marketing and social media intervention for connecting with parents

A Marketing andA Marketing andSocial Media interventionSocial Media intervention

Leadership Connections May 18, 2012

Fran Simon | Engagement Strategies, LLCKara Lehnhardt | McCormick Center for EC Leadership

Your Marketing and Social Media Therapistsp

And YOU?And,YOU?

ExperienceExperience

Experienced, formal p ,courses 11% Expert 0%

Very Limited‐ on the job  44%

Moderate on the j b d k hjob and workshops 

44%

TechniquesTechniques

Activity:What’s your self diagnosis?Activity: What s your self diagnosis?

The ZenMarketerThe Nauseous The UndiagnosedThe Emergency The Zen Marketer

I’m currently implementing 

The Nauseous

My program has a marketing or social 

The Undiagnosed

I’m not sure what’s working with my 

The Emergency Room Patient

My program successful marketing and social media strategies in my

media strategy, but I know some parts aren’t working.

program’s marketing or social media strategies.

y p gdoesn’t have  a marketing or social media strategy or I know my strategy

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strategies in my program. 

know my strategy isn’t working.

Don’t worry. We’re here to help!Don t worry. We re here to help!

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Today’s Plan• Find out why marketing isn’t a dirty word

• Thinking about stakeholders

k• Marketing 101

• Break• Break

• Expanding the tools in our marketing mixExpanding the tools in our marketing mix

9© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

* Outreach * Promotion * Advertising * Positioning ** Recruiting * Persuading * Convincing * Advocating

** Lobbying * Demonstrating * Prospecting *

Whatever you call it, * Educating *

y ,marketing is not a dirty word

Marketing hasg

everythinghigh quality early childhood services

If f ili ’t fi d If families can’t find you, you can’t provide services.

Marketing and social media help you

Get foundG fo nby the right people

Do you feel better Yet?Do you feel better Yet?

Don’t panic. Don’t panic. Marketing andMarketing andMarketing and Marketing and social media are social media are simply forms ofsimply forms ofsimply forms of simply forms of communicating communicating with yourwith yourwith your with your stakeholders.stakeholders.

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The History of Twitter www.datamation.com

Activity:Identifying your stakeholders

Children

ParentsRegulating 

Y

Parentsagencies

Your program

EmployeesFunders

BoardCommunity

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BoardCommunity

Communicating your message:Early childhood stakeholders

Children

ParentsRegulating 

Y

Parentsagencies

Your program

EmployeesFunders

BoardCommunity

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BoardCommunity

Thinking from the viewpoint of k h ldyour stakeholders

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Communicating your message:Early childhood stakeholders

Children

ParentsRegulating 

Y

Parentsagencies

Your program

EmployeesFunders

BoardCommunity

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BoardCommunity

What parents care about and need

20© Fran Simon and Kara Lehnhardt Copyright, 2012 

All parents,regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, class, socio‐economic status, or ,culture, want need andwant, need, and expect th thithe same things from their child care…

21© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

Of course they expect…

Of course they expect…expect…expect…

The basics: Healthy food, water shelter

The basics: Healthy food, water shelterwater, shelterwater, shelter

22© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

And, of course they expect  their children to be physically and emotionally safe.p y y y

23© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

All parents want their children to be lovedand to belong in a gcommunity.

24© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

All parents want their children to

feel good about themselves

25© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

They want their children to learn and haveThey want their children to learn and have

enriching experiences.26© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

They want their childrenThey want their children be ready for school. 27© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

And don’t forget…Parents need, want and expect to be able to 

fi d hildfind child care …

28© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

Wh hWhen theyd ineed it…

29© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

And, it must be affordable,

30© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

TheyThey want, expect andand 

deserve th b tthe best

31© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

Parents and program staff want theParents and program staff want the same things! 32© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

Do you communicate with parents basedDo you communicate with parents based on what you

KNOWKNOW

they need, want and expect?33

© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

ng Product Price

tin Product Price

Target

rk

ea

r

P tiPlM PromotionPlace

What is your product?Services

Policies Products and 

PhilosophiesServices

Philosophies

Activity:T li S lTraveling Salesperson

What is it we sell?What sets your “product” apart?

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Marketing Communication Evolution

Conventional WisdomConventional Wisdom:Pushing out messagesE

V g g(Before Social media)

l W M

VO

LU

Social WisdoMI iti t

UT

ION

Inviting engagementand

N

and INTERACTION 37

Conventional Wisdom:Conventional Wisdom:TO GET PEOPLE TO TRANSACT

WE SELL, YOU BUYINTERRUPTION MARKETINGINTERRUPTION MARKETING

l W mSocial WisdomTO GET PEOPLE TO TRANSACTTO GET PEOPLE TO TRANSACT

WORD OF MOUTHWORD OF MOUTHPERMISSION MARKETING 38

Thinking about Transactions:

What do transactions look lik i ?like in your program?

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Promotionthe communication link …the communication link

between sellers and buyers for the purpose ofbuyers for the purpose of

- influencing,g,-informing, orpersuading “buyers”-persuading, buyers

- Dictionary.com

It’s outbound!It s outbound!

Engage(ment)Engage(ment)• involve people intensely

• attract people• attract people

• draw people intoconversation

t t k t • to take part orparticipate

World English Dictionary It’s interactive!- World English Dictionary It s interactive!

AwarenessConvert

The

ConsiderationEvaluation

(FILL IN THE BLANK)

CycleCycle

Interest

Parent Engagement EvolutionConventional Wisdom

• Tell parents• Tell parents• Inform parents• Educate parentsEducate parents

Social Wisdom• Invite parents to engage

• Give them reasons to say good thingsPSSSTT…THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT YOU

43© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

Take a break… You’ve earned it!

30 minutes!

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Activity: Tools in my marketing mix

Traditional Traditional SocialSocialToolkitToolkit ToolkitToolkit

•Email

•Web site•Mail

•Ads

Social Media

•Digital Ads•Phone Book

•Social Media • Flyers

• Brochures • Word of mouth

• Events • Rating sites

• SEO/SEM

46© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

SEO/SEM

Every Program MUST have a website!have a website!

47© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

Child care, my town, my state

Getting FoundFreshContent

Through SEOSocial

Content

Social media

Blog

Good design

Images  Key

design

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gand media

LinksTrafficKey

words

Local Search

Local Search

Local SearchLocal Search

• Claim business listings through Google'sClaim business listings through Google s, Yahoo!'s, or Bings's respective local business centerscenters.

• Claim free local listing with Google Places

• Regular street addresses displayed in hi d bl imachine‐readable text, not images

WebsitesWebsites

54© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

Is eMail Dead? NO! It connects the dotsIs eMail Dead? NO! It connects the dots

55© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

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Social Media Myths It’s easy!

It’s FREE!

It’s INSTANT!

It is all you have to do!

57 It will increase enrollment!© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

Professional Social Media :Professional Social Media :is art and science that takes:

• Openness

is art and science that takes:

• Openness• Planningg• Policies• Training• Persistence• Persistence

58© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

BUTBUT…Social MediaSocial Mediawon’t workn

all by itself

Y till dYou still need comprehensivemarketing

59© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

What do parents do in the i l di db ?social media sandbox?

Meet AskMeet Learn 

Ask Invite

Share Listen

The universe’s largest 24/7/365 sandbox

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g…accessible anywhere

© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

Be Present where parents go

61© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

How much SOCIAL??ABOUT

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of your overall marketing mix

Questions for your interventionists?

Getting SocialGetting Social

FacebookFacebook

65© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

Facebook StatsFacebook Stats

800+ million users worldwide800 million users worldwide

50% of users log on every day

Consumer Peer to Peer Networking,Consumer Peer to Peer Networking66© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

1 thing to remember1 thing to remember

Business pages

67© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

68© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

Link FB Contests

69© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

Gr8 Examples of ECE on Facebook

•NAEYC• McCormick Cntr 4 Early Childhood Leadership• National Head Start AssociationNational Head Start Association• Child Care Resource Center, Ohio *• Children’s Defense Fund *• Bright Horizons• Bright Horizons•Teach Preschool * 23,000 + (WOW!)• Teaching Strategies• Language Castle• The InvestiGator Club• Erikson Institute• Early Childhood Investigations

70© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

Fast, Complex, Broad, Not Deep

TwitterTwitter

Twitter Stats•200 mil users1

Twitter Stats•200 mil users1

• 110 mil active users every day1110 mil active users every day

• 200 mil tweets per day2

•1.6 bil search queries per day2

• Median age: 312

1Forbes.com 2Social Media Today Twitter in Plain English

But, what is it?But, what is it?

“Microblogging”‐ 140 character messages

Getting startedGetting startedGet in there and lurk

Follow other similar &programs & 

organizations…

To learn it View videos and webinars…

To learn it

Get a social media b dd !

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buddy!© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 

Activity: My prescription for successct ty: y p esc pt o o success

1) Based on the information gathered in today’s session,  I realize my marketing strategy needsneeds…

2) Based on the information gathered in today’s session, I’m ready to try….

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4 Final Points4 Final Points

1. A strong marketing plan includes a strong social media plan

2. A strong social media plan is only one l t f t k ti lelement of a strong marketing plan

3 N thi i i t t f !3. Nothing is easy, instant, or free!

4 You can do it Your program depends on it4. You can do it. Your program depends on it.

03People /Sites you should know

Beth Kanter

John Haydon

Mashable, Social Media

Linked Strategies

Hubspot Marketing Resources

Additional ResourcesSocial media resources for getting started

S i l M di l i t l itSocial Media planning tools on my site

Twitter Tips, Tricks, and Power Tools

LinkedIn Presentations

Bonus: Great ECE Blogs

• Birth to Thrive Online: http://birthtothrive.thrivebyfivewa.org/

• Early Ed Watch: http://earlyed.newamerica.net/blogmain/

• Lead from the Start http://circle-time.blogspot.com/

Early Stories • Early Stories http://earlystories.org/

• Language Castle: http://languagecastle.com/wordpress

• Preschool Matters Today: http://preschoolmatters org/Preschool Matters Today: http://preschoolmatters.org/

•The Grass Stain Guru http://grassstainguru.com/

• Teach Preschool http://www.teachpreschool.org/

• 140+ In The Moment http://fssimon.wordpress.com/

• Early Childhood Investigationshttp://earlychildhoodwebinars com/blog 2http://earlychildhoodwebinars.com/blog-2

Thank you!

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