Guten Morgen!
What this presentation will go through All about ‘why’ and ‘how’ to create & transform content for social media. 1. It starts with the ‘why’ – the context and research that illustrates the importance of creating content for social media 1. Then we dig into ‘how’ to do this, with practical steps on: a. Tools to help you understand your audience b. An organic and paid social media strategy c. What to create and examples for each phase of a prospect’s journey d. Where to look for content inspiration e. Why is a good brand identity important f. How alumni, faculty,employee advocacy tie all this together ★ The session serves as a guide for you all, but it can be used as a handout for your social media teams to implement as I’ve included examples and more tactical details in the appendix
WHY is it important to transform content for social?
Prospects today are empowered by information from their social networks The student decision-making journey has changed! More than ever before. Students are looking to their social networks when doing their research. Institution Institution website website Family/Friends/Peers z Family/Friends/Peers Professional Networks Personal Networks Past Present Source: Connecting with Today’s Prospective Student, LinkedIn – 8/2015
More than ever, prospects are doing their own research... The Internet enables prospects to self-educate by gathering information on schools anonymously 72% of prospects developed their short list of schools before reaching out to a school representative Connecting with Today’s Prospective Student, LinkedIn So schools must influence prospects early in the decision cycle... By being ‘always - on’ and present 5 Source: Connecting with Today’s Prospective Student, LinkedIn – 8/2015
And since HE has just under 1.5 years consideration period, you need to be ‘Always On’ & present 540 Millward Brown Digital research and LinkedIn research DAYS Higher Education HE “Demystifying the Consumer Journey?” - Millward Brown Digital research and LinkedIn research
Think about it, your website is Always On, right? 7
Why? Because you know there’s perpetual interest Example: MBA Google Trends (UK) No seasonality. Students are constantly searching 8
This creates a great opportunity and responsibility to... Educate, inform and inspire your prospective students by sharing guides, global trends, research, industry news and positioning yourselves as thought leaders on social Particularly as 83 % Of students use social media when deciding where to enroll Times Higher Education Research 9 Times Higher Education research
So to influence early, schools must create content at each stage of the applicant’s decision journey The three stages of the HE decision-making process With different types of information sought by prospects in each stage CONSIDERATION DECISION AWARENESS differentiate your programme, educational, non-promotional educational, specific, not overly show life at/after your school ‘sales - y’ Institution rankings Education and industry news Information on courses and degree programs Expert commentary and Career Advice reviews Staff and lecturer profiles Alumni profiles/achievements Source: Connecting with Today’s Prospective Student, LinkedIn – 8/2015
HOW to create & transform content for Social?
• Plan • Set goals, objectives and metrics • Understand your audience • Distribute • Maximise your content • Your three student journeys • Activate alumni, faculty, employees Mastery • Optimise Not covered today. See appendix • A / B test creatives to find your own blueprint • Optimise with lead generation campaigns
Intro Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step #1 of 4: PLAN
Set Goals, Objectives and Metrics What do you want to achieve and how will you measure it. Understanding your goals and objectives will help you set the right metrics. Demand Brand > Increase awareness > Generate qualified leads > Purchase consideration > nurture leads Brand KPIs: Reach | Impressions | Engagement rates | CTR | Followers Lead Gen KPIs: Leads, CPL | Earned impressions, reach & engagements
Understand who, where (which platform) and what ● What are they talking about / questions they want answered?
Top ways marketers know who and where their audiences are understand your audience and who is actually coming to your website 2019 B2B Content Marketing Research: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs
Example view of tools to understand who is landing on your website ...And ultimately who to target Google Analytics LinkedIn Insight Tag
Intro Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Now you know who they are and what type of information they want, you can connect on a deeper level by delivering that Put your audience needs first to successfully build trust When you create content based on THOSE needs – what are you really trying to do? ● Of course, you want the right people to find, consume, discuss and/or share your content to drive action ● But on a deeper level, when you help someone by providing valuable information, you’re creating a bond and becoming a credible and trusted resource
And through content marketing, you can achieve mastery by always... Being Helpful Telling Stories Being Human Think about the benefit Be consistent and build People want to talk to to the member first on what came before people. Will it make your Aim to Inspire Think about emotional audience more informed, triggers. Happiness | productive, or Anticipation | Surprise | successful? Excitement To give your audience content they want and need where ever they’re looking for it.
Any Game Of Thrones fans? During the last episode, Tyrion gave a profound speech to the lords and ladies. Does anyone know what Tyrion said unites people?
Even Tyrion Lannister knows T elling stories is important ! “What unites people? Armies? Gold? Flags? Stories. There’s nothing in the world more powerful than a good story. Nothing can stop it. No enemy can defeat it” Tyrion literally steals the cadence of the content marketing masterclasses I’ve ever run. For one moment, Tyrion becomes a Content Marketing Thought Leader!
Intro Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step #2 of 4: CREATE / REPURPOSE / TRANSFORM
First thing first - you must invest in an integrated organic and paid strategy to unlock your School’s potential Invest in Organic ex. Paid ex. the best organic University Pages Display Ads content Sponsored Content Facebook Groups Paid Lead Gen campaigns Instagram amplifies Account Based Marketing organic Twitter reach Blogs By starting with your organic content, you ensure you’re investing in your highest-performing content for paid campaigns. Then create!
Using Disney as an analogy to explain this approach to create and monetise content Disney’s ‘BLOCKBUSTER’ method. They see what works and they repurpose it! “Back catalogue” “Net - new”
Let’s apply Disney’s blueprint model to create a gated asset and maximise it by slicing it up into different formats Gated Blockbuster eg eBook, research Valuable content designed for lead capture Supporting “teasers” Drive interest to the main asset
Three Benefits of gated content for HE Benefit #1: Increased lead generation Benefit #2: Acquiring prospective student leads earlier in the journey Benefit #3: Start nurturing and segmenting the right students for you ● Segmenting your audience is an important one as your gated form allows you to select the questions prospects should answer before they access the content ● Gated content is also important because it drives traffic to your website and provides a next step for prospective students who aren’t yet ready to apply
You then need to create content for each stage of the applicant’s journey, amplify with budget what’s working Real life examples of how you can map your content to each phase of the decision journey Awareness Rankings, News, Awareness Career Advice, Courses/Degrees Consideration Program Value, News, Blog Content Decision Webinars taster, Faculty Profiles, reviews, On-Campus Events, Alumni Testimonials
And if you’re struggling with content creation, then there are free tools to support FIND QUESTIONS TO ANSWER Research Topics ★ Answerthepublic.com ★ Google Trends ★ Look to your website: company blog, PR news section, company resources. I guarantee there is something that can be repurposed for social media ★ Then use Google analytics to understand what part of the site people are going to, what articles they’re reading, what interests them
FIND QUESTIONS TO ANSWER Answerthepublic.com “How to choose a university”
FIND QUESTIONS TO ANSWER Answerthepublic.com “How to choose a university for master degree?”
What does good branding look like?
Tie it together with a strong brand identity EY | Harvard | WU Executive Academy Strong / identifiable brand Groundbreaking research / thought colours leadership that constantly builds Harvard’s prestige It’s consumer -oriented and non-promotional tool. Employee stories / employee promotions visual identifier
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