Recently in Your Higher Education Marketing Newsletter Category

Writing this as the sun shines on the first March day in Michigan. Nice introduction to the arrival of spring not long from now. May all your marketing endeavors thrive in the new season.

Attend a web strategy conference with a strong international flavor here in the U.S. Check the program, with a higher education track, at J.Boye Philadelphia 2010 at bit.ly/bk5Yxz

Ready for webinars in April? Join me for "Web Analytics for Enrollment Success" (bit.ly/6y2l0A) or "Writing Right for the Web" (bit.ly/9ad2rj).

Here are your marketing news and notes for March.
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Update on Millennials from Pew Research

Most Millennials are out of their teens now (18-29 years of age) and many plan to continue in graduate or professional school after college graduation if they can balance that with work and finances.

Pew Research released a February report that describes Millennials, despite the current economic state, as "confident, connected, and open to change." Keep that in mind as you plan stories and outcomes information for your website and social media network.

If Millennials are important to your marketing plans, read the executive summary and download the 149-page report (with special attention to Chapter 5 on "Education and Work") at bit.ly/drDNVi
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Videos for Admission at Tufts University

Is this an exception or the start of a new wave?

For 2010 applicants, Tufts University is giving applicants the option of using a YouTube video as part of their admission application materials. According to a New York Times story, about 1,000 of 15,000 applicants have taken up the offer.

The NYT article at nyti.ms/d6iYw5 includes a link to the most popular video with nearly 79,000 views as I am typing this.

Will you be doing anything similar soon?
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Top 10 Online Degree Programs in January 2010

How many can you get right? Make a list before you visit.

The most popular based on online searches and inquiries reported by elearners.com are at bit.ly/cEFL8h
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Myths and Realities of Distance Education

A recent Chronicle of Higher Education explores what is true and what is not quite so true in the ongoing debate over distance education.

Just as interesting as the article by a Yale librarian are the comments that follow on the merits of everything from the motives of administrators who promote distance learning to the deficiencies of software used to run the courses.

Be better informed for your campus discussions after you visit bit.ly/dvXf1C
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Quick Test for Keyword Popularity

If you need a break for something that is both fun and informative, visit Googlefight.

Enter two competing keywords and see which is more often used on Google Analytics. Try your competitors, various academic programs combinations, or my old favorites, "scholarships" vs. "financial aid." Results just might help you plan title tags and key headings for your website pages.

Get the stats at googlefight.com/
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Short Forms Increase Online Inquiries

Does your online inquiry form ask for so much information that it discourages people from completing it? Direct marketers know that the shorter a form, online or not, the more people will use it.

If you want more people to leave stealth status and inquire online, make your form short enough to fit "above the fold" on your web page. Review elements to consider dropping and follow a link to one university's excellent online inquiry form when you visit bit.ly/cc0Vq2
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Pre-Paid Tuition Plans at Risk

The shaky future of pre-paid tuition plans in many states was the feature of a Wall Street Journal article that will make many readers who use them nervous about meeting higher education tuition costs in the future.

WSJ reviews various "shaky guarantees" in states "across the nation." The anticipated pattern: states will restrict the amount of tuition covered by the plans at the same time that public universities are raising tuition to offset declining state appropriations.

Read the full article at bit.ly/9nWRSe
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Marketing Wisdom 2010: Dark Space of the Marketing Universe?

MarketingSherpa is offering this collection of stories, notes, and observations from a long list of marketers for free. While this is not a detailed roadmap to marketing success, you will likely find worthwhile nuggets in the 34 pages to help shape your marketing plans.

The report notes a major change this year in attitudes toward social media: Social Media is viewed as "the dark matter of the marketing universe, filling the space between all other channels, and quietly shaping the activities that take place within them."

For more on that and many more topics download the report at bit.ly/99wiUn
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Nielsen on Website Usability Progress

In a recent Alertbox column, Jakob Nielsen outlined the progress he believes website creators have made over the last 10 years in creating a better online experience for their visitors.

His conclusion is that the glass is half-full rather than half-empty. How long will it take to fill to the top? About another 74 years.

Review the progress made and the hurdles to overcome at bit.ly/bsFtd8
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Higher Education Slips in Public Opinion

This might not be a surprise, but a new public opinion poll details how attitudes toward higher education institutions continue to deteriorate. While people continue to believe that a degree is valuable, most do not believe that universities are acting in the public interest. Most people believe that schools can make more cuts without hurting the quality of a higher education degree.

Check the important details at www.publicagenda.org/pages/squeeze-play-2010
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Middlebury Limits Tuition Increase to CPI + 1%

Can your college or university survive and thrive if tuition increases are limited to 1 percent above the Consumer Price Index?

That's the new strategy announced at Middlebury College, along with a series of other financial restraint measures that recognize that for most institutions the era of growth enjoyed for the past 15 years or so has ended and will not return soon.

Expect contraction more than expansion over the next 10 years. Middlebury has taken an unusual first step in recognizing the new reality. Details at bit.ly/b8itJl

If more schools did the same, public opinion polls might start to change.
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9 Tips for Social Media Marketing Proposals

Are you concerned that VPs and other "higher ups" at your school do not understand the realities of what is needed for effective social media communication, especially the budget?

I especially liked the note here about expected viral results: "It (viral) is as much a strategy as a lottery ticket is a retirement plan."

Find what might work well for you in "Tips for Talking to Your Boss About Social Media" at www.clickz.com/3639596
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Especially for Web Writers: Mission Impossible?

Is it impossible to write a Mission Statement that anyone will actually read and remember?

Especially online, where people have to scan and connect quickly, in about 5 seconds?

Note the difference between the examples from Brannigan's Restaurant and CARE: you can scan the latter but not the former. It would take about 60 seconds to make the weak example friendly for online readers with bullet points.

Dean Rieck offers worthy tips at www.procopytips.com/mission-statement
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My Upcoming Presentations in 2010

Share questions and answers with people like yourself who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me at one or more of these events.

April 7, Magna Publications Webinar: "Web Analytics for Enrollment Success." Program details and registration at bit.ly/6y2l0A

April 20, Academic Impressions Webinar: "Writing Right for the Web." Check the outline and register at bit.ly/9ad2rj

May 4-6, J.Boye Philadelphia2010, Philadelphia, PA. Follow higher education track sessions at bit.ly/cYBLD5

June 3-4, Education Dynamics Aslanian Group Seminar, Marketing to Adult Students, Chicago, IL Check the topics and register at bit.ly/6RUBUi

July 21-23, ACT Enrollment Planners Conference, Chicago, IL

July 26-28, eduWeb2010, Chicago, IL Follow the conference program as it grows at www.eduwebconference.com/

July 29, Education Dynamics Aslanian Group Seminar, Marketing to Graduate Students, New York, NY

Increase ROI from your online marketing. Expand the writing, editing, and search marketing skills of people on your campus. Host a campus workshop on online marketing.

Contact me at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com
____________________________________________
That's All for Now

Be a marketing champion on your campus.

Bob Johnson, Ph.D. (bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com)
President and Senior Consultant
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC
__________________________________________
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Increase your online marketing success with these 6 services.
• Customer Carewords Research with Gerry McGovern
• Writing Right for the Web On-Campus Workshops
• Marketing Communications Website Review
• Competitive Website Reviews
• Content Copywriting Services
• Usability Analysis

Start now at www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/whatwedo.html

February has arrived, telling us that 2010 is well underway and the recruitment cycle for traditional freshmen is nearing the final months. Spring arrives not long from now, a most pleasant prospect.

Two webinars are set for April. We start with "Web Analytics for Enrollment Success" at bit.ly/6y2l0A and continue with "Writing Right for the Web" at bit.ly/9ad2rj

Here are your marketing news and notes for February.
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Yale and YouTube: A New Admissions Approach

Watch this video and ask yourself the question: would my school use song and dance to explain why students picked my school? Would your version get 334,000+ views?

See the latest in 16 minute Ivy League admissions videos at bit.ly/5g1pjw
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Fast Track Applications: Questioning the Motivation

The NY Times took note last month of 100+ public and private sector schools spending increased admission dollars on "fast-app" mailings to high school seniors.

Mentioned in the article are Marquette, RPI, University of Minnesota, University of the Pacific and several others. The pre-completed, no-fee applications sent to seniors have resulted in large increases in applications pools.

Marketing goals vary from increased selectivity and ethnic and geographic diversity to more national awareness and, the Times suggests, higher US News rankings.

The article compares the practice to pre-approved credit-card invitations and cites "white lies" about the exclusivity of the mailings. It also reports enrollment results at the College of St. Rose that are positive enough for the enrollment management officer to call the program "priceless."

The story is at bit.ly/7KtpsE
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Apps Surge at Elite Schools as Admissions Budgets Shrink

If your reputation is strong enough you do not need more applications and reducing your admissions budget, especially for travel, will not have a negative impact on your applicant pool. Harvard travel dollars are down 50 percent and Brown by 30 percent. Applications have soared.

Bloomberg news service reports the details for record applications for 2010 admission for Harvard, Stanford, Brown, Chicago and several other top tier schools at bit.ly/5Ano87
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134 Higher Education TV Ads

Planning to add TV advertising to your marketing mix? Just like to watch TV ads?

Elizabeth Scarborough has started a collection of college and university TV ads with 134 entries so far at www.youtube.com/elizscar

If you have a TV ad that is not there now, why not upload it soon?
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101 5-Minute Steps to a Better Website

If you need proof that incremental changes can improve your website, take time to scan through this list and plan your web enhancement activities over the next few months.

Start with 19 writing tips and go on to 5 other categories: usability, SEO, accessibility, design and legal. Truly, there is something for everyone here.

Give yourself a score for what is already done or in progress when you visit klck.me/ASx
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Ready for the Splinternet?

Groundswell researchers are reporting the end of 15 "golden age" Internet years when everything was nicely integrated. In the future, say these usually wise folk, we will not have things as easy as we have had them in the past.

Marketing communicators had best take note. If this is correct, we have to learn new ways to do web analytics, search engine optimization, online advertising and more. Why has the Internet splintered? Blame the variety of social media and mobile devices now in play.

A synopsis of the report is at bit.ly/5l2FcZ
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Williams College Drops "No-Loan" Policy

InsideHigherEd reported yesterday that Williams College is dropping the "no loan" policy for financial aid awards, effective with the entering class in fall 2011. The announcement was made Sunday. That is a not surprising result of decreases in endowment revenue and other fiscal challenges. Will other "no loan" schools follow Williams?

As of Monday night, the Williams website had not quite caught up. Read about the "no loan" policy at
www.williams.edu/admission/finaid.php but do not get the wrong idea if you are a high school junior this year.
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Does "Branding" Work on the Web?

Do you make a special effort on your website to make sure people find what they want to find when they visit (the academic programs offered, the real cost of enrolling, the academic profile of people who attend)?

Or do you insist on telling visitors what you think they should know about you?

Branding on the web is all about creating the right experience for your visitors.

Gerry McGovern writes about the perils of annoying web visitors at bit.ly/8N8PE9
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Congrats to University Presidents in Oregon

Presidents of public universities in Oregon are taking pay cuts and freezing salaries.

The step is no doubt symbolic in the face of overall financial challenges, but the higher education sector can use more symbolism like this in the months ahead after a recent Chronicle of Higher Education report on a continuing trend to higher salaries.

Check what is happening at various schools as reported by The Oregonian at bit.ly/8RklOT
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Myths and Realities: Teen Media Use

Nielsen reviews the differences and similarities between teens and adults. Time spent on TV, radio, and the Internet might not be as different as conventional wisdom has us think.

Check a quick summary at bit.ly/2XNziS and move from there to download the 17-page PDF report.
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Mobile Marketing: Controlling Expectations

Yes, mobile marketing is growing in importance and marketers should not ignore it.

However, it is important to balance the actions of "early adopters" with those of most other people and keep expectations under control while we plan activities in this new sector.

Read the ReadWriteWeb report that 76 percent of people do not use their mobile phones to access the web. (Higher for teens but not yet 40 percent.) Mobile users will increase but the difficult question is "how far and how fast?"

More including pro and con comments is at bit.ly/6YrJYs
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Future of Marketing Communications

If you like to think ahead 10 to 15 years, then do not miss the NY Times article that imagines how 2-year old children will communicate not long from now.

That is not the only learning point. Equally important is the finding that important generation gaps in how people communicate are only a few years apart. If you think you know what works for a 17-year old, do not be silly and assume that it will work for a 14-year old three years from now.

Get ready for the future at bit.ly/882LFF
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Time on Social Networks per Person: What Country Leads

A quick-to-scan ClickZ chart lists the top 10 countries around the world. No, the United States does not lead. Japan is last.

Find the leader and the rest at www.clickz.com/3636321
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My Upcoming Presentations in 2010

Share questions and answers with people like yourself who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me for one or more of these events.

February 2, ACT: "Social Media in Marketing Communications," Lansing, MI

April 7, Magna Publications Webinar: "Web Analytics for Enrollment Success." Program details and registration at bit.ly/6y2l0A

April 20, Academic Impressions Webinar: "Writing Right for the Web." Check the outline and register at bit.ly/9ad2rj

June 3-4, Education Dynamics Aslanian Group Seminar, Marketing to Adult Students, Chicago, IL

July 21-23, ACT Enrollment Planners Conference, Chicago, IL

July 26-28, eduWeb2010, Chicago, IL Follow the conference program as it grows at www.eduwebconference.com/

Increase ROI from your online marketing. Expand the writing, editing, and search marketing skills of people on your campus. Host a campus workshop on online marketing.

Contact me at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com
____________________________________________
That's All for Now

Be a marketing champion on your campus.

Bob Johnson, Ph.D. (bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com)
President and Senior Consultant
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC
__________________________________________
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Increase your online marketing success with these 6 services.

• Customer Carewords Research with Gerry McGovern
• Writing Right for the Web On-Campus Workshops
• Marketing Communications Website Review
• Competitive Website Reviews
• Content Copywriting Services
• Usability Analysis

Start now at www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/whatwedo.html

Happy New Year!

This marks the 15th year since I started writing this newsletter when it was primarily a promotional tool for the AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education. Both the Symposium and the newsletter have enjoyed continued success since then. A special thanks to the many people who have been subscribers since the 1990s.

The challenges that plagued higher education in 2009 remain in 2010 as we continue to adjust to reduced financial resources, resistance to tuition costs, and demands for new programs and delivery systems. For marketers, it will be a time of special efforts and new accomplishments.

At the Iowa State social media summit in December, someone asked me what the next "new marketing thing" would be in 2010. That is always hard to predict but the mobile marketing world is sure to be at or near the top as we move further toward the world of Web 3.0. (The Iowa State presentation slides are online at bit.ly/7APwg3)

Join me this year on Twitter at twitter.com/HighEdMarketing and LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/bobjohnsonconsulting

And now, here are your marketing news and notes for January 2010.
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US News Rankings: New Reality Marketing Challenge

The 2010 US News college rankings are out and the overall results are not surprising. Harvard and Princeton lead the national university list. Williams and Amherst lead the national liberal arts colleges. The usual suspects fall below them.

What caught my eye was the category for "A+ schools for B students" with "less than stellar test scores or so-so grade point average." The schools are listed within four regions. After a quick scan of the Midwest schools, I am very curious to see how this ranking is reflected on university websites over the next month or so.

Is your school included as a special place for B students? See where you and your competitors stand at bit.ly/8mGeiM
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Master's Degrees Mean $$$ for Higher Education

The NYT Education Life issue for January includes an article on the "New Universe" of master's degrees in higher education. Narrative Medicine opens a review of 10 popular offerings that closes with New Media.

As elsewhere in higher education now, market forces are driving these new programs as schools discover people are willing to pay major dollars for a chance at expanded career opportunities.

See the 8 others at bit.ly/4ynUHl and compare with your offerings.
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4 Mobile Marketing Trends to Watch in 2010

Marketing Sherpa makes an important recommendation here: focus first on making your website accessible from mobile devices rather than on developing special mobile apps.

Although the data is from early 2009, the trend is clear in every age group: growth in smartphones (although not near 50 percent yet) and text messaging (over 50 percent at age 50 and much more for younger age groups) that will continue in 2010.

More details are at www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31481#
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Secret Lives of Admissions Officers: Daily Beast Report

Not much has changed since the 1970s: low pay and rapid turnover still characterize life for new admissions professionals. Read this and stay up-to-date with what the public is learning about what the article describes as the "secret police force" in admissions.

The article, with mini-profiles of 10 admissions counselors, is at bit.ly/8lEF7E
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500 Web Editors and More: University of Southern Denmark

If your school struggles with the best way to organize itself for maximum website impact, you will not go wrong reading the detailed plan used at University of Southern Denmark.

One key to the plan is initial screening and ongoing training for 500+ plus web editors responsible for keeping web content accurate, current, and easy to read throughout the university.

Download the details from my SlideShare site at bit.ly/51A85h
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Market Shapes Career Relevant Higher Education

The feature story in the January 3 NYT Education Life supplement was titled "The Utility Degree" and returns to the old discussion about the extent to which higher education should aid people to find career employment after graduation. This time, however, the overall tone seems to reflect an acceptance of current market pressures from the current economy.

With few student majors, programs in Philosophy and American Studies are at risk.

Higher education is an expensive investment and people are focusing more on immediate returns. And so curriculums change to better meet demand.

Michigan State and St. Michael's College are highlighted in the report at bit.ly/4q9p2M
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Purdue University: Transparency in Financial Crisis

Higher education continues to walk a fine line between public acceptance and public disillusionment. The varied responses of major public universities to new fiscal conditions in 2009 often added to the disillusionment rather than the confidence.

Purdue University is putting weight on the transparency side of the scale with a website page that promises to keep the campus community and the public current with the last plans to weather the storm.

This is a risky step if people perceive the site as too much public relations rather than open public disclosure. Time will tell. Plan to check regularly at bit.ly/5KsymR
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Top 10 Intranets Add Mobile, Social Network Strength

In our Customer Carewords research this year for 14 colleges and universities, internal website users were almost always more critical in their evaluations than external groups. Faculty and staff were the least satisfied.

One conclusion: it is not easy to build one website that combines the best features of both internet and intranet sites.

Now Jakob Nielsen has identified 10 Intranet sites and the features that will make them especially successful in 2010. While none are in higher education, reviewing the list will help build a stronger case for a more efficient intranet. Give special attention to the move to easier mobile access and to the increase in social networking features within the organizations.

Check the report at www.useit.com/alertbox/intranet_design.html
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For-Profit Sector Capturing Military Students

Business Week magazine lays out in detail how the for-profit sector has won a 29 percent market share of college enrollments from active-duty military personnel. Call it aggressive recruiting or an enhanced "customer service" orientation, not-for-profit schools are falling behind.

University of Phoenix, for instance, has increased recruiters of military students from 91 in 2003 to 452 this year.

What lessons might the not-for-profit sector learn? Study the details at bit.ly/6dWjha
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Online Virtual Recruiting

Rachel Reuben at SUNY New Paltz gives a detailed review complete with screen shots of the online virtual college fair experience offered by CollegeWeekLive.

If you have a special interest in minority students or people from outside your primary recruitment area, check Rachel's report at bit.ly/4tL58S
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New FAFSA: The Marketing Impact

Kiplinger applauds changes in the new FAFSA, noting a reduction of 22 questions.

Down in the middle of the article is news that people completing the form will also have direct access from it to information about retention, graduation, and transfer rates as well as information about cost and programs available.

Is this a new chance for a late-in-the-recruitment-cycle comparison of finalist selections before sending off the form?

The Kiplinger article is at bit.ly/8ABedQ
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100+ Higher Education TV Ads on YouTube

Interested in TV advertising? If yes, visit regularly a new YouTube site created by Elizabeth Scarborough at Simpson-Scarborough. Right now 102 videos are available. Expect that number to grow.

Pick your favorites at www.youtube.com/elizscar
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Future of Search Engine Marketing

If you are debating how much emphasis to put on search marketing in 2010, then you will want to read a recent column by Danny Sullivan, a genuine search marketing guru.

In responding to a recent prediction that search marketing has lost importance, Sullivan harkens back to a similar 1997 prediction and gives good reasons why the current forecast is no more valid now than 12 years ago.

Search engine marketing is one component of an overall online marketing program and it doesn't make sense to ignore it. Read more at bit.ly/4oJnfh
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Upcoming Presentations in 2010

Share questions and answers with people like yourself who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me for one or more of these events.

Thanks to everyone who attended a presentation or webinar in 2009. I'm looking forward to meeting many of you again this year, as well as adding new friends and colleagues. Presentation event dates are included here for your advance planning. Look for updates to here and on my website as they become available. Exact titles below might change but the major focus will not.

February 2, ACT: "Social Media in Marketing Communications," Lansing, MI

April 7, Magna Publications Webinar: "Web Analytics for Enrollment Success"

June 3-4, Education Dynamics Aslanian Group Seminar, Marketing to Adult Students, Chicago, IL

July 21-23, ACT Enrollment Planners Conference, Chicago, IL

July 26-28, eduWeb2010, Chicago, IL Follow the conference program as it grows at www.eduwebconference.com/

Increase ROI from your online marketing. Expand the writing, editing, and search marketing skills of people on your campus. Host a campus workshop on online marketing.

Contact me at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com
____________________________________________
That's All for Now

Be a marketing champion on your campus.

Bob Johnson, Ph.D. (bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com)
President and Senior Consultant
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC
__________________________________________
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Increase your online marketing success with these 6 services.
• Customer Carewords Research with Gerry McGovern
• Writing Right for the Web On-Campus Workshops
• Marketing Communications Website Review
• Competitive Website Reviews
• Content Copywriting Services
• Usability Analysis

Start now at www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/whatwedo.html

December is upon us and that means the rapid arrival of the holiday season and a New Year. My best wishes to everyone over the next few weeks as 2010 approaches.

Record attendance of more than 600 people at the recent AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education showed that higher education marketing continues to have a critical role to play in the success of universities here and abroad. Next year's meeting is in San Diego in November. Look for the exact dates soon.

Thanks to everyone who has attended one of my conference presentations or webinars in 2009. It was indeed a busy year and it was a pleasure to meet old and new friends. Look for the first listing of 2010 events in the January newsletter.

Close out your marketing year by joining me on Twitter at twitter.com/HighEdMarketing or by connecting on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/bobjohnsonconsulting

And now here are your December marketing news and notes.
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Xavier Works to Reduce Stealth Applicants

Doug Ruschman, director for web services at Xavier University, sent word this week of a new effort to reduce stealth applicants.

While many schools have online scholarship calculators, most do not require the person using them to reveal their identity. That is a legitimate marketing tactic to get quick information to people about possible sticker price reductions in the hope that interest will increase.

If you are bothered by the growth in stealth applicants, why not offer a concrete benefit in return for identity information rather than give the benefit for free? The results of this approach will help Xavier learn more about early explorers with high interest.

Early results: 300 people who were not yet in the database completed the form in the first weekend.

Check the approach at bit.ly/5poe51
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5 Pending Facebook Changes

For student recruitment, alumni relations, athletics and more, Facebook gets more attention as a higher education marketing tool than other social media sites.

And that's why you might want to visit an early preview of 5 new Facebook page changes brought to you by the social media watchdogs at Mashable.

One key element: more prominence for the search feature.

See what's coming soon when you visit bit.ly/4OFpuB
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NSSE 2009 Survey Results

Results of the 2009 National Survey of Student Engagement are available now at nsse.iub.edu/NSSE_2009_Results/

Despite new challenges to the survey methodology and use of results, this remains a useful way to compare trends at your institution and to compare yourself with similar schools.
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4 Top Mobile Marketing Points

Sean Carton is one of my favorite writers about online marketing.

With the advent of a new Android phone for Verizon, he notes that mobile marketing has received another boost (not everyone wants an iPhone from AT&T). If you are not yet thinking about the best ways to add this to your marketing mix, add the topic to your resolutions for the New Year.

Sean recounts the pitfalls of a mobile marketing strategy and urges attention to 4 simple but key elements (Where, What, Who, and Why) at www.clickz.com/3635583
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Sweet Briar College Pays a Price

In this year when nobody was quite sure what impact the economy would have on student recruitment, the question of whether or not to raise the tuition discount rate no doubt was widely discussed, especially in the private sector.

Sweet Brian College decided not to raise the 42 percent rate. The result was a drop in enrollment from 650 to 605 students and a drop in revenue of nearly $1 million.

Details and frank talk from the president about future options are at bit.ly/69gigS
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ACT Gains Market Share vs. SAT

Fortune reviews the contest for market share between the two test-taking giants, noting that since 1999 ACT has achieved virtual parity with the SAT exam with respect to number of students taking the tests.

Fortune attributes this weakened market position to a decision by College Board to begin letting students who take the SAT more than once to send only their highest score results to colleges and universities with a new Score Choice program. ACT has always had that policy.

Read more from Fortune at bit.ly/8pTCO7
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Students Protest Pittsburgh Tuition Tax

Pittsburgh wants to raise revenue with a new 1 percent tax on student tuition. If the city succeeds in breaking the exemption enjoyed by non-profits, will others be far behind?

Expect legal challenges, of course, so the final outcome is not clear.

Meantime, students are protesting. Watch the video and follow the story at bit.ly/8tAIk9
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Web Analytics: New vs. Returning Visitors

If you need ammunition on your campus to convince people that web analytics can play a valuable role in understanding what happens on your website, read Shelby Thayer in her Trending Upward blog post at bit.ly/7WXxHB

One point is important for admission offices: be sure to separate new from returning visitors in the data you are looking at. Then check the bounce rate (percent who leave the page without continuing anywhere else) and the average time on your page.

Pay special attention to your admissions entry page and to the first page people visit after that.
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Creating Effective Web Links

Little things really can kill your online marketing efforts. One of the most common is poorly created website links.

Gerry McGovern     offers insight on creating more effective links at bit.ly/2dxRHt

A very basic point: make sure your text links appear in blue and are underlined.
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Opt-In Email Lists Grow in 2009

Here is another note for anyone tempted to believe that email is dead as an effective online marketing tool. Business to consumer email lists grew slowly (56 percent) or rapidly (11 percent) in 2009. Another 30 percent reported neither growth nor decline.

The message is clear. Give people a beneficial reason to subscribe to your email and they will do it. Details from Marketing Sherpa at www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31459
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Engagement Marketing Revisited

Alex Brown, an old friend from his Wharton days, returns from his current world of horse racing to update an earlier article on Engagement Marketing in the social media world.

To help understand how to integrate social media marketing into your overall marketing plan, his concept of three circles of marketing (traditional, engagement, and free) is well worth a visit at www.zehno.com/news-resources/?p=2532
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Social Media for Mass Advertising

Maybe mass marketing to create brand awareness is not dead yet. Maybe it has just transformed itself and emerged again in the social media world.

Ford Motor Company for the past 6 months has used social media to create brand awareness for a new Ford Fiesta that will first go on sale in 2010. The campaign produced 4.3 million video views on YouTube, 540,000 photo views on Flickr, and 3 million impressions on Twitter.

The result, Ford reports, is 60 percent brand awareness in the United States at far less cost than the estimated $50 million for a traditional campaign.

The core element of the campaign was a website.

Read more and link to the Ford Fiesta website at my blog at bit.ly/ou7kB
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5 Search Engine Optimization Fears to Overcome

If you're concerned that your search engine visibility is too low, an article by Stoney deGeyter at bit.ly/OwUSO might help.

Read his rationale for long-term commitment, continuous change, and sometimes the deconstruction of an existing website. Effective SEO is not easy. Understanding what is required for success will help create reasonable expectations.
________________________________________
Upcoming Presentations in 2009

Share questions and answers with people like yourself who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me for one or more of these events.

Here are the last presentations from a very active 2009. Thanks to everyone who attended this past year. A new list for 2010 will start in the January newsletter.

December 3, Ames, IA: Iowa State University, Social Media Marketing Summit.

December 8, Webinar: "Writing Right for the Web." Program outline and registration at www.academicimpressions.com/web_conferences/1209-web-writing.php

December 12, Webinar: "Maximise Your Website to Recruit International Students." Australian Education International, Washington D.C. By invitation to Australian universities.

Increase ROI from your online marketing. Expand the writing, editing, and search marketing skills of people on your campus. Host a campus workshop on online marketing.

Contact me at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com
____________________________________________
That's All for Now

Be a marketing champion on your campus.

Bob Johnson, Ph.D. (bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com)
President and Senior Consultant
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC
__________________________________________
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Increase your online marketing success with these 6 services.

• Customer Carewords Research with Gerry McGovern    
• Writing Right for the Web On-Campus Workshops
• Marketing Communications Website Review
• Competitive Website Reviews
• Content Copywriting Services
• Usability Analysis

Start now at www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/whatwedo.html

Hello from Denmark where the J.Boye Aarhus09 conference starts on Tuesday. I am here to give a report on what students, current and future, like and do not like about their experiences at higher education websites.

See the presentation now at www.slideshare.net/bestbob/students-rating-higher-education-websites including a screen shot of a St. Edward's University page that everyone should consider adding ASAP.

Looking forward to the 20th anniversary edition of the Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education in Boston this month. Register at bit.ly/qaRqs and include my Sunday tutorial.

"Writing Right for the Web" remains one of the best ways to improve the web experience for your visitors. Register for the December 8 webinar at bit.ly/10OtOC and invite everyone on your campus who prepares web content.

And now here are your marketing news and notes for November.
______________________________________
Pumpkin Special for Social Media Fans

If you like carved pumpkins visit the Mashable site and see 12 social media carvings, starting with the Fail Whale. Some clever work at bit.ly/26FmN4
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UPhoenix Enrollment Climbs; Stock Price Falls

Enrollment at University of Phoenix rose to 443,000 in August, a 22 percent gain from a year ago. The major reason was an increase in associate degree enrollments.

But the stock price plunged in the last week on news that the SEC is taking an "informal" look at how revenues are reported for the university.

More details at www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/10/28/phoenix
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Your Viewbook and E-Readers

New news on e-readers is coming out every week or so now. The latest is that Barnes and Noble is taking online orders for the most advanced model priced at $259 and due out before the end of this month.

B&N plans another version for business users early in 2010.

See what will be available soon from B&N at bit.ly/WWZG9

Delivering e-book versions of your viewbook and similar recruitment publications ordered from your website admissions page gets closer and closer.
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How "Top 100" Schools Use Twitter

It had to happen. Here is a review of how the Top 100 US News colleges and universities use Twitter.

Over 70 percent have more than 10 Twitter accounts, but very few have more than 15. University of Florida leads with 24 micro blogs.

Prestige counts for Twitter followers. Highest numbers are at the most prestigious privates and flagship publics.

More details of the research at universitiesandcolleges.org/top-100-colleges-twitter/
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Who Uses Twitter and Similar Services?

With all those higher education Twitter accounts, it makes great good sense to monitor who uses them and who does not. That is just what the folks at Pew Internet and American Life Project do on a regular basis.

Pew has just reported that 19 percent of Internet users include Twitter or a similar site in their regular activities. That is up quite a bit from the 11 percent reported in December 2008 and April 2009. The key question, of course, is how high the percent will climb.

See details of the report at pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/17-Twitter-and-Status-Updating-Fall-2009.aspx
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Facebook in the Future

To help keep a balance on the role of social media in marketing, visit the column by Robert Lockard that asks if Facebook is "falling apart" and links to a recent NY Times story on people leaving Facebook.

Privacy concerns are an important issue, feeding into a feeling that Facebook is Big Brother paying too much attention to what members due as it seeks to expand advertising revenue.

An article worth reading at www.site-reference.com/articles/General/Is-Facebook-Falling-Apart.html

Remember when MySpace ruled the social media world?
_______________________________________
Web Analytics in Higher Education

Shelby Thayer has a great article on why colleges and universities should pay more attention to web analytics. Do not let anyone at your school tell you not to bother with analytics because the information is not needed or not reliable. While it might not be perfect, it is one of the most valuable marketing tools you have to measure how well you are connecting with potential students.

One point Thayer makes is especially important for recruitment marketers: give careful attention to the "bounce rate" for new or first-time visitors to your site. Those wise words and more are at ow.ly/2brBXr

If first-time visitors to your first admissions page bounce at 30 percent or more, you have a real problem.

Web Analytics: A Guide for Higher Education Marketers is the most popular of my 14 presentations on SlideShare. Make a visit at bit.ly/tNmt8
_______________________________________
New WOMMA Higher Education Group

Deborah Maue at DePaul University sent word a few days ago that she is leading a new Higher Education Learning Council within the Word of Mouth Marketing Association.

The WOMMA summit this year is in Las Vegas on November 18-20. Program details are at womma.org/summit09/

Congrats to Deb for helping to create a higher education presence within WOMMA. To learn more about her plans and how you might help, contact her at DMAUE1@depaul.edu
_______________________________________
NACAC 2009 Admissions Report

The annual NACAC admissions report is ready for downloading. Free for NACAC members and $25 for the rest of us.

A rapid shift to online applications continues. Paperless apps were 72 percent in 2008, up from 68 percent in 2007 and 58 percent in 2006. How easy is it to complete an online application at your website?

Highlights are in a press release at bit.ly/Zy47S where you'll find stats on acceptance and yield rates, expansion of Early Decision applications and more.
_______________________________________
Admissions Selectivity is Falling

Elite schools aside, admissions selectivity is decreasing according to a new research report.

Conclusions are based on analysis of a database that starts with 1960s SAT data. One point highlighted: an increased willingness of students to venture further from home to find a college.

See more details at www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/10/27/hoxby where you can link to a PDF download of the entire report for $5.
________________________________________
Predicting Student Success

Good, objective information about student success would be a boon to higher education marketers in the era of growing accountability demands. Depending, of course, on how successful your students are.

Rio Salado College is embarking on a promising effort to predict success in both in-class and online courses based on a student's activity early in the course. Check the details at www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/10/30/predict
_______________________________________
Web Content Coordinator at SUNY Orange

It is always good to see people filling positions like this. If you are interested in applying or just want to see the responsibilities, requirements, and minimum salary, visit www.sunyorange.edu/human_resources/opportunities/posdetails.php?pos_id=284&postype_id=
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SUNY CUAD Call for Papers by 6 November

Advancement people take note. The call for papers for the 2010 SUNYCUAD conference is online now at www.sunycuad.org/call

Paper proposals are due by November 6. SUNYCUAD will waive your registration fee and pay your travel expenses and one night at the conference hotel if your proposal is selected.

The 2010 meeting is in Buffalo, June 9 to 11.
________________________________________
Upcoming Presentations in 2009

Share questions and answers with people like yourself who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me for one or more of these events.

November 3-5, Aarhus, Denmark: J. Boye Conference: Aarhus09, "Improving Higher Education Websites: Lessons from the Student Experience." Conference program and registration at www.jboye.com/conferences/aarhus09/higher-education

November 15-17, Boston, MA: AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education, "Marketing in a World without Paper: Creating a Recruitment Communications Plan in a World without Paper" (3.5 hour Sunday afternoon tutorial). Details at www.marketingpower.com/Calendar/Pages/marketingevent_highereducation_2009.aspx

December 3, Ames, IA: Iowa State University, Social Media Marketing Summit

December 8, Webinar: "Writing Right for the Web." Program outline and registration at www.academicimpressions.com/web_conferences/1209-web-writing.php

Increase ROI from your online marketing. Expand the writing, editing, and search marketing skills of people on your campus. Host a campus workshop on online marketing.

Contact me at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com
____________________________________________
That's All for Now

Be a marketing champion on your campus.

Bob Johnson, Ph.D. (bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com)
President and Senior Consultant
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC
__________________________________________
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Increase your online marketing success with these 6 services.
• Customer Carewords Research with Gerry McGovern
• Writing Right for the Web On-Campus Workshops
• Marketing Communications Website Review
• Competitive Website Reviews
• Content Copywriting Services
• Usability Analysis

Start now at www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/whatwedo.html

October greetings to everyone, with special wishes for fine fall colors if you're on the right part of the globe for that over the next few weeks. Leaves are just starting to turn here in southern Michigan and the Sandhill Cranes are gathering near my office in Marshall.

Conference as well as client travel beckons over the next few weeks. There is still time to use a "Bob$100" discount code when you register for next Carol Aslanian adult student recruitment conference at bit.ly/If84W

If work at a university, you are eligible for a 40 percent discounted registration fee at the J.Boye2009 conference in Aarhus, Denmark. Check the new higher education program track at bit.ly/23nvi9

My next "Writing Right for the Web" webinar is set for December 8. Register at bit.ly/10OtOC
Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/HighEdMarketing for daily marketing updates.

And now here are your October marketing news and notes.
_______________________________________
Optimizing YouTube for Search

YouTube is the second most-used search engine so it pays to spend some time making it as easy as possible for people to find what you post there.

Julie Batten reviews the similarities and differences between optimizing for YouTube and for other search engines. She reminds us that popular videos, all other search elements equal, will rise to the top. When you add something new, let everyone who might be interested know about it right away. Use email and social media sites to spread the word with a link to your newest production.

Read more from Julie at www.clickz.com/3635044
_______________________________________
University of Nevada Dropping Email for Students

Can you force students to use an official university email system, especially if the free plans available offer more features than the in-house version?

University of Nevada will drop the current email system for students, effective fall of 2010. Reasons include limited student use (about 20 percent) combined with cost-saving. Sounds like a strong combination at a time when everyone is looking for ways to save money.

US News reports the details at bit.ly/exsvS
_______________________________________
Admissions Dominates University of Maine Home Page

Something unusual happened with a September Link of the Week selection. Most often about 50 percent of the people who open the Monday morning email will click through to my website. That figure is almost as predictable as the sun rising in the morning.

But in this case, just over 90 percent followed the email link. None of the other 121 Link of the Week selections at bit.ly/ifVmk has come close to that.

What created the stampede?

A Home Page that gives Admissions top priority by eliminating the usual navigation points at the top of the page and down the left-hand column. That navigation is gone. Admissions and administration and academics and 10 more offices are not equal.

See a smart marketing move from a flagship public university at www.umaine.edu/
_______________________________________
The Real World at Dickinson College

Dickinson College has for many years been one of the more marketing-oriented institutions in the land, starting right at the top with the president, William Durden.

So it was not really a surprise to find a presidential letter online that clearly outlines the steps that Dickinson has taken so far to weather the financial storm and notes the problems that will continue in the future. At a college where 80 percent of revenue comes from tuition, that area receives special attention.

Dickinson benefitted this past year from an unusually high freshmen retention rate of 92.3 percent that contributed to an FYO9 surplus of $3.2 million. But that was then and this is now. The freshmen class decreased from a 5-year average of 621 to 582. And the tuition discount rate for that class increased from an "average" 33 percent in "recent years" to 38.6 percent this year.

The Dickinson community can only benefit from the frank reality of letters like this. Especially noteworthy is the public disclosure of the discount rate. Do you know where your discount rate is today?

See a presidential update done right at www.dickinson.edu/news/features/2008/economic/message09.html
_______________________________________
Skeptical About Twitter?

Yes, you can be skeptical about Twitter. It is not a marketing silver bullet. But it can be useful. A ClickZ article from Gary Stein recommends marketers to follow and ways to benefit even if you do not plan to add content yourself. Lightening will not strike those who only join to listen and learn rather than to tweet.

Give special attention to his notes on using the "search" function, including the ability to filter by geography and by topics of special interest.

The article on "How to Use Twitter to Become a Marketing Genius" is at www.clickz.com/3635111
_______________________________________
Tips on Top Website Tasks, Search, and Usability

Customer Carewords partners met in Belfast last month to review what we have learned over the past year from working with a variety of corporations, government agencies, and colleges and universities.

A top usability item: make the sitemap on your website as visible as possible. Websites that do that have much better usability ratings than websites that do not.

Check my blog post at bit.ly/PdJAn for more tips from our meeting.
_______________________________________
Student Blogs at M.I.T. Boost Admissions Marketing

Sometimes it is far too easy to get swept up in new social media fads and forget that old style formats still have marketing power.

That message comes through in the NY Times review of student blogs for the admissions office at M.I.T. Nice that this high tech university places great importance (and gets great results) from a relatively ancient tool that no longer interests many people captivated by Twitter-style micro-blogging.

Learn how M.I.T. selects those who blog, how much they are paid, and more in the article at bit.ly/10I6pe
_______________________________________
Branding in the Digital Era

Is "branding" dead in the digital era?

Augustine Fou asks that question in his "A New Definition of 'Digital'" column. Fou is not saying that the concept of "brand" is dead but that traditional branding campaigns will have less impact with the increasing growth of digital communications.

Traditional branding campaigns are expensive. Many colleges and universities have invested in research and creative without the resources or the patience for sustained implementation. In the digital era, there just might be a better way to invest those resources.

Review how marketing is changing in a digital world at www.clickz.com/3635052
_______________________________________
WordPress for Your Alumni Magazine

WordPress, the popular and free blog software, is not just for traditional blogs.

Is someone on your campus recommending moving a print magazine online using PDFs or some form of "flip" technology (the clever software that creates a miniature of the print version online so people can click and "flip" the pages)? Suggest they visit the online magazine from The Johns Hopkins University, created with software from Word Press.

Scroll to the bottom of the front page and compare the WordPress version with the "Digital Replica Edition" that is also available.

See a magazine that makes it easier for people to read online at magazine.jhu.edu/
_______________________________________
101 Landing Page Tips to Increase Website Conversions

Where do people go on your website after your advertising campaign convinces them to visit?

Most of the ads I see still do not take people to special landing pages designed to increase conversion by repeating and reinforcing the ad message that motivated them to act. Most ads drop people on a regular website page and leave them to fend for themselves after that. The result is lower conversion and wasted advertising dollars.

Take a few minutes to download "101 Landing Page Optimization Tips" at 101landingpagetips.com/ and plan to get more value from your next round of advertising dollars.
_______________________________________
Consumer Profile Tool from Groundswell

The Consumer Profile Tool from Groundswell lets you pick gender, age, and individual countries to find out how people are using social media. In most cases, for instance, more people are spectators rather than active participants at social media sites.

The folks at Forrester Research who provide the Profile tool recently updated it with 2009 data. See how things have changed since 2008 and check on your groups at www.forrester.com/Groundswell/profile_tool.html
_______________________________________
Contest for Best Higher Education Advertising

New this year at the AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education (November 15-18, Boston) is a contest to select top college and university television ads. Submission deadline is October 9. Details of the contest are at bit.ly/1Jye3l

If you are going to the Symposium this year, join me for a 3.5 hour Sunday afternoon tutorial on "Marketing in a World without Paper." Early registration price is available until October 15. Symposium program is at bit.ly/qaRqs
_______________________________________
SUNY CUAD Call for Papers

Advancement people take note. The call for papers for the 2010 SUNYCUAD conference is online now at www.sunycuad.org/call

Paper proposals are due by November 6. SUNYCUAD will waive your registration fee and pay your travel expenses and one night at the conference hotel if your proposal is selected.

The 2010 meeting is in Buffalo, June 9 to 11.
________________________________________
Upcoming Presentations in 2009

Share questions and answers with people like yourself who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me for one or more of these events.

October 21-22, Chicago, IL: Aslanian Group Seminars: Competing for Adults Students, "Branding and the Web: The Value of Your Official Website in the Social Media Era." Download conference brochure at www.coburncreative.com/educationdynamics/f2009_seminar.pdf Save $100 when you enter "Bob$100" in the discount code box as you register.

October 26-27, Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin System, Adult Student Recruitment & Retention Conference, "Key Website Features for Adult Student Recruitment." Conference information is at www.uwosh.edu/rrconference

November 3-5, Aarhus, Denmark: J. Boye Conference: Aarhus09, "Improving Higher Education Websites: Lessons from the Student Experience." Conference program and registration at www.jboye.com/conferences/aarhus09/higher-education

November 15-17, Boston, MA: AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education, "Marketing in a World without Paper: Creating a Recruitment Communications Plan in a World without Paper" (3.5 hour Sunday afternoon tutorial). Details at www.marketingpower.com/Calendar/Pages/marketingevent_highereducation_2009.aspx

December 8, Webinar: "Writing Right for the Web." Program outline and registration at www.academicimpressions.com/web_conferences/1209-web-writing.php

Increase ROI from your online marketing. Expand the writing, editing, and search marketing skills of people on your campus. Host a campus workshop on online marketing.

Contact me at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com
____________________________________________
That's All for Now

Be a marketing champion on your campus.

Bob Johnson, Ph.D. (bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com)
President and Senior Consultant
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC
__________________________________________
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Increase your online marketing success with these 6 services.
• Customer Carewords Research with Gerry McGovern
• Writing Right for the Web On-Campus Workshops
• Marketing Communications Website Review
• Competitive Website Reviews
• Content Copywriting Services
• Usability Analysis

Start now at www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/whatwedo.html

Late summer greetings to everyone. From the chatter on Twitter, it seems that the arrival of new freshmen on campuses across the country has been a marvelous event. Special congratulations to everyone who helped carry freight from cars to dorm rooms.

Check at the end of the newsletter for new fall presentations, including a conference in Denmark, a December webinar for "Writing Right for the Web," and the continuation of the "Bob$100" discount for the October Aslanian adult student recruitment conference.

Plan to attend the AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education and register for an updated and expanded "Marketing Communications in a World without Paper" Sunday tutorial. A highly rated summer version from eduWeb09 is the first one on SlideShare at www.slideshare.net/bestbob

Check my blog for notes on Heather Mansfield's "10 Twitter Tips for Higher Education" at bit.ly/12VoTl

Join me on Twitter at twitter.com/HighEdMarketing

For everyone here in the States, best wishes for a fine Labor Day weekend.

And now here are marketing news and notes for September.
_______________________________________
Forbes Magazine 2009 College Rankings

Forbes released 2009 rankings in early August, based on "the quality of the education, the experience of the students, and how much they achieve."

While most of the usual suspects fill out the top spots, Forbes calls attention to unexpected additions at the highest levels, including Centre College and Union College. At the top of the list: West Point.

My favorite criterion: 25 percent of the ranking is based on student evaluations at RateMyProfessors.com. That beats the "reputation" factor in another popular report.

Start the full report at www.forbes.com/2009/08/02/colleges-university-ratings-opinions-colleges-09-intro.html
________________________________________
Evaluating Social Media Results

You should not worry if the people who sign on to your social media sites or read your blogs do not actively participate with comments and other contributions of new content. Most people just read,without joining or actively participating. And that, of course, has marketing value by itself.

By far the largest category for social media participation is from Spectators (79 percent), while Creators (24 percent) and Critics (37 percent) lag far behind. Indeed, only 51 percent will actually join a social media site where they are spectators.

What is the marketing lesson? Do not over promise active results when you start new social media ventures. For the details, check the latest research at the Groundswell blog site at
blogs.forrester.com/groundswell/2009/08/social-technology-growth-marches-on-in-2009-led-by-social-network-sites.html
________________________________________
Drexel Gets First Place: Top University Websites for Search Engine Optimization

Find methodology you can use to test your own school as you review "Top SEO College Websites 2009" at www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2009/09/01/top-seo-college-websites-2009

The writer gives most colleges and universities an "F" grade for SEO and includes four reasons why he thinks more schools do not do better. The first: over reliance on "brand recognition" to bring traffic to the website.

The increase in the importance of online education does seem to motivate some schools to do much better than others. The "Top Three" here: Drexel University, University of Phoenix, and Capella University.
_________________________________________
Google Analytics Basics

Just getting started in web analytics? Thinking of using Google Analytics?

"Google Analytics 101" by Ron Jones at Search Engine Watch is a good place to start. The link at searchenginewatch.com/3634842 will take you to Part 2 and you can track back from there to Part 1.

Better use of analytics is an essential step to getting higher impact from your website. Pay special attention to the "bounce rate" (percent of people who leave a page without going further) at your admissions entry page and at each important page after that. Be sure that you filter out results for first-time visitors from those who are returning visitors.

Google advises that a bounce rate between 20 and 35 percent is acceptable.
_________________________________________
Best Ad Sizes for Online Advertising

AdAge reviews what works best and why at adage.com/digital/article?article_id=138554

Special note: flash-based ads were the least effective of every type tested.
_________________________________________
Time Magazine Picks Top 50 Websites

No college or university websites made the Time list, but the academic world is represented by selection #9, Academic Earth. That is a website for free college courses and lectures from 7 "leading universities."

Browse the full 50 to learn more about the expectations that some of these sites will create for users of higher education websites. The Times list is at
www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1809858_1809957,00.html

And visit the clean and simple Academic Earth home page at www.academicearth.org/
_________________________________________
Mobile Web Help from MIT

Expect more and more people to access your website from iPhones and similar smartphone devices. And more and more schools are developing special mobile-friendly web content rather than forcing people to navigate and use their regular websites.

Review in detail the strong effort from MIT at mobi.mit.edu/about/ or access it from a mobile browser at m.mit.edu

Not only MIT can do this. For a smaller school alternative, visit the Azusa Pacific University example at www.apu.edu/m/

MIT will help you get started. Contact Information Services & Technology at mobiweb@mit.edu
___________________________________________
Old School Marketing: 5 Tips for Better Envelope Copy

Still using mail to prospect for potential new students? Then "mystique" and "relevance" are especially important first impression goals.

Learn more at www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/5-ways-upgrade-envelope-copy-410894_1.html
___________________________________________
7 High End Twitter Analysis Tools

If you are very interested in Twitter, take time to explore the tools profiled at mashable.com/2009/08/30/analyze-twitter-content/ and you will likely find something of interest.

Scroll down to the end of the report for more links to other Twitter tools.

If you are not that interested in Twitter, keep reading.
___________________________________________
National Merit Scholarships End at UT Austin

What is the future of merit scholarships in the present economy?

The move by University of Texas at Austin to stop funding over 200 National Merit full-tuition scholarships reflects new pressures to focus scare funds on need-based awards. That is the rationale given to explain why UT Austin is dropping out of the National Merit competition and rolling those funds over to students with financial need.

What is the marketing impact of fewer National Merit scholars? UT Austin does not believe it will be great. Current brand strength is sufficiently strong that the SAT and GPA components of the academic profile are not expected to suffer.

Read more at www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/09/01/merit
__________________________________________
Teens and Twitter: Age is Not the Problem

New research on how people use Twitter makes an important point. Yes, the "great majority" of teens do not use Twitter. But then, neither do the "great majority" of adults use Twitter.

A key finding: Teens use Twitter at a higher rate than people from 25 to 44 years of age.

Another key finding: the reason most adults and teens do not use Twitter is simple: they can do the same things elsewhere on other sites that they prefer. Not using Twitter, it seems, is not related to age.

See the in-depth details at www.techcrunch.com/2009/08/30/why-dont-teens-tweet-we-asked-over-10000-of-them/
______________________________________
Distance Learning Gains Faculty Support

A detailed report from the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities brings good news to marketers who recognize that student interest at every age level is shifting in favor of online learning.

Professors, both senior and junior, are more willing to entertain teaching online courses than ever before. That is an important message for the not-for-profit sector as for-profit competitors continue to expand their online offerings.

Of course there is a caveat. Faculty do not think they are receiving enough support for the effort it takes to develop and introduce new online courses. Read an outline of the report at www.aplu.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=1347 and see where senior enrollment and marketing professionals might give support and encouragement to people willing to expand product in this key area.
__________________________________________
Web Writer Position at Alma College

Alma College is taking applications for a web content writer position within the marketing and public relations office. Details for the position are at www.alma.edu/about/offices/personnel/jobs/archives/2009/08/28/web_writer
________________________________________
My Upcoming Presentations in 2009

Share questions and answers with people like yourself who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me for one or more of these events.

October 21-22, Chicago, IL: Aslanian Group Seminars: Competing for Adults Students, "Branding and the Web: The Value of Your Official Website in the Social Media Era." Download conference brochure at www.coburncreative.com/educationdynamics/f2009_seminar.pdf Save $100 when you enter "Bob$100" in the discount code box as you register.

October 26-27, Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin System, Adult Student Recruitment & Retention Conference, "Key Website Features for Adult Student Recruitment." Conference information is at www.uwosh.edu/rrconference

November 3-5, Aarhus, Denmark: J. Boye Conference: Aarhus09, "Improving Higher Education Websites: Lessons from the Student Experience." Conference program and registration at www.jboye.com/conferences/aarhus09/higher-education

November 15-17, Boston, MA: AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education, "Marketing in a World without Paper: Creating a Recruitment Communications Plan in an Online Future" (3.5 hour Sunday afternoon tutorial). Details at www.marketingpower.com/Calendar/Pages/marketingevent_highereducation_2009.aspx

December 8, Webinar: "Writing Right for the Web." Program details soon from Academic Impressions at www.academicimpressions.com/web_conferences.htm

Increase ROI from your online marketing. Expand the writing, editing, and search marketing skills of people on your campus. Host a campus workshop on online marketing.

Contact me at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com
____________________________________________
That's All for Now

Be a marketing champion on your campus.

Bob Johnson, Ph.D. (bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com)
President and Senior Consultant
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC
__________________________________________
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Increase your online marketing success with these 6 services.
• Customer Carewords Research with Gerry McGovern
• Writing Right for the Web On-Campus Workshops
• Marketing Communications Website Review
• Competitive Website Reviews
• Content Copywriting Services
• Usability Analysis

Start now at www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/whatwedo.html

August greetings to everyone, and especially to the new subscribers from the ACT EPC and eduWeb2009 conferences this summer. Welcome.

In another month we will know even better than now just how shrinking credit availability and increasing price sensitivity has played out across higher education this year. Early reports on enrollment in the private sector are optimistic, balanced against the increased tuition discounting that has often been necessary to reach desired numbers. And many of my public sector friends still do not know quite what to expect from cost-cutting legislators. Best wishes to everyone.

My last webinar this summer is next week on August 11. A great thing about webinars is that you do not have to worry about sold-out hotel rooms blocking late registration. Join us for "Social Media and Marketing Communications" at www.magnapubs.com/calendar/344.html

Join me on Twitter. Just over 1,700 people get eclectic marketing updates each day at twitter.com/HighEdMarketing

And now here are your marketing news and notes for August.
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Branding: "Ineffective, Irrelevant, Irritating, Impotent"

The war over the role of traditional marketing in the digital era continues in this ClickZ article on the "false religion of branding" by Augustine Fou.

Note that Fou is not saying that brands do not exist. But he does question the value of traditional branding campaigns designed to introduce or reinforce or change a brand image with billboards and TV campaigns and the like.

The message is especially important for higher education in a time of shrinking budget resources.

Does the emperor have no clothes? Check the insights at www.clickz.com/3634544
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Recruitment Communications: No Paper Available

Can you imagine creating a recruitment communications plan without using print publications?

That was the task for the 70+ people attending my pre-conference workshops at ACT Enrollment Planners Conference and eduWeb2009 this year.

You miss the questions and conversation, but you can review the slides from the eduWeb version at www.slideshare.net/bestbob/student-recruitment-in-an-online-world-marketing-communications-in-a-world-without-paper
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Mobile Marketing: 6 Guidelines for Consumer Contact

The continued adoption of iPhones and other smartphones is making more and more people believe that the "Year of Mobile Marketing" promised since 2004 may finally be upon us in 2010.

Prudent marketers will want to start tracking events. Start with the Mobile Marketing Association's "Commitment to Consumer Satisfaction."

Mobile marketers are concerned right now about how open the public is to receiving marketing messages on their iPhones. And so the first guideline stresses the same "Choice" or "opt-in" requirement that prevails (or should prevail) in email contact.

Check the other 5 guidelines and subscribe to the MMA newsletter when you visit mmaglobal.com/consumer
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Web Analytics: Do You Know Where Your Bounce Rate is Today?

Your "bounce rate" (the percent of people coming to a page on your website who leave "bounce" off that page without going anywhere else) might be the single most important marketing metric for your website.

For that reason, spend just under 5 minutes watching Avinash Kaushik's video on "The Simply Powerful Metric" at www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppgfjo6IIf4

If you do not know any other metrics about what happens at your website, you should know the bounce rate from key pages, including these: home page, admissions entry page, inquiry page, application page, financial aid page, popular academic program pages. Be sure to set your filter to separate new from returning visitors in the report as you track results.

What is a good bounce rate? The folks at Google suggest 20 to 35 percent is about as low as it gets. For more on that and results from University of Buffalo, visit www.bobjohnsonblog.com/web-analytics/
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Admissions & Alumni Publications Online: What role for "Flip" Technology?

You face pressure to move print publications online. And there is a temptation to do that with minimal time and expense. How will you react if someone suggests using "flip" technology?

Compare 5 "flip" publications in higher education with 6 done "right for the web" when you follow the links at my new blog post at www.bobjohnsonblog.com/2009/07/web-content-print-to-web-what-role-for-flip-technology.html

Pay heed to the comments of Paul Dempsey at Dickinson College. Take extra time to get the job done in a visitor-friendly style that encourages online reading. Don't fall for "flip."
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Facebook on Top: July Traffic on Social Media Websites

Hitwise was out last month with the regular report on traffic among social media sites.

The "big three" continue to dominate: Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube together have 75 percent of all social media traffic in the U.S. The strong trend to Facebook continues and that site now has a substantial lead over MySpace.

For now, everything else has relatively minor status. Twitter, for instance, has crept from 6th to 5th place over the last month, with 1.4 percent of overall traffic. That small percent translates into quite a few people, for sure, but if resources are scarce it makes sense to focus staff time on the social media sites that draw the most traffic.

What social media site is in 4th place, a wee bit ahead of Twitter?

July results are at www.hitwise.com/datacenter/main/dashboard-10133.html
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Tuition Reduction: Time to Review Again?

Many colleges and universities are taking pride this year in raising tuition by lower amounts than have been typical in recent years. In most cases, the public has not been impressed.

Price sensitivity is greater than ever now and is likely to remain high for some time.

Kathy Kurz and Jim Scannel revisit the arguments for reducing tuition and highlight current innovations in a University Business article at www.universitybusiness.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=1348
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Social Media for Intranet Use: New Nielsen Alertbox

Everybody is talking about using social media to reach online marketing goals for student recruitment and alumni support, but how are Web 2.0 features used inside large organizations?

Nielsen surveyed 14 companies and reports mixed results that range from guerilla adoption to officially sanctioned efforts. Overall, social media is not yet especially welcome as a way to help people do their jobs better. Skeptics abound.

While Intranet use is limited in higher education, this report suggests that colleges and universities will need to respond to growing faculty and staff expectations to talk to one another on official websites just as they talk to friends and neighbors outside the workplace. Current students will have the same expectations.

Plan for the future at www.useit.com/alertbox/social-intranet-features.html
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Advertisers and Consumers: Opinions on Twitter

Do advertisers believe Twitter deserves marketing attention?

Many advertisers believe Twitter has marketing potential (45 percent), but others (21 percent) do not think it will last far into the future. The remaining 34 percent are evenly divided between those who think that Twitter Time has already passed and those who say they do not know enough to have an opinion.

Results are from a Harris Poll released in July. The pollsters also asked consumers what they thought of Twitter: a whopping 69 percent said they did not know enough about it to have an opinion. Until that changes, marketers had best invest with caution.

Email Dominates Online Communication

Every once in a while someone who is losing their grip on reality declares that email is dead as an effective marketing element.

If you have to confront that belief on your campus, remind them that over 80 percent of online adults use email at least once a month. That compares to just over 30 percent who visit social networking sites that often. Timely, relevant email retains marketing power.

For these stats and others on online activities, see the chart at mashable.com/2009/07/28/social-networking-users-us/

To review a check list of email marketing basics, visit www.targetx.com/ithink/?p=1646
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Minimalist Web Design: 9 Examples

Do you admire the simplicity of the Google website? Have you ever wished your college or university website might be a bit leaner and cleaner than it is now?

If your answer is "yes," review 9 "minimalist" design approaches in search of a stronger argument for adopting a "Stripped to the Bone" approach. Guaranteed: You will not like them all. Make sure not to skip the comments.

Visit www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/08/03/stripped-to-the-bone-minimalist-web-design/ and find your favorite(s).
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Marketing Director Position in Vermont

Champlain College is searching for a Director of Marketing, Continuing Professional Studies to guide a mix of "branding, advertising, and public relations endeavors."

Details on responsibilities and qualifications are available online at champlain.interviewexchange.com/jobofferdetails.jsp?JOBID=14595
________________________________________
My Upcoming Presentations in 2009

Share questions and answers with people like yourself who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me for one or more of these events.

August 11, Webinar: Magna Publications: "Social Media and Marketing Communications." Register at www.magnapubs.com/calendar/344.html

October 26-27, Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin System, Adult Student Recruitment & Retention Conference: "Key Website Features for Adult Student Recruitment" and "Writing Right for the Web." Conference information is at www.uwosh.edu/rrconference

November 15-17, Boston, MA: AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education, "Marketing in a World without Paper: Creating a Recruitment Communications Plan in a World without Paper" (3 hour Sunday workshop). Details and registration are in progress.

Increase ROI from your online marketing. Expand the writing, editing, and search marketing skills of people on your campus. Host a campus workshop on online marketing.

Contact me at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com
____________________________________________
That's All for Now

Be a marketing champion on your campus.

Bob Johnson, Ph.D. (bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com)
President and Senior Consultant
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC
__________________________________________
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Increase your online marketing success with these 6 services.
• Customer Carewords Research with Gerry McGovern
• Writing Right for the Web On-Campus Workshops
• Marketing Communications Website Review
• Competitive Website Reviews
• Content Copywriting Services
• Usability Analysis

Start now at www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/whatwedo.html

July greetings to everyone, from an unusually cool Michigan. Perhaps that bodes well for a limited summer melt of the traditional students expected to enroll in the fall. Whatever your local temperatures, my best wishes are with everyone as this enrollment year continues to unfold.

I hope to see many of you at the ACT EPC and eduWeb conferences in July in Chicago. You can still register for either at the links below. My combined workshop registrations are over 60 but there is likely room for a few late additions at both events.

Registrations are open for July 29 and August 11 webinars on student recruitment websites and social media marketing. Details are at www.magnapubs.com/

If you have started on Twitter recently, join me at twitter.com/HighEdMarketing

More than 1,100 people have viewed my presentation on web analytics for higher education marketers. See what they've seen at www.slideshare.net/bestbob/web-analytics-a-marketers-guide-presentation

And now here are your marketing news and notes for July.
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Read Now: Higher Education in 2020

Plan now to read each installment of the Chronicle of Higher Education's 3-part executive summary series on "The College of 2020."

Unless you are retiring in the next 5 years, this is must reading about the extraordinary change underway that will transform higher education over the next 10 years. Many of those changes, of course, have already started. If you are even dreaming about marketing plans for the future, start reading today.

The first installment focuses on "Students" and is online at research.chronicle.com/asset/TheCollegeof2020ExecutiveSummary.pdf?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

The full report is only $95. Every marketing office should have one.
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Rankings Sensitivity: A Storm over Clemson

An institutional research person goes to a professional conference to deliver a paper detailing how Clemson University planned to use US News rankings to help achieve a goal of becoming a "Top 20" public research university. Insider Higher Education reports on the presentation. A firestorm erupts.

The details and the 27 or more comments to the original article make fascinating reading at www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/06/04/clemson

The most controversial aspect focuses on the least provable: that the Clemson president and others deliberately ranked other public research universities as lower than average so that the relative rank for Clemson would improve regardless of actual quality.
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A Boost for Online Learning

The U.S. Department of Education is out with a new report on "Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning" that should give strategy and marketing planners more reason to advocate for investment in this area.

The report is based on a review of available research. The overall conclusion is that online learning works and that "blended" versions that combine online and in-class features work best of all. Technology advancements that get students move involved in their own learning process are also praised.

A 93-page PDF is available for your reading and printing pleasure at www.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practices/finalreport.pdf
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Keeping Control of Twitter

Colleges and universities everywhere have started Twitter sites to increase communication with future students, alumni, sports fans and more. One challenge, if you use your site to follow others, is organizing the great variety of updates that arrive at your site each day.

Salvation may rest with the variety of software available to classify Twitter content. The folks at Mashable get you off to a good start with their review: "Twitter Better: 20 Ways to Filter Your Tweets."

Visit mashable.com/2009/07/03/twitter-filter/ and pay special attention to the programs listed under the "Groups" heading.
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Recommended Social Media Reading: Groundswell Blog

If you are still grappling to find the best way to integrate social media with your other marketing communication elements, you likely will find insights at various Groundswell blog updates.

One of my favorites is the June 26 entry on "To Use Social Technologies in Ad Campaigns, Get the Rhythm Right" that explores why traditional agency compensation methods create problems in this area. The recommended solution, attention to number and enthusiasm of fans recruited, might help your internal ROI expectations.

Join the Groundswell blog at blogs.forrester.com/groundswell/
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2009 Top Tagline Contest

Do you have a really strong tagline?

If you do, enter it in the 2009 "Powerful Non-Profit Taglines Contest" that is open until July 31.

Details at www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=feGQT_2f1KSGURBORMxM3nDQ_3d_3d
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Free Guide to Web Analytics and Testing

Avinash Kaushik, author of "Web Analytics: An Hour a Day" is recommending a 32-page PDF, "Converting the Believers," guide to improving conversion of people who visit your website. That is good enough for me to make a recommendation even though I am about to download it myself and so have not yet read it.

Make your decision after you check the table of contents at www.usereffect.com/ebook
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Boston University Success at RateMyProfessors.com

I have always been fascinated with RateMyProfessors.com. What especially interests me is that for most faculty at most institutions I have checked, overall ratings are high.

RateMyProfessors is an early example of a social media site in the Web 2.0 world. Sites like these will grow in importance, as more and more people read product evaluations. If a person reads the reviews available at Amazon.com, moving to RateMyProfessors is not a large step.

Recently I checked the ratings of 48 political science faculty at Boston University. The very positive results are on my blog at www.bobjohnsonblog.com/2009/06/ratemyprofessorscom-social-media-and-reality-marketing.html

The note to marketers: review your faculty ratings to find student praise of faculty that helps build your brand.
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Video Impact on Landing Page Conversions

Special landing pages can significantly increase online conversion results from email campaigns but what happens when the landing page includes a video element?

This ClickZ article by Jeanne Jennings suggests that while many people might watch the video, final conversions may well be stronger without the distraction of this popular element. And if that is the case, there is no reason to take the extra time and expense to use one.

Check the details of two email campaigns compared at www.clickz.com/3634227

And of course do plan to add special landing pages for any campaign that brings people to your website. Repeating and reinforcing the original message can result in significantly better results than dropping people on a regular web page.
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Accountability in Higher Education: 10 States are Leaders

With public interest in the performance of public universities increasing, we now have a 3-group ranking (Best Practice; In Progress; Needs Improvement) of how well states are using public accountability data in making policy decisions. And that depends in part on whether or not assessment information is available at all.

I was not surprised to find that my state, Michigan, ranked in the bottom group. See if your state joins California and 9 others as leaders in the Education Sector report at www.educationsector.org/research/research_show.htm?doc_id=934393

Each state has an individual report card. Enjoy reading yours.
________________________________________
Phoenix Tops 400,000 Students

The Apollo Group, owners of University of Phoenix and others, has released a third quarter report noting that for the first time gross revenue for a single quarter has topped $1 billion, fueled by Phoenix enrollment in the quarter of just over 420,000 students.

Marketers will note that "sales and promotional expenses" for the quarter were $246.3 million. Details on growth rates and other expense categories are at phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=79624&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1303101&highlight=
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Marketing & Communications Position in Vermont

St. Michael's College in Vermont is searching for a Director of Marketing and Communications, a cabinet level position reporting to the president. Responsibilities cover the usual brand, research, and communication areas and include the website.

For details visit smcvt.interviewexchange.com/jobofferdetails.jsp?JOBID=14275
________________________________________
My Upcoming Presentations in 2009

Share questions and answers with people like yourself who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me for one or more of these events!

July 15-17, Chicago, IL: ACT Enrollment Planners Conference: "Student Recruitment in an Online World: Creating a Recruitment Communications Plan in a World without Paper: 2009 Update" (2 hour pre-conference workshop) and "Rating Higher Education Websites: The Student Experience." Review the program and register at www.act.org/epc/

July 20-22, Chicago, IL: eduWeb 2009: "Student Recruitment in the Online World: Communicating from First Web Search to Final Enrollment" (Pre-conference workshop). Sessions and registration at www.eduwebconference.com/

July 29, Webinar: Magna Publications: "Crafting a High Impact Recruitment Website." Content and registration at www.magnapubs.com/

August 11, Webinar: Magna Publications: "Social Media Marketing." Register at www.magnapubs.com/calendar/344.html

October 26-27, Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin System, Adult Student Recruitment & Retention Conference: "Key Website Features for Adult Student Recruitment" and "Writing Right for the Web." Conference information is at www.uwosh.edu/rrconference

November 15-17, Boston, MA: AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education, "Marketing in a World without Paper: Creating a Recruitment Communications Plan in a World without Paper" (3 hour Sunday workshop). Details and registration are in progress.

Increase ROI from your online marketing. Expand the writing, editing, and search marketing skills of people on your campus. Host a campus workshop on online marketing.

Contact me at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com
____________________________________________
That's All for Now

Be a marketing champion on your campus.

Bob Johnson, Ph.D. (bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com)
President and Senior Consultant
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC
__________________________________________
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Increase your online marketing success with these 6 services.
• Customer Carewords Research with Gerry McGovern
• Writing Right for the Web On-Campus Workshops
• Marketing Communications Website Review
• Competitive Website Reviews
• Content Copywriting Services
• Usability Analysis

Start now at www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/whatwedo.html

June is upon us and official summer is not far away. Here in Michigan it is already not yet dark at 9 PM. Marvelous.

Social media marketing, for good reasons, is the rage of 2009. But as usual in the midst of any boom, caveats exist. Some are included here this month.

This summer has turned into a special season for webinars. Several scheduled from June 17 to August 11 are listed at the end of the newsletter.

Summer is also conference season. Join me at pre-conference workshops on communicating in the online world at either ACT Enrollment Planners Conference or eduWeb 2009. Details are at www.act.org/epc/ for ACT and at www.eduwebconference.com/ for eduWeb.

Join me on Twitter at twitter.com/HighEdMarketing and review 7 earlier presentations on SlideShare at www.slideshare.net/bestbob

And now for your marketing news and notes for June.
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Branding Budgets at Major Universities

AdAge has just noticed that higher education spends money on marketing. Not nearly as much as their total budgets would allow by industry standards, but enough to note that they "dabble" to the tune of $5.1 million, in the case of the University of Maryland media spend in 2008.

To see how much a few others "dabble," visit the AdAge article at adage.com/article?article_id=136984

While not many schools are included here, it is nice to see numbers other than those for University of Phoenix ($15+ million). And it would be even nicer to see the media spend levels for the flagship universities in each state compared to their total budgets. Yes, dreaming. But it would be nice.

Like it or not, higher education is a competitive place and you cannot compete effectively without a realistic marketing budget.
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Twitter Not Yet for Recruiting Teens

No doubt you have seen the recent reports about how admissions offices are moving to add social media to the marketing communications mix. And in general, that is a good and necessary step.

But for now, if you want to focus on Facebook and YouTube and leave Twitter for later, you can be comfortable with that as far as the teen audience is concerned. Most teens, it seems, are not enamored of the Twitter phenomena.

For details, check the article from Social Computing Journal at socialcomputingjournal.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=824

And note that LinkedIn is mainly populated by people over 40 year of age. So hold any advertising plans for adult students much younger than that.

Things can change. But it is always a good to balance enthusiasm with facts to focus limited marketing resources in the best direction.
_______________________________________
Twitter and Adult Student Recruitment

Given what we know about the age of Twitter users, people recruiting adult students should explore this option.

To start, read my brief reviews of how 7 schools are using Twitter for this market segment. The results at www.bobjohnsonblog.com/2009/05/twitter-and-adult-student-recruitment-not-yet-prime-time.html

Note that University of Phoenix came to this late, in mid-May. Since then, Phoenix has employed an aggressive update pattern (71 in less than a month as of June 2) and gained 309 followers. The review also includes UMass Online, Penn State World Campus, Harvard Extension School and other for-profit schools.
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Social Networking Growth Advances in Age

You can be more comfortable today than just a year ago that efforts put into mainstream social media (Facebook and/or MySpace depending on your students) will pay dividends based on large participation increases among people over 29 years of age. See the details reported by Ad Week at www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/e3i9ba0bc99fcd0242c4a2903531676e8bb

Remember that creating a social networking presence is not for the faint of heart. Let people have real conversations about what they like and do not like about your college or university. If you cannot bring yourself to do that, then best not venture into this world of true reality marketing.
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Azusa Pacific Creates Mobile Web Options

What happens when people try to access your website from an iPhone or other mobile device? That can get ugly, can it not?

Azusa Pacific University has taken an important step in the right direction with a new mobile website that lets people access class schedule, athletics news, social media sites, dining menus, campus directories and more from an iPhone or an iPod. And, wisely, they are working on a new version that will allow access from other smart phones.

Visit the regular web at www.apu.edu/announcements/13510/ for details. If you have an iPhone, go direct to www.apu.edu/m/

Yes, Azusa Pacific makes sure that potential future students know about this as well. Start planning for your mobile website today. You will need one next year.
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Google Analytics: 10 Myths to Review

If you have Google Analytics installed on your campus website but do not yet use it regularly, your expertise and confidence will benefit from this entry on The Official Google Analytics Blog at analytics.blogspot.com/2009/05/top-ten-myths-about-google-analytics.html

My favorite was Myth #4: Results are not accurate. That is because I recently read an email sent to one of my clients from the IT department essentially telling her that she should not ask for analytics reports because the results are not accurate. Read Myth #4 for better insight into what is possible and what is not from any analytics program. Do not let anyone tell you not to pay attention to these numbers.

Just getting started? Review my most popular SlideShare presentation, Web Analytics, A Guide for Higher Education Marketers, at www.slideshare.net/bestbob/web-analytics-a-marketers-guide-presentation
________________________________________
Obama Makes For-Profit Sector Nervous

OK, maybe not the president himself, but folks in the Education Department are asking questions about how well schools in the for-profit sector are meeting guidelines on payment incentives for student recruitment and job placement after graduation.

How do we know people are nervous? A recent conference call with the investor community drew about 600 participants.

For more, listen to the Chronicle of Higher Education audio update at chronicle.com/media/audio/v55/i40/washington_minute/?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
________________________________________
Kindle Advertising Starts Soon

How soon will colleges and universities be advertising on Kindle?

Too soon to say, but if online advertising is an interest, be sure to read about the first venture planned for the Kindle, the popular Amazon e-reader. You can be sure that online advertisers will stay alert for reported results, including reaction from Kindle users.

AdAge reports the details at adage.com/digital/article?article_id=136982
________________________________________
6 Usability Testing Mistakes to Avoid

Whether you do your own usability testing or hire out the projects, take a few minutes to review the article by Jeff Sexton at www.grokdotcom.com/2009/05/29/top-6-user-testing-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them/

Also note the affirmation given at the start of the article to an inexpensive (how does $29 to start sound?) online usability testing service from usertesting.com. As always, the key is interpreting the results. But if traditional usability testing is beyond your resources, explore the possibilities here.
________________________________________
Behavioral Targeting in Marketing: How Far to the Future?

For an interesting update on why and when behavioral characteristics may replace demographics in marketing campaigns, read From Utility to Futility: Demographics in Marketing at communities-dominate.blogs.com/brands/2009/05/from-utilty-to-futility-demographics-in-marketing.html

The premise here is that online tracking gives marketers the ability to distinguish individuals within demographic segments who vary from the norm and thus capture otherwise lost opportunities by including them in advertising efforts. Mobile advertising, in particular, may benefit from this since people here are especially sensitive to receiving direct advertisements that do not interest them.
_______________________________________
New from Google: Google Wave

If you hate hype as much as I do, you will be skeptical about people who say that Google Wave will revolutionize the way we communicate with one another online, especially with respect to email and IM. But wise marketers will want to pay attention to initial reports about the new Google tool that will be available later this year. After all, sometimes the hype is right or at least close to right.

One place to start is with the "Game Changing" review by Ben Parr at mashable.com/2009/05/31/google-wave-features/

Read through and make a note to yourself to follow along with further updates as they arrive. Expect loud buzz over the summer.
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Managing a Boring Website

Is your website boring? If it is, it just might be a great one.

To make sense of that, read the New Thinking article by Gerry McGovern at www.gerrymcgovern.com/nt/2009/nt-2009-05-25-boring-to-manage.htm
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40 Websites: Stunning and Creative

If the idea of a boring website does not make your heart flutter, review this group of 40 at pelfusion.com/inspiration/40-stunning-and-creative-web-sites/

Scroll down to #38 for the only higher education site included, the admissions site at Biola University.
_______________________________________
My Upcoming Presentations in 2009

Share questions and answers with people like yourself who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me for one or more of these events!

June 4-5, Chicago, IL: Aslanian Group, Web Marketing to Adult Students: "Writing Right for the Web" and "Using Adult Friendly Social Media in Marketing." Enter "Bob100" as a discount code to save $100 from the registration fee. Review the sessions at www.aslaniangroup.com/events/default.asp

June 15, Orlando, FL: Career College Association: "Anatomy of a Student Community," Google hosted panel discussion. Conference details at www.ccaconvention.org/

June 17, Webinar: Paper Clip Communications: "The Technology Revolution in Admissions." Session details and registration at tinyurl.com/choolv

June 21-25, San Antonio, TX: College Sports Information Directors of America, Annual Conference: "Writing Right for the Web." Conference program at www.cosida.com/workshops/convention09.aspx

June 30, July 8, Webinar in 2 Parts: Innovative Educators, "Student Recruitment in an Online World: Communicating with College Bound High School Students from First Web Search to Final Enrollment." Registration is open now. Review program and register now.

July 15-17, Chicago, IL: ACT Enrollment Planners Conference: "Student Recruitment in an Online World: Creating a Recruitment Communications Plan in a World without Paper: 2009 Update" (Pre-conference workshop) and "Rating Higher Education Websites: The Student Experience." Review the program and register at www.act.org/epc/

July 20-22, Chicago, IL: eduWeb 2009: "Student Recruitment in the Online World: Communicating from First Web Search to Final Enrollment" (Pre-conference workshop). Sessions and registration at www.eduwebconference.com/

July 29, Webinar: Magna Publications: "Crafting a High Impact Recruitment Website." Content and registration at www.magnapubs.com/

August 11, Webinar: Magna Publications: "Social Media Marketing." Details soon.

October 26-27, Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin System, Adult Student Recruitment & Retention Conference: "Key Website Features for Adult Student Recruitment" and "Writing Right for the Web." Conference information is at www.uwosh.edu/rrconference

Increase ROI from your online marketing. Expand the writing, editing, and search marketing skills of people on your campus. Host a campus workshop on online marketing.

Contact me at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com
____________________________________________
That's All for Now

Be a marketing champion on your campus.

Bob Johnson, Ph.D. (bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com)
President and Senior Consultant
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC
__________________________________________
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Increase your online marketing success with these 6 services.
• Customer Carewords Research with Gerry McGovern
• Writing Right for the Web On-Campus Workshops
• Marketing Communications Website Review
• Competitive Website Reviews
• Content Copywriting Services
• Usability Analysis
Start now at www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/whatwedo.html