Online MBA program Marketing Plan

Online education has been the fastest growing segment of higher education. Because it is so unlike traditional classroom-based instructions, many questions have been raised as to the quality of the education offered in the online modality (Carrol & Burke, 2010). After an extensive survey of the literature, the U.S Department of Education issued a report concluding that the online or hybrid modalities are more effective then face-to-face instructions (Carrol & Burke, 2010). According to BusinessWeek, online MBA programs have surged in popularity over the past decade (Anonymous, 2010). With the increasing demands of the workplace, tighter schedules and the need for advanced degrees, many students are now relying on online programs to complete their MBAs.

These programs are fueled by the increased capabilities of technology that allow students to successfully learn and complete their degrees outside of the traditional classroom environment (Anonymous, 2010). Understanding how online degree programs work, finding the right program, and recognizing the advantages and disadvantages of pursing a degree online are important tasks for every student to complete before enrolling in the program. This marketing plan overlooks these advantages and disadvantages of the online program over the on site MBA programs. I will focus on the online program as a whole, and give examples of successful online programs.

Company Overview

“Nine out of 10 people just don’t have the time or money to spend an extended period of time on campus,” says Charles Hickman, vice president for academic affairs at Quisic, an e-learning company in Los Angeles that is planning an online MBA (Yunus & Khaled, 2008). Online MBA programs enable students not only to learn marketing theories inside the classroom but also to apply the concepts they’re learning to real-world business situations. An online MBA affords students the opportunity to work on and hone in on different and new skills to make them the best and most effective managers. The number of students in online MBA programs is growing; therefore much research has taken place to evaluate its merits and/or disadvantages over the traditional MBA. This paper is an attempt to review and assess the future that online MBA programs offer to universities and students. Universities continuously introducing new concepts to its academic program to tap the increasing needs of students in the world such as the introduction of online programs that will offer recognized degrees at affordable rates.

Executive Summary

An increasing number of business professionals choose to earn their MBAs through the Internet. Pursuing an MBA is a great accomplishment. Many undergraduate students graduate and move on to pursue their Masters Degree in their desired field. This marketing plan illustrates the market segments and the strategies of employing to get customers and create a solid revenue stream. Our unique focus is creating opportunities for the fulltime working student that is not able to go to a campus for classes. A twist that gives us an advantage over our competitors is by giving students more options of what is available in picking from a larger selection of majors. From experience, many online universities have a very basic selection of MBA program majors. The university will fund development for the university in getting the resources to support the amount of demand for majors not added in most online accredited universities. Also by providing consulting services to create surveys for the demand of the majors that are wanted the most by potential students.
Target Market In today’s business world, the value and importance of customers is not something that should be set aside by companies. In determining a target market you must determine if your product is international or national in scope? Or is it more likely that you will sell it primarily in your own region or community? In the case of an online MBA Program, the primary market is actually national and international. Students want to come to the United States from all over the world to go to school. And there is a market for students in the United States that want to go to school out of the country. The secondary market is local people who have families and don’t have time to go to a campus and go to class. Also there is the market of the working person who cannot go to campus because of work and want to further their education. In other words, students who want to pursue an MBA degree without going to the campus would be willing to apply for online MBA (Yunus & Khaled, 2008). An example of an individual, which would be interested in the online program, would be if he/she has family issues, and it is different to leave the family or to relocate them.

Description of Competitors

The competition in the educational marketplace is very high due to the increasing numbers of schools are offering online MBA programs. To find a suitable program, students can search a variety of different ways. If some traditional classroom time is required, students may find it beneficial to seek out a local university or college (Anonymous, 2010). In order to choose the right program students need to consider the cost, reputation, accreditation, length of program, proximity, and transfer of courses already completed (Anonymous, 2010). There are over a thousand different choices for online universities. Almost every on site university offers an online program for a variety of MBA programs. In determining which online MBA program to choose students need to pick online degree from schools with national accreditation. In today's marketplace, competition for existing markets is increasing while the opportunities for creating new markets that have little or no competition is becoming more appealing to business leaders. Online MBA degree programs specifically designed for professionals who are currently leading or plan to lead their organizations.
Description of Product or Service Online MBA programs can be completely online or they can be hybrids that merge traditional course worth with online course work. Online programs are designed so that course work is completed online through email, message board, discussions and exams (Anonymous, 2010). The hybrid program makes use of the different technologies as long with classroom instructions. Students applying to online schools follow the same process as a normal admission process, and undergraduate transcripts and letters of recommendations are usually required. Tuition is usually the same or a bit less expensive then the traditional programs; some school will have an additional technology fee. Depending on the program, students may still need to attend certain number of live class meetings for exams or other group sessions (Anonymous, 2010). All the different MBA programs are differ, but the basics of online learning are the same. To learn online, students join an online group through the university, it represents a common interest message board or forum. Using an online ID issued by the university, the professor and students all come together and correspond on different topics. Similar to traditional classroom learning, the professor often issues a syllabus on the first day of class that specifies exam dates, reviews the topic being covered and explains grading policies. Each week or in an accelerated program its twice a week, the processor posts a discussion topic on the message board. Each student is expected to read the material on their own, participate in the discussions with other classmates on the message board. Final course grads are usually determined by exam scores, homework scores, and classroom participation, which are normally measured by the number of comments the student posts to the discussion board (Anonymous, 2010).
Marketing Budget For every university the budget is what they are expecting to use for a marketing/media plan. For an example if a university has a $60,000 media budget, a robust Media plan would include advertisement in print media, online media, and social media throughout a twelve-month period. In addition to that budget a technology upgrade would need to be factored in for each year, in order to keep up to date with ongoing upgrades in the technology field. Majority of the marketing budget will be implemented in the print media and materials, which include Inserts, flyers, and programs. Around 30% of the budget should be put towards this print media (Erin & Kelley, 2010). For the online advertising, including banner ads on the Internet and email blasts should be around 28% of the budget (Erin & Kelley, 2010). Around 12% of the budget needs to be spent on updating and keeping the online website up to date on technology (Erin & Kelley, 2010). The last 17% should be divided up in different kinds of advertising like, Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter, these online social networks is a great way to access many individuals (Erin & Kelley, 2010). Also there is a slight hosting fee for Internet and the university needs to have program folders and inserts to hand out on site and to send to potential online students. In order to maximize enrollment in the MBA program and university needs to use two-fold strategy that includes both stealing market share from competing universities and growing MBA market. In order to steal share by implementing a media plan that highlights the MBA’s program points of differentiation; these include; cohort format, convenient location, pristine facilities, experienced professors, brand image, and sense of community (Erin & Kelley, 2010). Then share these points with prospective MBA students through print media, online media, and strategically coordinated internal and external events.

Description of Location Distance learning allows for a larger, virtual classroom. Because the MBA program would be online it is vertically available everywhere. The main campus of a school is in one city but a student can pick from thousands of schools to find the right fit. This allows the participants to fit their studies around work and lifestyle, regardless of location. Distance location programs allow students a wider choice of schools without regards to locations. An advantage in pursing an online MBA program is the ability to be flexible in timing. For the professional who has a busy schedule at work, such programs are a blessing. These programs allow the business professionals to be able to have the convenience of retaining the job and earning a degree simultaneously, which would further help in promotion and added monetary benefits.
Pricing Strategy The cost of tuition is somewhat less than you would pay for attending a conventional college but there is one major advantage to earning a degree via the Internet. Attending college as an out-of-state student means paying premium prices but because colleges and universities that offer courses online reach students not only in the United States but also around the globe, savings as an out-of-state student would be significant (Burnsed, 2010). Then, considering that you have access to far more educational institutions online, you have greater opportunities while paying less. While tuition for some of the more reputable online colleges and universities is comparable to what you would pay at a brick and mortar school, if you look at college expense as a whole, it is clear that using the internet is in fact a way to save money.
Some examples of MBA program costs are at ▪ Ohio University charges $32,000 a year that includes lodging, laptop, and software. ▪ Notre Dame University charges $26,130 a year that includes all books, course materials and room and board. ▪ Suffolk University online charges $1,845 per course with a $120 technology fee per course. ▪ University of Phoenix online charges $485 per credit, 51 credits per program. ▪ University of Wisconsin online charges $708 per credit with a $40 technology fee. ▪ Ashford University online charges $1,623 per class with a $1,290 one-time technology fee (Yunus & Khaled, 2008).
Each of these programs offers the MBA program, with many different

Summary and Implementation Plan

In order to maximize enrollment in the MBA program, a University needs to focus on advertising. Getting the students interesting in their online program is the most important; it is easy for the media to label all private online universities with the stigma that is rightly placed on those institutions that either fail to keep up their standards. As a University, they need to focus on the growing numbers of online institutions out there that are genuinely interested in proving real education value to those in need. Online MBA degrees are ideal for professionals who want to lead their organization through change or develop new value for their company. It also helps professionals increase their value by becoming a knowledgeable, forward-thinking leader. If an individual has a busy work and personal lives and need the convenience of an online acceleration degree program, the MBA program is the best. It is also for the professional who doesn’t want to sacrifice the quality of their MBA experience simply because it is delivered online. Individuals decide to pick online university other then on site ones because of the different benefits the online program offers. Such as the quality, convenient, and flexible schedule the MBA delivers when it is completed online. An accelerated online degree completes in around 45 credit programs in about 14-20 months. The online MBA program is a forward-thinking curriculum that focuses on new value creation through innovation and creativity. In order to implement the marketing plan the university needs to review current pricing structure to assure a strong competitive position. Once the pricing has been secured, the development and the implementation of the advertising/announcement plan for placements in each university, college, and student newspapers and course schedules. Once the plan is completed the implementation will begin immediately thereafter. The website would need to be updated and an introduction letter, web banner, and printable ad for campus news outlets.
Advertising companies need to work with the universities presidents to develop direct mail and email communications strategies to reach current students. This will notify the existing students and future students to the online program, this increasing of traffic is the best way to increase students to the online programs. The best way to know when the marketing program has succeeded is when revenue and growth increases around 20% in each of the next five years (Erin & Kelley, 2010). Also when online is regularly seen on college and university web sites, new outlets, and promoted among current students. In addition there should be a 20% increase per year for number of contacts and have around 10,000 visits to the Online website each month (Erin & Kelley, 2010). It is also important to have a 10% increase in referred students per year. If all of these increases come each month and each year will ultimately increase the exposure and revenue for the online program. It is important for a university to have the MBA online to offer the professional individuals the ability to earn their MBA and still work full time. Which is a major issue with majority of the professionals today.

Reference

W. Barry Miller. (2008, July 25). Online universities matter, too. Telegraph-Journal,A.7. Retrieved April 7, 2011, from Canadian Newsstand Complete. (Document ID: 1516595081).
Carrol, N., & Burke, M.. (2010). Learning Effectiveness Using Different Teaching Modalities. American Journal of Business Education, 3(12), 65-76. Retrieved April 7, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 2245463201).
Anonymous, (2010). Online MBA Program Retrieved April 7, 2010, from http://topics.info.com/Online-MBA-Programs_4087.
Yunus K., & Khaled, A., (2008). Strengths, Weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the On-line MBA programs: A literature review for its future. Retrieved on April 4, 2011, from http://www.docstoc.com/docs/2967640/Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-and-Threats-for-the-On-line.
Burnsed, B.. (2010, October). Still a Long Climb for Online Universities. U.S. News & World Report,1. Retrieved April 7, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 2213354771). Erin M. W., & Kelly O’Dwyer (2010, May 3). CBU MBA Marketing Plan 2010-2011. Retrieved on April 1, 2010, from http://www.erinwiles.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/marketing-plan-overview.pdf.