One of the hardest decisions for a leader to make is to spend into a decline, but it's almost always the right call.
Because unless your funnel is seriously inefficient…
The only way out of a death spiral is to buy your way out
And yet, each year, many organizations experiencing declining enrollment put forward aspirational budgets built on unrealistic expectations.
These plans call for the institution to spend less in marketing year-over-year and yet somehow finish the year with year-over-year growth.
And while that’s certainly possible, it’s far from probable, leading many to find themselves in the same situation at the end of their fiscal year, only this time even worse.
So if you’ve just cleared census on another soft Fall, here’s the hard truth about the hard work that needs to be done right now:
You’re not going to spend less and yield more
So what is a leader of a shrinking organization to do?
For starters, you need to a find a way to spend more in marketing.
Whether it’s reducing your real estate, pruning your portfolio, tapping your churn, or even dipping into reserves - now is the time to free up funds to increase your spend in market.
For many of us, our annual budgeting process is built on the idea that marketing represents a percentage of our total tuition revenue; but this model only works when you’re growing. If you’re in decline, it will keep you there.
Because no matter how rose-colored our glasses are when we budget, the truth of the matter is when it comes to marketing…
The only way out of a death spiral is to buy your way out
About the Author
Seth is the founder and CEO of Kanahoma, a San Diego-based education marketing agency. We offer full-service marketing support for higher education, K-12, education technology, and more.
You can learn more about who we are and what we do at www.Kanahoma.com.