Kentucky Community & Technical College System Request for Proposal – Full-Service Marketing Agency
PROPOSAL NO.: RFP-0320
Issue Date: November 26, 2024
Issuing Officer: Tonya Peters
Email: Tonya.peters@kctcs.edu
Schedule Name: Full-Service Marketing Agency
PROPOSALS MUST BE RECEIVED BY JANUARY 7, 2025, 4:00pm EST
- KCTCS OVERVIEW
The Kentucky Community and Technical College System, the largest institution of higher education in the
Commonwealth, is composed of 16 comprehensive two-year colleges with more than 70 campuses throughout the state that serve approximately 80,000 students and nearly 5,000 businesses each year in credit programs leading to certificate, diploma, and associate degrees, pre-baccalaureate education for transfer to four-year institutions, and non-credit programs, customized business and industry training, professional continuing education, and personal enrichment opportunities.
- STATEMENT OF INTENT AND PURPOSE
The Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) issues this Request for Proposal to solicit proposals for qualified, experienced, financially sound, and responsible firms to perform the services in accordance with the technical specifications included herein.
- SCOPE
KCTCS is seeking proposals from qualified full-service marketing agencies to partner with KCTCS in achieving KCTCS marketing, branding, and enrollment goals. KCTCS includes 16 colleges across Kentucky, each with its own unique audience and budgetary constraints. The selected agency will work collaboratively with the KCTCS Office and individual colleges to deliver comprehensive, adaptable marketing services that align with KCTCS organizational mission while addressing local needs.
Key Goals:
- Increase Enrollment and Student Engagement
Through targeted marketing efforts that reach diverse prospective student populations across the state.
- Enhance KCTCS Brand Awareness
Build a stronger KCTCS brand identity both at the system and college levels, creating a cohesive and positive brand experience.
- Optimize Budget Efficiency
Ensure that marketing funds are used effectively, with a particular focus on maximizing the impact of limited budgets.
a. Please note that a budget has not been allocated for this project at this time. Numbers provided are only
estimates.
- Traditional Marketing Scope of Work:
KCTCS requires a marketing partner that can provide the following services:
- Comprehensive Media Planning and Buying
Recommend and secure advertising placements across multiple platforms, including television, OTT, radio, outdoor, print, and digital.
- Creative Strategy Development
Develop innovative advertising strategies that align with KCTCS’s mission and goals, supporting both systemwide and local college initiatives.
- Experiential and Guerilla Marketing
Develop and execute experiential marketing campaigns to engage prospective students and the community.
Implement cost-effective guerilla marketing tactics to stretch our marketing dollars.
- Student Recruitment Materials
Create effective student recruitment campaigns and materials that resonate with our diverse audiences.
- Front-End Web Development and Digital Presence
Provide research, development, and implementation of responsive, user-friendly web properties that enhance college visibility and user experience. This could include homepage redesign or creation of microsites for internal stakeholders such as advancement or workforce solutions.
- Program-Specific Marketing
Design and execute marketing campaigns for individual academic programs or various initiatives. This could include academic program campaigns, advocacy efforts, advancement support, etc.
- Brand Management
Assist in ensuring the cohesive KCTCS brand identity remains intact, adhering to brand guidelines and delivering a consistent, positive brand experience across all channels.
- KCTCS Brand Guide can be viewed: https://systemoffice.kctcs.edu/about/system-office/servicesdepartments/marketing/brand-guide/
- Production and Traffic Management
Coordinate production and trafficking of advertising materials across media platforms, including attribution.
- Market Research & Reporting
Conduct market research for different populations to ensure we are reaching the target audience.
- Creative Services
Provide creative services such as video/radio production, copywriting, animation, HTML ads, etc. Also design creative materials that can be easily adapted for use at the local level by individual colleges.
- College-Level Marketing Support
Collaborate with individual KCTCS colleges to develop and execute annual marketing plans that support both local and system-wide goals.
- Photography & Video Production
Conduct professional photo and video shoots to support external communications and marketing initiatives for both KCTCS and the 16 colleges.
- Data Integration
Ability to integrate with our data systems to create comprehensive dashboards to show effectiveness of our efforts, including impressions, reach, but more importantly leads and return on ad spend, calculating if a lead converts to a student and how many credit hours.
- Campaign minimums
If a college has a campaign request, we ask that the selected agency have no campaign minimums. Our colleges have extreme budget constraints, and we want them to utilize the expertise of the agency when running campaigns.
- Direct Mail
Help facilitate direct mail campaigns to desired target audiences.
- Communication
Must agree to attend annual meetings in-person. KCTCS travel guidelines attached.
It is the intention of KCTCS to award both traditional and digital marketing services to one Offeror. Please include the following digital marketing services scope of work in responses. Responses that do not include both traditional and digital services scopes of works will not be considered for this award. However, KCTCS reserves the right to exclude digital marketing services’ scope of work in the contract award.
- Digital Marketing Scope of Work:
- Recommend, develop and execute digital marketing campaigns for both systemwide and college efforts by providing the following:
- Search Engine Marketing
- Programmatic Display & Video Advertising including Retargeting
- IP/Geoframing/Geofencing/List Video and Display Advertising
- Social Advertising including Facebook/Instagram/Snapchat/Twitter/LinkedIn
- Pixel Support and Setup
- Conversion Rate Optimization
- CRM Integration and Tracking Customizations
- Audience and Persona Build-Out and Targeting
- Analytics Setup and Customization
- setting up analytic dashboards for various departments to help tracking engagement across different communication channels
- Landing Page Development and Management
- Partner with KCTCS colleges to assist with accomplishing enrollment goals and lowering student acquisition costs through digital marketing efforts.
- Provide transparent, comprehensive reporting and real-time dashboards for all digital efforts that include campaign performance (clicks, impressions, conversion) and including enrollment numbers
- Utilize predictive modeling to determine digital marketing budget and maximum impact.
- Create, analyze and report on a multi-touch attribution system to inform other digital platforms.
- Provide in-house creative and asset integration services.
- Develop a direct college communication and project request workflow.
