Bob Johnson's Blog on Internet Marketing

After my note in yesterday's "Your Higher Education Marketing Newsletter" for November about the list of 25 college and university presidents who blog, along came two notes from Kathy Kissane at Philadelphia University and Jason Lisovicz at University of Houston about presidents at PhilaU and University of Southern Mississippi. A quick Google search after that lead to a third new finding at West Virginia University.

And so the list now moves to 28 people. One of these has moved since his first listing at Ohio Dominican University in Ohio to Anna Maria College in Massachusetts, where a new blog is about to start but isn't quite ready yet.

The new entries today are:

• Stephen Spinelli, Jr. at Philadelphia University at http://www.philau.edu/president/blog/
• Martha Dunagin Saunders at University of Southern Mississippi at http://www.usm.edu/blogs/president/
• Mike Garrison at West Virginia University at http://mikesnotes.blogs.wvu.edu/

Read these and other bolgs on the master list at http://bobjohnsonconsulting.com/blog1/2007/07/15_presidents_who_blog_saint_v.html

Have to run off to lunch and discussion groups at Carol Aslanian's seminar here in San Francisco. I'll get these three added to the full group after I'm back from here.

Posted by Bob at 02:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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This Monday's Link of the Week email featured the 17 student and alumni blogs used as the destination point for a new fall branding campaign at the University of Manitoba. Pictures and introductions to those who blog are at http://www.itsmyfuture.ca/index.html

Yesterday Lori Yarchuk, marketing manager, public affairs at the University, wrote that images for the print, transit, and billboard advertising that supports the campaign are also online for your viewing pleasure. You'll find 3 transit ads, 3 billboard ads, and 4 print ads. Each one features a person who is also blogging on the website. See them at http://www.itsmyfuture.ca/campaign.html 

What amazes me most about this is how rare it is. University of Minnesota was featured in a Link of the Week back in November 2006 for the "We Are All Search Engines" campaign. The components of that extraordinary program are available at http://www.brand.umn.edu/discover/howItUnfolds/index.php

But more typical than what Manitoba and Minnesota are doing are the full-page ads that I see in The NY Times Magazine on many Sundays.

• Colleges and universities pay rather large sums for placement in addition to creative (and maybe even a touch of research?) and then leave behind a URL to the front page of the website.
• Assuming that the print ad indeed has impact, how much better it would be to enhance it with a link to special content on the website that expands upon and reinforces the theme of the ad. And in that way, begin to measure the ROI of the expense.

No, it isn't absolutely necessary to do this. The print advertising itself might have an impact. But in this age of mixed media, it truly seems a shame that more people don't take the time and make the extra investment to plan a more intergrated effort.

Congratulations to Manitoba. And to Minnesota. And to anyone else who is thinking about a similar integrated campaign. 

Posted by Bob at 09:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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Yesterday, during a break from sessions at the AMA marketing symposium here in San Diego, I started reviewing the 25 blogs from from college and university presidents listed at http://bobjohnsonconsulting.com/blog1/2007/07/15_presidents_who_blog_saint_v.html

In this case, I was looking to see how many of the blogs included any type of branding or positioning statement at the start of the blog page. And I was surprised to see that almost none of them took advantage of that opportunity. There were some exceptions:

• Pat McGuire's Trinity Washington University blog at http://www.trinitydc.edu/offices/president/blog/ reminds us that Trinity stands for "Innovation, Integrity, Influence."
• The strongest use of a branding element is at Mohawk College of Applied Arts and Technology, where MaryLynn West-Moynes' blog lets us know that Mohawk stands for "Inspiring Learning, Leadership, and Citizenship" at http://blogs.mohawkcollege.ca/blog/president/

And there should be a special note for Dick Celeste at Colorado College. His blog at http://www.coloradocollege.edu/welcome/presidentsoffice/blog/ had a rare title, "Flow of Ideas," that provides a nice introduction to the experience of reading his postings.

And while on the subject of presidents, people here at the Symposium had a special treat yesterday at the lunch time keynote to hear a talk by Dickinson College president William Durden on the 10-year transformation of an ailing if not failing residential liberal arts college into a thriving place with increased applications, restored alumni pride, and a much larger endowment.

The most telling measure in the Dickinson story is the dramatic drop in the tuition discount rate from 50 percent to 30 percent. More than any other single measure, the discount rate for private institutions tells the tale about competitive strength.

It was a great presentation.

Posted by Bob at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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Headed out to San Diego tomorrow and a Sunday afternoon tutorial at the AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education on "Writing Right for the Web," still the most popular topic I'm asked to speak about. And just back from giving an on-campus web writing workshop at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University last Wednesday.

And that makes me think about the answer to a common question: where can I go to learn more about this?

Today, you'll find a plethora of articles and books on the subject with a basic web search. But you can't go wrong starting with Jakob Nielsen and his usability-inspired opinions and resources about web writing at http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/

Jakob Nielsen... on target since 1997

Start back with articles from 1997 and 1998 and you'll find that not many of the basics from a decade or so ago have changed. And yet, only recently does it seem that people who create websites are starting to pay more attention to the quality of writing that's actually needed to engage people at a website and make them feel comfortable about returning to it again.

The AMA tutorial is special for the 3.5 hour length that matches the time usually available at an on-campus presentation. Simply put, that gives time to review and talk more about the subject, including the popular section on writing for search engines added earlier this year.

Web Writing at CASE V in December

After the long version, it is also a special challenge to narrow the material for a 60 or 75 minute version. The next time for that is at the CASE V district conference in Chicago, December 10. You'll find the description of my session and 7 others that focus on creating more effective websites at http://www.casefive.org/conference/2007/web.cfm 

Writing Right for the Web... focus on that and make your website a better place for everyone who uses it.

Posted by Bob at 04:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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It had to happen, didn't it?

Paid advertising is going big time on social networking sites. Wednesday news sources gave major play to news that Facebook would be dipping into personal information people put online so that advertisers can use this information to make sure that when Sally buys a new Sony TV or Tom enrolls in a University of Phoenix online course, that information is sent along to everyone else who is a friend of Sally or Tom.

The strategy, we are told, is to take advantage of word-of-mouth references on the assumption that if you like something, a significant number of your friends will also like it.

Marketers are going to pay major dollars to take advantage of this. And, despite the NY Times headline below, Facebook isn't falling over backwards to make it easy for individual people to keep this from happening. First, you'll have to opt out rather than give permission for this to happen. Second, according to the USA Today story, Facebook is waiting to see how many people are upset by this practice. If there are lots of them, the "We'll react quickly to that" according to the head of Facebook.

Each of the stories below is worth reading, in part to see the differents spins people are putting on the event. The AdvertisingAge story will give you the best peek at just how the new system will work.

And there's absolutely no reason, of course, why colleges and universities might not take advantage of this as well. You'll have to create your own brand space on Facebook and after that you'll be free to play if the ad rates and expected returns justify the investment. Let's watch and see if University of Phoenix, the largest online education advertiser by far, moves into the new arena.

MySpace, of course, is working on its own expanded advertising opportunities. The USA Today story notes that MySpace, at 110 million users, is still far larger than Facebook at 40 million people. In short, stay tuned for the Clash of the Social Networking Titans.

Visit these stories for more information:

• New York Times
• http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/technology/07adco.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin 
• "Facebook Is Marketing Your Brand Preferences (With Your Permission)"
• Advertising Age
• http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=121806 
• "Facebook's Big Ad Plan: If Users Like You, They'll Be Your Campaign"
• USA Today
• http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/2007-08-26-facebook_N.htm
• "Facebook plans to offer targeted ads"

Posted by Bob at 09:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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Amy Garland is the "Web Marketing Coordinator" at Saint Louis University. Not long ago she sent along a note to suggest adding this spot to the web editors list since so many of the responsibilities are related to web writing and content preparation.

I agreed. And I asked Amy to share details of her job description here for other people who are thinking of creating a similar position. She sent the description along and here it is.

Visit the Saint Louis University website at http://www.slu.edu/index.xml

And you'll find the full list of 47 web editor positions at http://bobjohnsonconsulting.com/blog1/2006/08/post.html

Job Summary: Under general direction, initiates, assesses, writes, edits and organizes Web projects; develops proposals, timelines and site maps for projects; conducts usability studies and reports findings; maintains the writing and marketing standards of the University Web site.

CHARACTERISTIC JOB TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1.      Initiates Web projects; gathers, edits, writes and organizes Web content; designs and develops Web pages for schools, departments and offices.

2.      Assesses new and existing Web project requirements with clients; writes proposals and timelines, and develops site maps for projects.

3.      Oversees Web projects to completion, ensuring they reach their intended conclusion.

4.      Builds relationships with Web administrators throughout the University; provides assistances to Web administrators with site maintenance.

5.      Conducts usability studies; prepares reports on study findings and proposed changes to the University Web site.

6.      Maintains editorial writing quality and monitors Web site text and information for appropriate style; maintains marketing standards of the University Web site; adheres to standard guidelines for Web postings.

7.      Performs other duties as assigned.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

• Knowledge of Web applications and technology
• Advanced writing and editing skills
• Editing/proofreading skills
• Strong interpersonal/human relations skills
• Project coordination skills
• Customer service skills, with ability to provide site coordination solutions
• Ability to recognize trends in Web development
• Ability to think abstractly and conceptually

Posted by Bob at 06:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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From a late Friday afternoon review of today's email comes this article from the folks at Advertising Age comparing differences between print and online ads that make an impact.

The full story is at http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=121728

The article, "It's the Message, Not the Medium," reports on a summary of available research that shows (and is this a great surprise?) that magazine readers of print ads are most likely to read an ad if they already know the brand and if they are interested in the product. In that case, people will take the time to read copy in the ad.

Online, on the other hand, has to produce a much more immediate response. Here's the key for online ads:

• "The most important thing is to get their [visitors] attention quickly and to tell them the benefit immediately. There is no greater violation [on the part of] internet advertisers than to assume that the internet visitor has plenty of time on his or her hands,"

The conclusion of the reporters here is that for now "creative is king" over the medium since without the right message delivered the right way, people won't connect with the ads. That's certainly true but the additional message is that creativity for the sake of creativity isn't going to work either. Above all, the content, whether long or brief, has to be relevant to the person exposed to the ad.

If you're advertising online, be fast with the benefit. To harken back to old direct marketing maxims that still work today, you have a second or two to make an impact and create the online equivalent of an open envelope.

Posted by Bob at 03:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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