AI – Making a Marketing Plan That Works For You
by Elena Pastore
In today’s digital age, embracing artificial intelligence (AI) is crucial for fraternity and sorority professionals in higher education. By harnessing the power of generative AI, fraternity and sorority professionals can not only save time and enhance productivity but also develop innovative marketing strategies that resonate with students and active members. In this blog post, we will explore the step-by-step process of leveraging generative AI to create a marketing plan. You’ll also see a real-life example to demonstrate the practical application of generative AI tailored directly to you!
Generative AI? What is it and why is it important?
Generative AI is artificial intelligence that is capable of creating text, images, and other media for users. It offers tremendous potential for sorority and fraternity professionals to create impactful marketing plans and strategies related to growth. By following a structured approach and leveraging AI tools like Chat GPT or Bard, campus and HQ professionals like you can generate creative ideas, refine messaging, and develop engaging campaigns tailored to your objectives and target audience.
Rather than being used like Google, where the user asks a simple question and the software gives a set of responses (various links), think of using generative AI as a conversation. The you can go back and forth with the tool as if you are speaking with someone. You can tell it to take on a persona (such as a marketing professional) and ask whatever question is on your mind so that it will respond as if it were a consultant or expert in that field. With generative AI as a useful tool, you can enhance your marketing efforts, attract new members, and strengthen your organization’s overall growth. So where do you go from here? Follow us…
Step 1: Define Your Objectives and Audience
Before diving in, it’s essential to clarify your marketing objectives and identify the PNMs or students you’re trying to attract. Determine what goals you want to achieve with your marketing plan, whether it’s increasing membership, promoting events, or enhancing your organization’s brand. You also need to understand your audience’s preferences, interests, and communication channels (Instagram, TikTok, on-campus events, orientation, etc.) to tailor your marketing content effectively so they’ll see it and hopefully interact with it.
Step 2: Craft an Ideal Prompt
Crafting an ideal prompt is crucial to elicit the desired response from generative AI tools like Chat GPT or Bard. Begin by providing context, such as your organization’s name or your role. For example, you could prompt the AI with:
“As a fraternity/sorority professional at [your organization], I need ideas for a compelling recruitment campaign that resonates with potential new members.”
Step 3: Refine and Iterate
Generative AI tools like Chat GPT or Bard generate responses based on the prompts provided. However, the initial response may require refining and iteration to align with your marketing goals and organizational voice. Experiment with different prompts, modify the context, or provide more specific details to refine the AI’s output.
It’s important to remember that in order for AI to truly be impactful there is a human element – YOU – that needs to be involved. Who you are, your voice, and your objectives shape the messaging that AI helps create for you. Let’s see how it works!
Real-Life Example: Creating an Engaging Recruitment Campaign
Setting the stage:
Let’s say you’re a fraternity or sorority professional aiming to develop an engaging recruitment campaign. You could use generative AI to assist you in generating creative ideas and persuasive messaging. Here’s how you can utilize the power of generative AI for each step of the marketing plan…
Step 1: Define Your Objectives and Audience
Set a clear objective, such as increasing recruitment by X% for the upcoming semester. Identify your target audience, whether it’s prospective freshmen, transfer students, or specific demographics within the student body.
Step 2: Craft an Ideal Prompt
Prompt the generative AI with: “As a fraternity/sorority professional at [your organization], I need ideas for an impactful recruitment campaign that appeals to prospective freshmen and showcases our values of [insert organization's values].”
Step 3: Refine and Iterate
Evaluate the generated ideas from the AI and select the ones that align with your organization’s brand and objectives. Modify the generated content to fit your organization’s voice and style, ensuring it resonates with your target audience. For instance, the AI might suggest creative ideas like organizing virtual meet-and-greet sessions, developing visually appealing social media campaigns, or hosting online informational sessions. Refine these ideas to match your organization’s unique values and ensure they cater specifically to prospective freshmen.
Demo
Let’s take a look at what we get when we put a real prompt in Chat GPT.
Here’s the prompt:
“I want you to act as a professional growth consultant. As a fraternity/sorority professional at University of Florida, I need ideas for an impactful recruitment campaign that appeals to prospective freshmen and showcases our values of scholarship, sisterhood, service, and community. Our goal is to increase recruitment registration by 15% for the upcoming primary recruitment season. Please create a 2-month marketing plan to be executed across Instagram, TikTok, and on-campus events. Please generate this plan in a table format.”
Check out the response here:
All in a matter of seconds you have the beginning of a 60 day marketing plan to grow your community! From here, we continue to personalize it, dive deeper, and expand.
Embracing generative AI enables fraternity and sorority professionals to leverage technology as a collaborative partner, saving time and unlocking creative possibilities. These tools will especially help you to drive your names list and increase the quantity of leads to drive quality members. With generative AI, you can streamline your marketing efforts, foster meaningful connections with prospective members, and grow organizations by extending membership to only the best-matched PNMs.
And that’s a wrap! You’ve got all the skills you need in order to capitalize on what generative AI has to offer. It might take some practice, but with practice you’ll continue to find your voice and discover how AI can help you in your role.
What are you waiting for? Let’s get started! Define your objectives, understand your audience, and craft ideal prompts to generate innovative ideas and persuasive messaging. By embracing AI as a strategic tool, sorority and fraternity professionals can revolutionize marketing strategies, attract the right members, and sustain lasting growth in organizations and communities. The possibilities are limitless when AI becomes your marketing ally.