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5
Musayev B.Sh. independent researcher Samarkand Institute of Economics and Service
MARKETING TOOLS IN PROMOTING HIGHER EDUCATION
SERVICES
Abstract. All higher education institutions are real participants of market relations, subjects of educational services market and labor market. The modern interpretation of market orientation is based on the strategic and integrative role of marketing in the HEI management system. In addition, within the modern concept of relationship marketing, emphasis is placed not only on the consumer, but also on other partners and target audiences. This necessitates the use of modern marketing tools in the activities of OTMs. The issue of using advertising, public relations, sales promotion, and personal selling as the most important marketing tools is discussed in this article.
Keywords: advertising, sales promotion, public relations, personal selling, target audience, "7P" marketing-mix model, business partners, services marketing-mix model.
INTRODUCTION. Development of higher education services and increasing their effectiveness is currently one of the main priorities of the state policy in the field of higher education. Competitive mechanisms of resource allocation among higher education institutions are increasingly being used. In particular, the granting of academic and financial independence to higher education institutions, independent determination of admission quotas, academic independence in creating and offering educational programs leads to a sharp development of the market of higher education services. In such conditions, it is becoming urgent for higher education institutions to focus on the content of their educational programs, methods of organizing the educational process, formation of corporate culture, formation of demand for educational services and promotion of sales of educational services.
Also, it is important to accelerate promotion activities aimed at including higher education institutions in international ratings and ensuring the competitiveness of national higher education services. The process of promotion of educational services is important in attracting potential consumers to educational services, organizing the interaction of the participants of the educational process in the market and the offer of services. The organizational processes of promotion of higher education services, the personnel responsible for them, the implementation of promotional materials, the organization of the process of their preparation and delivery to the target audience also have a great impact on efficiency. A number of principles should be followed when promoting higher education services from a marketing point of view.
Promotion of higher education services is becoming an important activity of educational institutions. Promotion of higher education services should be reflected in the strategy of development of higher education institutions. Each higher education institution should develop its promotion programs and implement them together with the provision of educational services, that is, promotion programs should take place in the operational system of HEIs. The higher management body of higher education institutions develops a strategy for the development of HEIs. The strategy of developing HEIs consists of two major strategies. That is, the strategy of forming a portfolio of educational programs and the strategy of promoting educational programs.
The marketing department, international relations department, digital education technology center, press service, and gifted students departments play a key role in the development of the strategy for the promotion of educational programs.
MAIN PART. Marketing mix theory became very popular in 1964 after Neil Borden and DJ McCarthy published their article on the four main P's. Today, these are known as the "4P's" in marketing worldwide (product, price, place, promotion).
Taking into account the specific characteristics of educational services, F. Kotler and Foxlar developed the marketing-mix model for the educational system and adapted it by proposing the "7P" marketing-mix model. These are: program, price, place, promotion, processes, physical facilities, and people.
One of the main elements of marketing, both in the classic marketing-mix model and in the educational services marketing-mix model, is promotion. In higher education institutions, promotion is used to effectively organize a continuous process of communication with applicants, students and their parents, employers, professors and teachers, and other interested parties. In their research, F. Kotler and Foxlar mentioned the following 16 types of interested parties of higher education institutions, that is, the audience with which communication can be established, the public:
1) existing students;
2) potential (future) students;
3) professors and teachers;
4) parents of students;
5) administration and employees of the educational institution;
6) graduates;
7) suppliers;
8) competitors;
9) state agencies;
10) business partners;
11) mass media;
12) various financial funds;
13) trustees;
14) accreditation organizations;
15) local communities;
16) general public.
In general, each HEI should have an understanding of their target audience. Because in organizing and carrying out promotional activities, it should be based on their interests, wishes and demands. That's why we offer the following 14 types of contactable audiences:
1. existing students and their parents;
2. potential (future) students (applicants) and their parents;
3. professors and teachers;
4. the administration and employees of the educational institution;
5. those engaged in scientific research;
6. graduates;
7. suppliers;
8. competitors;
9. state agencies;
10. business partners;
11. mass media;
12. Various financial funds;
13. accreditation organizations;
14. general public.
The information that HEIs prepare and transmit to the target audience must meet the following requirements:
- information should be relevant to the interests, wishes and requirements of the target audience;
- it is necessary to take into account the coverage of the audience with which communication can be established;
- transmitted information must be reliable;
- information should be presented easily, simply, clearly and quickly;
- information should be complete, that is, neither missing nor increased;
- it is necessary to avoid re-transmission of information.
V.According to Hewitt and Clayton, the most important stakeholders of
higher education are "those who are learning, those who are likely to study in the future". In fact, this idea is appropriate, if there are no students and prospective students (applicants) in higher education, other interested parties mentioned by F. Kotler and Fox, that is, the audience with which communication can be established (professors, teachers, administration and staff of the educational institution, suppliers, competitors, government agencies, business partners, various financial funds, the general public, etc.) will not be. According to Y. Vissema, "when moving educational services, it is necessary to first identify the customers of educational services, that is, the target segment." Consumers of educational services include not only students, their parents, professors, and employers, but also applicants, mass media, manufacturers and suppliers of
educational materials (publishers, stationery, educational furniture, etc.). When promoting educational services, it is necessary to promote educational services aimed at these consumers.
In order to attract the attention of a specific target audience, higher education institutions should widely use the following four main means of promotion (Table 1):
- advertising;
- sales promotion (in the higher education system, incentives are used for students, professors, and employers);
- public relations (PR);
- personal selling.
Table 1
Means ^ of promotion of higher education services and their features
Promotional tools The main goal Conveyor of information source Target audience Content of promotion
Advertising To interest potential consumers (applicants and their parents) in choosing HEIs and educational fields Mass media, social networks, TV, external advertising media Prospective students, their parents Focuses on the selection of HEIs and its educational directions and specializations
Sales promotion Attracting students, academic staff and professors to various educational programs, grants and supporting the winners On the website and pages of the Higher Education Institution on social networks, on specialized sites, on social networks, on TV and radio channels Students, doctoral students, professors Incentives specific to specific educational programs, various contests, grants
Personal selling Conducting roundtable discussions and meetings with potential clients by professors and teachers of HEIs Customers, stakeholders, partners International communicati on department, marketing department Providing direct information about educational programs
Public Relations (PR) To increase the market position and positive reputation of HEIs Press, press conferences, individuals Wide community, customers Providing all information about HEIs
CONCLUSION. Today, in order to successfully promote OTM, it is necessary to make extensive use of the communication resources of various advertising technologies. The following elements of marketing communication are the most important from the point of view of promoting OTM: advertising, public special events (meetings with employers, roundtables, etc.), direct
marketing, participation in exhibitions, use of electronic corporate communication opportunities, strong brand creation, corporate culture and corporate style, informal communications.
PR is an important tool in promoting HEI services. PR is the tools used in establishing relations with the public to achieve the established communication goals. Such PR tools that are most often used in HEIs include:
1) open day;
2) celebration of the jubilee day of the educational institution;
3) publishing a series of articles and theses about the educational institution;
4) organization of a problem discussion open to the press;
5) competitions and various contests;
6) roundtable discussions;
7) conducting master classes;
8) active participation in meetings of public organizations;
9) organizing presentations of educational programs;
10) press conferences;
11) briefing;
12) special awards;
13) seminars, meetings;
14) online conference;
15) teleconference;
16) tour of educational institutions;
17) media coverage of the conducted experiments;
18) book of comments and suggestions; special event (inviting VIPs and media representatives) and others.
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