it's the cause, not the college: expanding content marketing beyond the brand
DESCRIPTION
On campus, around the world, and even in its own marketing department, Babson College is entrepreneurial to the core. In 2013, the College experimented with creating a content marketing hub geared not toward traditional higher ed audiences like prospective students or engaged alumni, but instead aimed at the much broader sphere of people who share our passion for entrepreneurship. The site, Entrepreneurship of All Kinds™, rallies the community around a cause, not just a college, to extend our brand’s reach far beyond campus.TRANSCRIPT
THE CAUSE, NOT THE COLLEGE EXPANDING CONTENT MARKETING
BEYOND THE BRAND
#CONFABEDU
ELIZABETH ATWATER
MANAGING EDITOR AND BRAND JOURNALIST
BABSON COLLEGE / @ELIZATWATER
GENE BEGIN
SENIOR DIRECTOR OF INTEGRATED MARKETING
BABSON COLLEGE / @GBEGIN
MEET BABSON COLLEGE
Small, private business college 14 miles west of Boston
#1 in entrepreneurship for 21 and 18 consecutive years
Approximately 2000 undergraduate and 1300 graduate students, representing more than 74 countries
Undergraduate program (top 25 in business)
Graduate program - MBA and MS degrees (top 50 in business)
Executive education program (top 10 U.S. and top 20 in the world for custom programs)
Babson Global, which works with corporate, university, government, and foundation partners to advance
entrepreneurship education and Entrepreneurial Thought and Action® worldwide
BABSON COLLEGE
Consider Evaluate BuyGood Luck? Alumni
TYPICAL HIGHER EDUCATION MARKETING
CONSUMER DECISION JOURNEY
Apply
Engage
Enroll
Register
Sign a contract
Hire
Give
BABSON CONSTITUENCY JOURNEY
BRAND CAMPAIGN AUDIENCES
Target Audience: External influencers at the top of the
awareness funnel (recruiters, parents, media, thought leaders)
Secondary Audiences: Advocates (alumni, faculty,
staff) and Prospectives (students, employees)
THE CAMPAIGN: THE CAUSE
In doing so:
• Generate more corporate
relationships.
• Create greater attention with
academic institutions, foundations
and grants organizations, and the
policy community.
• Expand Babson’s application base, in
turn expanding and enhancing our
student and alumni base.
• Augment pride and engage
our community.
Increase brand awareness, engagement, and adoption for Babson, the educator
for Entrepreneurship of All Kinds™.
BRAND CAMPAIGN: REDEFINING ENTREPRENEURSHIP
2750+definitions
ENGAGEMENT HUB / define.babson.edu / CROWDSOURCED
REIMAGINE THAT CONTENT!
THE NEED: CONTENT MARKETING IS
THE SHIZNIT
DCH
<INSERT COLLEGE> NOW
<INSERT COLLEGE> TODAY
INSPIRATION FROM OTHER INDUSTRIES
“Even the most technical subject has to have a
human story behind it. We’ve been able to
convince the management that the content
shouldn’t be about John Deere equipment.”
David JonesPublication ManagerJohn Deere
FOCUS ON THE FARMER, NOT THE EQUIPMENT
In doing so:
• Augment pride and engage
our community.
• Expand Babson’s application
base, in turn expanding and
enhancing our student and
alumni base.
• Generate more corporate
relationships.
• Create greater attention with
academic institutions, foundations
and grants organizations, and the
policy community.
Increase brand awareness, engagement, and adoption for Babson, the educator
for Entrepreneurship of All Kinds™.
BRAND CAMPAIGN GOAL & OBJECTIVES
Entrepreneurship of All Kinds™
INSTITUTIONAL STRATEGY = CONTENT STRATEGY
BUILDING EAK.ORG
• Goal: To shine a spotlight on entrepreneurial leaders, organizations, and ideas that are
making an impact in organizations of all types and sizes and society-at-large.
• How do you resource it?
– IT, Marketing or External?
• First “marketing” development project with internal resources
• Developed internally on WordPress
– Writing – contract or hire?
• Both
– Managing editor – existing or new role?
• New
GETTING STARTED
• Hired as Managing Editor & Brand Journalist
– Started Jan. 2 2013, 11 weeks before site launch
• EAK in progress, but not finished
– Stories to write
– Web development to complete and test
– Images to find and lay out
• Role and site were new for everyone
• Ever-changing responsibilities
– Bridge to PR
EAK.ORG: LAUNCH AND LEARN
STORYTELLING ON EAK
Babson is a busy place…
• Lloyd Blankfein: Goldman Sachs
Chairman & CEO on campus for Babson Investment Banking Conference
• Gail Simmons: Top Chef judge and Food
& Wine editor is an entrepreneur in
residence, providing ongoing mentoring and guest appearances
• Faculty consistently publish bestselling
books like Worthless, Impossible, and Stupid
…with a specific point of view:
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Goal for EAK
Tell stories that are filtered
through a broadly defined
entrepreneurship lens
EAK GOES LIVE
• Launched March 2013
– 12 articles
– Pre mobile-friendly
• Focus Group with SmartBrief (April 2013)
– Chance to listen and learn with our target audience
– Surveyed attendees about first impressions and new ideas
– Served as a soft launch to some external users
• Sponsored Posts in Local Media (May 2013)
– Boston.com and BostInno ran teasers of EAK stories
– Linked readers back to EAK from external sites
– Launched responsive version of site
ROLLOUT TO CAMPUS COMMUNITY
• Presidential Support
– Important to have an internal cheerleader
– Opportunity for key supporters to get in on the ground floor (trustees,
cabinet members, social media ambassadors, etc.)
• Campus Communication Channels
– Branded social media accounts
– Newsletters (Alumni, Parents, Students)
– Homepage feature
– Magazine ads
• Outreach to Define
Entrepreneurship registrants
What is EAK?
What’s in it for me?
Big Names
on Campus
Faculty
Thought
Leadership
Annual
Institutional
Events
Alumni
News and
Stories
Timely
Community,
National, &
World News
Contributions
from Guest
Writers
BEYOND BABSON
• Diversity of sources from other universities, startups, & industry
• For every Babson quote, balance with external example– Pitches from PR reps; Introductions through Babson network; Other schools
• Extends reach beyond Babson’s campus
Sources By The Numbers
Babson Alumni: 14
Babson Faculty/Staff: 28
Babson Friend/Guest: 21
External Quotes: 24
Guest Authors: 2
BUILDING A STORY PIPELINE: ME
• Mine the events calendar for campus speakers
• Collaborate with campus centers and organizations
• List the platform on PR databases to receive pitches and ideas
• Maintain an ongoing, shared list
• Hire freelancers
• Regular Account Manager Meetings
– e.g. Social Innovation Institute, Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial
Leadership, Center for Investments and Finance, Executive Education
• Marketing Strategy Meetings
– Marketing Council, Social Media Council/Steering Committee, Agency
Meeting, Lifecycle Marketing Meeting, Editorial Meeting,
• Big Picture Approach to Marketing Promotion
– EAK is just one slice of the pie
– Opportunity to extend the shelf life or reimagine the story
– Events, research, programs are marketed in other channels too
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS: TEAM
EAK.ORG: RESULTS TO DATE
MOST POPULAR STORIES
5. Investing in Women: A Conversation with Tory Burch
4. Mentors: An Entrepreneur’s Most Valuable Player
3. Hanging in the Balance with Sophia Chang
2. Accounting for Entrepreneurship Inside
1. How an Alpine Adventure Inspired a Business
EAK.ORG WEB TRAFFIC
Boston Globe Content Sponsorship
EAK.ORG TIME ON SITE
Introduced to alumni, faculty, staff
TRAFFIC SOURCES
Top Referrers1. Boston.com
2. Babson.edu
3. Facebook
4. Twitter
5. Student portal
Disqus
Misc.
Social Sharing
Top Sources1. Direct (50%)
2. Boston.com (16%)
3. Google/Organic (11%)
4. Babson.edu (9%)
5. Facebook (2%)
IMPACT ON
COLLEGE GOALS
• 1,014 new user sessions driven to WWW
– 3.78 pages per visit (29% higher than average)
– 5:37 time on site (118% higher than average)
• Goal Conversions
– 7 MBA inquiries
– 3 Executive Education Inquiries
– 2 Undergraduate Inquiries
WHAT’S NEW AND NEXT?
YEAR TWO
• About 50 Articles– Insights from Google Analytics and past
performance help direct new stories
• Advertising (BizEd, Content sponsorships, etc.)
• Building Subscriber Database Define Campaign outreach, faculty/staff, current /
prospective students, alumni, interviewees
• Quarterly EAK Newsletter
• Celebrating Entrepreneurship of All
Kinds – Boston event – Partnerships with local sponsors (Chamber of
Commerce, Citizens Banks)
– Bring the concept of EAK to life
SHOW, DON’T TELL
Is there a catchphrase or tagline in your boilerplate or
mission statement that needs less tell and more show?
Use it as your hook for cause marketing
REASONS FOR SUCCESS / LESSONS LEARNED
• Show, Don’t Tell
• Position Differently
• Presidential / Senior
Leadership Buy-in
• Team-Building
• Community Passion
– Use Your Advocates
• Use Your Network and Their Networks
– Quote 10 people, who will share with 10 people, who will
share with 10 people, etc.
THE CAUSE, NOT THE COLLEGE EXPANDING CONTENT MARKETING
BEYOND THE BRAND
#CONFABEDU
SLIDESHARE.NET/GBEGIN
ELIZABETH ATWATER / @ELIZATWATER
MANAGING EDITOR AND BRAND JOURNALIST / BABSON COLLEGE
GENE BEGIN / @GBEGIN
SENIOR DIRECTOR OF INTEGRATED MARKETING / BABSON COLLEGE