Krywosa, IMC

For some reason, PR has been attacked lately. I put it out of my mind until yesterday, when, while sitting in a meeting, I realized that PR being dead is old news. Its marketing’s death thats the new(er) scoop. With that I backtracked and read PR is Dead: Was I Supposed to Care on Todd Defren’s blog. In it, he references Hubspot’s Marketing Blog Post ‘Is PR Dead?’.

I can say it: back in the day (circa 2004) I thought I was built for PR. I quickly learned that, being that I detest cold calling and seemingly dirty reciprocal relationships I, in fact, was not. But now, does PR matter – no, we all know that. PR is as relevant as the paper its printed on, those which we no longer read. True, stories pitched may end up online, but with the social web, spun webs are very easily cut. Such brand recognition can be built via real people and experiences, which are just – if no more so – powerful than print in big media.

In steps the next on the way to slaughter: marketing. Marketing:  ‘the commercial processes involved in promoting and selling and distributing a product or service’ is seemingly dead too. On its own. No longer can any tactic: PR/Advertising/Marketing, be utilized in a vacuum. Integrated communication, which was once seen as ‘huh?’ by my colleauges is now, whether defined as such or not, the way ‘marketing/pr/advertising’ is living.

Marketing is an old hat. It thrived on one way communication and being all about what the company wanted to say to get what they needed. Now, integrated marketing communication and social networking strategies are opening what used to be a dirty business into a hopeful and honest give and take. Companies can (well, should) learn from what is said about them and their products and make changes. No longer is this novel or a ‘cool thing’ to do. Its commonplace and expected. To not have such makes a company seem outdated or uptight, possibly hiding something.

And who can be loyal to that?

As new campaigns are taking off the issue of redirects and vanity URL’s has reared its ugly head again. Its one thing to add a specific URL in an electronic campaign where consumers click on a link anchored to text, yet quite another for outdoor, transit and print pieces. Does it matter anymore?

Even though it is from June, I recently read Do URL’s Matter Anymore. With all the headlines this week about search becoming more integrated into user-generated content and social interactions, will URL’s continue to die off in importance? Isnt search the final frontier in finding web content?

When creating campaigns for segmented audiences its helpful to know what worked and what didnt and when. If people are searching for your brand, but not your campaign, do you continue to use special URL’s in print, transit & outdoor or do you use these mediums for what they are probably best at now: awareness, interest & a call to action. Does it matter how your consumer arrives at their destination, or that they arrive? This is where true clean web design and navigation prevails: anyone should be able to arrive at your site and find what they are looking for, without your help or the aid of a landing page.

Thoughts?

In another installment of ‘getting to know Jess’ and after many great Twitter conversations created around @rachelreuben’s conference Tweeting, I’m attaching links to a few choice publications that I authored in my previous position. I think they are still relevant in the conversation of ‘is social media worth it’, especially for low income families.

Achieving College Access Goals: The Relevance of New Media in Reaching First-Generation and Low-Income Teens

How College Access Marketing Campaigns Can Utilize Social Networking Web Sites

Creating a Strategy for Community Engagement

During these 2008 NFL playoffs, I started to think about how my deep and undying passion for the New York Giants began. My family wasnt a big football family. My high school team wasnt that great. My father was more of a college basketball kinda guy. I realized that its like most product branding: it just is. Its a choice I made a long time ago that will stay with me for life. Yes I’m from NY, but that’s basically where the influence for this decision ended. But its a powerful one.

You choose a product/team and its something that stays with you, and for most of us, will never change. Through ups and downs, trials and tribulations, we’ll stick with what we’ve known. Changing is not an option. This also bleeds over for many of us into product choices, such as pain relievers, bath products or home cleansers.

The thing about product and brand loyalty is that sometimes, there may not be a reason. Many consumers go through the motions of picking up what they are out of at home robotically. Some families may expect that their children will go to a certain college because thats what the family does. There are many reasons that are undeterred by current slander in the news, be it salary questions or child labor insinuations.

For me, I’ll always be a NYG fan and that will never change. I’ll always wear Nike’s. But, there are areas where I waver and experiment, especially as I grow older. How will you as a marketer influence these decisions for people like me?

Photo Courtesy of Benswing via Flickr.

As a follow up to yesterdays ‘Yeay for Amazon’ post,  I’m writing regarding today’s experience with Borders.

As a rewards member, I receive emails regarding sales and new releases which come about once a month. These are useful and contain coupons for things I’ll actually buy. But recently, I’ve been receiving many emails regarding the Borders Reward Perks program that I joined. These are additional rewards from other vendors (flowers, candy, retail, etc.). They’ve been coming in increasing regularity and are very very annoying. Also, I mistake them for my usually happy encounter with the Borders Rewards emails that I enjoy.

Today, I decided to take action: updating my subscription settings. Now, normally, like many of you, I deal with these annoying emails by adding them to spam or deleting them over and over again. I decided to do a solid by all permission based email marketers and to delete myself from their mailing lists, thereby keeping their analytics accurate, and my karma clean by not asking for email, and then calling it spam. I used the opt out link provided and was taken here:

This isnt for my Reward Perks. This is for my normal communication with Borders. I was confused because I only had one subscription checked, and it wasnt the one they had sent me via email. I then hunted and pecked all around the site, to log in to a second section of the site (thats right, I was not only not logged in from the email they sent me, but I had to log in again to this other section). Once there, I was given a second set of subscription settings:

Although now I wont be receiving those pesky emails, how many other people will go through these hoops to make sure versus just adding this to their spam folder or opting out of everything all together? I wonder how confusing this is to others?

Thoughts?

I recently read a post by Chris Brogan discussing the idea that search is social. After initial brain digestion, I began to apply it to my new position to see what I could uncover. I’m realizing that there is much to be learned regarding our customers and how they access information, but also, what they already think of our product.

How do customers decide upon a college beyond price, location and academics? If they don’t know who you are, chances are, they may not be looking for you. But, do they know what you offer, experientially, geographically and in terms of personal growth opportunities? Does your university culture offer something that others do not, and if so, how are you using that to help students decide to attend your school over another? What doesn’t it offer that may leave some students feeling like they are missing something, and yet empower others?

Creating tactics in social media are one thing, but, creating a branded identity that can be applied to a student’s persona is another. Search – and research based on customer segmentation – is a part of this, as its a part of behavior.

What are your thoughts on creating an experience as an identity, and not just a university brand?

By now, unless you were under a rock this weekend, you’ve heard about Plaxico Burress of the New York Giants accidentally shooting himself. As an avid NYG fan, this is not shocking news, but got me thinking about all of the incidents and absurdities we’ve had to deal with involving Burress. For all his work and salary, he’s becoming more of a problem and less of a priority. Sound like your marketing efforts? Read on to find out how not to pull a Plaxico.

1. Holster (and put a safety on) your weapon: What is your organization using to keep you safe? Is it the same old, same old mentality and way of doing things? Is it safe guarding your web presences by stopping open conversations before they happen? Limiting transparency by not allowing comments on a blog/media/web site? Maybe what you think is keeping you safe, is really detrimental to your success and safety as a presence in your sphere. In the end, doing these things will make you look foolish, not cool.

2. Can the ego: Think that your offerings and brand dont need consumer input? Think again. By consistently shutting out external feedback you are basically telling current and future customers that what they think and want do not matter. You know them better than they know themselves and you’ll tell them what they want and when. Without two way communication, via social media or other give and take, you lose potential ideas and creativity that may offer insights to an audience that you’ve neglected. Make sure you have a vehichle for comments and interaction with your key consumer base.

3. Understand – you ARE replaceable, and possibly, unnecessary: You may think that what you have to offer is better than anyone else, but you are wrong. There is always someone else offering something – if not identical – very similar to yours. Without consumer connection with your brand, and community, you risk them feeling no connection to you and seeking solace elsewhere. In this tight economy, consumers may also find reasons that they can cut their costs by not consuming your product or service making you expendable. It is crucial to build rapport with consumers, not only to keep them as customers, but to continue to update your offerings through customer feedback and need analysis.

Image courtesey of Ted Kerwin.

Check out my submission for the .eduguru new blogger contest. Remember to vote for me!

In an effort to be transparent, below is what I typed up for my Vice President of Enrollment and Retention (AKA – my boss) regarding my key take-aways from Statmats 08. I may be wrong or right, but these points represent what I learned and need to leverage for my individual political situation. They in no way encompass everything I learned – that would be way too much information for my VP! Thanks again to everyone who presented. I look forward to keeping in touch and learning from each other as we move forward in our efforts.

No one knows exactly how to use social media for higher education marketing – but they are trying. Many universities are trying it, but no one has a strategy that is perfected. Everyone is testing different things for their individual audiences. It is a usual strategy to have a student take on the content management – community management – for social networks since they know them best.

ROI/analytics and building a community – make sure you are doing both. Information was presented on creating a return on investment calculation and Google/email analytics to suggest that efforts result in revenue for the university. It was cautioned that these should not be the only results you are looking for: that traffic and applications do not tell the entire picture. Building a community virtually and continuing the conversation openly with prospects and current students and alumni should be the focus – not just hard and fast numbers.

There are many things out there, but we should not do all of them. Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Orkut, Twitter, Ning: the list goes on and on and will only continue to grow. Create a social media strategy and stick with it making changes as lessons are learned along the way. Outline concrete goals and stick to them to see if what you are doing is moving the needle. By using everything randomly we don’t know what sticks or not and risk confusing our audience. All branded social media offerings for the university as a whole should be integrated and have a strategy.

Everyone is still learning. As mentioned previously, no one has all the answers. Those that presented said that they are trying different things and finding what works for their particular audience, campuses, and goals. There will be mistakes. We are all learning from each other and sharing our knowledge via Twitter and blogs. By integrating all of our successes and failures we anticipate finding ways to further our individual goals.

What’s Next?

·        Over the next month, I will be creating a social media strategic plan that will integrate current and future offerings.

·        Suggested Reads: Groundswell, Made to Stick, Here Comes Everybody, Wisdom of Crowds.

·        I will be tweaking the monthly Google Analytics reports to be more inclusive of community building – not just number crunching.

·        I will be monitoring news, blogs and twitter for mentions of our university

·        I’ll be taking a closer look at our email campaigns to see if we are targeting them well with specific content

By now we’ve all been wowed by the well greased machine that was Obama’s campaign. But what can we learn to do, or do better, in our own endeavours? These five philosophical items can help you build your brand, be it personal or work related:

1. Embrace Your Truths -know what matters to you and wear it on your sleeve. Promote these things beyond anything else. By doing so, you’ll solidify if not elevate what you mean to others. Above all else, dont succumb to pressure to morph into what you think people want you to be: you’ll only fail.

2. Understand Conversations, Even if You are Not a Part of Them -No one can be everywhere all the time, or want to hear everything that is said, but, you can listen and learn from it. Dont try to interrupt what people are saying or change their minds. You risk appearing guilty or one sided. Hear what they say and find ways to apply it to the way you do business and communicate better. People’s unabridged ideas about you are your strongest measurement of their overall opinions. Use this to make better decisions, not arguments.

3. Harness Newness - whether social media or community organization, find ways to communicate well with people. Find where they are, and be there. Know how they best consume information, and provide it in this way. Translate it in other languages or new and different patterns of discussion. Seek out ways to do things better, even – especially – if no one else is doing it this way.

4. Ride The Wave -dont assume that things will be seamless or smooth. Expect and anticipate bumps in the road. Dont waiver, even when things seem to be going against you. By standing by decisions and embodying ideals you’ll solidify not only your concept, but maintain it in the minds of the public.  Dont fear change. Without risking failure, you learn nothing.

5. Be What You Are - nothing tarnishes a brand like pretending to be something its not. Everyone has their own thing that they do well, stay with that thing and get better at it. Provide something that others do not.