Strategic Communications Plan for DECA Recruiting

McKenzie Ball, Hunter Mattson, Manjit Toor, Skyler Trujillo

Salt Lake Community College

BUS-2200

12/5/2018

Lon Schiffbauer

 

Purpose/Objective

The purpose of this communications campaign is to encourage Salt Lake Community

College students to join DECA. It is our hope that Salt Lake Community College students will

join DECA early in their academic career to gain necessary work skills. After graduating,

students may be nervous about starting their careers and knowing if they have the necessary

skills to be successful. Joining DECA allows students to apply what they learn in the classroom

to real-world situations. DECA also provides strong leadership skills and a good understanding

of soft skills needed in the workplace. In addition, DECA provides students with opportunities to

network with successful people around the world. This campaign will take place at the beginning

of the semester and will be covered across the Taylorsville campus. We will accomplish this by

using a variety of channels.

 

Audience

The target audience for this communications campaign is mainly Salt Lake Community

College students newly enrolled or early in their academic career but not limited to just these. All

students are encouraged to join DECA. Below are the demographics and psychographics of the

target audience:

 

Demographics

• Median age of Salt Lake Community College Students:

o 23 (Salt Lake Community College, 2018)

• Non-white Population at Salt Lake Community College:

o 26.3% (Salt Lake Community College, 2018)

• Female to Male Ratio at Salt Lake Community College

o 1.04:1 (Salt Lake Community College, 2018)

• Student Enrollment for the 2017-18 year is 29,620. Below represents specific

majors typically interested in DECA. (Salt Lake Community College, 2018)

o General Studies Major: 13,294

o Accounting Major: 205

o Business Major: 1,784

o Economics Major: 61

o Bus Mgt/Entrepreneur Major: 291

• Average Credit Hours Taken for the 2017-18 Fall Semester:

o 8.68 hours (Salt Lake Community College, 2018)

• First Time Freshmen enrolled for the 2017-18 Fall Semester:

o 4,626 (Salt Lake Community College, 2018)

• 78.79% of students for the 2017-18 Fall Semester live within Salt Lake County.

(Salt Lake Community College, 2018)

 

Psychographics

• Students are attracted to community colleges because of the affordability, flexible

schedule, and transferable credits. (Salt Lake Community College, 2018)

• Students attend college to better their future, and further their formal education.

(Salt Lake Community College, 2018)

• Students who join DECA are generally gravitating towards careers in

entrepreneurship, marketing, finance, or management.

• Greater development is possible for community college students when

participating in clubs and organizations. (Foubert, 2006)

 

Context

The context surrounding this communications campaign include;

• The beginning of a new semester.

• Students may feel stressed trying to get use to the new semester.

• Students may be looking for new opportunities.

• Students may feel they do not have time for extra-curricular activities.

• New students on campus for their first college experience.

 

Audience Analysis

The target audience for this campaign is new and incoming students at Salt Lake

Community College. According to the demographics, many students are enrolled for

general studies and may be unsure of future career paths. Incoming students may also not

know many people on campus which may be intimidating. DECA can give students

direction and provide them with skills that will benefit them throughout their academic

career as well as their professional career. Students who join clubs early in their academic

career receive guidance and form lasting relationships that they can benefit them. DECA

provides students with a fun and unique opportunity to receive credits for their degree.

 

Messaging Goals

Based on the purpose and objectives, as well as the target audience, the following have

been established as the messaging goals for this campaign:

Think

• Know the benefits and opportunities that come from joining DECA.

• DECA meets Monday and Wednesday mornings from 11:30-12:20.

• It is a club you can receive credit for.

• There is a $30 fee.

Feel

• Students will feel more confident taking other courses and completing coursework

because of the things they have learned in DECA.

• Students will feel more capable of making new friends and building relationships.

• DECA will help students for years to come after graduation.

Do

• Join DECA.

• Be engaged in DECA and actively participate.

 

Key Messages

If the target audience does not remember anything else from this communication

campaign, these are the three things we hope they retain:

• DECA is a great way to provide students the necessary skills that will allow them to stand

out from other people in the workplace and excel within their career.

• Unlike other clubs, students who enroll in DECA will earn credit hours for joining and

participating.

• DECA provides students with professional and social networking opportunities which

can lead to new friendships and employment opportunities.

 

Channels/Media

We have constructed primary and secondary channels to reach our audience. In

conducting our primary and secondary channels we have taken into consideration the purpose of

our message, our primary audience, and how our audience consumes information. The following

are our primary and secondary channels/media.

 

• Club Rush (Primary)

o Club rush is an event that SLCC puts on for students to get to know what

clubs and organizations are available for them. Each club is given a table

to represent their club and its information to get students to join.

o We will be making a tri-fold with information about DECA and what

DECA is. We also will create a game to draw in attention of the students

at the event.

 

• Orientation (Primary)

o SLCC orientation is an event put on for new incoming students, so they

can learn more about SLCC and its clubs/organization.

o We will make a short PowerPoint that will be shown at orientation for new

incoming students to know what DECA is and why they should join.

 

• Visiting classrooms (Primary)

o Many students around campus don’t know about DECA because they just

go to class and go home. We want to visit classrooms around campus so

those who don’t spend much time at campus to know about DECA.

o We will create little flyers with information about DECA to hand out in

the classrooms we visit.

 

• Flyers (Secondary)

o Flyers are a good way to put information about DECA everywhere on

campus. We plan on putting flyers up anywhere we can promote DECA

and why you should join.

o We plan on making flyers to put around campus.

 

• Social Media Posts (Secondary)

o We live in a generation where social media plays a big role in our

everyday lives. We want to have social media posts ready that can be used

throughout the semester to promote DECA and explain why one should

join.

o We will create posts for the beginning of the semester as well as post for

certain events throughout the semester.

 

• Articles for SLCC/School of Business (Secondary)

o SLCC newspaper and the School of Business newspaper is always posting

articles about clubs and organizations around campus. This is a great way

to get the word about DECA and what it is.

o We will create two articles promoting DECA that can be published in the

beginning of the semester.

 

• Cornhole Set (Secondary)

o At club rush activities, some tables have games or a wheel to spin to

attract people to visit the table. This allows for the people managing the

table to start a conversation and answer any questions the people visiting

may have.

o We will gather the information of how to create a cornhole set with a

possible design that may be painted onto the boards.

 

Tactical Planning

To make sure the target audience receives this information when it is most pertinent to

them, this tactical plan has been created to show when and how the campaign messages will be

shared:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Debrief

Throughout the campaign, everyone in the team participated and was engaged. The team

was able to communicate effectively, offer opinions and suggestions openly, and come to a

conclusion on what would be best for the campaign. The biggest challenge we faced was being

able to meet due to everyone’s busy schedule and commitments for other projects. We feel the

channels that were used were fitting for the audience we were trying to reach. Although some

channels will be more effective than others, we feel that having a cohesiveness among all the

channels will make people more likely to remember the key messages when they see the DECA

logo, colors, or anything associated with DECA in the future. The biggest lesson we learned is

that there are many ways to communicate. To add to that, there are many good ways, and many

bad ways to communicate as well. It all depends upon the purpose and audience.

 

Conclusion

Students who join DECA will gain greater workplace skills, receive credit for their

desired degree, and will develop a beneficial network. With all these things combined, students

will be more successful in their future.

 

Reflection

This Strategic Communications Plan and Final Communications Campaign taught me a lot about communication, teamwork, strategical thinking, critical thinking, organization, time management, audience analysis, and technical planning. This project overall allowed me to apply what I learned in business communications 2200 into a real life situation. I loved working on this project because it had to do with DECA. Being the VP of Public Relations in DECA, I liked having the opportunity to work on DECA recruiting. I have wanted to come up with something new for club rush and orientation, this class and team gave me that opportunity. Overall, I loved working on this project with my team.

 

References

 

About deca. (2018). Retrieved November 14, 2018, from https://www.deca.org/about/

 

John D. Foubert Ph.D. & Lauren A. Urbanski (2006) Effects of Involvement in Clubs and

Organizations on the Psychosocial Development of First-Year and Senior College

Students, NASPA Journal, 43:1, 166-182, DOI: 10.2202/1949-6605.1576

 

Salt Lake Community College Factbook (2017-2018). Retrieved November 14, 2018, from

http://performance.slcc.edu/Factbook/2017-18/A_enrollment/A_04.html

 

SLCC (2018). Retrieved November 14, 2018, from http://www.slcc.edu/