From the big LERN annual conference, here’s Susan Hurrell’s top 8 new best digital marketing tips of the year.
by Susan Hurrell, Neovation, Winnipeg
The big thing, I think, is embracing the marketing culture shift that is happening with the rise of the “Everything Platform” – This quote from Ryan Holmes, CEO of Hootsuite, talks about a new concept of “everything platforms”:
Twitter isn’t just for blasting out 140-character updates anymore: It’s for one-on-one messaging, video-sharing, customer service and more. Facebook isn’t just about connecting with friends: It’s now (or soon to be) a workplace productivity tool, a video sharing and streaming platform, a place to shop, etc. Similar transformations can be seen across LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat, among other networks. Social media has become less a discrete thing that people do than a natural component of everything they do. And that trend shows no signs of slowing.
Susan Hurrell presenting to a packed room at the big LERN conference.
The 8 new best digital marketing tips for lifelong learning programs this year are these actionable items:
1. Get Friction Free – Lucky Orange.com
Once you get people to your site, make sure you know where the grit is in the gears. Use tools like Lucky Orange to watch people visit your site – fill out your registration forms – interact with your content. See what is making your potential customers run screaming into the night. You can watch live or watch a recording, and set triggers to alert you to certain page views – like your registration form, or shopping cart. I can tell you that people experience your site very differently than you do – you’ll be amazed. Cost starting at $10/month for 25k page views
2. Look Before You Leap – New Connect Points in Social Media
Heard of Whisper (30 million active monthly users) ? Kik? YikYak? Ello? Whatsapp? Yubi? (fourth most downloaded app in the UK after 10 weeks on the market) Instagram and Snapchat and Tumblr are mainstream, and Facebook and Twitter are for old folks. New Social Media channels pop up like mushrooms in the spring – and many fade just as quickly. You don’t have to be everywhere – be where you know your potential and current customers are. It is important to review and perhaps invest time/resources in building out a new channel/technology and stake out your claim/own the real estate – but sometime the best message is – “Our best conversations happen on Pinterest – find us there at <link>” – if something like Whisper isn’t for you. Have a plan for leading platforms – even if that plan is to have a somewhat dormant account.
The social wall in LERN Central was a big hit. Lots of participants posted photos on the conference app.
3. Follow Them Around the Web
Ever notice that sometimes you will visit a website and then you’ll start seeing ads for that business everywhere you go? It’s almost like they are following you around the web. They are! It’s called Retargeting, and it allows you to have an ad or series of ads follow your website visitor as they browse the web, or based on their email address. Programs like Adroll allow you to set a budget, test your ad content, and stay top of mind. Great for courses because you can make the ad copy time sensitive to remind people that “Stretch out the Holiday Stress – Winter Yoga Class Registration at Mycollege.edu ends Dec.1” – ads with metrics that help you measure success – affordably. You set the budget.
4. Chat Program as Email Marketing Driver. User Instructions:
- Download WhatsApp or other high adoption chat program (Facebook Messenger)
- Save <this number> in your contact list as <newsletter name>
- Send <newsletter name> a message on WhatsApp asking to be added to the newsletter (explicit consent)
- People who opt in with a phone number rather than an email and get the newsletter messages straight away as chats.
- Provider gears content appropriately.
5. Ask the Question – AskNice.ly
Net Promoter Scores give you a lot of insight with one simple question – and then you can drill down to find out WHY and WHERE you need to improve. Asking “Would you recommend <classes from my program> to a colleague doing professional development” (whatever) – and use an NPS service like AskNice.ly to aggregate results. You can segment for department etc and find out what people “really think” without subjecting them to a longer survey form. Go deep with a sample of respondents to get more info, or look for patterns in the comments. Then Celebrate or Improve as needs be. $50/month
6. One Email that gets a 50-60% open rate – Believe it or Not.
Properly executed, your first “welcome” email” from your email marketing program will have the highest open rate – and highest click through rate- but you have to say something more than “thanks for signing up.” In Serious Email Marketing, I talked about a dozen ways to maximize the power of the Welcome Email – but here are three: 1. include link to a PDF map that shows where available parking is for your campus, including bus/train locations (make them welcome & know where to go). 2. Assuming your list is properly segmented, provide downloads of any forms, or supply lists, or recommended reading/resources they may need, so they arrive at their first interaction fully prepared. 3. Do a “getting to know you” survey – to get all the demographic info you used to include in the email sign up process – and offer a reward (discount? contest entry? gift card) not for signing up – but for completing the survey (First 25 people…).
The Hall of Learning was packed. A roundtable was held every hour of the conference in the Hall of Learning.
7. Canva – Graphics GuruMaker Canva.com
If it doesn’t look good, people won’t notice. Canva is a tool for the graphically designed challenged that allows you to use your own or stock images, overlay text, and create properly sized graphics for social media. There are other tools out there, but Canva, for me wins this one hands down. Free basic account, Paid accounts starting at $9/month. Some may qualify for edu discounts (specific criteria).
8. Lights! Camera! Audio! LIVESTREAM!
Work with your instructors to get a Livestream or recorded 5-minute video or audio clip of them talking passionately about their course. Nothing is more infectious than enthusiasm. Incorporate that into your YouTube channel, or link out via your social media. Get their best elevator pitch – and it doesn’t have to be perfect. Capturing their humanity, their eagerness to meet the next round of students, the reason they teach “this topic” – make them the star of the interview and let them shine!