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Communicating before, during and after a capital campaign requires the kind of symphonic thinking that author Daniel Pink explores in A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age. Strategic visions and campaign priorities can quickly deconstruct into campaign inventory and itemization — losing all connection to a larger and more compelling story about why a college matters and to the invitation for how donors might connect their singular sense of purpose to something larger. It’s not a matter of longer versus shorter content, but a question of what Pink calls the “relationship between relationships.” Pink talks of the three types of people that thrive when asked to overlay little and big pictures. Boundary Crossers: comfortable with abstraction, they understand how a concept like regulation can inspire donors to support the training of future financial accountants who will police insider trading and osteopathic doctors equipped to ease an epidemic of diabetes. Inventors: able to project new … Continue reading
In recent blogs we’ve discussed the many benefits of universities and colleges utilizing Snapchat as a higher education marketing tool — from Geofilters that essentially act as digital billboards to Snapchat stories, which give you raw, in-the-moment exposure to a day-in-the-life at that institution. But, as of August, there’s a new kid on the social media block — Instagram Stories — and though the idea may have originated from that of its counterpart, Snapchat, they have taken it and run in their own direction, providing unique opportunities for individuals and marketers and winning over users left and right. In just nine months of existence, Instagram Stories has reached over 200 million daily active users. The last recorded number of daily active users for Snapchat was released in December — reaching 161 million. This speaks volumes to the powerhouse that is Instagram. In months Instagram has measured up to and very-likely surpassed the number of story users Snapchat has garnered over … Continue reading
Posted in: social media strategy
Facebook has recently made available a plethora of new video options for both pages and individual users to use for engaging more authentically with their friends and fans. This includes their recently released feature called Facebook Live, which allows you to connect with your fans, friends and followers by sharing real-time video of what you’re doing. Marketers especially in the higher education industry should definitely jump on this because it creates an intimate, authentic connection with your audience and most importantly it humanizes and personalizes your brand. It is important to appreciate the importance of a live video in terms of the audience engagement and post visibility, Facebook Newsfeed is not in a chronological order rather it is a personalized feed which shows what is most relevant to the user. Since the release of Live, Facebook has tweaked its algorithm to show Live videos more likely higher in the News Feed. When you use Live with your page, you already … Continue reading
Posted in: social media strategy
Not since radio in the 1920s and television in the 1960s has a medium played such a significant role in a presidential election. In February, copywriter Erin McCarthy discussed how social media, particularly Snapchat, was changing how voters follow election results, but social media has also transformed campaigns themselves in ways that were unimaginable just a few elections ago. In 2004’s Bush vs. Gore contest, Facebook had just launched nine months prior and Twitter did not come online until 2006. Four years later, social media would go from an election non-factor to a powerful voter engagement and outreach tool. In 2008, a relatively unknown Barack Obama mobilized millions of voters, primarily through Facebook, and went on to defeat two political veterans, front-runner Hillary Clinton in the democratic primaries and Senator John McCain in November’s general election. In 2012, President Obama continued his social media dominance by taking his ideas straight to voters, posting nearly four times the content of Mitt … Continue reading
In the paid advertising world, it’s easy to determine your ROI if you’re using analytics to track all of your efforts. But when it comes to social marketing, there are so many metrics and variables it can make your head spin. Not to mention that each social channel provides different data and definitions for metrics. In Facebook, specifically, it’s all about getting fans (or page likes) and building long-term relationships with your fans. There are numerous strategic ways to find relevant Facebook fans – both from paid advertising and organic reach. It can be hard to put a value on engagement metrics, but a report states that the average value of a Facebook fan is $174*. So, say you were able to get 25 new page likes this month — that would equate to a value of $4K! Implementing a strategic social campaign, with both paid and organic tactics, can help build relevant Facebook fans for your page. Here are … Continue reading
I have to imagine that @sweden’s citizen-driven Twitter “experiment” is waking up many a marketing director’s concerns about social media—ergo their brands—in the hands of the masses. As part of its Curators of Sweden campaign, Sweden’s government-sponsored tourism agency turns the reigns of the @sweden Twitter account over to a different citizen each week. This week, Sonja Abrahamsson’s tweets have taken their followers on a magic carpet ride. Everyone from Mashable, The Wall Street Journal, and Forbes weighed in on the controversy. Even Stephen Colbert riffed on it on The Colbert Report, causing over 4.7MM Twitter users to campaign for him taking over the account for a week (#artificialswedener). Because of Abrahamsson and her gaffes (or trolling?), many are calling this “experiment” a colossal failure, while a few say it is absolute brilliance. Having worked as a digital marketing consultant for many tourism directors over the years, I felt an immediate concern for the future of tourism social media efforts. … Continue reading
It was a dark and stormy brainstorm session. Ideas were flying. “What if we could connect them to people who came before them and then show them the ones they could influence after?” “What if we use a narrative device, juxtaposing past stories with current stories. The platform could provide a dramatic backdrop for the rhetorical argument.” “Will anyone fill out a form? Let’s not make them log in.” Marketers worldwide are hard at work dreaming up campaigns and interactive whiz-bang features that will inspire or impel users to engage. As someone who waves the social media flag in the new world order, I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we want people to get involved, share their enthusiasm with others, be our brand ambassadors. And sometimes we’ll settle for just liking a pretty picture or new yogurt flavor. And therein lies the problem. All the world’s a stage. We’re scattered, untethered, bouncing like … Continue reading