A record 28,682 students are enrolled at Iowa State University this fall — up 2.6 percent from the previous record set a year ago. What’s even more impressive is the gains occurred in virtually every category: Undergraduate enrollment, international student enrollment, graduate student enrollment, a record number of transfer students and the most diverse student enrollment in the University’s history. And this year’s freshman class is the second largest ever at ISU.

All of this occurred in spite of a declining number of high schools students to draw from.

Lots of colleges and universities around the country are experiencing enrollment increases. The economy has played a big role. But for Iowa State, this year’s records are no anomoly. They continue a steady trend of enrollment increases that have been taking place during the past five years.   

We’re proud to have played a part in helping Iowa State achieve these milestones with campaigns that have invited teens to “Enjoy the Adventure at Iowa State.” These campaigns succeed year after year because they address teens’ anticipation that their college years will deliver the best experience of their lives, the chance to discover who they are and what they want to become, in an environment where they fit in.

There’s an old axiom among fishermen that goes something like this, “Some lures are meant for catching fishermen and others for catching fish.”  Having grown up fishing, my tackle box is living proof of that truth.  Seems like the flashiest and most colorful lures never caught a thing while the rattiest, most beat up piece of wood with hooks has a history of catching the most and the biggest.

The real truth is all lures will catch fish if fished properly, at the right time in places where there are fish.  Social media seems to be one of those kinds of lures.  It’s the hottest, shiniest new lure out there in the marketing lake. There are a lot of people fishin’  but only a few that are catchin’.

R2integrated just published a study indicating that nearly 50% of companies using social media have no social media strategy.  That probably also explains why 65% of those reporting indicated that they hadn’t increased sales as a result of using social media.  Yet 77% said they were doing social media for lead generation.  Huh?  Fifty-four percent said that social media is integral to their business.  Whaaaaa???????

So, half don’t have a strategy, Most know what they would like it to do. It’s not doing what they would like it to do but it’s integral to their business.  In the word of Bill Cosby, “RIIIIGHT!”

Social media has caught a lot of fishermen but it hasn’t put many fish in the boat.  So as most businesses cast and crank their social media lures into a vast ocean with a few prospects swimming in it, there are a few who’ve used strategy to locate fish concentration and entice those prospects into their pond.

What is a social networking strategy?  If you think about it in purely social terms, it’s why you get invited to a dinner party.  You either supply interesting conversation…which usually means you’re don’t talk about yourself constantly because you’d be a complete bore and you’re really not that interesting.  Or, they really like your significant other.  In any case, your social media strategy should have its own shiny new lure to draw fish into your area of the lake.  Then you need to know what bait to use to get and keep them involved.  And that’s the difference between fishin’ and catchin’.

It’s a record-breaker: Iowa State University fall enrollment nears 28,000
AMES, Iowa - This fall has ushered in Iowa State University’s highest-ever enrollment — 27,945 students, an increase of more than 4 percent compared to fall 2008.

Iowa State has welcomed 1,089 more students to campus this fall over the previous year: 914 undergraduates, 33 professional (veterinary medicine) students, and 142 graduate students. Last fall’s enrollment was 26,856. The second-largest class enrolled at Iowa State was in 2002, with a total enrollment of 27,898.

This year’s enrollment exceeds earlier university projections to the Iowa Board of Regents by 895 students. In nearly every respect, fall 2009 is a record-setting year at Iowa State.

By the numbers
The total Iowa State University student body of 27,945 represents:

• A record 3,017 international students, an increase of 520 students from fall 2008. The previous high for international enrollment was 2,692 students in fall 1993.

• A record graduate student enrollment of 4,860, an increase of 142 students from fall 2008. The previous graduate enrollment record was 4,789 in fall 1991.

• A record professional (veterinary medicine) student enrollment of 564, breaking last fall’s record high of 531 students.

• A record U.S. minority enrollment of 2,533 students, or 9.1 percent of the overall student body. That’s 216 more minority students than in fall 2008. Iowa State has again exceeded the 8.5 percent minority enrollment goal set by the Board of Regents.

• The most diverse student body on record. International and U.S. minority students represent one in five students on the ISU campus. Total international + U.S. minority enrollment is 5,550 students, or 19.9 percent of total enrollment. The previous high was in fall 2008, with 17.9 percent.

• 18,503 Iowa residents, an increase of 355 students from fall 2008.

• 9,442 nonresidents, an increase of 734 students from fall 2008.

• 22,521 undergraduates, an increase of 914 from fall 2008. Of those undergraduates, 16,164 are Iowans - the highest number enrolled since fall 2004.

This fall, Iowa State attracted its largest transfer class since 2001: 1,622 students, up from 1,537 in fall 2008. Of this year’s 1,622 transfer students, 982 are Iowa community college transfers - up from 945 last year. ISU also attracted its third-largest freshman class in history: 4,356 students. That’s 190 fewer freshmen than in fall 2008.

“The continuing growth in our enrollment is a testament to the high-quality education students receive at Iowa State University,” said ISU President Gregory Geoffroy. “We are very proud that we continue to be the university of choice for Iowa high school graduates and community college transfer students, as well as for a large number of out-of-state and international students.”

Marc Harding, director of Admissions and Enrollment Services, attributes ISU’s jump in enrollment to several factors - a comprehensive recruitment and retention effort that is supported by the entire university community; a strong transfer program with the state’s community colleges; and the economy.

“Graduate enrollments tend to rise when the economy is not doing well. And for undergraduates, there is a greater emphasis than ever to seek higher education, because college graduates typically have greater earning power over the course of a lifetime and are less likely to be unemployed. We’re also seeing that Iowa families are finding good values here in the state, and those students are coming to Iowa State instead of going out of state for their education,” Harding said.

Harding’s excitement about the fall 2009 enrollment numbers is tempered by reality, however. He says the admissions process is cyclical. Over the past decade, Iowa State’s enrollment has increased during seven of those years, and decreased the other three.

“We anticipate that fall 2010 overall enrollment will decline,” Harding said. “One reason is that we are about to graduate some larger classes. Another reason is that the freshman class of 2010 is projected to be smaller. We’re already seeing a glimpse of that this fall - the freshman class is the third largest on record, but it’s 4 percent smaller than in fall 2008.

“Demographics continue to work against the trend of increasing enrollment. In Iowa and all across the Midwest, the eligible pool of high school students is declining. That means we have to work extra hard just to maintain what we have.”

When we talk to teens, and we talk to them a lot, they tell us their biggest motivation for doing anything is fun.

They go to shopping malls for fun.  Football games for fun.  Facebook for fun.  MySpace for fun.  YouTube for fun.  They watch fun television programs.  Like fun movies.  Come to think of it, it’s not much different for adults.

Nothing supports the need for a fun factor more than social networks and YouTube is a prime example.  Marketers lust after the views that amateurs get by accident.  The “Charlie Bit Me…Again” video above had 118 million views.  But not all amateurs are any more successful than the pros who think they can make their YouTube channel the next NBC.

Without fun, your video will be limited by those searching expressly for you.

Facebook is much the same.  Take the State of Nebraska’s Facebook page.  It has 1,587 friends and fans.  Not bad.  But when you look at the page it is a never ending list of governmental announcements.  Should Nebraskans be interested?  Probably, but it’s not fun.  Contrast that with the fan page for Nebraska Football.  It has over 52,000 users who access the page at least once a month.  Fun, as well as life and death.

The fun factor influences our job satisfaction, life, marriages and leisure.  It’s why we spend mone on vacations, dining, dancing, concerts and sporting events.  It’s why we celebrate when we win and cry when we lose.

If we can harness fun in our communications, they become far more effective. Hopefully, Charlie helped this post be a little more fun.

DES MOINES — The American Advertising Federation has given its top award, a Gold ADDY, to What Town is Next, a multi-media campaign developed by ZLRIGNITION for the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) Division of Tobacco Use Prevention and Control and its teen-led tobacco counter-marketing organization, Just Eliminate Lies (JEL).

The What Town is Next Campaign drew attention to daily death toll from tobacco use in the U.S. by comparing the death toll to the loss of an entire town of 1,200 people every day. The winning campaign combined the use of social media strategies including video on YouTube and blog posts with outdoor advertising, street marketing, outdoor, newspaper and television advertising, as well as public relations. The TV spots showed icons in small towns that were suddenly deserted.

The campaign, which earned Best of Class honors at the local ADDY competition and a regional gold, was one of 50,000 entries in the national ADDY competition and among only 100 that were selected for a Gold ADDY Award.

“This campaign delivered a compelling message to teens about the dangers of tobacco use and served up a powerful case for teens to resist pressure to smoke,” says Bonnie Mapes, administrator of the IDPH Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Division.

“The fact that our work has been judged to be among the country’s best communications is a source of pride, but even more rewarding is the fact that our work has contributed to a 33 percent reduction in teen smoking,” adds Louis Laurent, president and CEO of ZLRIGNITION.

JEL activities and other tobacco use prevention and control activities are funded by the State of Iowa from the Master Settlement Agreement with the tobacco industry, and are administered by the Iowa Department of Public Health.

ZLRIGNITION is a full-service marketing communications agency with offices in Des Moines and Kansas City. The agency provides a wide range of information-based marketing creative, media, interactive and public relations services to national, regional and local clients.

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