Service Industry Marketing Report: Higher Education Analysis and Plan

This report delves into the realm of service industry marketing, specifically within the context of higher education. It begins by identifying five major factors that significantly influence the quality and delivery of higher education services to students, including the student's experience, the student-staff ratio, classroom size, class contact hours, and the qualifications of teachers. These factors are supported by relevant literature and research. The report then transitions into the role of a Marketing Communication Director, outlining a comprehensive marketing promotion plan for 2020. This plan includes specific marketing communication objectives designed to address the identified factors, along with the promotional mix elements to be employed, such as advertising, personal selling, direct marketing, sales promotion, and public relations. The report further establishes criteria for measuring the success of the objectives at the end of 2020, encompassing effectiveness, efficiency, quality, and timeliness. Finally, it provides a detailed budget and timeline for the implementation of the marketing plan, offering a practical and strategic approach to enhancing the quality and delivery of higher education services. This report is designed to provide insights into the factors impacting higher education service quality and create a marketing promotion plan for 2020.

Running Head: SERVICE INDUSTRY MARKETING
Service Industry Marketing
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The higher education field is the one of the most crucial fields in the education
sector. It has the responsibility of leading the future of the youths. The quality of education
can result in the production of quality products. In the educational field, the private sectors
are competing with the public institutions. The higher education includes the advanced
education that consists of 3-8 years of study in a particular specialization. The aim stays on
qualifying for a professional activity or employment in any well reputed organization. It is
the most crucial stage because in this stage, the manpower of the nation that is the youth are
developed and shaped to have an insight into the resources, the future ideals, the issues and
the solutions. There are various higher education institutions across the world which provide
education in the fields like engineering, medical, computer sciences, information technology,
business studies and many others.
All over the world , there are Universities established for providing top level
education and are known for the centres of higher learning. The Universities serve the role of
the agents in the nation building. They are also considered to be the primary contributors of
the economic growth. These are responsible for extending the capacity of the nation to grow
economically, politically, culturally and socially having utilized its people’s capabilities.
This report will identify the five major factors which affect the quality and the delivery of the
higher education services to the students. The next part of the report will prepare a marketing
promotion plan for 2020 including the marketing communication objective to achieve the
identified five factors, the promotional mix elements to be employed, criteria to be employed
to measure and the budget and timeline.

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Discussion
PART1:
The need for higher education
Higher education is something that is used for distinguishing the course of study that
results in the award of a degree, the diploma or other qualifications. The tertiary education is
the level that is attained after the successful completion of the secondary education. It is said
to impart the minds of the students instead of giving a superficial grasp which might be
acceptable in the system. The higher education helps to make the students the frontiers of
knowledge. As pert the past research on the topic of higher research, it has been found that
the integration of the socio-economic policies are highly required along with the educational
policies which will promote the education system of the nation.
The affecting factors
The quality and the delivery of the higher education to the students depend on the
five contributory factors. The factors which contribute are the competencies of the teachers,
the standards of the student’s intake capacity which might either lead to the upliftment or
deterioration of the quality of higher education. The budgetary constraints or the lack of
proper infrastructure can also impact the quality of teaching and the education system. The
factors are as follows:
The Experience of the Students
The experience of the student in terms of the subjects they are studying is one of the
most significant sources which informs about the teaching standards in the Institutions.
The student and staff ratio

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At the institutions level, the staff ratio might appear to be a direct outcome of the
funding levels. The institutions spend on the central services, the administration, the building,
the marketing, the teachers who are taking research and to the varying extents. Where there is
low staff ratio, there are potential for the arrangement for the educational practices which can
improve the outcomes of education. The educational outcomes can be predicted from the
close contact from with the teachers. When student ratio is less than the staff ratio, each
student gets multiple numbers of teachers for guidance and support. It also makes the
feedback process easier and the close contact possible. The teachers also find it easy to give
high quality feedback to the student’s assignment. A low staff ratio can never ensure good
quality feedback.
The classroom size
The meta-analysis of studies have suggested that the class size has a direct impact on
the education level of the students. It has been found that the more students are there in a
class, the more less the rate of student achievement becomes. There are other important
variables too which are negatively affected by the size of the class such as the ambience of
physical learning, the positivity in the attitude of the students and their exhibiting behaviour
to learning. The students of any age are affected by such class size factors upto greater extent.
The environment infrastructure of the class along with the size affects the student
engagement that is the most necessary in shaping the quality of education.
The Class contact hours
Although the study hours have less relation with the quality of education, the content
of the hours, what happens in those hours, what is the pedagogical model, what are the
consequences can leave greater impact on the quality and the quantity of the study hours. The
extended study hours cannot determine how much solid study will be there. It can also

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happen that the students study less and the total studying hours are in vein. There are some
of the pedagogical systems which are much effective than others.
The qualifications of the teachers
The teachers with suitable qualifications are another most significant contributor in
the development of the education service. These teachers are much liked by their students
than those with insufficient qualifications. There can be differences in terms of qualifications.
However , the major difference is in terms of professionalism and commitment to teaching.
The experience of the teachers in the teaching field along with the education qualifications
help to enrich the quality standards of the institutions. The students feel encouraged and
equally responsible toward their study if the teachers show the enthusiasm to spread
knowledge and experiences. Hence, in this manner the improvement of the teaching quality
can be promoted in the higher education services.
PART 2 :
The marketing communication objectives
I believe that in order to achieve the factors identified in part A , constructivism must be
encouraged as a theory based on the observation and the scientific study. It is about the way
people learn and promotes the view that people construct on the basis of their knowledge and
understanding of the world. It is through experiencing things and reflecting on the
experiences. It is the nature of the human beings that when they encounter something new ,
they reconcile it with the past experiences. Hence, in any case, the human beings are the
active creators of their own knowledge. The first objective will be to achieve improvement in
the student’ experience of the subjects they learn. The higher education institution will
The second objective of the institution will be to hire the qualified staffs/ teachers so that
each student gets the multiple number of teachers for support and guidance. I believe that

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feedback plays an essential part in a student’s career. As per my observations, the feedback is
an essential part of the effective leaning. It helps to understand the studied subject which
gives the clear guidance regarding how to improve their skills in the learning process. The
feedbacks process helps the students to improve their performance in the assessments.
The third objective of the higher-education institution will be to have an advanced and
comfortable classroom environment. The infrastructure of the classroom will help the
students of higher education to concentrate on their studies with all types of resources such as
space, light, air-condition and well managed desks, chairs. The primary objective will be take
minimum students for admission in every class.
The fourth objective will be to make the class contact hours reduced and making time for the
independent study. The contact hours of each will be focused on keeping within one hour or
50 minutes. It will be for teaching the courses. The other activities which are not teaching
will not be counted in the contact hours .In the contact hours, only teaching will take place.
The fourth objective will be to hire only those teaching professionals who have required
qualifications and their teaching aptitude will be tested for determining how much committed
they are and how much they can engage the students.
The promotional mix elements for achieving the objectives
The achievement of the set objectives needs a range of integrated strategies where the
promotional activity plays a crucial role. The promotion is one of the most important Ps in
marketing. The promotion category determines the ways a business can use to provide
proper information to its target customers regarding its service. Hence, the promotional mix
consists of the advertising , the personal selling the sakes promotion, direct marketing and the
public relations.

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Advertising
Through the proper advertisements, the aim of the institution will be to reach the
large students populations for leaving huge impacts on them. The successful advertisements
will promote the brand to the customers. The advertisements will also be focused on
improving the perception of the customers. It will use the educational upholders of the
country such as doctors, famous lawyers and engineers for promotion through advertising.
The target audience will feel motivated and attracted towards the institution to shape their
careers.
The personal selling
The personal selling will take place at the institutions itself where the personnel will
be there to guide the target audience about everything. The target audience will be persuaded
towards taking admission in the Institution. This mix has its own benefits as it heightens the
customer experience. The audience will feel empowered being assisted by the personnel. In
this manner, a powerful customer experience will be built along with the promotion of the
services.
Direct marketing
The direct marketing will be used for promoting the service to the target audience. In
order to make bigger impact, The book publishers and the book stores will be approached to
help on the promotion of the institution. The direct marketing will be used for developing
stronger relationships with the target customers and motivate them to get associated with the
institution. In this manner, the institution will become more exposed to the institution. It will
enhance the competitiveness.
Sales promotion

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The sales promotion will be done by giving discounts on the admissions. It will
motivated the target audience and they will find a solid reason to become associated with the
institution.
The public relation
The public relations will be used to address the social issues connected with the
business. It will utilize the public relations to deliver proper information to the stakeholders
regarding their CSR activities. It will improve the public image of the institution on the
stakeholders. It will enhance the public image by being connected with an orphan age which
will drive a better perception of the institution
Criteria to be employed to measure the objectives
At the end of 2020, few criteria will be employed to measure the performance against
the set objectives.
Effectiveness - The effectiveness will be considered to be the bottom line of the performance
of the Institution. The achievements of the outcomes will be measured and examined
whether it matches with the mission of the Institution or not. The effectiveness will also be
considered in terms of the process activities, the input reviews, and the outcomes too.
Efficiency- The efficiency of the Institution will be considered in terms of the resources
consumed for accomplishing a task to produce the outcomes. The resources include the
facility, the materials, energy , money, time and personnel.
Quality- The quality of service will be measured in every part of the institution. The external
and the internal quality will be measured to find the differences.

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Timeliness - The timeliness will be measured for the determining its success in terms of the
customers experience in getting the desired service in time. The timeliness will also be
measured in terms of students delivering good results.
Finance
There are different measures of the financial performance. It will be measured
through measuring the profitability and the number of students admitted in the institution.

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