Digital marketing in higher education is on my mind as I start preparing for a new series of 2 and 3 hour workshops. To help kick my brain into gear, I prepared an outline of my first thoughts about what to include and sent it to 20 or so people working in a variety of marketing and enrollment management positions in higher education. About 15 sent back a great range of topics to cover. Enough to plan a book. Certainly more than will fit in a single workshop.
- “Given the decentralized
nature of higher ed, depending on who your audience is, I think it would be
helpful to have a discussion of social media vs. social media business. David
Armano from Edelman does a good job describing the distinction on his blog.
Social media is the actual implementation of it – administering an individual
Facebook page, for instance. Social media business is what I do – integrating
all of the individual practitioners, developing social media guidelines,
linking everyone’s individual pages together, developing strategic planning
templates, etc.”
- “Media relations is actually an
important part of search strategy. These things are really connected – and
because web and media relations teams are often separated in an institution –
it can be hard for both to understand.
- “I see media relations teams often
concentrating on getting “the big hits” in a national publication to the
expense of their local/regional efforts. But, if one newspaper (even a small or
mid-size) one runs a release/story on their web site about your programs – then
people searching for say “online MBA in Ohio” find mentions of your
university in the news. Not to mention, this just gives your school/program
that much more exposure in the “ecology” of the web as people share stories.”
3. The peril of contacting people too often
- “E-burnout via too many messages in your inbox and
even on Facebook from the same person or organization (is a problem). In the three years we’ve
been tracking our alumni email blasts and opens, we’ve lost about 6,000
subscribers because we could not segment the messages.”
- “Don’t hide behind computers/email/social media/video games. Stay personal. High touch still works. Watch out for high tech backlash.”
5. How can we keep some control in a social media world?
- “I’ve been on the lookout for tools which incorporate
social media-like experiences into channels over which I have a little more
control- not to the exclusion of Facebook, YouTube, etc., but in addition to. How can institutions capitalize on the familiarity and popularity of social media without forfeiting all control?”
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