Digital Marketing 101 For Charter Schools2015 Ohio Charter Schools Conference November 12, 2015 // #OAPCSconference15

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Hel lo.

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Kim Brater VP Marketing

Charter School Capital

Scott Kaufmann Partner

Lucid Agency

Michael Barber Founder

barber&hewitt

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1. Why // Why This Matters 2. Overview // Digital Marketing Defined 3. Tactics // The Best Tools for Charter Schools 4. Resources // Where You Can Learn More? 5. Slides // slideshare.net/CharterSchoolCapital

Agenda

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No. 1 W hy does this matter? It’s about the moments.

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Online discovery is important for education choices

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Online discovery is important for education choices

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Online discovery is important for education choices

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No. 2 W hat is digital marketing? Let’s get definitive.

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W hat is digital marketing?• Communicating with the

appropriate target audiences online in a meaningful way.

• Digital marketing can help your charter school overcome obstacles such as fundraising, enrollment, and gaining necessary support from the community.

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Your vision onlineUse your school’s purpose to create a powerful marketing message.

• Define your brand.Why is your school unique? What is the essence of who you are? Once defined, how will you deliver on your brand promise?

• What are you trying to accomplish?What is a reasonable goal for your charter school? Increasing enrollment, awareness in the community, new facilities, etc. deliver.

• Communicate strategically.What channels will you use to connect with your audience? What is most effective and efficient for your budget and goals? How will you measure results?

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No. 2 The best tools for charter schools. The digital channels at your fingertips.

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Digital Marketing Tactics

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

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Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC)

Email Marketing

Display Advertising

Retargeting Advertising

Video Marketing

Social Media

Mobile/responsive website

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Google rolled out changes to its algorithm that favor mobile sites on April 21st.

Mobile/Responsive Website

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Ensuring your website is fully responsive and quick to load are the two most important factors in a positive user experience.

So, where do you start?

Mobile/Responsive Website

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Google offers a free website analysis tool that outlines any technical issues that may be slowing down your website.

Google PageSpeed Insights

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www.yourwebsitehere.com

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Search Engine Optimization (SEO)• “Organic” listings are free

and based on relevance to the search term.

• Goal: produce the best user experience.

• Best user experience: • Easy navigation • Fast load time • Relative content • Mobile/responsive

website

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SEO Example

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1. Person searches for “Ohio charter schools.”

2. Person clicks organic link to SySTEM Phoenix Charter Schools.

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SEO Example

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3. Person is taken to website where they are prompted to enroll.

4. Person completes the enrollment/interest form.

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Local Search Results

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My Business

Put your school’s information on search, maps, and Google+ so that students and parents can find you, no matter what device they are using.

Local SEO is focused on providing search results that are relevant based on the location of the user.

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Five SEO Tips for Your School1. Pick 10-15 relevant “keywords” with a monthly search volume of

300-3,000 searches.

2. Incorporate keywords into your content naturally, as you would in conversation.

3. Write original, quality, educational content for your site. Avoid duplicating content.

4. Submit your website’s sitemap to various search engines — www.google.com/webmasters. Check indexed pages.

5. Reach out to reputable education directories and .orgs to get them to link to your website.

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Social Media

• Connect with your audience instantly, visually and on an individual basis.

• Display and retargeting advertising available through these platforms.

• Target your audience based on location, industry, job title, etc.

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Best for interacting with people (in real-time).

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Social Media

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By the numbers.

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Email Marketing

• Create personalized messages and newsletters for your leads, customers, and target audience.

• Email marketing is cost effective and easy to implement.

• Email is easy for users to share and advertisers to track.

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Best for keeping your brand top of mind of an interested audience who opt-in for your updates.

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Email Tips• Write the subject line first. Your audience won’t see your brilliant email if

they don’t open it.

• If you have less than a few thousand audience members, research free email campaign tools (such as MailChimp).

• More than have of all emails are read on mobile. View your email on Apple and Android mobile devices before delivering it.

• Consider multimedia elements - pictures, GIFs, videos will all raise your viewers’ engagement.

• Find your best frequency. Weekly is a great starting point, but determine if they’d prefer monthly or quarterly.

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MailChimp is free*

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Pay Per C lick (P P C)

• Organizations bid in on search terms (keywords) users are likely to use to find their school.

• Keyword examples: • “science charter school” • “Phoenix charter schools”

• Paid listings use a “Pay-Per-Click” (PPC) system where the advertiser pays for each click on the their ad.

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Best for giving a website maximum visibility to those who are searching for your school on search engines.

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P P C Example

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Display “Banner” Advertising

• Display ads appear next to content on various websites in text, image, or video format.

• Best for increasing brand awareness.

• Display campaigns can be set up to target audiences in a variety of ways: specific websites, time of day, geography, etc.

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Use visually engaging display ads to increase brand awareness and target potential customers.

Learn&More&

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Retargeted Advertising

• Retargeting leverages the user’s familiarity with your brand to encourage them to complete a conversion.

• Most users do not convert on the first interaction with your brand.

• Keep your brand top of mind when they are ready to enroll, donate, etc.

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Use image advertisements to target users who have previously visited your website.

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Retargeting Example

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1. Person visits website and begins contact form.

2. Person leaves the website before completing the contact form.

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Retargeting Example

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3. Person continues to see brand’s ads as they surf the web.

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Retargeting Example

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4. Person returns to website and completes contact form.

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V ideo

• Help your school stand by connecting with your audience and creating videos worth sharing.

• Create a YouTube channel where all of your videos will reside for your audience to view.

• Share your videos through social media or blog posts.

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Bring your brand to life by creating captivating videos your audience can share.

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High Production Value

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Animated/Sketched

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Short video :15 / :06

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No. 3 Exercise Let’s craft our digital marketing plan.

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Process

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1. OBJECTIVE

2. PLAN

3. CREATE

4. IMPLEMENT

5. MEASURE

6. EVOLVE

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Process > O bjectiveWhat are we trying to solve?

• Build awareness

• Enrollment

• Retention

• Fundraising

• Community/advocacy

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Process >P lanFour key components:

1. Budget - How much are you willing to spend to achieve your goal?

2. Strategy - How are we going to succeed?

3. Tactics - What are we going to use to succeed?

4. Metrics - What are the measurements of success?

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Example Digital Marketing Budget

20%

14%

14% 14%

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PPC RetargetingSocial Media Display AdsVideo

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Process > CreateWhat content do we need for all our tactics?

• Copy

• Images

• Videos

• Templates

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Process > ImplementWho is going to manage the efforts?

• In-house (internal groups/advocates/volunteers)

• Agency / partner / etc.

• Blended model

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Process > Measure

• Determine which metrics are valuable to your school.

• Total Traffic • Click Through Rate • Likes on Facebook

• Make changes only when results are conclusive and statistically significant.

• Utilize tools that help you track your chosen metrics and measure progress.

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How did we do? What are the quantifiable measures of success?

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Process > Evolve

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1. OBJECTIVE

2. PLAN

3. CREATE

4. IMPLEMENT

5. MEASURE

6. EVOLVE

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No. 4 Resources Tools for lifelong learners.

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ResourcesOrganic Search & Search Engine Optimization

**Google Analytics IQ Certification Moz (SEO Software) The Beginners Guide to SEO

Paid Search (PPC), Display, & Retargeting **Google Adwords Certification The Beginner’s Guide to Setting Up An Adwords Account The Beginner’s Guide to Adwords Display Advertising Tips for Creating Effective Display Ads Create Your First Remarketing Campaign 5 Tips to Maximize Your Retargeting Campaign

Email and Social Media MailChimp Hootsuite Hootsuite Resource Library How To Set Up Facebook, Twitter, and Every Other Social Media Profile

General http://www.lucidagency.com/blog/ http://openstrate.gy/

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Thank you.

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Kim Brater VP Marketing

Charter School Capital kbrater@charterschoolcapital.org

Scott Kaufmann Partner

Lucid Agency scott@lucidagency.com

Michael Barber Founder

barber&hewitt michael@barberandhewitt.com