Since 1996, we’ve focused on reaching all Kansans statewide, and that effort has shown some success. Awareness of our program statewide has improved, with 70 percent of Kansans familiar with “Extension.” Also, our usage numbers are high in the western half of the state. We want to continue to sustain our efforts statewide, to reach all audiences.
However, with our new five year marketing plan, we are establishing some target audiences. Clearly defining target audiences helps promote the aspects of K-State Research and Extension that are most relevant to each group. We don’t change our programming; we just change how and what we highlight about our programming.
For us, the greatest opportunity for growth lies in the metro areas. These are the areas with the lowest percentage of its residents aware of and/or using K-State Research and Extension. These areas also have the highest population density and are experiencing the most population growth. Thus, if we aren’t reaching as many of the current residents as we could and the number of current residents continues to increase, then we are missing the opportunity to reach new clientele in the metro areas.
Another reason to focus on the metro areas relates to legislative influence. The Wichita and Kansas City metro areas alone house 19 state legislators and cover at least part of all four congressional districts in Kansas. Shawnee County, too, provides significant opportunities to reach the Kansas legislative bodies. If constituents in these key areas use our services and see how beneficial they are, then they could become our advocates, and we will stand a better chance of maintaining or even increasing our funding support.
In a similar way, young adults also provide us an opportunity to grow. According to the Census Bureau, approximately 29 percent of Kansans are 24-44 years old. That’s about 769,000 Kansans. Of our current clientele, only 13 percent of our current users are in this age bracket. Also, we have information and programs that interest this age bracket, with materials relating to health and nutrition and environmental preservation topping their list. We have an opportunity to reach out to the young adults and, not only gain current users but, hopefully, future users, as well.
These two audiences are our primary targets for marketing K-State Research and Extension in 2008. How we will reach them is still to be determined. We are working on and testing a marketing campaign, as well as some new features for the K-State Research and Extension homepage. We are not ignoring our current users; we are just trying to reach out to some untapped audiences.
If you need more information, please contact Pat Melgares at melgares@ksu.edu or Linda Sleichter at lsleicht@ksu.edu . If you’d like to comment on this or any Marketing Minute discussion, we encourage you to visit our Marketing Minute blog at http://ksremarketingminute.blogspot.com/ .
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