How to Strategically Expand Your Online Adult Degree Programs
So you’ve built a successful online adult degree program. No small feat. Now you need to keep your foot on the gas to keep the momentum going.
Your first instinct might be to “go wide” with your program expansion strategy by launching a variety of new, unrelated programs to pair with your successful offering. While this diversification strategy might reap great rewards for consumer packaged goods giants like Unilever and Procter & Gamble, higher education is different. Your institution is different.
I find myself making the following recommendation over and over again when it comes to expanding online degree programs: Go deep, not wide.
This means building upon the success of your existing program by developing specialized offerings within the same field. The “go deep” method might not be the most popular, but in my experience, it’s often the most effective. Let’s break it down further — or should I say, dig deeper — to see if this approach is right for your school.
What Does Going Wide Mean for Your Online Adult Degree Programs?
Let’s start with a hypothetical example: You have established a successful online Master of Business Administration (MBA) program with a positive reputation in the region.
Recently, you’ve heard cybersecurity and nursing degree programs are experiencing industry growth, so you decide to pursue programs in those areas next to build out a wider range of offerings.
Unfortunately, this strategic path can be a mistake. Here’s why:
- Lack of synergy among programs: When universities add new, unrelated programs, they often fail to create synergistic relationships among all their programs. Each program operates in isolation without benefiting from the shared resources, expertise, or cross-promotional opportunities that could exist if the programs were more aligned.
- Missed opportunities to leverage existing brand equity: Diversifying into new areas causes institutions to overlook the strength of their existing brand. A well-established program, like a thriving online MBA program, comes with significant brand recognition and trust that new programs lack.
However, expanding within the existing framework of business administration can allow for the amplification of this established brand equity, rather than starting from scratch with each new offering.
Why Going Deep Is More Effective
In higher education, the smart, strategic allocation of resources is crucial. You could put your institution’s limited resources toward a whole new program, such as a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program or a Master of Science in Cybersecurity program. Or, you could just attach a new or adjacent offering to your successful online MBA program to channel your resources into an established program realm.
Forget efficacy for a moment. Which strategy sounds more efficient?
The good news is that going deep in one area of program offerings is often more effective and efficient. Instead of developing an entirely new adult degree program from scratch, you can simply add value to your existing online business program.
This might come in the form of added concentration options, such as MBA concentrations in entrepreneurship, accounting, finance, marketing, management, or strategic communications.
It could also involve adding another relevant degree program within the same area of study. For example, since you’re seeing a lot of success with your MBA program, you could add a finance or accounting degree program to build on the success and reputation of the established program.
Key Benefits of Going Deep With Your Online Adult Degree Programs
I’ve had experiences both ways: some institutions go wide, others go deep. For those that go wide, I’ve often seen siloed marketing efforts, inefficient allocations of resources, and sporadic and unpredictable enrollment. For those that go deep, I see the following benefits:
More Students Attracted
Broadened appeal for students already interested in the primary program: By offering more concentrations within a well-established program, or adjacent degrees within the same field, your institution can appeal to a broader range of interests and career goals within your current student audience base.
More options for prospective students due to increased specialization: Specialized degrees and concentrations allow students to tailor their education to their specific interests and career paths, making the program more attractive to applicants seeking focused expertise.
Increased Marketing Efficiency
Ability to leverage existing web pages and SEO for the main program: Concentration pages can be added as subpages to the main program’s page, which likely already has a strong search engine optimization (SEO) presence. This setup benefits from the existing search engine rankings and requires less effort than starting marketing from scratch for a new program.
Faster path to high search rankings for new concentrations, creating a marketing loop: The SEO efforts for the main program boost the visibility of the new concentrations, which in turn contribute to the overall authority and ranking of the main program’s page. This synergy creates a self-reinforcing cycle that enhances the visibility of all offerings.
Enhanced paid marketing efficiencies: Adding concentrations in areas where significant traffic already exists for broad terms — like “MBA,” “business degree,” or “finance degree” for an MBA program — allows institutions to more effectively utilize their paid advertising budgets. Expanding the program options for your existing traffic allows you to improve your click-to-lead conversion rates, increase your number of leads, and enhance your downstream successes in areas such as enrollments and completions. This approach allows for a more efficient use of marketing investments, providing more options for prospective students within the same budget.
Faster Accreditation Process
Streamlined accreditation process by expanding within an already accredited program: Adding concentrations within an existing program simplifies the accreditation process. Because the core program is already accredited, expanding it with concentrations requires fewer approvals and less bureaucracy than launching an entirely new program.
Ready to Go Deep With One of Your Online Adult Degree Programs?
If you’ve seen success with an online adult degree program offering, you’ve already taken a momentous step toward growth — which is something to be proud of. It also creates massive opportunity, and Archer Education is poised to help you capitalize on it.
Archer is different from other agencies. We work as your online growth enablement partner, helping you to foster self-sufficiency over the long haul through collaboration, storytelling, and cutting-edge student engagement technology.
We’ve helped dozens of institutions increase enrollment and retention through a going deep approach, and your institution could be next. And once you’ve solidified the reputation and success of your core online offering by going deep, we’ll be ready to help you pivot to a wider approach to expand your position in online learning.
Contact us today to learn more about what Archer can do for you.
