Creating A Successful Online Communication StrategyRachel Welsh, Webmaster and Director of Data Operations – The Shipley School

Kelley Jarrett, Internet Solutions Consultant – Blackbaud

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If you’re tweeting about this session, please use the following hashtag:#npcomm

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Segment your audience Segment and personalize your online message Key target groups – engagement stage

– Communication and reminders for prospective families– Encourage alumni to attend events and volunteer– ShipleyNet: Students, Alumni , Parents, Colleagues and Trustees

Unique target groups – interests, participation level, event involvement– Parents – (1) Announcements for all-school and for the divisions in

which their students are enrolled (2) Back to school forms required only displayed for grade levels in which students are enrolled

– Trustees – a working environment for them to share– Major donors, targeted online asks– Young alumni – mentor program involvement– Past event attendees

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Launch marketing effortsGenerate excitement via multiple marketing channels

– Email and Direct Mail– Social Media (Facebook, Twitter)

• Page Sharing• Tweet This: I just applied/donated/registered for the reunion –

you should too!• Social Media Contest

– Postcards– Website Launch Power Point

• Sent to All Colleagues• Shown to parents at Back to School Nights and Parent Visiting

Days

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Email and results 8 days later

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Launch Marketing Efforts Know how your audience responds, and react based on success.

– Surveys– Polls

Do not make any assumptions about an audience’s comfort level and/or skill level– RSS/News Feeds

Give them a reason to come back: • Change events and content often• Share results, stories and answers

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Educate your audience Don’t assume your constituents know how use an interactive website or

where to find it.– Attend scheduled meetings and get face-to-face time– Create a thoughtful navigation structure that is intuitive to your

audience– Incorporate calls to Action– Involve internal audiences early, get them on board!– Provide helplets and instructions where

possible – from anywhere on the site

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Utilize targeted contentPersonalizing the online experience will help your audience feel more

connected to your school AND will increase involvement.– Prospective Students – upcoming events, deadlines, status

checklist– Students – grades, class pages– Parents – updates, status of student activity, Grade and division

specific information, parent support community– Teachers – class pages, online assignments, information share

(blogs), teacher support community– Alumni – job boards, directories, events, special initiatives, class

notes

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Utilize targeted content. Different messages to

different roles– Alumni – “Get in Touch”– Parents – Announcements

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Analyze your web traffic Message more effectively and efficiently Make more strategic decisions about how to communicate Ex - include headmaster blog or urgent school news on the top 5 pages

visited by viewers.

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Solicit feedback Don’t assume you know what your constituents want.

– Parent Focus Groups– Polls– Surveys– Email Preferences

Combine these with what you already know to get more bang for your communication buck.– Stop wasting money on direct mail where email is more effective– Show you’re listening– Create new, creative initiatives based on interest

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Encourage participationYou want your constituents to participate in every way – events, volunteer,

mentorships, recruitment, etc. Give users the ability to share their own stories, comments and needs

that other community members can respond to.– Class notes– Message boards and blogs

• Specific to Event• Pose a Question and facilitate discussion• USE the community – once started, users will follow

– Profile Update• Where Are you Now?

– Surveys/Polls with participation rewards• Daily question about the school’s history that students can

answer – first 5 correct answers win a prize!

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Build Connections Parent Directories

– Multiple “Interactive”– Multiple “Printable”

• Uses Queue to run monthly and then manually publish

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Alumni Directories

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Promote stewardship - Share successes, ideas and thoughts to help communicate what you’re doing to further your school’s mission.

College placements Careers Chosen Accolades Fundraising Successes

– Equate donations to tangible gifts

– “Meet our Donors” New developments on campus Famous/award winning alumni

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Stimulate the sensesConsider using multimedia to make a personal connection.

– Vimeo, YouTube, SmugMug, Slideshow Pro – free hosting, security parameters and additional social networking options built in

• Host multimedia and Podcasts with a single, more cost effective vendor

– Video testimonials from parents, teenagers, athlete, and past event attendees

• Take advantage of social networking and marketing opportunities (allow users to “like” a video, tweet the page/video)

• Incorporate a video with calls to action– Last year’s event video next to registration for this year

• Use targeted Content to keep sensitive media private

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Keep Content Fresh A stale site results in less return visitors. Keep it simple and up to date

with new content daily to encourage repeat visits and increased participation.

Shipley’s CasinoNight Fundraiser– Planned 8 stories– Written in advance– Posted each week– Each story focused on a particular aspect of the event

Capitalize on real time data connections

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Enjoy Small SuccessesIdeas and strategies will promote long term growth and success, however,

getting the basics done and done right is THE MOST IMPORTANT step you can take towards a successful online strategy

Slow and Steady Wins the Race Thoroughly test (multiple times, multiple users, multiple scenarios) What will make your website a success? Have real, measurable

results. Gather statistics and celebrate milestones met. Document, Document, Document!

– Documenting small successes help pave the way and secure funding for larger initiatives down the road.

– Knowing what works, what doesn’t, and adjusting your plan accordingly defines success in web strategy projects.

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Work Smarter, Not Harder Re-use the data you’re already tracking– event registration

– “See Who’s Coming” using RE Query of registered and BBNC Directory part

Use the same content in multiple places (Start with your News) Online RSVP for Alumni Events cut down on hours of duplicate entry Online Admissions and Reenrollment Profile Updates Set most roles based off of EE or RE Queries Many Roles - Limited and Shared Responsibilities

– Athletics maintains sports teams pages– Alumni director updates Alumni events – Admissions coordinator adds admissions events to the calendar

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