2021-22 Annual Report
Reaching Incredible Heights
In FY22, Marketing and Communications highlighted how UD's approach to affordability, academics, experiential learning and diversity help students succeed.
Divisionwide Initiatives
Diversity and Inclusion
Diversity, equity and inclusion are foundational Catholic, Marianist values. In our marketing and communications, we implemented DE&I best practices, amplified various voices and highlighted UD's commitment to inclusion. As part of our internal processes and efforts, we also made progress in increasing compositional diversity of our team, promoting education among our staff, evaluating our work and serving as a campus resource for DE&I best practices in marketing and communications.
Explore MarComm's DE&I ReportStudent Stories
In today’s environment, it’s more important than ever to highlight why UD is distinctive. Through the "Taking Flight" campaign, we produced powerful student stories that featured UD's commitment to affordability and accessibility; excellence in research and innovation; commitment to real-world learning experiences; caring faculty; and Catholic, Marianist identity. These stories were promoted in digital ads targeted to alumni, prospective students and the general public; in the UD Magazine; and on social media.
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Strategic Communications
University Marketing and Communications shares relevant, timely and important updates with many audiences. In FY22, UD pushed 905 posts and events to Cerkl, which equaled 5,588,159 total impressions. Readers clicked through to a post or event 69,791 times. The team also curated 84 editions of the Campus News Digest for faculty and staff, which generated 76,508 clicks to the UD website. In addition, current students and their parents both received 50 editions of the Student News Digest and Family News Digest, respectively.
UD Magazine
Readership of the print UD Magazine topped 75,000 per issue; the digital publication had 326,792 page views and 32,377 article views. In addition, web readership increased 45%. Among the top-read stories was “A Good Name,” on the naming of Hathcock Hall. Top @daymag tweets covered Christmas on Campus, Easter, men’s basketball managers and Katie Nageotte, a former Flyer and 2022 Olympic pole vault gold medalist.
Areas of Focus
Brand Awareness
During FY22, we implemented a full-scale, in-house digital marketing campaign to enhance and advance UD’s reputation. It garnered 34.6 million impressions, 245.7K clicks and 24.4K conversions - surpassing both industry benchmarks and results from FY21. A new TV commercial, developed and produced internally, aired in 31 national spots and supported digital advertising and social media campaigns. The team also administered 194 paid search ad groups and 2,284 keywords; 12 Momentum stories; 10 print ads; 4 student features; an online editorial in Newsweek and a research infographic, as well as managed the UD Main website.
Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement
We supported record-setting philanthropic, participation and engagement efforts to successfully raise funds and recruit new volunteers from alumni, parents, friends, students, faculty and staff in FY22. An in-house digital campaign, targeted to alumni and donors, garnered 6.7 million impressions, 50.5K clicks and 5.2K conversions. The team also supported the historic results of One Day, One Dayton: 6,634 donors from all 50 states raised more than $2.2 million. In addition, we stewarded donors, surveyed nearly 70K alumni and hosted 2,651 alumni and friends during Reunion Weekend 2022.
Undergraduate Recruitment
Enrollment Management Marketing and Communications supported the University in meeting recruitment goals by producing 50 million digital ad impressions, 7.5 million emails, 45K text messages and 170 print pieces. Key marketing initiatives focused on redesigning the campus visit experience, increasing personalization in communications and responding to national trends impacting students, such as the critical need to support mental health and well-being. As a result of these efforts, UD will welcome one of the most academically gifted classes in history in fall 2022, and 19% of the class comes from historically underrepresented populations.
Social Media
The University’s main social media channels strengthen UD’s overall reputation, build relationships with our audiences and play a critical role in issues management. In FY22, we posted 893 times on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, as well as responded to countless comments and direct messages. Across all platforms, we gained 14,031 new followers, 12.88M impressions and 347,784 engagements. For the third year in a row, UD ranked first on Instagram against competitors. UD ranked second on Facebook and LinkedIn — and third on Twitter.
Telling UD's Story
$7.95 million
in perceived advertising value from media outlet news coverage
2,606
mentions of the University of Dayton beyond Ohio markets
89
videos created to support recruitment, advancement and reputation
4.08 billion
views from news coverage
90.5 million
digital marketing impressions
1.1 million
video views on YouTube and Facebook
The Conversation
In 2021-22, faculty and staff experts contributed 47 articles to The Conversation. Those pieces attracted 843,044 reads by audiences around the world.