Guten Morgen! What this presentation will go through All about why - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Guten Morgen!

All about ‘why’ and ‘how’ to create & transform content for social media.

• 1. It starts with the ‘why’ – the context and research that illustrates the

importance of creating content for social media

• 1. Then we dig into ‘how’ to do this, with practical steps on:
• a. Tools to help you understand your audience
• b. An organic and paid social media strategy
• c. What to create and examples for each phase of a prospect’s journey
• d. Where to look for content inspiration
• e. Why is a good brand identity important
• f. How alumni, faculty,employee advocacy tie all this together

★ The session serves as a guide for you all, but it can be used as a handout for your social media teams to implement as I’ve included examples and more tactical details in the appendix

What this presentation will go through

WHY is it important to transform content for social?

z

Prospects today are empowered by information from their social networks

Present Past

Institution website Family/Friends/Peers Institution website Family/Friends/Peers Professional Networks Personal Networks

The student decision-making journey has changed! More than ever before. Students are looking to their social networks when doing their research.

Source: Connecting with Today’s Prospective Student, LinkedIn – 8/2015

More than ever, prospects are doing their

• wn research...

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The Internet enables prospects to self-educate by gathering information on schools anonymously

72% of prospects developed their short list of schools before reaching out to a school representative

Connecting with Today’s Prospective Student, LinkedIn

So schools must influence prospects early in the decision cycle... By being ‘always-on’ and present

Source: Connecting with Today’s Prospective Student, LinkedIn – 8/2015

And since HE has just under 1.5 years consideration period, you need to be ‘Always On’ & present

“Demystifying the Consumer Journey?” - Millward Brown Digital research and LinkedIn research

540

DAYS

Higher Education

HE

Millward Brown Digital research and LinkedIn research

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Think about it, your website is Always On, right?

Example: MBA Google Trends (UK)

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Why? Because you know there’s perpetual interest

No seasonality. Students are constantly searching

9

Educate, inform and inspire your prospective students by sharing guides, global trends, research, industry news and positioning yourselves as thought leaders on social Of students use social media when deciding where to enroll

Times Higher Education Research

83%

This creates a great opportunity and responsibility to...

Particularly as

Times Higher Education research

AWARENESS CONSIDERATION DECISION

Education and industry news Institution rankings Information on courses and degree programs Expert commentary and reviews Staff and lecturer profiles Career Advice Alumni profiles/achievements

Source: Connecting with Today’s Prospective Student, LinkedIn – 8/2015

So to influence early, schools must create content at each stage of the applicant’s decision journey

The three stages of the HE decision-making process With different types of information sought by prospects in each stage

educational, non-promotional educational, specific, not overly ‘sales-y’ differentiate your programme, show life at/after your school

HOW to create & transform content for Social?

Mastery

• Plan
• Set goals, objectives and metrics
• Understand your audience
• Distribute
• Maximise your content
• Your three student journeys
• Activate alumni, faculty, employees
• Optimise Not covered today. See appendix
• A / B test creatives to find your own blueprint
• Optimise with lead generation campaigns

Step #1 of 4: PLAN

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Intro

Set Goals, Objectives and Metrics

> Increase awareness > Purchase consideration

Brand

> Generate qualified leads > nurture leads

Demand

Brand KPIs: Reach | Impressions | Engagement rates | CTR | Followers Lead Gen KPIs: Leads, CPL | Earned impressions, reach & engagements

What do you want to achieve and how will you measure it. Understanding your goals and objectives will help you set the right metrics.

Understand who, where (which platform) and what

• What are they talking about / questions they want

answered?

Top ways marketers know who and where their audiences are

2019 B2B Content Marketing Research: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs

understand your audience and who is actually coming to your website

Example view of tools to understand who is landing on your website

LinkedIn Insight Tag Google Analytics

...And ultimately who to target

Now you know who they are and what type of information they want, you can connect on a deeper level by delivering that

Put your audience needs first to successfully build trust

When you create content based on THOSE needs – what are you really trying to do?

• Of course, you want the right people to find, consume, discuss and/or share your

content to drive action

• But on a deeper level, when you help someone by providing valuable information,

you’re creating a bond and becoming a credible and trusted resource

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Intro Step 4

And through content marketing, you can achieve mastery by always...

Being Helpful Telling Stories Being Human

Think about the benefit to the member first Will it make your audience more informed, productive, or successful? Be consistent and build

• n what came before

Aim to Inspire People want to talk to people. Think about emotional

• triggers. Happiness |

Anticipation | Surprise | Excitement

To give your audience content they want and need where ever they’re looking for it.

Any Game Of Thrones fans?

During the last episode, Tyrion gave a profound speech to the lords and ladies. Does anyone know what Tyrion said unites people?

Even Tyrion Lannister knows Telling stories is important!

“What unites people? Armies? Gold? Flags?

Stories.

There’s nothing in the world more powerful than a good story. Nothing can stop it. No enemy can defeat it”

Tyrion literally steals the cadence of the content marketing masterclasses I’ve ever run. For one moment, Tyrion becomes a Content Marketing Thought Leader!

Step #2 of 4: CREATE / REPURPOSE / TRANSFORM

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Intro Step 4

By starting with your organic content, you ensure you’re investing in your highest-performing content for paid campaigns. Then

create!

Invest in the best

• rganic

content Paid amplifies

• rganic

reach

Organic ex.

University Pages Facebook Groups Instagram Twitter Blogs

Display Ads Sponsored Content Lead Gen campaigns Account Based Marketing

Paid ex.

First thing first - you must invest in an integrated organic and paid strategy to unlock your School’s potential

Using Disney as an analogy to explain this approach to create and monetise content

Disney’s ‘BLOCKBUSTER’ method. They see what works and they repurpose it!

“Back catalogue” “Net-new”

Let’s apply Disney’s blueprint model to create a gated asset and maximise it by slicing it up into different formats

Supporting “teasers” Drive interest to the main asset Gated Blockbuster eg eBook, research Valuable content designed for lead capture

Three Benefits of gated content for HE

Benefit #1: Increased lead generation Benefit #2: Acquiring prospective student leads earlier in the journey Benefit #3: Start nurturing and segmenting the right students for you

• Segmenting your audience is an important one as your gated form allows you

to select the questions prospects should answer before they access the content

• Gated content is also important because it drives traffic to your website and

provides a next step for prospective students who aren’t yet ready to apply

You then need to create content for each stage of the applicant’s journey, amplify with budget what’s working

Real life examples of how you can map your content to each phase of the decision journey

Rankings, News, Career Advice, Courses/Degrees Program Value, News, Blog Content Webinars taster, Faculty Profiles, reviews, On-Campus Events, Alumni Testimonials Awareness Consideration Decision Awareness

★ Answerthepublic.com ★ Google Trends ★ Look to your website:

company blog, PR news section, company resources. I guarantee there is something that can be repurposed for social media

Research Topics

FIND QUESTIONS TO ANSWER

And if you’re struggling with content creation, then there are free tools to support

★Then use Google analytics to understand what part of the site people are going to, what articles they’re reading, what interests them

Answerthepublic.com

FIND QUESTIONS TO ANSWER

“How to choose a university”

Answerthepublic.com

FIND QUESTIONS TO ANSWER

“How to choose a university for master degree?”

What does good branding look like?

Tie it together with a strong brand identity

EY | Harvard | WU Executive Academy

Groundbreaking research / thought leadership that constantly builds Harvard’s prestige It’s consumer-oriented and non-promotional tool. Employee stories / employee promotions visual identifier Strong / identifiable brand colours

Step #3 of 4: ALUMNI, FACULTY & EMPLOYEE ADVOCACY

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Intro

Unlock and activate the voices of your alumni, faculty and employees

For the first time in the Edelman Trust Barometer’s 17 year history, trust has fallen globally across all institutions; government, business, media and NGOs.

The annual Barometer report states that ‘a person like yourself’ and ‘regular employee’ are seen as credible sources

SO in this post trust world, we must build trust and be authentic. One way is to unlock alumni, faculty & employee voices

➔ This is because they are telling your story for you. I am more likely to take the

• pinion of an alumni who has lived the experience than an institution

➔ It massively extends your reach as it reaches all of their networks ➔ Can help with crisis comms. If you have strong advocates/brand, that can defend you

My real life example

Likewise, alumni, faculty and employees are valuable brand advocates that help distribute your message

➔ Incorporate alumni in your content in the final stages of the prospect’s journey ➔ Their testimonials are powerful and should be a part of your content marketing message ➔ An engaged alumni will give you their time, talent and network that can make a huge impact.

The numbers don’t lie: Example of advocacy impact

A Corporate’s Owned Reach Vs Earned Reach

763,111 54,900 401,025 Total Reach Today 1,219,036

Current Brand Social Reach Number of followers for each channel to calculate the total reach below. Employee Advocacy Reach Multiply number of employees by the average number of connections each individual has. Total this up for potential reach, then calculate if just 10% were activated.

273 = 208 = 145 =

Total Potential Reach 54,462,000

• No. of employees

= 87,000

X X X 23,751,000 18,096,000 12,615,000

X 0.1 =

5,446,200

5x more reach

Step #4 of 4: YOUR PROFESSIONAL BRAND

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Intro

So you need to build your professional brand, as students are looking and searching

Brand (n)

Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.

(Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO)

Whether you like it or not, you have a brand as a faculty member or staff….And it affects you

Your professional brand Is how others view your accomplishments, experience, capabilities, and potential. So we can purposefully construct this

At a basic level, a professional brand starts with having a complete LinkedIn profile

Question: Who here has Googled their name in the past week, month, six months?

My Testimony on the power of Social Media

I am testament to the power of social media. 4 of my most humbling and biggest professional opportunities came through just by being present Social media is powerful so let’s harness it to build strong:

Awareness Preference Advocates (alumni, faculty, employees)

4 steps to building your professional brand

Step 1:

Define your brand: start with the end in mind

• What are your values
• What do you hope to achieve?
• What you want to be known for

Step 2:

Bring your brand to life on LinkedIn (basic level)

• Have a strong headline
• Tell your story
• Highlight your skills and experience

Step 3:

Make relevant connections to build your network

• Quality connections are paramount
• Start w/colleagues, students, alumni, mentors
• Include past employers / colleagues
• Connect w/industry experts

Step 4:

Share helpful content to engage your network

• Share content that aligns with your values
• Share content your network will be interested in
• Be helpful, share knowledge, add value

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To sum up: Cheat sheet for how to create & transform content for social

1- Set goals, objectives and metrics 2- Understand the who, where, what of your audience 3- First offer value to your audience 4- Invest in an integrated organic and paid strategy 5- Create, atomise and repurpose content 6 - Use a consistent brand identity to differentiate yourself 7 - Activate your alumni, faculty and employee voices

Thank you / Danke schöne Any Questions

www.linkedin.com/yvonne-boateng

Appendix

Additional research

LinkedIn did an interesting piece of research on MBA prospects

When looking at the behavior of LinkedIn members by decision stage, MBA intenders were:

3x more likely to follow a company in the Awareness phase 2.5x more likely to be active in groups in the Discovery phase 5.5x more likely to view jobs in the Selection phase

Source: Connecting with Today’s Prospective Student, LinkedIn – 8/2015

Marketers must influence prospects early in the decision journey

51 Source: Connecting with Today’s Prospective Student, LinkedIn – 8/2015

develop their short list before reaching out to a school representative

72%

make the prospects’ short list

ONLY 3 SCHOOLS

end up enrolling at a school from their short list

93%

How to start small with your content creation

“I’m looking for students that want to learn more about my MBA program”

Tip #1: Start with the what

Reframe the imagery and the copy already existing and create your teaser

Tip #2: Take what you have

With small changes to headline, intro, and imagery - create 3 more versions

Making variations can be easy

• Small tweaks can make a big difference! you test & learn to understand your personal blueprint
• Remember each platform has its own specs and best practices

○ e.g. character length restrictions for twitter, FB & IG penalising images with text overlaid ○ The more you can understand this, the better your content will perform

Keep intro copy short & always include a strong CTA

• Keep your intro copy under

150 characters to avoid truncation on mobile

• Be specific with where the member is

going to go if they engage with your ad to boost landing page conversion rates

Invest in great imagery

Images of professionals over Objects +160%CTR

Refresh creative frequently for best performance. Try to keep 3/4 running at any one time.

Try to keep 3 or 4 running at any one time. swap out low performing ones and introduce new ones

Examples of gated content for Higher Ed

Awareness Stage Content Prospective students are seeking out educational content that will answer their questions and help them make one of the biggest decisions of their lives. At this stage, it’s important to keep content offers high-level, non-promotional, and above all, honest. Gated Content Ideas for the Awareness Stage: ➔ The Ultimate Guide to Choosing a College Major | The Top 20 In-Demand College Majors of 2019 | How to Afford College as a First Generation Student Consideration Stage Content Prospective students have answered their first wave of questions and are on the hunt for schools that fit their desired criteria. At this stage, it’s OK to mention things specific to your college or university, but the content should still be mainly educational in nature and not overly salesy. Gated Content Ideas for the Consideration Stage: ➔ Guide to Writing a Winning statement | Navigating the Financial Aid Process | Interactive Financial Aid Calculator Decision Stage Content Students are actively comparing their options and weighing the pros and cons of each. At this stage, it’s important to not only get into the specifics of what you’re selling but also differentiate your Programme from the competition. Students in the decision stage want to see how they would fit into your school and what impact it might have on their careers and lives. Since we know emotions play a huge role in any decision-making process, it’s important for your content to connect on an emotional level. Gated Content Ideas for the Decision Stage: ➔ Virtual Reality Tour | Have student ambassadors host a webinar where they answer commonly asked campus tour

Volt Edu research

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