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The goal of marketing is to win the hearts, minds and trust of people. If you win them over, you might win their business too. It has taken a lifetime of experiences to learn these timeless laws of marketing. Being the youngest of 11 kids, losing my Dad at 6, being raised primarily by women and becoming a bridge builder shaped my worldview towards human-centered marketing. I hope you find them beneficial. 1. The Law of Humanity Great brands always remember that prospects, customers, users, ambassadors and loyalists are real people, with real needs, wants, motivations and ambitions. They never forget that they are in the business of making the lives of their customers easier and helping them realize their ambitions. Be empathetic. Treat customers like human beings. Humanize your brand. 2.The Law of Findability If they can’t find you, they can’t buy you. If a prospect can’t find you on Google page 1, your product or service won’t be … Continue reading
Posted in: Elliance culture, Marketing, Marketing Strategy
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As one of the top higher education branding agencies, here is what have learned. Brands are not created. They already exist, and it’s just a matter of us discovering, defining and articulating them. As brand people, we execute a well-planned discovery that liberates your institutional voice. We create a bright new vocabulary that establishes an emotional connection with prospects and other stakeholders. For us, branding is a way to express, with clarity, verve and imagination why the institution matters. But getting there requires us to bring the right mindsets, review the right information and interview the right people. Here is our recipe: 7 mindsets we bring to brand discovery Two branding agencies tasked to develop a college brand will arrive at different brands. The difference between a successful, enduring brand and one that’s not is the mindsets that agencies bring to the process. Here are ours: 1. Beginner’s Mindset Bringing the “beginner’s mind” is the essential skill for approaching a … Continue reading
Posted in: Higher Education Branding
Google page one is destiny. Colleges and universities that pursue and achieve top organic Google rankings using search engine optimization (SEO) techniques prosper and thrive. The best prospective students prefer to “discover” the college of their choice through “accidental finds” on Google page one and via word-of-mouth on social media and influencers. They out-convert paid advertising leads three-fold (which, in turn, out-convert purchased names three-fold). The following strategies have proven to grow undergraduate, graduate, online, adult and international student enrollment: 1. Define Your Qualitative and Quantifiable Enrollment Goals and Objectives Recruiting Students: Find, attract and motivate prospective right-fit undergraduate, graduate, online and adult students so they can learn more, request information, visit and apply. Reassuring Parents: Inform them about student safety, support and outcomes. Engaging Lifelong Learners: Find, attract and motivate prospective right-fit lifelong learners to engage with the college and its programs. Up-skilling Working Professionals: Find, attract and motivate prospective right-fit professionals so they can learn more, request information … Continue reading
The era of traditional high cost, high-volume and low-performance student search services is over. Here’s how traditional student search services used to work: first, when taking SAT and AP tests, students gave permission to the college board to share their contact information with prospective colleges; in turn, the college board licensed (for one-two-use only) the student names to potential colleges at 50 cents per name; then, colleges bought boatloads of names from the college board; finally, colleges bombarded the prospects with commoditized emails/direct mail, hoping some would raise their hands, and praying some would convert. Traditional student search worked initially but, over time, it started to backfire. Students and families got tired of being spammed by colleges and they got smarter. They started taking control of their college search. They are now consulting their peers, families and friends about which colleges they should consider. They are searching on Google for the college that’ll suit them the best. The privileged ones … Continue reading
In the early years of our existence, we generated leads through a wide variety of tactics: websites, SEO plus engaging content, display advertising, emails to purchased names, postcards to purchased names, LinkedIn ads, Facebook ads, Twitter ads, YouTube ads, retargeting ads, social media promotions, chat bots, lookalike audiences, webinars, campus visits and events, PR, branding and scholarship contests. And we observed which leads converted the best. Slowly but surely, here is what we discovered. Purchased Names Convert Poorly The era of buying prospect names, bombarding them with commoditized emails/direct mail, hoping some will raise their hands, and praying some will convert is over. Royall & Company, which built a successful business on this premise, cashed out when they saw the model crumbling. What happened? Students got tired of being spammed and they got smarter. They took control of their college search. They started asking their peers, families and friends for their recommendations. They started searching Google and perusing their favorite … Continue reading
Posted in: college search, Enrollment Marketing
Because people can only buy your products and services if they can find them, a website should be easy to use and have a fighting chance at securing the highest possible ranking on search engines. As one of Pittsburgh’s longest standing website design agencies, Elliance has been delivering prosperity with SEO-friendly websites for regional, national and global clients for the past 30 years. Here are six ways we infuse SEO into every stage of website design: 1. Strategy + Keyword Guide At the very start of your website redesign project, ensure that you not only declare your SEO goals in the website strategy document, but also craft a Keyword Guide that contains clusters of keywords and phrases spanning your products/services and areas of thought leadership, innovation and intellectual capital. Laying claim to the keywords begins with an intentional plan. 2. Information Architecture After completion of your sitemap, build wireframes with a balanced mix of digital assets to increase user engagement and … Continue reading
As one of Pittsburgh’s longest standing B2B and higher education branding agencies, Elliance has been delivering prosperity to regional and national clients for the past 30 years. In launching over 100 brands, we’ve tested the strength of our brand propositions using the following criteria: 1. Brand Idea/Ideal There is a deep yearning in people to belong to a tribe of like-minded people. Along with the wish to “buy” a product/service, they have a subliminal desire to “buy into” the ideals that the brand embodies and personifies. Great brands intentionally attach an idea/ideal to their product or service e.g. independent thinking and open-mindedness for St. John’s College, and environmental and social responsibility for Patagonia. What’s yours? 2. Distinctive One key way to outsmart competitors without outspending is to elevate the brand by creating a memorable and distinctive brand. Indeed, in the sea of sameness, a distinctive brand always wins. 3. Authentic True and believable authenticity sells. To live authentically, brands unshackle themselves … Continue reading
Posted in: Pittsburgh Branding Agency
Fourth of a four part series on web development best practices we have used as one of Pittsburgh’s longest standing web development agencies. These practices have consistently delivered prosperity to regional, national and global clients for the past 30 years. Today, more than any other marketing touch point, a website is the digital soul of an organization. All roads lead to it. As a mission-critical asset, it must be kept current and fresh with an easy-to-use content management system (CMS). There are four types of CMS systems: proprietary, cloud-based small-business, open-source or commercial grade. Which one should you pick? The answer depends on four factors: The Right Features A good CMS system must be: User Friendly – The CMS should be easy to use for both non-technical content administrators and web/technology teams. It should have spell-checkers, content preview, and content rollback features. Customizable – It should be flexible and customizable for standard tasks, but it should also have the ability to extend … Continue reading
This checklist is designed for new deans sizing up a marketing department and prospective vice presidents for marketing as they evaluate a new job opportunity or performance of their marketing department. 1. What’s Your Brand? In the sea of sameness, brands win. A brand is the sum of all experiences. It attaches a memorable idea to your school. It creates expectations and a core promise while creating strong to impenetrable differentiation in the marketplace. Can you articulate your brand and its core promise? Do you speak with your distinctive brand voice, striking different notes for each segment of students, alumni, donors, partners and influencers? Are your website, social media, print materials, brand anthem video, and campaigns curated with the same brand voice? What is the meaningful societal cause your brand stands for? 2. What are the First Impressions of Your School? First impressions matter. What message is conveyed by your architecture, entrance, grounds, signage, classrooms, admission office décor? Do your key … Continue reading
Posted in: Higher Education Marketing
Experience tells us that great beginnings matter for these reasons: a clear purpose calms the winds of change seeing (our future) becomes believing strong messages invite loyalists trust takes root The number and variety of decisions, opportunities and challenges that come with assuming leadership of a major law school require a steady hand. Below, we’ve put together 10 strategic considerations for your first 100 days to help you navigate from analysis to synthesis. 1. Establish A Strategic Vision Start by defining a unique vision that will galvanize the faculty, staff, alumni and partners. Establish a few major priorities that will make your school a school of consequence. Then devote most of your efforts to those few major things that make a school prosper. Priorities could include things like becoming an innovator, positioning the school as a thought-leader in both established and emerging spaces, and championing a meaningful societal cause that is rooted in your school’s strengths. 2. Assemble Your Team … Continue reading