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Your Higher Education Marketing Newsletter
24 May 2006
May greetings and for the U.S. readers, best wishes for a fine Memorial Day weekend. I’ll skip the Link of the Week this Friday and resume those the following week. Thanks to everyone who has recommended a site to feature. I visit them all and will include several as soon as possible. Nine featured links are at www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/linkoftheweek.html.
The “Guide to Success in the Interactive World” is almost ready for “Day with an Expert” on June 23. How much can we cover in one day? Not everything, that's for sure. But if you attend this event, you'll get a thorough briefing on the most essential points about internet advertising, writing for the web, converting prospects to inquiries, key website content, and more. Visit www.aslaniangroup.com/events/default.asp for schedule and registration details.
Send a friend to www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com to subscribe to my newsletter. Name, email, and 10 seconds are all it takes.
38 Best Email Campaigns
Marketing Sherpa provides a wealth of information on the reasons they selected 38 examples of email activities in 12 categories at www.marketingsherpa.com/sample.cfm?contentID=3242.
You’ll be dizzy if you try to read everything at once. Scan the category lists that include opt-in campaigns, auto responders, word of mouth generators and more for the one that you can best use. Click through on the category winners for short summaries of why the winners were selected, included regular notations of best practices. If you want to increase your email effectiveness, this is a valuable visit.
Notre Dame’s Online Landing Page
Getting people to click through your web advertising or email search is the easy part. Getting them to become an inquiry after they click is too often the part that doesn’t work as well as it should. For a fine example of how to “do” a landing page, visit Notre Dame’s effort here for an Executive Education program.
You’ll find an easy to scan summary about the program that repeats and reinforces the heading of the web ad, along with a blessedly short inquiry form that won’t intimidate anyone. The form requires a phone number. That’s good if you want to screen for seriousness and if you intend to use it. If not, don’t ask. A nice touch in this case is the ability to tell the caller if daytime or evening is preferred. And the form notes that an evening call won’t come later than 9 PM.
Ad Age Picks 8 Top TV Commercials
For a little diversion into the creativity of the advertising mind, venture to adage.com/vidt?pId=1 and view your choice of eight “TV Spots of the Week.”
Reality marketing is not sweeping all before it. That’s clear from the Ask.com ad that touts the Google competitor’s search system with an example of how people can use it to defend themselves during attack by a bear. If it can do that, it must be better than the others, right?
Future of Higher Education Update
The President’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education is moving along toward a fall deadline for a report to the Secretary of Education. With the current state of political affairs, it isn’t easy to predict how much policy makers will pay attention to the report but the observations and recommendations certainly will be talked about, especially the stance taken on productivity and cost and how much government should attempt to influence these.
Inside Higher Education is one of the best places to follow along on what Commission members are discussing. Visit www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/05/22/commission for the latest update on “The Hurdles Ahead.” A list of the 19 Commission members is at www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/hiedfuture/members.html.
Public relations marketers especially should follow along now to position their presidents for possible commentary on the final report.
Strengthen Your Website Press Releases
Gerry McGovern shares thoughts on eliminating redundant words in your press releases in “Choose customer words, not organization words” at www.gerrymcgovern.com/nt/2006/nt-2006-05-22-customer-words.htm.
The key point is this: “Never, ever start a sentence or heading on your website with the name of your organization.” And that, of course, is often the way a press release starts since the original writer intended it for someone outside your organization.
Here are my other recommendations for your website press releases. Make the title search engine friendly. Use two or three bullet points for the most important things you want people to know so people’s eyes will find them right after or even before reading the title. Give links from those points direct to additional information about them.
Tell Your Story Better, Brand Better
You can’t have an effective branding campaign if you can’t tell the story of your college or university in a way that resonates with (almost) everyone on your campus.
“The Story Book” at www.c2llc.com/C2story will give you some insights into the simplicity and complexity of exploring this on your campus to find out just what people think your story is now. You’ll have to open a 21 page PDF but the words are few and large and you can quickly scroll through the pages. Make notes or print, your choice. You'll find a business pitch on p.20 but before that you’ll find tips to help you move ahead on your own as well.
Enhance your Website Branding with Sound?
I’m not sure what I think of this, but the topic seems worth exploring. Martin Lindstrom urges us to more sound to our websites in his “Sounding the Brand” article at www.clickz.com/experts/brand/brand/article.php/3606866.
Lindstrom notes how few websites use sound at all and cautions that a visitor should always have the option of not having to listen. That said, he believes that the right use of sound just might add the elusive “crucial point of difference” to help people engage with a website and distinguish it from competitors. Read his words and see what you think. Start a new conversation topic at your next marketing team meeting or campus social hour.
Higher Impact from Online Fund Raising
How can you best mix web, phone, TV, and personal contact for maximum fund-raising success? You’ll find success story examples of how to mix new and old tactics to convert first time donors into long-time givers at www.fundraisingsuccessmag.com/features/286101006269903.bsp.
What worked best in one example? For Oxfam Canada, it was phone calls to people who first gave on the web and left their phone numbers behind. Their conversion rate to monthly donors was 13 percent. Email to first time web donors was least effective, converting only .2 percent to ongoing monthly donors.
What’s the marketing lesson? The value of integrating different communication contacts; most organizations, according to this article, still don’t do that. Test different combinations rather than trust to conventional wisdom or educated guessing.
Hispanics and the Internet
The percent of Hispanics in the United States with Internet access was 40.2 percent in 2005 and is projected to grow to 46.7 percent in 2010. That’s one detail in “Reaching Hispanic Internet Users” at www.imediaconnection.com/content/9193.asp.
Overall, a lower percent of Hispanics uses the Internet that African-Americans, Asians, or Whites. Be sure to go to the bottom of the article for a valuable table on preferences among Hispanics 14 to 29 years old for marketing communications in Spanish or in English. The specific questions were on TV advertising but the folks at iMedia Connection believe “Their responses are easily applicable to the online environment.”
Contest for Best University Website
The Web Marketing Association is seeking nominations for “Best University” website, one category among many in the annual awards. To help you decide whether or not to enter your website, see a list of past winners from 1998 to 2005 at www.webaward.org/winners_detail.asp?yr=all&award_level=best&category=University.
Feds Set New College Aid Criteria
Congress continues to implement a desire to shape what is happening in high schools and universities with a new series of Academic Competitiveness Grants (to influence what people study in high school and National SMART Grants (to influence the majors that people select in college). Both programs are for Pell-eligible students.
In a broader context, the programs reflect the willingness of many law makers to reduce institutional autonomy in favor of outcomes deemed more in the public interest, in this case “our nation’s economic competitiveness.” Read a detailed Department of Education press release on the new programs at www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2006/05/05022006.html.
Analysis Paralysis in Interactive Marketing
If you’ve ever been frustrated by an excess of timidity on your campus about email and other forms of interactive communications, you’ll find emotional support and more in Al DiGuido’s article at www.clickz.com/experts/em_mkt/opt/article.php/3603456.
The story starts with a recent attack by Tom Peters on people who have to have proof upon proof that a new venture in interactive marketing will work before they will try it. That, says Peters, is a recipe for competitive disaster. DiGuido is urging you to “test boldly and fearlessly” and not be intimidated by afraid of change or of making a mistake. Well done.
Perils of Email Communication
Be sure to read the Christian Science Monitor article “It’s all about me: Why e-mails are so easily misunderstood” at www.csmonitor.com/2006/0515/p13s01-stct.html for worthwhile insights that will help you take a bit more care in navigating the unexpected email communication pitfalls.
The significant problem with email according to the study reported here is the inability to convey the emotion behind the words written. And the key lesson is that this inability increases the need to understand how they person receiving your email will interpret what it says. Learn more about what you can do to bridge the gap between the 78 percent of email communicators who believe their message is understood and the 56 percent of readers who actually understand it correctly.
eduWeb Conference Set for Baltimore
Looking for a program on website development and marketing? Check the 2006 eduWeb conference in Baltimore at www.eduwebconference.com/schedule/schedule.htm in July.
My Upcoming Presentations in 2006
Attend an upcoming event. Share questions and answers with people like yourself who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Hope to meet you soon!
June 14-15, Kerhonksen, NY: SUNY CUAD, “Email Communications” and “Writing for the Web.” Click on "Register Now" at www.sunycuad.org/conference.asp for the full program.
June 21-23, New York City: Aslanian Group, Day with an Expert Series: “Guide to Success in the Interactive World.” Details of the Day as well as days with Carol Aslanian and Patti Georgevitch are at www.aslaniangroup.com/events/default.asp.
June 27, Vail, CO: Academic Impressions Alumni Engagement, Enriching Your Online Presence: “Generating Alumni Loyalty: 12 Tips to Engage Alumni in an Electronic World.” Program and registration details are at www.academicimpressions.com/conferences/0606-alumni-engagement.php.
July 7, Los Angeles, CA: Law School Admissions Council, workshop on recruiting and communicating with Millennials.
July 14, Washington, D.C.: Law School Admissions Council, workshop on recruiting and communicating with Millennials.
July 19-21, Chicago, IL: ACT Enrollment Planners Conference. Session details will come along later. Early information is at www.act.org/epc.
That’s All for Now
Be a marketing champion on your campus.
Bob Johnson, Ph.D. (bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com)
President and Senior Consultant
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC
Consulting services are offered directly to colleges and universities and together with the marketing experts at these partner firms:
Aslanian Group offers market research and enrollment management services to colleges and universities to increase their market share of adult students. Learn more at www.aslaniangroup.com.
Creative Communication Associates is a 22-year leader in the design and implementation of marketing communication strategies for colleges and universities. Learn more about CCA at www.ccanewyork.com.
mStoner helps colleges and universities with Internet strategies and website development to meet changing audience expectations, technologies, market pressures, and institutional positioning. For the details, visit www.mstoner.com.
TargetX brings the power of the Internet to recruit students and communicate with alumni through higher education’s only integrated suite of online tools. Explore what’s possible at www.targetx.com.
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