Aha! :: Elliance Blog

As a firm steadily building a reputation for higher education marketing and branding, we often receive phone calls and RFPs from colleges who quickly disclose a sense of urgency — “we need help” — without necessarily understanding what they want to buy or how a firm like Elliance can make a difference. Given the sandstorm […]

Comparing last four months of pre-launch and post-launch analytics data of recently launched responsive website for a client, revealed some interesting insights. Website traffic remained unchanged Share of Mobile traffic increased Share of Direct traffic increased Shift in Desktop traffic to Mobile Overall, for the new website, traffic visit numbers remained relatively unchanged. However, the […]

In 2005, Jerome C. Weber wrote a journal piece entitled “Why Can’t Colleges and Universities Be Run More like Business?” The public outcry colleges sometimes receive when they are perceived as a business is one answer to Weber’s question. Take Thunderbird School of Global Management, who chose to partner with a for-profit in an attempt […]

There are multiple approaches to building a successful brand for a college or university. I work with brand specialists, designers, writers and content marketers who all have different opinions on what is important to a higher education brand. But from a search marketing perspective, some of the things I consider most important include brand awareness […]

Here at Elliance, we practice what we preach — sending responsive emails just as we encourage our clients to do. Our upcoming newsletter will be our first. (If you don’t currently receive the newsletter and want to check out the result, contact us with the ‘Sign Up for Newsletter’ box checked.) The importance of making […]

Retargeting is a form of online advertising that can help you keep your brand in front of prospects or customers after they leave your website. Did you know that 98% of visitors leave websites without converting?! That means that for every 100 visitors to your website, only two are likely to take a next step […]

Anyone involved with higher education branding and marketing has used such shorthand as “four-year liberal arts college” or “four-year degree.” Likewise, most colleges and financial aid sources will talk about a bachelor’s degree as a four-year effort. But the best national data tells a different story. Reports from the American Council on Higher Education and […]

In conversations with prospective clients about higher education marketing, I often hear this: “We know it makes sense, but.” And you can probably guess what comes after the “but.” But our faculty doesn’t support it. But our budget is split into a million pieces. But my team reports to two different VPs who disagree. But […]

First of all, skeuomorphism (ala iOS 6) and “flat UI” (ala Android) are tied to the same fate. It’s not one over the other. Neither can survive. In fact, they’re both as good as dead already. Pour one out and get over it. Let’s stipulate that “Flat UI” – the hysterical term du jour for […]

F. Scott Fitzgerald famously said “The test of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function”. At Elliance, we have made it a habit of not settling for easy answers. Each one of us holds the torch […]