Since before BYU Continuing Education’s formal organization in 1921, marketing and outreach have played an essential role in its growth and development. The earliest traces of marketing and outreach can be traced back to appointments scheduled throughout wards in the Provo area to advertise night school, the predecessor of the modern-day evening classes. These courses featured topics including agriculture, domestic science, dressmaking, and interpretation of literature, with tuition fixed at $5.00 for a ten-week course.
Marketing and outreach grew even more with the formation of the Bureau of Publications, which was regarded as one of the three major areas in the newly established Continuing Education during the early 1920s, as noted by Lowry Nelson in a report to then-BYU President Franklin S. Harris. Back then, marketing efforts were limited to brochures, advertising, and mimeographed materials. One of the most successful endeavors from this time, however, was a booklet on Mount Timpanogos, which featured poetry, stories, and pictures focused on Mount Timpanogos and its surroundings in an attempt to increase interest in community hikes as a form of recreational activity.
Later, during the late 1930s, the Bureau of Publications began taking advantage of newspapers to spread the news. From 1936 to 1937, the Bureau had produced approximately 850 news stories, which were sent to various state dailies, press associations, and “hometown” papers of students, as well as a few professional and trade magazines. The Bureau continued producing more and more stories, resulting in 2,980 separate articles, which were written and submitted to newspapers for the 1938–39 year.
The late 1950s saw an increase in evening class enrollments through a successful marketing brochure entitled “What Are You Doing Tonight?” with the invitation to “join the people who are learning new paths to more productive, more satisfying, and better living, meeting new friends and sharing mutual interests.”
The early 1970s saw the creation of a communications operation alongside the Promotion and Publicity Department. In 1972, the name was changed to the Department of Promotion and Public Relations before finally becoming the Department of Communications in 1978. With the dedication of the Harman Building and the BYU Conference Center in the early 1980s, advertising materials and other graphics were developed, along with a special historical report to familiarize the public with the new building through print resources, direct mail, and billboards.
Today, however, with the advent of social media marketing, the marketing team has pivoted their efforts to digital marketing with a prioritization for precision over broader reach. Campaigns are able to be designed with specific audiences in mind. “We’re able to target people by interests,” said Paul Larsen, BYU CE’s Strategic Marketing Account Manager. “What we do now is a way more targeted approach than having just a billboard up.”
The marketing and outreach team is also able to target by geographic area by aligning digital campaigns with in-person outreach, as “we’re able to run ads prior to their going there, run them while they’re there, and then run follow-up ads afterwards,” Larsen explained. This emphasis on measurable results allows the team to adapt quickly, ensuring that “what we’re sending out and putting in front of people resonates,” as Larsen put it, positioning BYU Continuing Education at the forefront of modern digital marketing.