eMarketing Demystified

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eMarketing Demystified

• Manageable Processes, Measurable Results
• Josanne DeNatale
• CASE District III Conference
• February 2004

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Demystifying e marketing

• Stay aware of the technology
• You (plural, the entire department) have to want
  to appreciate it in order to use it well
• Think of the flow, not of distinct projects
• Dont worry about the how
• Whatever you want to do, there is a tool out
  there that can help and that you can control.
• Obsess over the why
• To enhance the relationship you are building with
  your primary audience

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The e-tools and processes

• Website for your department
• Microsite
• Branded, trackable emails, online surveys,
  calendars, registration forms (ASPs)
• Measurement/tracking methods
• Integration with all other marketing

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How integrated are we anyway?
Opinion and use of your departments website
Source A Cognitive Marketing online survey of
communications and advancement staff at IHEs.
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How integrated are we anyway?
Review and use of web traffic stats
Source A Cognitive Marketing online survey of
communications and advancement staff at IHEs.
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To support brand building

• Find an institutions distinct and defining voice
• Use it to more strongly connect with the people
  to whom the future of the institution must be
  entrusted
• Maximize the effectiveness of every kind of
  communication, with each constituency, across all
  media

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To be effective across all media

• Need to bridge needs of IA with services of IT
• Translation
• Negotiation
• Intervention
• Mutual appreciation
• The current processes will change

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Identify your IT/IA bridge

• Listens to your needs and objectives
• Respects your budgets and resources
• Recommends tools
• Provides training
• Use and enjoyment of tools and processes
• Suggests continual improvement

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Tech talk
Plain talk

• Single indexed library
• Vector or raster-based images
• On any node
• POSIT ON THE FLY
• LEGACY sources Jay-peg, GIFF
• Resolution Aspect ratio Scale
• Use your system CACHE
• Or, serve it up immediately
• Parsed and encoded into HTML, PHP or active
  server pages
• Data-driven email, highly interactive web
  sessions, mass personalization for printed
  DOCUMENTS
• Dynamic imaging ENGINE
• ASP Co-load Rack mount on a CPU CHASSIS
• Augments current workflows

LIBRARY, IMAGES, okay I get it NODES on a FLY?
What the LEGACY sourceOh, I have got to get
that campaign newsletter done CASH? ACTIVE
SERVANT, sounds good DOCUMENTS, okay I get
it ENGINEoh I need an oil change ASAP. And the
kids wants that bike RACK put on the car What do
I think ?!?!?
Special thanks to Andy Vaughan, liquidpixels.com
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Keeping it simple
More than 1 homepage? I am curious how many
people (schools) have one for internal, one for
external.
Source CASE website listserv for college and
university webmasters
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The Microsite

• Your department controls its
• Goals and activities
• Budgets
• Personnel
• Work processes
• Marketing efforts including
• Printed communications
• Phone contact
• Special events
• Why not your website and email program?

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Off campus hosting!?!?!?
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Internet marketing tools

• Offsite microsite hosting
• Very robust site for 50 / month
• Needs subdomain (http//alumni.college.edu) or
  non-.edu suffix
• Application Service Provider (ASP) model
• Price based on usage, start as low as 99 /
  month.
• Email that can be personalized and branded to
  reflect schools identity
• Requires database synching
• Double opt-in (permission-based)
• Trackable
• Online Survey
• Other linking/tracking/registering tools

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Your wish can be granted

• SurveyDescribe the one thing that you wish was
  part of of your departments site, and explain
  why it isnt
• Current posting of University magazine /
  Insufficient staff
• Loading up post-event photos, making photos
  available for downloading / Not enough time
• Easier access to webmaster / A lot needs to be
  done, I have to stand in line
• Calendar function that can be universally used /
  Issues with getting everyone on board

Source A Cognitive Marketing online survey of
communications and advancement staff at IHEs.
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1st step, the Scope Document

• It is based on the connections you want to make
  with your primary audience.
• Invest in the consulting services of a marketing
  partner with a solid grasp of utilizing the
  Internet (the bridge)
• Its better if it isnt a technology firm
• Ask your current marketing group to walk you
  through Internet marketing programs they have
  done (for any client)

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An example

• Small, private liberal arts college in WNY.
  Embarked on an branding program in early 2000
  prior to launching the largest campaign in their
  history
• Began to align admissions with brand. All pubs
  were done, TV modified for recruitment, yet
  website languished

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Assessed situation

• Website stuck, CIT queue is long
• No new money, cant outsource
• Knows that email could be better used, but
  doesnt know how
• Never saw a web traffic report
• No integration with print, events

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The breakthrough

• Viewbook costs can be reduced by 65 if detailed
  content goes online.
• Monies saved fund microsite development
• Scope document detailed how to
• Build microsite so Admissions can keep content
  updated without duplicating effort
• Host it off-campus
• Use email/online survey ASP
• Monitor web traffic against other marketing
  activity
• Completed project in 8 weeks
• 1st time web traffic monitored against print

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Using the site
Original site vast improvement over old one.
Visitors paths through the site are
monitored. Site activity is checked against other
recruitment efforts. Response to print, college
fairs and other events can be gauged. Online,
post-event surveys are being completed. AND.. Reg
ular improvements occur. Enhancements in small
doses as time and money allows.
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Measurable results Viewbook usage Prospects
interests
The printed viewbook was designed to connect the
prospect to the emotional aspects of the schools
brand. URLs in the viewbook went directly to web
pages with detailed information. This report
shows how many times a particular web page was
viewed as triggered by the viewbook URL.
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Integration across media

• TV spot for brand awareness campaign was modified
  for admissions and to air in new media market
• Could we measure success?

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Alumni Relations example

• Website is part of main campus site
• Dept staff intern know Dreamweaver and built
  the site based on template provided by outside
  marketing firm
• Manage content
• Publishes newsletter online and via email
• Monitors responses

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A report shows who selected each link. Future
emails can be sent only to those people who
selected a particular link, tailored to that area
of interest.
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Manageable process for Alumni Relations group

• Staff member ( intern) learned Dreamweaver
• Significant new web content outsourced to
  marketing firm as needed
• Composing the branded email newsletter is as easy
  as building a Word document (which you have to
  build anyway.)
• Sends newsletter 2nd Friday of month
• Also sends announcements and invites
• Worked out a routine for synching databases

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Measurable results

• HTML email better than a PDF, just as easy
• Recipients activities, such as checking links,
  can be measured
• Follow up communication to individual can be
  based on understanding their interests

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Example for a private school
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Brand identity across media
Viewbook cover and inside spread
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INTEGRATED MARKETING CAMPAIGN A private,
independent day school produced an integrated
marketing campaign to promote the Middle School
Open House. A series of four postcards were sent,
each containing a brain-teaser. To get the
answer, a specific webpage had to be visited.
Once on that page, the visitor was invited to
contact the Admissions Office, register online
for the Open House, and download information.
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There was an average 37 increase in web traffic
resulting from the promotion. Middle School now
has a waiting list.
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Trust the obvious

• A truck gets stuck while traveling through an
  overpass. It was just a bit too tall Traffic
  stopped, police arrived, engineers were called
  in. It was looking bad How many millions of
  dollars would it take to disassemble and rebuild
  the bridge? How many weeks, months? Could we get
  federal dollars? Just then, a young girl tugged
  at the sleeve of the driver of the truck and
  said
• Why dont we let the air out of the tires?

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Trust the obvious tech tools

• Small to mid-sized college rolling out new
  website
• Needed a Content Management System, did research
• Online, peer surveys, various conferences
• Multi-college research coalition formed to select
  appropriate CMS
• Not a great one for edu
• Priced at 100,000, tons of work to implement,
  over a long time span

• Result? Macromedia Contribute for 99/seat

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Now is a good time

• The basics of Internet marketing are EASY to
  understand
• Programming to suit your needs has been done many
  times over
• Its never been easier or more cost effective
• You figured out print buying w/o operating a
  press, youll master this
• Find your IT/IA Bridge

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• Josanne DeNatale
• Executive Vice-President / Creative Director
• josanne_at_cogmark.com
• www.cognitivebrands.com
• Josanne DeNatale, co-founder of Cognitive
  Marketing, works with
• colleges, universities, independent schools and
  private camps to
• develop their brands and the marketing
  communications programs
• that best communicate that brand to internal and
  external
• constituents. She and her team continually scour
  Internet
• communications tools and convey to their clients
  tips on how to
• utilize the best of what is available.
• 46 Prince Street
• Rochester, NY 14607
• Voice 888.241.4411, ext. 22
• Fax [phone]