webinar: converge 2015 recap

PRESENTERS:

Ann OlesonMegan Cendrowski

Converge 2015 RecapWEBINAR | 11.12.15

About the Presenters

Megan is Vice President of Content Strategy at Converge. She leads inbound strategy and content development to build new websites and innovative marketing campaigns for colleges and universities across the country.

Ann is Converge’s CEO and founder. She is passionate about leading the discussion on what is new and next in higher education. She loves working with clients and is thrilled that, in the past 4 years, Converge has partnered with over 100 colleges and universities.

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Overview

1. Higher education is doing inbound2. Personas are driving strategy3. Search is changing big time4. Content is strategic5. Measurement matters

1. HIGHER EDUCATION IS DOING INBOUND

Inbound PassGetting your campus to support a new (digital) game plan

THE AU Digital Marketing Game Plan

• Google Universal Analytics

• Recent adoption of CRM tool

• Pilot: 4 graduate programs• 3 partners• Governing group• Project manager

• Evaluate – how did it work?

• Assess – what is core, what can be outsourced

• Scale up

Personas

KEY MESSAGES AUDIENCE – PUBLIC ANTHROPOLOGY

Achieve your American Dream 

Springboard for careers in public service, community organizing, and social advocacyConcentration in cultural/social anthropology or in archaeology

Gain important skills in interviewing, how to pay attention to language & subtlety, how to analyze text

Joint venture with the Peace CorpsD.C. ranked #2 best city for job seekers

Success rate for employment is highOpportunities at NGOs

(UN High Commission for Agencies, Alzheimer's Association, or American Indian Education)Make your community, country, and world better

Destination D.C. 

#1 coolest city in America - Forbes 2014 Live & Learn

Most literate city in the nationDynamic arts & cultural scene

World-renowned museums & historical sites

Monumental Learning 

Acclaimed and dedicated facultyArcheology is big focus

Commitment to social justiceLavender Language Conference

Community-based documentary filmResearch project

Community voice projectField studies such as Great Dismal Swamp

Small classes deepen learning

Message Matrix

Blogs generate inbound links to program page

Recruiter Communications Map Post-Inquiry & Post-Application Workflows

INQUIRY EMAIL 1 CALL A EMAIL 2 EMAIL 3 CALL B EMAIL 4 NEW WORKFLOW

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APPLY EMAIL 5 CALL C EMAIL 6 EMAIL 7 EMAIL 8 EMAIL 9

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Post-Inquiry WorkflowEmail 1 – Thank You – Inquiry Follow Up • Immediate follow up to inquiries upon submission• Someone will be in touch within 24 hours • Addresses “Why American?” – high level program details

Call A – It’s Great to Meet You – Introduction to Program Liaison• Gives more details on the program and addresses questions• Prefaces Email 2 – “I’ll follow up with more information tomorrow”

Email 2 – Experience American – Testimonials & Stories• Complements Call A – continues the conversation• Includes testimonials and videos of featured students or alumni• Value of an American University graduate education, vibrant community

Email 3 – Your Degree is Within Reach – Addressing Barriers• Addresses barriers to application (costs, time, prerequisites)• Presents information on scholarships• Directs the student to financial aid for more information

Call B – Are You Still Interested? – Q&A – From Program• Use this conversation to re-engage the student or remove from workflow• Prefaces Email 4 – “I’ll follow up via email tomorrow.”

Email 4 – The Time is Now – Apply• Don’t wait. The time to earn your graduate degree is now.• Outcomes information, internship opportunities

Post-Application WorkflowEmail 5 – Next Steps – Reminder to Complete Application• Immediate follow up to applications upon submission• Reminder to complete application before upcoming deadline• Provide a point of contact to reach out to with questions

Call C – How can I help? – Final Reminder to Complete Application• Designated point of contact reaches out to student directly• AU value propositions and why a graduate education is worth it

Email 6 – Confirmation – All Application Materials Received• We’ve received all of your application materials – thank you!• Directs the student to financial aid for more information

Email 7 – Campus Visit – Event Information• Confirmation that registration has been received• Details expectations for visit and time / date information• Provides engaging details about the vibrant D.C. community

Email 8A – Congratulations – Automated Acceptance Email 8B – Thank You – Automated Deny

Email 9– Deposit – Paid

Results, Lessons learned

Wins

• Faculty love the personas• Staff motivated and empowered• Message matrix makes the CRM more powerful and efficient• Program and landing pages make redesign of other pages easier• Leads for the 4 pilot programs are up 88% over same time, last year• Program page (SEM) accounts for 33% of leads• Landing page (SEO) accounts for 34% of leads• Lead volume is quickly such that we can begin to retarget• Applications started up 34%• Deans and program directors lining up to be next!• Case management systems (internal and external) too new to evaluate

Prospects Applications Started

Applications Submitted

Applications Completed

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109

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Sum of Total as of 8/31/15Sum of Total as of 8/31/14

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3Origin Source

Event AttendeeGraduate FairLanding PageOnline ApplicationOpen HouseProgram PageWeb, Create AccountWeb, Inquiry(blank)

The PreparedU Project: Our On-Ramp to Inbound

@ValerieFox, Bentley University | #CONVERGE2015

PreparedU/prəˈperd yo͞o/noun

1. A storytelling platform to position Bentley as an authority on preparing graduates for career and life success.

What does Prepared mean to you?

PreparedU: Media Rollout

• Content formats› White papers› eBooks› Alumni magazine articles› Infographics› Videos› Live events programming

• 4 Phases over 18 months› Phase 1: Millennial Preparedness› Phase 2: Millennial Women in the Workplace› Phase 3: Millennials at Work› Phase 4: Getting Millennials Ready to Work

Results: 400% growth in YoY media impressions

Marketing Ecosystem

Source: Twittermania.nl

PreparedUContent

PreparedU Extension: Paid, Owned, Social

• Content formats› Blog posts› eBooks› Infographics› Longform articles

• Channels› Paid: content syndication› Social amplification› Owned

– bentley.edu/prepared– Alumni magazine– Email newsletter

Results

2. PERSONAS ARE DRIVING STRATEGY

My Imaginary FriendsUsing Personas to Target Prospective Students

Sandra Soliz Assistant Vice President, Marketing Communications

Brenda Cooper Assistant Director, Content Marketing

Copyright © 2015 University of St. Thomas

What is a Persona?

A fictional sketch of an audience segment, based on customer demographics and behavior, along with an understanding of their motivations and challenges.

Marketing personas contain in-depth, lifelike character traits, including names, to help guide marketing and content decisions.

The most effective personas are on-brand and data-driven.

How to Use Personas

• Developing web content• Restructuring existing web content• Outlining new brand messaging• Generating marketing initiatives and campaigns• Getting consensus on audience segmentation• Brainstorming and sharing ideas with internal teams

http://convergeconsulting.org/blog/2014/07/user-personas-higher-ed/

Why Develop Personas?• When you put a name and background to the people

reading what you write, you can meet their needs better

• When you build personas for your core audience, you can improve the way you solve problems for customers

• You can relate to your audience as human beings

https://blog.bufferapp.com/marketing-personas-beginners-guide

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UNC Chapel Hill - Essay

PERSONA TEMPLATE• Describe my demographics.

• Goal: What am I trying to achieve?

• Background: Describe my education and professional experience.

• Challenges: What pain points might I experience?

• Behaviors + Habits: What are my hobbies and interests? What unique personality traits do I have?

• Online Activities: What websites am I on? What social media channels do I use?

• Influencers: Who has a say in my decisions?

• Key information: Why am I screening your website? What am I looking for?

RESOURCE: MAKE MY PERSONA

Persona generator: makemypersona.com

3. SEARCH IS CHANGING BIG TIME

Now Google looks like this

And they are not big fans of SEO

Google’s advice for Content/SEOhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8s6Y4mx9Vw

Our reaction: MAKE MORE CONTENT

2.5 Million Blog Posts Daily

Source: Worldometer/Technorati

67% of marketers deem blog posts or articles as the most effective content format

FB: 25% of social traffic. 1.3M shares/min

http://bit.ly/1LCSdl6

79% of marketers report their orgs are shifting

to branded content

Source: Forrester Research

Old way: Get all the links and shares to the hub

New way: Publish to all the streams that work for your audience

The Goal: Loyalty

Content types that create loyalty

http://bit.ly/1d4kZfsSource: The Dutch Linkbuilder

Reality Check:It can take 12-17

months

Source: Content Marketing Institute

On Page:- Content- HTML- Architecture

Off Page:- Links- Social- Trust- Personal

ON PAGE VS. OFF PAGE

Content

ON PAGE: CONTENT

NNU

LEARNING TO C.O.P.E.

NNU

Goals and Volume

NNU

Content Themes• Brand Focus• Usable content ideas• Practical enrollment ROI

10 themes over12 months

25% increase in organic search traffic

RESULTS: NNU

4. CONTENT IS STRATEGIC

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Organization of current content key

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Organization of current content key

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Organization of current content key

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Organization of current content key

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Organization of current content key

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Rose – meet with your librarian

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Organization of current content key

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Organization of current content key

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Organization of current content key

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Organization of current content key

UNC - Blogs

UNC - Amplification

5. MEASUREMENT MATTERS

Effective Marketing Measurement

Shelby ThayerPenn State Outreach and Online Education

The LandscapeWhy Measure? Campaign Measurement

Setting up to be effectiveTechniques for troubleshooting campaigns Types (email and content)Attribution

Measure marketing campaign effectiveness.Optimize marketing campaign and websites.

The goal of measuring is to improve.

Measuring Campaign Effectiveness

Micro and Macro Goals!

Macro Goal: Visit ApplyEnroll

Micro Goal: Read about the schoolRead about majorsWatch videosUse the tuition estimatorChat with admissionsCall admissionsFill out an RFI

Trackable URLs

Rule #1: StandardizeParameters

Parameter labels should be exactly the same.

Create a 'smart' spreadsheet.

Terminus App http://www.terminusapp.com/blog/best-analytics-url-builder/

Click ThroughBounce RateConversion Rate% New UsersPages per sessionAverage session duration

High % new sessions

High bounce rate

Low engagement

0 conversions

Target audience in upper funnel? Assisted conversions!Look at your micro conversions! Does the landing page match the ad?Consider A/B testing the landing page.

The goal of measurement is to improve. Know your website goals.Get out of GA every once in a while!Setting up accurate tracking is critical. Don't obsess about not being able to measure everything.Problem-solving approach to campaign troubleshooting.Context is everything.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Lessons Learned (Mistakes We Made For You)Photo Source: The Minimalists

Photo source: scribewise.com

Think differently.

Photo source: scribewise.com

Don’t expect to find a playbook.

Focus on a goal.

Create. Promote. Measure.

Amplification kicks in

Content Syndication: Outbrain, Taboola, Nativo Paid Social: LinkedIn, Facebook, TwitterSEO: On-site optimizationEmail: Bi-weekly newsletters

29x Growth in Traffic

Tree falling in forest

Source: Why Content Marketing Fails, Rand Fishkin

Don’t strive for perfection.

Just get started.

@rcameron1

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Thank You!

Ann OlesonCEO & Founder

@anncolesonann@convergeconsulting.org

Megan CendrowskiVP of Content Strategy

@megancendrowskimegan@convergeconsulting.org