Today s Presentation Lesson 1. What's the big deal?- Understand how your prospective student customer communicates- The digital native Lesson 2. Internet marketing- Improve your organisations website Lesson 3. Don t forget about the Social web Lesson 4. Do something innovative Lesson 5. Know what the future holds Lesson 6. Adopt some key recommendations
The internet has changed the way we do things forever- it s the ultimate marketing machine Your target audience use it daily Available 24 / 7 / 365 Global reach with localized content Easy updating of marketing messages Cheap means of reproduction & replication Faster delivery of promotional materials Highly measurable platform (ROI/metrics/ feedback) Offers innovative partnering models eg CPM, PPC, CPA, affiliate programs Interactivity/multimedia = a more compelling medium Builds global networks & communities Offers automation of many processes Saves time on product familiarisation
Lesson 1. What s the big deal? Because students live a wired existence which, in many ways, is becoming increasingly remote from our own http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpenfwiqdx8&feature=related
Need I say more??? But we must engage them in a way that is meaningful! so yes I think so : )
Our prospective students are; Y Generation (Born 1978 1994) and are more than any previous generation; Online Opinionated and informed Networked and socially active Early adopters of new technology Brand promiscuous and less trusting Expect instant responses
These students communicate by; A mobile phone A laptop/pc + Internet connection at home An ipod/mp3 player Their own website/web space A group of friends with whom they communicate and share information electronically (Social Networking)
They are different to us. Digital Immigrant Remembers calling round to a friends house to see if he was in Has lent a friend a record and not had it returned Has got home late and missed something they wanted to see on TV Has read a book a friend recommended Considers their profile to appear if they stand sideways Has used a printed directory to look for a service and a map to find it Has used a travel site to book a flight or holiday Watches and reads hundreds of irrelevant advertisements a day Digital Native Finds it hard to understand how we met with friends without the aid a mobile phone Has uploaded his entire collection and his friends have done the same Has no use for a TV schedule as they watch content on demand Has compared the recommendations of hundreds of others Considers their profile to be an online extension of their offline persona Google on their mobile (now with GPRS) Types their exact criteria into software that trawls the web to find the best result Expects brands to take the time to understand and only send relevant messages
YOU need to be prepared to interact with your customers in a new way Online communities No longer just about information but interaction Social networking Podcasts Blogs RSS news feeds Enhanced organisation and categorisation of information Web 2.0 Need to interact online with individuals & communities People are generating their own web content, based on their personal experiences Sources of information and opinion are global and personal
How important are the following? Sorted by Ins-tu-on importance Copyright IGI Services 2009 1: Very unimportant 4: Very important
Lesson 2. Improve your website (or what makes a good website) But first understand people treat websites - and the information they contain - differently to any other media. Some simple facts: - Most people decide whether they want to stay on a webpage in less than10 seconds. You have to win a visitors interest & lead them further into the site and even if they do they need to get to what they want in 3 clicks or less - Over 75% of people don't read webpages, they scan them - picking out individual words and sentences - Most websites lose 60% of their traffic off the home page & 80% within three clicks of the home page - Understand where your front door is! So you only get one chance to make a first impression!
Back to basics- ask them what they think of your websiteeducation organisation Student Survey 2009 Prospective students- what they wanted Prospective students- what they wanted INFORMATION DESIRABLE DEVELOPMENTS In-depth info on courses and content (87%). To find out about the institution and what it was like to study there. Fees and funding (79%). Entry requirements was frequently cited as an area where info was usually lacking. Ease of use- make it easy/simple to get quickly to what they want. More interactivity. Virtual open days/web chat options/ interactive maps/films-video. Careers guidance. Nationals find it easier to fully achieve i.e. get all they want from the website than internationals by significant margins (80% vrs 60%)
Basic ideas to Improve your website Go from Web 1.0 (static) to Web 2.0 (communicate!) Add film, podcasts, enquiry forms, auto responders anything that makes them participate /take action Optimize your site in terms of links, search and rankings as best you can Nearly all studies conducted indicate the need to improve the level of detail, type of content and information provided n the international section of education institutions websites Content is KING (understand this they need entertaining and engaging
Successful sites usually have all (or most) of the following: - Usefulness & relevancy of information - Brevity of content on main pages - Highly SE optimized content - Frequently updated content - Multilingual (some) content - Ease of navigation & product information flow - Ability to quickly & easily enquire, apply online - High level of interactivity (including calls to action) - Integration into back office databases - Links to related (student) social networks
Lesson 3. The Social web - this is how students communicate & so should you The social web is nearly as important as the formal web Create communities in these web spaces (30% spend more than an hour+ a day doing this) Contribute and network in the BIG 5 (Facebook, YouTube, Linkedin, Wikipedia, MySpace) Use you current students to advocate for you, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/pages/coventry-united- Kingdom/Coventry-University/6510408962 Agents are getting into this now so encourage it e.g. http://www.facebook.com/search/? init=srp&sfxp=&q=pfl&o=69&c1=1#/group.php? gid=37965992646&ref=search&sid=1231803620.12533 15226..1 Marketing Sherpa Survey of HE institutions, 2009
Back to basics- ask them what they think of your institutional social networking sites- University X Student Survey 2009 Prospective students- what they wanted from institutional social networking sites Meet people. Networking with current students (71%) to meet other already there and find out about their experiences. Add friends. Find other students with the same interests as themselves. Information on the institution (similar to that found on the corporate website!) Course related updates (83%) To read and post comments.
What s hot and what s not..
7 steps to building your student community 1- Observe and create a customer map 2- Recruit community members 3- Evaluate your on line conduit strategies 4- Engage communities in conversations (generate word of mouse ) 5- Measure the community s involvement levels (who, what, where, why, when and how? 6- Promote your community to the world 7- Continually improve your community benefits (don t just set it and forget it)
Lesson 4. Do something innovative Get into Social media, networking and blogging Use the mobile internet Do films and go viral They want to be entertained. BI NSM in game branding
& if you cant beat them join them- List on the key aggregator sites or in country specialist alternatives Web 2.0-3.0 education portals are still very rare Several best practice global websites that have recently come onto the market some are specialist and some are generic The easiest and most likely way to get quick results- buy traffic/list/profile with the new breed of aggregator site. These sites are the Amazons and MyTripAdvisors of the education sector MoneyScience Financial Intelligence for the Business World There are also plenty of in country options albeit usually with less traffic but sometimes more specific
Using key word search to drive traffic and enquires to institutional landing page.
The results? One very happy institution Month Search engine Impressions Clicks CTR Avg CPC Cost Avg Position Google India - Search 6,832 503 7.36% 0.39 198.44 1.1 All time Google India - Content 2,345,282 449 0.02% 0.42 190.67 1.2 Yahoo India 22,016 498 2.26% 0.08 40.13 1.5 Totals and Overall Averages: 2,374,130 1,450 3.47% 0.30 429.24 1.2 750 c. students interviewed over the visit attributed to search engine campaign
Case Study of success In Holland UAS- targeted on line positioning/ branding with good creative/design Campaigns running in; India, China, Germany, Russia, Poland & on key global aggregators. Results (first quarter); 7.5m Page impressions and >35,000 leads generated
And if anyone still has any doubts about the winning potential of a good web based campaign The internet changed the paradigm of politics for the most powerful elected position in the world YouTube- ubiquitious in the election for getting a message across (didn t exist in last election) Facebook- criticial in Obama campaign was only invented a few months before the 2004 election) 3,059,423 supporters
Lesson 5. Understand what's around the corner... So what does the future hold?
Does anyone know what this is?
itunesu Second life the virtual internet(?)- online education exhibitions Mobile internet From push to pull marketing Chat /instant communications The increasing dominance of the social web Web 3.0 aggregators will become the kings of the jungle Education marketing is becoming big business on the internet The future is here, now!
Eight on line marketing trends for 2009 1. Increasing customer retention efforts (Primary-Secondary/Junior to Senior/ Bachelors to Masters). As it going to be harder and more expensive to get them in the first place. 2. Increasingly attractive content (esp. film). 3. More targeted and relevant communications across a variety of devices (email, smart phones, SMS, instant messaging (Twitter). 4. Better leverage of social media communities. 5. Increasing analytic sophistication to drive business decisions in a resource constrained environment. Including enhanced CRM for segmentation and efficiency. 6. Enhanced search marketing advertising and use of the aggregators. 7. Behavioural marketing; from push to pull, Geo-Google (IP specific), keyword search etc. 8. Continue to integrate distribution channels Therefore a more competitive multi channel market place with an increasingly expense constrained environment.
Lesson 6. Key recommendations 1) Increase the visibility, design & functionality of your website 2) Create or buy onto an on line community(ies) or get into one that represents your key demographic(s) 3) Galvanise your organisational e.communications 4) Give emarketing a central role in your marketing endeavour 5) Understand and use key trends (mobile internet usage, social networks and blogging, aggregator sites) 6) YOU take up the emarketing challenge and take ownership!
Thank you! Comments/ Questions? chris@mjdconsultancy.com (Technology, Media and Advertising Management solutions for the education Sector)