Bob Johnson's Blog on Internet Marketing

Spent a marvelous morning yesterday with the Chicago metro REACh group, people from various colleges and universities who focus on "adult" marketing and recruitment. We met at a suburban campus of Illinois Institute of Technology.

REACh's Scott Pfeiffer and Tim Panfil asked for an ambitious program: cover 8 online communication topics in 2 back-to-back sessions of about 75 minutes each. The major challenge: compress some topics that I cover in 2 to 3 hour sessions into just a few key points to take back home. Since it is easier to let presentations grow than to shrink them, that was an interesting and useful exercise.

To start the day, I asked the people present to vote on which of the 8 topics we were covering were most important to them, the proverbial "if you could only pick one of these, which would it be?" question. These are topics (in the order covered) and the votes for each:

• Web Design... 3
• Search Optimization... 6
• Writing Right for the Web... 14
• Paid Search... 0
• Web Analytics... 2
• Video... 4
• Mobile Marketing... 2
• Blogs, Email, Chat Rooms... 7

I was a bit surprised and very pleased by the size of the Web Writing vote compared to the others. And just as pleased to see that the "old favorites" of Blogs, Email, Chat Rooms retain strong interest at a time when it is easy to be dazzled by new capabilities at the expense of "traditional" online communication that is still in favor with the people who use college and univesity websites.

3 New On-Campus Web Writing Seminars

"Writing Right for the Web" continues to be a popular presentation. Between now and early August I'll be doing on-campus sessions at Fielding Graduate University, Stonehill College, and Dominican University. And look for another web conference with Academic Impressions in October and a CASE V Annual Conference session in December in Chicago.

Whether you start on-campus or online, improving the quality of your web writing is often the most important thing you can do for stronger engagement with your visitors. Ask me about a session on your campus at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com

Subscribe to Website Magazine

On a related note, if you have never checked Website Magazine, do that soon. Each issue includes worthy articles on more than one of the topics listed above. The current issue is at www.websitemagazine.com where you can subscribe to either a print or an electronic version. Or both. 

That's it for now.

Posted by Bob at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

options

With online video playing a more and more important marketing role, sometimes you might not want to sit back and wait for people to walk in your door or over the electronic highway with new video for your website. Sometimes you might want to spark things along. And that's what's happening now at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.

Andrew Welch, operations supervisior and graphic designer at IPFW, sent word this morning that Chancellor Michael Wartell launched the contest for "Your IPFW Story" on October 1. Any student who is at least 18 years old can compete. Contest rules note that "possible subjects include your classes, professors, student life, performing arts, athletics, your favorite place on campus, what’s changed on campus such as new buildings, student housing and so forth."

As usual in a contest like this, all the videos become the property of IPFW and can be used "for other projects the university deems worthwhile." That, we'll assume, includes online use from the university's website.

If you're thinking about a similar activity, you can review the 'Your IPFW Story' contest guidelines at http://www.ipfw.edu/publications/youripfwstory.html

The contest runs until November 30. The vacation trip takes place at the same time as an annual Alumni and Friends visit to Florida.

Can't wait for contest results? See video about IPFW on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=IPFW&search=Search where you'll find a long series of stories about campus events as well as a recent TV ad campaign. 

.

Posted by Bob at 08:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

options

How much will video replace text in online communications?

Obviously, not completely. But in some cases, especially story telling, video just might be a better way to engage visitors. Here are three examples that are worth exploring as you ponder future directions for your web communications plan:

• Capella University has preplaced traditional text testimonials by students with three video segements on the front page of the website at http://www.capella.edu/ The videos explore an academic program, financial aid, and the online learning environment.
• The Kenan-Flagler Business School is using a variety of student videos to illustrate various marketing points. Why is an MBA a good "Return on Investment"? Listen to the answers at http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/programs/emba/advance/roi.cfm and continue on to others that include balancing work and family obligations while studying part-time.
• Boston University uses faculty and student videos from the front page of the website to introduce academic and social life as well as the college experience in Boston at http://www.bu.edu/

The rapid increase in broadband household penetration over just the last year or two is responsible for the ability to easily watch video on a home computer. Comcast and Yahoo offer a plethora of opportunity from the sublime to the ridiculous. YouTube has exploded. Expectations for what's on college and university websites are changing as a result.

Keep one critical point front and center: video is "just" another form of content. And that content has to match what key audiences expect to learn and do on your website. Ask them what that is. Then start filming.

Posted by Bob at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

options

Nancy Schwartz has posted a blog entry with summaries and links to the thoughts of several people involved in online marketing, including yours truly. You'll find an interesting and valuable variety of thought here that will result in stronger video marketing in your communications mix.

The links are in her report on "How to Use Online Video to Strengthen Your Nonprofit Marketing Impact -- Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants" 

Visit http://www.gettingattention.org/my_weblog/2007/09/how-to-strength.html for the review.

Nancy notes that part of the discussion is about the value of amateur vs. professional videos in the marketing effort. I agree 100 percent with her assessment of this:

• "There is an active debate what quality means, and adds, in online video. Some Carnival bloggers hold out for the authenticity of amateur video. My take -- that amateur video will soon become tedious as the novelty of the medium erodes. Expectations for higher-end production values will begin to increase very quickly. I've watched this cycle before, most recently with blogging."

When you visit the blog, be sure to sign for Nancy's "Getting Attention" email newsletter.

Posted by Bob at 08:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

options

Nancy Schwartz, who writes a fine blog at http://www.gettingattention.org/ about marketing and not-for-profit organizations, is gathering the thoughts of various marketing consultants about the role of video in online marketing. That question fits right in with my recent post listing several college presidents who have videos on YouTube and with various uses of video I've found on college websites over the past year.

And so here are my speculative thoughts based on what I've seen so far:

• The spread of broadband access in the home is making it easy for people to access video on their home computers. Broadband access is in large part responsible for the tremendous growth in YouTube, at a much higher rate than other social networking sites.
• Comcast, Yahoo, and similar websites have already made video an everyday expectation for websites. When people visit the websites of non-profit organizations, including colleges and universities, they will expect to find video used to help "tell the tale" of the organization.
• What kind of videos? Best are real examples of the organization at work building houses or saving animals or improving water quality or helping orphans or placing students in internship experiences.
• What videos won't work well? Don't spend time having your president or CEO or volunteer head filmed reading the equivalent of a "message from the president" or "our mission statement" or anything else that isn't "real" information that interests real people outside your organization. As with any effective content on the web, videos are best produced with the interests of the external audience in mind, rather than those within the organization.
• Invest in quality production. You'll find great and horrible videos on YouTube. You definitely want to be as near to the "great" end of the scale as resources permit. Just like the photography used in print publications, this isn't a place for amateur efforts.

Let me close with three examples of strong video use in higher education that can be adapted for any not-for-profit organization:

• Boston University uses videos on the home page at http://www.bu.edu/ under the heading of "Learn More about Boston University" to let faculty, students, and staff introduce academics, social life, and the Boston area to visitors. Much better than the usual "About Us" content on college websites.
• At the University of North Carolina, the Kenan-Flagler Business School at http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/programs/emba/advance/roi.cfm uses video to let students talk about how they advance their careers. This is a good examples of "story telling" content that's more effective delivered in video than written out as text.
• Don't be too serious. Check this video from the president at Dickinson College on how to tie a bowtie at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unmiqRbEIUc (Dickinson has an elaborate plan for the use of video on YouTube that you'll find at http://www.dickinson.edu/news/video/)

Posted by Bob at 01:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

options

After my earlier posting on YouTube videos featuring college presidents, Rita Abent at Slippery Rock University sent an email to let me know that Bob Smith was featured in a video introducing prospective students to the school.

You'll find the video a http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOPbYHXNWMI and I've added it to the original list at the August 23 posting for a new total of 9 YouTube presidents.

One immediate difference that strikes me between blogs written by presidents and most of the vidoes I've watched so far: the vidoes are much more formal and in the "public relations marketing" mode while most of the blogs feel much less scripted. No surprise in that. Both forms of communication have a place in the online world, although there's still an imperative to have even the more formal videos present a "real" picture of the president and the campus.

The Slippery Rock video, for example, does just that. The message is pretty clear: this isn't your father's or mother's Slippery Rock University any more. Lots of new buildings. Higher academic standards for entry, More demanding academic work while you're enrolled. And greater rewards for graduates in the workplace after earning a degree.

How effective are presidential messages like these as part of the marketing mix? Too early to say. But it is good to see that people are experimenting and learning more about how to best use video as a valuable Web 2.0 practice.

Posted by Bob at 07:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

options

Brian Niles at TargetX a few days ago sent along a link to a YouTube video... the president of Dickinson College talking about his leadership of a campaign to develop a new (and, of course, better) college evaluation system in contrast to the US News and World Report version.

That made me wonder... just how many college presidents are appearing on YouTube these days? For now, I haven't included interviews or speeches, just videos of the presidents at the schools listed here talking on the topics below.

Dig deeper and you'll also find commencement addresses and interviews with presidents in a variety of formats. Meantime, if you always wanted clear instructions on how to tie a bowtie, give thanks to the president at Dickinson. I actually think I might be able to do it now.

From what I found, Dickinson College is the only example of a planned effort to present the president to his YouTube audience on a regular basis, with at least three videos to date. Overall, YouTube lists 84 videos about Dickinson.

Visit and decide for yourseelf. Are these interesting? Inspirational? Brand building? A help to student recruitment?

Agnes Scott College... Why I came to Agnes Scott College at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0Nhr_3kI4c

Carleton College... Carleton Class of 2004 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BidpAaKtnc

Dickinson College... How to tie a bowtie at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unmiqRbEIUc

Dickinson College... The importance of volunteering at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twD8NdXpEvM

Fort Lewis College... President's Welcome at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwu7qGNKY10

Lehigh Valley College... August Video Update (on the impending sale of the college) at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_3X10kYzqg

McDaniel College... Welcome to McDaniel College at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfXSMUcUHxk

Saint Francis University... Students in Free Enterprise welcome at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqlstQKyh7Q

Slippery Rock University... "Overview" of the university at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOPbYHXNWMI

Sonoma State University... Welcome by University President at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt-DOLaX39o

And not to forget Brian's original email... at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0-FFO_Inak the Dickinson College president rallies the faithful against the US News rankings.

Posted by Bob at 01:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

options