Graduate/Professional School Marketing

Five steps for navigating your school's Wikipedia entry

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 18:35:00 +0000

Have you checked your institution's Wikipedia entry lately?

It's no secret that Wikipedia entries are one of the highest-ranking items for any search engine, and since they are edited by an independent party, many outside your institution may consider the information more credible than what's published on your college or university website.

Last fall, many law school Wikipedia entries were edited by a crowd-sourced effort to highlight employment and cost information as interpreted by an advocacy group. One individual replaced my institution's actual tuition/fees with a "debt-financed cost" that projected the largest possible expense for a student financing the maximum student budget (including all living expenses) compounded with long-term student loan interest and inflation. This cost information was also moved to the top of our Wikipedia entry.

Even though Wikipedia's conflict of interest (COI) rules restrict PR and marketing professionals from editing their organization's entries, there are systems in place that can help you quickly correct biased or inaccurate information. Here are five steps for handling issues on your school's Wikipedia page:

Know thy Wikipedia entry. At the top of every Wikipedia entry are tabs for "Article" and "Talk" on the left, and "Read," "Edit," and "View history" tabs on the right. The "talk" tab allows you and other Wikipedia users and editors to talk about the content of the entry outside of the article, and the history tab to see who has been editing your page, with links to their editing history on Wikipedia. To receive email notifications of changes to your institution's Wikipedia article, I recommend using a service like ChangeDetection.com.
Pick your battles. Since you should work through another editor, it's good to have a measured response in choosing which changes to request. As a general rule, I only address changes for accuracy or for something that's biased against my organization.
Cite your sources, preferably independent ones. Wikipedia editors already have a distrust for paid advocates of organizations working on their own entries, so it's very important to attribute your submitted changes. When you can cite an objective third party (such as an accrediting organization or ranking website), your recommendations will be given more credibility.
DO NOT directly edit the live article. Whether you submit your changes anonymously (which will appear with your IP address) or as a registered Wikipedia user, respect the COI rules and submit your recommendations via the Talk page. To highlight your edit request, add the code "{{request edit|A}}" at the top of your recommendations. You can also explain the reasoning behind your changes on this page, which is useful if you're dealing with a potentially controversial subject.
Find a fair-minded Wikipedia editor to consider your recommendations. To find another editor, you can check out the "View history" section of your page to find others who have made helpful changes to your site in the past. If they're not still actively editing Wikipedia content, you can visit the Wikiproject Universities community to find participants interested in higher education entries. Since Wikipedia submissions are trackable, it's easy to see how active and fair an editor has been when making editorial judgments on other pages.

By following the steps listed above, my law school's Wikipedia entry was fairly corrected within 48 hours of the biased editing.

(Edited to add Wikipedia "request edit" code in bullet 4.)

Marketing new programs: Shaping your plan

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 12:37:00 +0000

One of the most exciting projects for any marketing professional would be the opportunity to build a new brand from scratch. While few of us will get to do this for an entire organization, new institutional programs create a unique opportunity to stretch our creative muscles with a fresh challenge.

Once you've done the preliminary research on your new initiative, it's time to build the plan to get the word out and cultivate interest in your product. A textbook marketing plan is typically broken down into Goals, Objectives, Strategies and Tactics (or GOST). It's easy to get caught up in the strategies and tactics, applying the techniques that have been successful for other projects. But for your best chance for a successful launch, you'll want to start first by establishing the ultimate goals and objectives for the program.

Goals. Typically a new program will be designed with one long-term, primary outcome in mind. It's even possible that the program might be a part of a larger organizational goal. For example, if your law school's strategic plan included the goal of becoming "the nation's leading program for intellectual property," the new LL.M. in Intellectual Property program you've been asked to promote might be a part of that bigger plan. When building your marketing plan, one way to help define this goal is to ask the program director what success looks like five years from now. In the case of a new LL.M. program, it might to be to become a "high-demand, elite program that distinguishes University Law School in the field of intellectual property."

Objectives. These are the measurable steps you plan to take to achieve your goal. If you will excuse another textbook reference, many professionals like to use a "SMART" approach to writing their objectives:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable/Action-Oriented
Results-Oriented
Time-specific

Unlike goals, you may have more than one objective that will guide your communications plan, however it's still best to narrow your objectives to two or three major priorities. For our hypothetical LL.M. program, one marketing objective could be to "Enroll 25 qualified students by year three."

Strategies. Once you've outlined your goals and objectives, you can begin defining the strategies to accomplish your objectives. For our same LL.M. example, strategies for enrolling 25 qualified students could include reaching out to professional organizations for intellectual property lawyers or engaging J.D. alumni who are in the field of intellectual property or took significant coursework in the area.

In my next post, I'll cover tactics and implementation of your marketing plan, including building timelines for you and your campus clients.

Image by Carmen Alexis, MyMarketor.com

Marketing new programs: A 5-W checklist to get started

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 17:47:00 +0000

If you've worked in higher education for more than six months, it's likely you've also been approached to help market a new program. Whether it's a new event, course, student service or even a degree program, you'll first want to answer these fundamental questions to help define your product before you start building your marketing campaign.

What is it? This is usually the easiest question to answer initially, but go deeper:

Has everything been approved by the necessary individuals or departments?
Can changes be made for the program or project to be more marketable?
Should any information remain private?

Who is involved, and who will benefit?

Who are the target audiences for the program?
Are there strategic partners who can help promote or sponsor the effort?
Who are your competitors?
Who can help reach these audiences (media outlets, professional organizations)?
Who are the key individuals who can provide insight in reaching your target audience?
Will your program create opportunities for participants to build their networks?

When? To build your campaign timeline, it often helps to work backward from when the program will launch or the date of the event. Here are a few other things to consider:

How much time will your target audience need to decide to participate? ...to apply? ...to RSVP?
How much time is available to get the word out to your audience? Is this realistic?
Do you need an early incentive (for example, early registration discounts) to gauge interest?
How late can people respond and still participate?
What scheduling obstacles might your audience experience? These could range from general family or work obligations to incidental conflicts such as competing events, weather or traffic.

Where?

Is your location obvious or easy to find?
Does your location have a built-in target audience?
Are there nearby competitors for your program or event?
For new events, is the space conducive to achieving your communication goals (such as audience engagement or interaction)?

And most importantly, why? The success of your new program will often depend on your answers to these questions.

Why should your audience participate in this program?
What distinguishes your program from others of its kind?
Can your new initiative help solve a developing or unique problem?

Working through these questions with your campus clients will help define your market, the messages and approaches to resonate with your target audience, and anticipate potential problems.

Free photo resources for campus clients

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:59:00 +0000

It's not uncommon for our office to get requests for stock photography, both of our campus and for more general or random topics. Others won't ask--you might just discover photos of unknown origin when you least expect it. Here are some resources to keep you in the clear with copyright:

Flickr.com: Refer campus users to your own feed of stock photography for your university or school, and let them check out the Creative Commons-licensed images for other topics. Remind users to assume that all photographs are protected unless they see a license that says otherwise.
Stock.Xchange: This site includes thousands of free stock photographs of varying quality, but a discerning eye will find some great images. A free account is required to access the high-resolution download pages.
CVBs/Chambers: If you're promoting your campus location, check out your state or local convention and visitors bureau, or perhaps even your chamber of commerce. Large metropolitan areas or tourist regions will often have a photo gallery that's open to local businesses to use, but again, make sure to follow their licensing procedures.
Wikimedia Commons: Most Wikipedia pages include images that are a part of their Wikimedia Commons collection. Wikipedia doesn't own these images, but most can be freely reused outside of Wikipedia so long as you follow the restrictions stated by the owner.
Government agencies: The public information departments of many federal and state agencies include photo galleries with free high-resolution images in the press room sections of their websites. Usually, attribution is all that's required to use these images.

Do you have other favorite photo websites? If so, please share them in the comment section.

10 cringe-worthy things #highered marketing professionals hear

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 18:10:00 +0000

One of my favorite PR news sites recently offered a list of 14 cringe-worthy things PR clients say. As a light-hearted first post for 2013 (following my extended maternity-leave blogging hiatus), I bring to you a version for those of us in higher ed marketing:

"Can you make our logo, phone number and web address fit on this pen?"
"I don't do social media. Can I have my student assistant run my Facebook page instead?"
"I need a link on the home page."
"This important official is visiting campus today at noon, and we need publicity. Just don't release his/her name for security reasons."
"Only five people have RSVPed for tonight's event downtown. Can you help us get a crowd?"
"I heard an ad for your college on the radio. Can we meet for 30 minutes to discuss how stadium bathroom stall advertising can help you reach your target market?"
"Can we use these photos from my flip phone in the brochure?"
"For some reason, that reporter at [national news outlet] seemed irritated when I called him the next day."
"Your design is OK, but we're tired of the school colors so we had our research assistant design something new in Publisher."
"Real writers use the serial comma."

Disclaimer: This blogger has worked in higher ed communications for more than 15 years and has heard many stories from many professional peers at many institutions. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

How social media hasn't changed #highered PR

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:18:00 +0000

There's no question that the social media revolution has radically altered the way we communicate in our professional and personal lives, particularly for those of us who work in higher ed marketing and public relations. But though technology has introduced amazing new tools for accomplishing our goals and objectives, many of the fundamental rules of how we work haven't changed:

Strong communication skills still matter. Core to any professional communicator's craft is the ability to write, edit and verbalize concise, cogent messages in a way that's relevant to their target audience. Whether you're writing a news release or posting a social media update, the classic adage of BLUF ("Bottom Line Up Front") remains true regardless of the medium.
Good relationships still matter. While the academic theory regarding organization-public relationships primarily developed in the 1990s, many of the core public relations principles developed by AT&T's Arthur W. Page in the 1930s–40s would make a good foundation for any communications strategy involving social or traditional media today. Social media makes it easier to establish relationships for a longer period, and the comments shared about us will have a more-lasting impact as well.
High ethical standards still matter. As an extension of point #2, the ability to establish trust is key in maintaining good long-term relationships in our interpersonal interactions (on- and off-line) and in our mass communications. Organizations have always been expected to have good customer service — to be authentic, transparent and responsive in their communications — and social media only highlights the actions of those institutions who don't value the people they serve.

What other core skills and abilities do you consider to be timeless in higher ed communications?

Groundhog Day tips for breaking out of a work rut

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:46:00 +0000

No matter how awesome your job may be, anyone can find themselves in a rut at work. Though I've been at the same institution for more than 10 years now, I've been blessed to have a job that has evolved over time. Here are a few tips on keeping things fresh in your professional life over the long haul:

Aspire to greatness. In the Bill Murray's classic movie Groundhog Day, his character finds his way out of an endless rut by making his world a better place. While most higher ed jobs don't lead to saving lives, setting a high goal that inspires us can make every day more interesting. Consider pursuing a new credential, learning a new skill, or even earning a graduate degree.
Serve others. Apply your professional expertise in a volunteer capacity for a nonprofit organization or community group. You'll get a fresh environment with people who appreciate your service, and you may even pick up a few ideas to bring back to your day job.
Find new ways to expedite routine tasks. Do you spend too much time sifting through email, looking for files, or dealing with interruptions? Check out the myriad productivity blogs out there for new ways of getting through the monotonous tasks so you can focus on big-picture projects that can take your work to the next level.
Connect with peers outside your institution. Expand your network and meet others who do similar work to you. Social networks, local professional organizations and national conferences can all expose you to people and ideas outside your normal sphere.

What do you do to keep things interesting in your work?

Higher Editing: Educate your content contributors

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Getting tired of making the same editing corrections to the same colleague's work, over and over and over again? There is hope.

Yes, in the short run, it's easier to just fix things yourself or write a quick proofreading mark. But those microchanges add up over time, and constantly bleeding red ink over others' work won't exactly help your relationship for the long term. Address the core problems — not just the symptoms — to improve the work product and efficiency of your team:

Explain why you make your changes. Either through a written mark-up, email message or in person, it helps to coach content contributors on the reasons why you correct their work can help prevent them from making the same mistake in the future.
Build your institutional style guide. Setting ground rules for common style issues, such as campus abbreviations, titles and locations, is an important place to start building consistency and consensus among your institution's writers and editors. If you don't already have a style guide, start one. Members of the University and College Designers Association can access an index of style guides from around the country on their website, or a quick web search will yield dozens of examples.
Share resources. Read any great newsletter articles or blog posts lately on the issue at hand? Know of a helpful grammar or design resource? Forward these resources on to those peers who might benefit from them. Ragan Communications offers one of my favorite daily e-newsletters on all things PR, and many of their featured infographics are pinned to my office bulletin board. Feel free to add your recommendations to the comments section below.

Higher Editing: Eliminate these common errors

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Have you hugged your editor today? If not, you can at least make sure you're avoiding the following common errors in your higher education prose:

Incorrect use of "alumni." If you don't want to accidentally change the gender of an honored graduate, please commit the following list to memory:

More than one graduate, including at least one male: ALUMNI
More than one graduate, all female: ALUMNAE
One male graduate: ALUMNUS
One female graduate: ALUMNA
There's no such thing as an "ALUM" unless you're talking about chemistry (the subject itself, not your academic department)

Hosting a "first annual" event. There's no such thing. There are "first" or "inaugural" events, both of which imply that there will be subsequent events. However, you can't have an "annual" event until it is held two consecutive years.

"Univeristy." This is one that spell-check should catch every time, but it still gets by on occasion.

"Graduating a school." This isn't my personal pet peeve, but it is one brought up by legal writing guru Bryan Garner during his commencement speech last year. Correct usage: graduating from a school.

Preventing rogue tweets on your institutional account

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 10:42:00 +0000

Admit it: If you manage both institutional and personal Twitter accounts, you've probably posted at least one rogue tweet.

You may have caught it and deleted it right away, but someone probably saw it. You just hope that someone wasn't your boss or a troll.

So what steps can you take to avoid causing a rogue tweet?

Tweet from separate programs or devices. Many dual-Twitterers create boundaries by tweeting institutionally from their work computer and by tweeting personally from their mobile devices. This approach makes it easy to shift persona with less risk.
Set your tweeting program's default account to your personal one. If you're going to accidentally tweet from the wrong account, it's much less risky to post a straight-laced institutional news item from your personal account than to post a snarky comment for your college or school. This trick is great if you don't have a smartphone.
Don't tweet angry (or when otherwise mentally compromised). You shouldn't do this anyway, but tweeting angry (or when #gettngslizzerd) from an institutional account will most certainly grab the attention of your followers. Tweet from both personal and institutional accounts as though your boss, HR office or university president is watching at all times (because they just might be), and even if you mix up accounts, there's not much harm. Heck, one time I accidentally posted a higher ed marketing link from the law school account and the university retweeted it.
Share these tips with other institutional tweeting colleagues so they don't rogue tweet, either.

Do you have other tips on preventing rogue tweets?

Top three myths that you don't know will kill your blog

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 21:15:00 +0000

I love to read blogs that offer practical tips, scan-able lists, and quick advice, and I enjoy writing in a similar style. But there can be too much of a good thing. Inspired by a brief Twitter exchange with @mStonerBlog and @andrewcareaga, I thought I'd share my own top-three list of tired blog memes:

Things you don't know, have missed, and aren't going to find anywhere else. In this world of information overload, no one wants to miss out on a big story amidst all of the noise.
Things you think you know, but what you know is wrong. Have you been misled by myths? Thankfully, there are blog posts that will clear up the confusion!
Concepts that will kill other concepts, kick other concept's tail, or are dead. Email, Facebook and Google social media projects may seem like living organisms. They might seem threatening at times, or even look like they're being threatened. But they don't have a pulse. They do not have weapons or a physical presence. They cannot fight, receive medical treatment, or be thrown in jail for their transgressions.

P.S. Some might add that top-three (or top five, 10, etc.) lists have also passed their prime. Considering that David Letterman's top-10 list has endured for more than 25 years, I think the theme is immortal.

Graduation collaboration: Sharing the workload on commencement programs

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Wed, 18 May 2011 23:08:00 +0000

There are few higher education publication projects that are more collaboratively time-intensive than the commencement program. It's a document that will be treasured for decades by graduates and parents alike, and whether your institution is graduating 50 students or 5,000—it had better be accurate.

Of course, reaching perfection can be an elusive goal for any publication, let alone a commencement program. It's a herculean task requiring extensive collaboration from the registrar's office, student affairs, academic deans, faculty award committees, etc. Academic recognitions may not be finalized until weeks before the event, and it's tempting to delay production for the inevitable last-minute changes.

Since our communications office began producing our graduation-related programs two years ago, we've found Adobe InCopy to be an invaluable tool for managing the process. It's a basic word processor that can link directly into an Adobe InDesign document, where the graphic designer can alter the appearance and organization of the layout. Think of it as a content management system for a printed document, instead of a website.

By saving the files to a shared campus file space and separating sections of the program into different linked files, several users in different departments can update the document at once. Once the information has been finalized by the various offices, the communications office finishes the publication and sends it to the printer.

To train other departments on how to use InCopy to update the program, I used TechSmith's free version of its Jing screen-capture video software to narrate the steps for finding the files and editing them in the program. Watch the training video.

Another technical trick for checking accuracy is to save every official name to your InDesign user dictionary. It won't catch every mistake, but running a spell-check to the entire document after this step can catch some elusive name errors.

Photo courtesy of Flickr.com/omgdek under Creative Commons license.

Favorite tactic: The annual 1L student focus group

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 16:47:00 +0000

It's no secret that good marketing requires knowing your audience, and you can't really know your audience without researching it.

For many higher ed communicators, research can feel like a complicated, time-consuming task. However I've found that scheduling at least one focus group with our first-year students every spring can yield rich feedback that inspires my planning for the rest of the year. Here is how I make the most of it:

Strategically select your sample. Our primary marketing audience is prospective law students, but gathering these students—let alone getting candid answers from them—isn't always practical. The next best thing is to gather 8-10 highly qualified first-year students who can still remember the process and are already on your campus. We want the opinions of those who "shopped around" and were accepted to multiple schools, so I invite students from a geographically diverse sample with high admissions statistics.
Ensure good attendance. Plan the focus group at a time when many are available, along with a small incentive for attending (we find that providing a decent lunch works well). Draft an attention-grabbing email message that lets the sample know that your institution values their opinions and will use their feedback when making future decisions.
Find a fair moderator. The moderator should have some distance from the topics being discussed while still understanding the goals of the research. The person should be friendly and warm, able to spark conversation and get the participants comfortable with sharing their opinions.
Ask about media consumption. What resources did they refer to when selecting what schools to apply to? What media outlets do they find most credible? What helped them make their final decision? How did they first become interested in your institution?
Let them review your current tactics. Show the group ads and publications that are being targeted to prospective students. What messages resonate? What doesn't work? How do your tactics compare with those of the other schools they applied to? Don't forget to include your website in the discussion.
Test out new ideas. Bring samples of new concepts to get their first impressions. Probe into why certain ideas have more impact than others.

While this research approach won't yield scientific or generalizable results, it can go a long way to giving you deeper insights into what those close to your target audience wants for the cost of lunch catering and a few hours of staff time.

How to find great vendors

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 01:11:00 +0000

From local printers to national agencies, every higher ed marketer needs to find new vendors every once in a while. So what are the best ways to find one?

References, references, references. There's no better way to choose vendors than by good referrals. Ask your network who they recommend. If you don't know anyone who could make a recommendation, this is a great question to break the ice. Listservs or professional LinkedIn groups can also be helpful places to request suggestions. (Conversely, if you find a vendor you like who wasn't referred, make sure to call a few of their clients before you hire the company.)
Your professional organizations. If you're a member of a communications organization, check out their website for recommendations or sponsors who cater to your market. The CASE Yellow Pages is one resource that covers a variety of education-related companies, and the College and University Editors' Photographers List includes freelancers from around the nation referred by fellow communicators.
Industry networks and organizations. Check out the portfolios of creative freelancers on Behance.net, where you can search by various fields (including academia). The Graphic Artists Guild also makes member portfolios available on its website, and the Professional Photographers of America offers a Find-a-Photographer site.

What are your favorite resources for finding vendors?

QR codes: the good, the bad and the ugly

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 17:45:00 +0000

Looking for an easy, trackable way to drive people to your website? Never fear, QR codes are here!

You don't have to be a smartphone user to notice these trendy little marks popping up on everything from magazine ads to outdoor signage. For the uninitiated, these little QR (quick response) codes are just text that can be scanned into a smartphone using one of the many available QR reader apps. The text may be a sentence, an e-mail address, or (most often) a Web page, and readers will often open the links into a Web browser.

While I'm still using a dumbphone, I'm jumping into this trend head-on for our print advertising and direct mail pieces. As much as we want people to visit our website, it makes sense to make this process easier. We have yet to know whether this is a temporary fad or the start of a lasting bridge between the print and online world, but the cost is minimal enough to make this worth a try.

Smartphones aren't necessary to generate these codes, and you don't need to pay a dime to generate codes with analytics. They are ugly, but as long as you keep some of the contrast, you can spruce up the look slightly in Photoshop. So how do you get started?

Set up a free account with a URL shortening service that offers QR codes and analytics. Right now, bit.ly and goo.gl both include QR code generation for all shortened links, and they also track clicks. Accounts for both of these services are free, and I wouldn't be surprised if market pressure leads similar services to follow suit in the near future.
Make sure your site is (at least moderately) friendly for mobile devices. If a huge portion of your website is Flash-driven, you'll want to phase that out before driving mobile users to it. Smartphone users will expect that the sites they're going to have been created just for them, so don't violate this expectation by making it incompatible with their phones.
Focus on function, then form. Designing around these codes can be tough. They're not inherently attractive, and they need to be at least .75" square in size to work. Test them out *every* time you use them, just like you should for a regular Web address. The more phones you can test on your first few designs, the better. Once you know the original code works, then you can experiment with color variations (then test them again).

Happy coding!

Marketing to those who hate marketing: Bling

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 17:56:00 +0000

A professor showed me a clever piece the other day with a simple diagonal die-cut that was accordion-folded for five panels, creating an attractive and interesting zig-zag effect. He hated it.

"Too showy, not serious enough," he described. He saved it as an example of what not to do when targeting faculty.

Tip #2: Forget the bells and whistles. For every person who gives a "wow—that's cool" reaction to an interesting publication shape or feature, you're likely to get two or more who respond with "wow—what a waste of tuition dollars." Depending on the purpose of the piece and your audience, some things can stand out in the mail for all the wrong reasons. Lenticular printing, die cuts, giveaways and other tactics may help distinguish a direct mail piece, but in a time when IHE budgets are being tightened nationwide, budget-conscious recipients may discount your institution's fiscal responsibility.

Solid message development and creative design doesn't require printed bling to be effective. Even if you've got the budget for such tactics, spending those funds on other applications is likely to give you much more bang for the buck.

Marketing to those who hate marketing: Why?

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 01:17:00 +0000

I think I may have put the cart before the horse on my last post by diving straight into tactics before strategy. So let's answer the bigger question: What's the point of marketing to groups who hate marketing?

First, let me better define marketing in this context. The first reference to marketing is what we do: developing and communicating programs that provide value to our defined markets. The second reference to marketing refers to advertising tactics meant to persuade individuals to buy a product or service.

There are two major audiences in graduate and professional schools who usually have disdain for traditional advertising: Gen Y students who value authenticity and academics who value substance over style. Notice any similarities?

Thankfully, the strategic approach for addressing both of these groups is the same. Be straightforward. Don't let form get in the way of function. And if you work for a great institution with solid academic programs, the best thing we can do is share its story without diluting the impact with tactics that could backfire (which is what the rest of this series will cover).

Related posts:

Marketing to those who hate marketing: Gloss

Marketing to those who hate marketing: Gloss

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 12:09:00 +0000

It's no secret that graduate and professional schools are full of savvy, smart consumers. High-achieving students and scholarly professors are, almost by definition, independent thinkers, and most hate to be marketed to.

So how can a professional communicator best reach these marketing-cynical audiences? By re-thinking typical marketing practices for a potentially skeptical audiences, small choices can make a big difference. For my next few posts, I'll hit on some simple ways your marketing communications can be more effective with academic audiences.

Tip #1: Watch the gloss. Nothing says "slick marketing piece" like a high-gloss design. While many--if not most--color designs look best on a coated sheet, there can be such thing as too much of a good thing. I once heard a professor mock a brochure from another institution as portraying its faculty as "god-like creatures" due to the super-shiny gloss spot varnish on its cover portraits. If you're going for a highly formal or serious academic message, consider skipping the shine entirely and print on an uncoated sheet.

Résumé advice from a hiring manager

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 18:00:00 +0000

We're in the process of hiring a communications coordinator for our office, which will be a hybrid position that's part administrative support and part graphic designer. We've received hundreds of applications from all ranges of experience levels, and it's fascinating to examine how people present their professional abilities.

Here are some quick tips for putting your best foot forward when applying for a higher ed communications job:

Remember your audience. Read the job description carefully and adapt your cover letter accordingly. Don't make the hiring individuals work to find how your skills and experience fit this particular position. If the job requires specific software expertise, make sure you mention that software somewhere in your résumé or cover letter. If you're vastly overqualified or live outside the region, explain why you're interested in the specific position. Double-check that your boilerplate language makes sense; stating that you're goal is to work for a Fortune 500 company or manage staff when you're applying for an entry-level position at a non-profit organization will send your application straight to the circular file.
Be confident, not cocky. It's one thing to say that your many years of experience may be a good match for an institution. It's another thing to openly state that you're so overqualified that the only reason you would apply for a low-level job would be for the tuition benefit. There are much more tasteful ways to explain your interest without the condescension. Also, if you have different versions of your résumé, make sure the file names on your attachments don't give away your omissions (e.g., "JaneDoe_withoutCEO.doc.").
Details, details, details. Review your application package many times in many ways. Spell-check it. Grammar-check it. Get your spouse/parent/child/friend to proofread it. Read it out loud to yourself. Put it away, and then read it again an hour later. (And for crying out loud, please don't misspell "detail-oriented.")
Distinguish yourself professionally. If you want a job communicating for an institution, make sure that your individual communications present a highly professional image. Send your attachments as PDFs so that fonts and formatting aren't lost. Keep your writing clear and concise, and use bullets and subheadings so your documents can be easily scanned. Adding light artistic touches to your application can be helpful for design-related positions, but don't let form get in the way of the function.

Higher ed marketing lessons from my Disney vacation

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 01:37:00 +0000

Note: Sorry for the temporary hiatus in blogging. I'll be catching up on some posts over the next few weeks and returning to my weekly schedule in the new year.

After surviving an intense blitz of fall publication production, I spent a week in November with my family at Walt Disney World in Orlando. While I did manage to set aside all things internet, it was hard to turn off the marketer inside—especially when you're immersed in an experience designed by some of the most creative minds in a generation. Here are a few tidbits:

Have you hugged your physical plant today? If you're charging a premium for your services (private universities, I'm talking to you), your visitors expect your campus to be attractive and well-maintained. A dedicated grounds/maintenance staff, with the funds to do their job well, can make an important difference in recruitment during the all-important campus visit.
Every employee represents the brand. From the first security officer to the switchboard operator to your campus CEO, each employee plays an important role in representing your brand. How each staffer treats others is immediately noticed by those who visit. It doesn't matter what your marketing materials say about being a friendly, accessible campus if your front-line staff don't live it out through their daily interactions.
Measure for continuous improvement. Even if you're at the top of your game, how do you stay there? Research. Disney systematically places researchers at their entrance/exit to survey visitors. While it's tough to afford high-end professional research on a regular basis, there are low-cost options for measuring opinions if we make it a priority.

Has social media killed empathy?

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 16:50:00 +0000

Last week, a colleague sent me a USA today article that raised the question of whether social media has killed empathy. My answer: it hasn't.

Through online discussion forums and social networks, I have made new friends, connected with our profession's thought leaders, and kept in touch with classmates, neighbors and family with more frequency than my schedule would otherwise allow. Sure, there are those who live online to the exclusion of connecting with people in real life, but that's hardly a new phenomenon. (Raise your hand if know any video game addicts or workaholics.)

I view social media as an amazing means for enriching real-life relationships, particularly in higher education. Our audiences invest some of the best years of their lives on our campuses, and social networks now make it easier to maintain those relationships—both with the institution and among classmates—for a lifetime. And for those who are preparing to join our community, accepted student groups and networks can engage students long before the official orientation process begins.

The blurring of professional and personal spheres online can also increase empathy in ways we could never expect. Over the past two months, I have watched a colleague's story unfold on Twitter as her two-year-old daughter was diagnosed with cancer and started experimental treatments. I have been deeply touched by her tale, and I know many others have as well. Our higher ed marketing peers have supported her through prayer and fundraising. Ironic how one can feel such empathy for someone only known through social media. (Read Andrew Careaga's blog post to read little Sydney's story and find out how you can help.)

Speaking of Andrew, the Educational Marketing Group is looking for his replacement as International Brand Master. If you want to nominate a current higher educational branding professional, EMG is accepting nominations through Dec. 15, 2010.

Got water?

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 02:08:00 +0000

In honor of Blog Action Day's theme of water* today, I thought I'd share a (barely) relevant anecdote. My employer gave up its bottled water contract a few months ago for both financial and environmental reasons. While I completely agree with this in principal (and have switched my home water consumption from bottled to filtered), the tap water in my building tastes awful.

But thankfully, I work with creative problem solvers.

Thanks to the miracle of the interwebs (pump courtesy of eBay) and Sam's Club, my Web developer assembled the contraption pictured here so that we can all now drink filtered water from his house.

Now, we can go green without the water tasting green.

*Disclaimer: Blog Action Day is really focusing on global access to clean, potable water. Since I have no real insights on that issue (and certainly nothing related to marketing or working in higher ed), this post would probably be more appropriate for the 2009 Action Day theme of environmental protection. If you can think of a good way that higher ed communicators can help get clean water to remote areas of developing countries, please include your suggestions in the comment section below.

Everyday adventures in managing Facebook pages

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 17:00:00 +0000

Much has been written on how to set up university Facebook pages, how to handle crises (both literal and virtual) on Facebook, and why we should have all have a presence on Facebook in the first place. However on most days, the management of an institutional Facebook page is much less dramatic.

Here are a few tips about the more routine issues that have come across my desk(top) in the past week:

Plan for the grey area. Decide in advance, if possible, where you want to draw the lines for spam, negative posts and other related issues, then post guidelines in your Notes section to inform your fan community. You might want to allow local businesses to offer special discounts to your students, or you might choose to bar all advertising. Some negative comments are inevitable in social media, but when will you stop someone who is hijacking your page? Posting guidelines can set ground rules for the entire community and make future decisions much easier. Take a look at other higher ed Fan pages for examples; we really liked the University of Kansas comments policy when developing ours. If possible, get your legal counsel's buy-in before you post.
Differentiate your voice from your institution's. While the common wisdom is to use a personal tone on institutional social media channels, never forget that you're still representing the institution. When our parent university asked a question about a legal term, I first feared that my answer would appear as the Voice of The Law School speaking on The Law. Since I'm not a lawyer, this could have been a dangerous role for me to fill. Thankfully, answering this question on the university's Facebook page with my regular profile identity worked out well—I could explain the answer, my source, and my role in an appropriate context.
Be clever. While I wouldn't advise posting jokes when speaking for your institution, showing a little wit every now and then can be fun. A news item about a best-selling author lecturing on how lawyers could pursue writing careers prompted another recent speaker (Craig, also an author and journalist, but not a lawyer) to respond with the following exchange:

I would have let the first statement go had it been from any random fan. But since this person's identity wasn't clear to the other fans, I chose to help the conversation along. In this instance, speaking as a straight-laced institution (with a dose of marketing language) showed some personality in a way that shouldn't offend even the most nervous college administrator. (Note: I don't advise using a marketing tone in most social media interactions.)
Monitor others' use of Facebook in crisis communications. God-willing, none of us will never have to use our social media channels to communicate the threat of an active shooter on our campuses. But it's always wise to follow the Boy Scouts mantra and be prepared. Following the actions of other institutions in crisis via Facebook or Twitter can be valuable training. Check out Jessica Krywosa's .eduGuru post on "Does Your Campus Security Have a Place in Social Media?" about how the University of Texas at Austin handled their emergency communications on Facebook last week.
Added 10/5: Keep your eyes open for opportunities in unexpected places. Thanks to Andrew Careaga's post on a Facebook fundraising effort to help one of his staff (Mary Helen Stoltz, whose two-year-old daughter is fighting brain cancer), I discovered FundRazr, a low-cost fundraising app on Facebook that processes PayPal donations. At a glance, it looks like it should work well for individuals as well as universities and other nonprofits. (And if you want to support a fellow higher ed communicator and her beautiful kid through a rough time, donate and test out via FundRazr here.)

How NOT to target your marketing messages

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 17:00:00 +0000

A lot has been said about the Drake University's "D+ advantage" marketing campaign. Stamats offers a good explanation of its recommended strategy (the classic three-option conservative/edgy/"courageous" approach) on its blog, and I applaud the creativity and research that went into investigating on how the message would resonate with its target audience: college-bound teens.

Drake administrators learned a hard lesson when its other audiences (faculty, alumni and the news media) picked up on this unusual theme. According to the Associated Press, Drake has scaled back the prominence of the "D+" symbol and in doing so its president noted that "we learn from our experiences."

Drake is far from being the only university to struggle with the balance between appealing to younger audiences while not alienating other important groups. I've witnessed many battles of this kind over my career. Most IHEs are critically dependent on undergraduate tuition, and it's easy to forget the interests of others when targeting this all-important teen audience.

As fun as it is to develop a campaign that's outside the box, good communicators need to always think of how their messages will be received by peripheral audiences. What works for college-bound teens could have a much worse effect on the potential applicant pool for graduate and professional schools. The negative waves among academics might even be reflected in the U.S. News peer reputation surveys (and the graduate school ones are expected to be out shortly).

So how can university marketing departments successfully navigate these murky waters?

Never forget your overall brand. No advertising trend or campaign should ever contradict your institution's bigger brand strategy. Some universities have a culture that value being on the creative edge of society, while others are steeped in tradition. Most have a complex blend of diverse perspectives.
Consider the worst case scenario, then decide if it matters. Changing the tone of your copy or the style of your layout on communication vehicles that are specific to your audience are unlikely to affect other audiences greatly. Building an entire marketing campaign around a joke is a bit more risky. Determine how much risk you can assume with negative reactions from others, and mitigate those risks if necessary.
When in doubt, ask around. If you're not sure about how others might perceive your concept, just ask. Take advantage of the good relationships you've built with your counterparts around campus to get their candid feedback before you launch your new campaign. One of my favorite ad concepts for an NFL program (pictured) was rejected because my university has been investigating bringing back non-scholarship football after a nearly 60-year hiatus. One could argue that the ad would still work and draw attention, but it didn't pass the "is it worth it?" test.

Developing a brand strategy: In-house or outsource?

noreply@blogger.com (Davina Y. Gould, APR) — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 11:04:00 +0000

A colleague at another law school asked a good question in a LinkedIn group last week: "What is the best way to (re)discover or redefine your core values? Did you use a consultant or handle it in-house, and would you do it that way again?"

Great question, and since I've been short on extra time for blogging, I thought I'd share part of my answer here:

The starting point for assessing your brand identity is research with your key audiences (students, faculty, staff and alumni) to get a broader understanding than your own to help define the values. The research component is often why many places outsource this process, as independence (and sometimes investment, unfortunately) can add credibility to the results. If you anticipate that tough decisions will need to be made, an external group might be advisable as well (so that if the messenger gets shot, at least it won't be you). Research is now much easier to do in-house with online surveys and focus groups if you have someone who understands research methods well.

By analyzing your research along with your school's mission and values statements and the market environment, you can then move onto the more tangible pieces (logo, tagline, colors, ads/publications/website). Those pieces should also be tested with your key audiences along the way.

If you've got the talent in-house to accomplish the above, the top-down buy-in for your ultimate strategy, and (perhaps most importantly) ample time to devote to the project, then internal brand development may be an option for you.