEAKER_02
I love that because I think that I'm a big believer in any type of content that you produce, especially for higher ed, is answering the questions that people have. If you're answering the questions people have, whether it's in the content on your website, whether it's a video, whether it's a blog, one, you're going to get SEO because people are searching Google asking the questions that they're looking for. I think that you're also going to earn trust.

Like you said, there might be a risk in doing a tattoo video, but at the same time you're answering the questions of, well, what's it like? Is handover a really conservative place? Are they open to this type of thing? Just being able to have that wide variety of video and content that people can, one, get the answers to the questions they have, but then also just be able to put themselves into the environment, into the campus and start to feel what it would be like to be there. I think that's a brilliant strategy. So well done, Peter.

SPEAKER_03
Well, thank you. And also, if I would just say, shamelessly putting in our tagline, but we've recently had a new tagline called A Place to Belong and A Person to Become. And the reason we did that was because that really captured what our college is striving to be.

And within that, there are brand pillars that really focus and build out that tagline, but it's resonated with students and staff quite a bit because it feels like what we're trying to build at handover. You can come here and be yourself. You'll be known by the faculty because we're a small campus and you'll be successful because we prepare you for the future.

And the videos that we build just try to demonstrate that without necessarily saying, you know, explicitly that we're demonstrating that. We're really trying to show the meat behind the statement that that's what we're trying to create.

SPEAKER_02
Peter, I love what you said about that. And it reminds me of a quote from a book by J. Bear, Utility.

He makes the point that success flows to those organizations that inform rather than those that promote. And it seems to me like Hanover is doing a great job of informing people about their brand, about what it's like to be on campus, as well as just about the answers to the questions that people have. So, so well done.

I really respect that.

SPEAKER_00
Troy. Thanks, Bart. And I agree.

And I would encourage all of our listeners to go out to the Hanover website and just open it. And you will see that from the very beginning, it's a different look and feel than you would expect. And it is very visual and everything that Peter says will kind of start making sense.

Peter, we have a question that we ask all of our guests. And it's if there's an idea or something that you're doing or if you would be willing to share it, if it's not too secret, or maybe it's an idea that you've heard of recently that others could implement soon. What would that be?

SPEAKER_03
Well, it's a great question, Troy. I'm always happy to share. And I don't know if there's any secret sauce in a sense, because every every college has their own secret sauce.

But I would say don't be afraid to have a little fun with some of your your messaging or marketing or a video. You know, I think we higher ed can be sometimes very uptight. And I think just try something different that's fun with a video or with a message and just try something, especially social media.

You know, you try something and it'll either go great or people will ignore it as long as it's not, you know, offensive, but just try to go for something a little funny or clever. I think that's a good way to start venturing into this a little bit more. And then I would also say any any chance you can personalize things we've been trying to do more personalizing of messaging is also something you can start implementing immediately in terms of your communication and your messaging.

SPEAKER_00
Here here and thank you on both of those. Both Bart and I are big proponents of personalization. And again, I would encourage our listeners to visit Hanover and their sites to get a good glimpse of what you mean when you recommend having a little fun with it.

So thank you. And Peter, one last question of someone would like to connect with you. What would be the best way for them to reach you?

SPEAKER_03
Sure, they can reach me via email and it's just Ashley at Hanover.edu. So as h le y at Hanover.edu and be happy to hear from anyone and connect with anyone or answer any questions.

SPEAKER_00
Perfect. Thank you for being so generous with your time and your wisdom today, Peter. We really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03
Oh, I appreciate it very much. Thank you so much, Troy and Bart.

SPEAKER_00
You're welcome. The higher ed marketer podcast is sponsored by Kailer Solutions, an education marketing and branding agency and by think patented, a marketing execution, printing and mailing provider of higher ed solutions. On behalf of my co host Bart Kailer, I'm Troy Singer.

Thank you for joining us.

SPEAKER_01
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