Digital Marketing Strategy: Skills for Thriving as the New World Continued to Emerge

DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY: SKILLS FOR THRIVING AS A NEW

WORLD CONTINUES TO EMERGE©ROBERT E. JOHNSON, PH.D. 2014

Bob Johnson, Ph.D.

AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education

Austin, TX

November 10 - November 13, 2014

Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC ... @HighEdMarketing 1

This was real, but silly…http://2d-code.co.uk/qr-code-airplane-banner/


Who is Bob Johnson?

• Speciality: online marketing communications

• “Top Task” research partner w/Gerry McGovern

at Customer Carewords, Ltd, Dublin, Ireland.

• 76 higher education clients since 2006.

• “Your Higher Education Marketing Newsletter”…

3,450 subscribers each month.

• @highedmarketing… 6,670+ Twitter followers.

• “Higher Education Marketing” blog.

• Symposium for the Marketing of Higher

Education… chair, 1994 to 2003.


A LITTLE BACKGROUND

How we got started and where we

are today


Today’s marketing strategy definition…

• “Marketing strategy is a process that can

allow an organization to concentrate its

limited resources on the greatest

opportunities to increase sales and achieve

a sustainable competitive advantage.”

• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_strategy


http://www.google.com/url?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_strategy&rct=j&sa=X&ei=ms1DT9X3OsG2qgHYr-jcCg&ved=0CC8QngkwAA&q=marketing+strategy&usg=AFQjCNFGqHIJGiIYmKVD6RB9Ah8q4xFxoQ

Smartphones enabled a revolution…http://bit.ly/TlMtvN


Technology keeps moving…http://www.samsung.com/us/experience/smart-tv/


New format for admissions interviews?http://www.skype.com/en/download-skype/skype-for-tv/


Digital marketing is “Insanely complicated”http://tiny.cc/71a6ew


Marketers & “digital” in a 2013 survey…http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/34878.asp


http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/34878.asp

Marketing online for…

Brand awareness…

• We want people to know

who we are today so that

tomorrow if they need

what we offer they will

include us in their choice.

• Does not require call to

action and landing page.

• Institution focused (often).

• Clicks on links optional.

Direct response…

• We want people who are

ready (or nearly ready) to

make a purchase to start

today.

• Requires a call to action

and a landing page.

• Academic program focus

• Clicks on links mandatory.


6 important strategy points…

#1

• Social media…

• Marketing and PR

can’t control the

message anymore

• Facebook wins by

volume

• YouTube is second

#2

• Mobile…

• People are connected everywhere, all the time

• Easy to share opinions

• Different tasks on different devices?


Two more really big things…

#3

• Big Data…

• “Big data” = the

capacity to know

more about people

than ever before

• We can use it for

more precise

advertising

#4

• Engagement

• More people will

“like” and “follow”

than will actively

“engage”

• Not everybody

wants to “engage”


And two more…

#5

• New technology

• No need to be first in

everything,

especially if you

don’t know how the

“shiny object” fits in

your marketing plan

• Relax

#6

• ROI

• Difficult to measure

the individual impact

of every step in a

marketing campaign

• But can measure

advertising response


IF YOU WANT TO THRIVE

IN DIGITAL MARKETING…

7 Different Points to Remember.


EMBRACE “BIG DATA”

Essential to deliver the right message

at the right time to the right people…


USE A CRM SYSTEM

Improve your email response

content…


BE WARY OF

RESPONSIVE DESIGN

By itself, it is not a solution for web

success in the mobile world…


BE SMART ABOUT

CONTENT MARKETING

Understand the limits…

People don’t respond to typical “brand-centric” content.


FOCUS ON TOP TASKS

Focus on tasks important to the

people you wish to enroll or donate.


RESPOND RAPIDLY

Rapid response tells people you care

about their interest in you.


MAKE SURE LANDING

PAGE LINKS WORK

Landing page videos for UCLA and

Northwestern University IMC program

were not working for Fall 2014 ads.


AS WE LOOK TO THE

FUTURE…


What’s growing & what’s not in 2014…http://bit.ly/1nRSO78

Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 24

Steady growth in online advertising…http://bit.ly/Xb67ob


Apollo spends $63.5M on search ads…http://bit.ly/1BCqWG4 /


Mobile vs. desktop to 2017…http://bit.ly/1lSPfrC


Not yet a mobile spending tsunami…http://bit.ly/1zrSAq3


Challenges for “the next few years…”http://bit.ly/1p6wzqm


THE GOOD NEWS…Facebook & Google in constant competition to allow better targeting…

• “Guest Post: Facebook Is Now The Best Ad Targeting Platform Around”… March 2013

• http://bit.ly/17MDYGL


Changing formats, improving results…http://adobe.ly/1w2emhJ


REASONABLE

EXPECTATIONS FOR

SOCIAL MEDIA

Most popular sites…

Influence vs. websites


Social media “experts” often insist…

• “A two-way conversation between marketers and

consumers is the whole point of social…

• “Anything less… is a reflection of outdated broadcast-

style thinking.”

• Consider an alternate reality

• Most people “follow” and “friend” brands to listen, not to

engage in a conversation.

• Numbers do count… the more listening the better.

• Reality makes “ROI” extremely challenging to measure

• What are all those “followers” and “friends” actually doing?

• When will they take a “desired action”?


Top 10 social media sites, 10/6/12…http://ex.pn/SV3o84 FB + YouTube = 82.9%






Top social media for college-bound teens…Noel-Levitz E-expectations survey, 2014


How influential is social media?Noel-Levitz E-expectations survey, 2014


2 important points re social media…

• Lifespan of a new item

on Facebook, Twitter is

very short… just a few

minutes.

• Not everyone visits

social media every

day… even teens.

• If something is

important, post it more

than once.

• On more than one day

if timing permits.


ADVERTISING IN THE

DIGITAL WORLD Where are the $$$ going now?

Big Data = messages that don’t annoy

Recognition as response key


Major players in digital advertising…http://bersondeanstevens.wordpress.com/tag/mobile-advertising/


Social media advertising dilemma…

• “Social media is a very personal experience

for most users and it is not clear yet just

how much advertising they will tolerate

from this medium.”• “Mobile social advertising makes quantum leap forward” at

http://bit.ly/16mOktB Mobile Marketer, April 2013

• Big Data = increased ability to target

• Facebook

• LinkedIn

• Twitter


http://bit.ly/16mOktB

Where does Big Data come from?http://slidesha.re/15THr6E


Big data = Customer intelligence…

• Fact: few people object to ads that interest them

• Opportunity: reduce mass advertising, focus lead generation marketing to people who might have an interest

• Conversion: with permission to speak, keep content relevant to top tasks of people receiving it

• Penalty: to much “brand speak” and people will withdraw permission to speak or just ignore you

• Reward: people will like your brand


Yes, teens respond to ads…Noel-Levitz E-expectations survey, 2014


Recognition is the ad response key…Noel-Levitz E-expectations survey, 2014


“Journey to purchase…” http://www.google.com/think/tools/customer-journey-to-online-purchase.html


http://www.google.com/think/tools/customer-journey-to-online-purchase.html

Elements vary re decision impact…This is “Edu/Gov” category


“Direct” is best for final action…


FACEBOOK

ADVERTISING…

The Facebook example…

Targeting on a mass media site


Facebook is today’s mass media…

• About 1% of people who follow major brands

actively “engage” with them… almost everyone

just listens. That’s OK.

• “People need to understand what Facebook can

do for a brand and what it can’t do. It doesn’t

really differ from mass media. It’s great to get

decent reach, but to change the way people

interact with a brand overnight is just unrealistic.”

• Karen Nelson-Field, (Ehrenberg-Bass Institute,

Australia), based on FB metrics “People Talking About

This”


http://www.marketingscience.info/

Facebook on mobile…http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Will-Desktop-Ad-Spending-Peak/1009959


http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Will-Desktop-Ad-Spending-Peak/1009959

Facebook cut ad options in 2013… http://newsroom.fb.com/News/620/An-Update-on-Facebook-Ads

• More Facebook recommendations:

• “Our vision is that over time, an advertiser can come to

Facebook and tell us what they are trying to achieve,

and our ads tools will automatically suggest the right

combination of products to help them achieve it.”

• Goal: easier for non-professionals to plan,

place advertising


http://newsroom.fb.com/News/620/An-Update-on-Facebook-Ads

Pay for FB results 3 ways…https://www.facebook.com/help/614797551881954

• Pay for views

• Pay for clicks

• Pay for actions

• How to budget at

https://www.facebook.com/help/318171828

273417/?ref=u2u


https://www.facebook.com/help/614797551881954

Start: Pick a campaign objective…https://www.facebook.com/ads/create/?act=40154125


Create an ad account…


Create a profile to see your ad…


Set your budget… (you can change)


Select the image(s) you’ll use…


Desktop only, pay for action only…


Newsfeed option also exists…


Define the audience…


Our landing page…http://www.bowdoin.edu/biology/


Track your conversions…https://www.facebook.com/help/435189689870514/


https://www.facebook.com/help/435189689870514/

Create a “custom audience”…https://www.facebook.com/business/a/online-sales/custom-audiences

• Conversion ads to move people through the recruitment cycle.• Send ads to potential

students already in your database.

• Upload contact info (email or phone)… FB will match with its current database.

• FB says 40% to 60% match.


YOU TUBE + GOOGLE AD

WORDS…


Teens & millennials love YouTube…http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Teens-Press-Play-on-YouTube/1010629


The “get started” page…http://www.youtube.com/yt/advertise/get-started.html


My CE video to promote…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s64B-NNRxTA


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s64B-NNRxTA

Video links to this page…/http://che.engin.umich.edu


http://che.engin.umich.edu/

After a “Chemical Engineering” search…


Your ad in on this page…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAWLMMZlkq4


Your choice… “In-stream”


Your choice… “In-display”


Your ad works on a specific video…http://bit.ly/1neA2kv


Your ad works on YouTube searches…


Your ad works on Internet searches…


How much to spend?


Select your video…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s64B-NNRxTA


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s64B-NNRxTA

Keyword selection…

Keywords in content… Keywords in searches…


Pick the time for your ad to run…


Your AdWords account page…


Attention to campaign results…


DIRECT RESPONSE

DISPLAY ADVERTISING

Focus on specific academic programs…

Place ads in related interest areas


Really poor targeting…


Much better targeting…


Leads to a proper landing page…


And a social media connection…


Simple, clean, quick email response…


And ongoing contact…


A professional school’s email ad…October 10, 2014


The landing page…http://bit.ly/ZTnVFV


Change the opening text…

• Consumers and audiences today face — and help shape — a constant stream of marketing messages over a wide range of media, and the most successful organizations are those that make their marketing campaigns stand out through a deeper understanding of consumer behavior. That's why there is such high demand for graduates of Northwestern University's online Master's in Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) program. As an IMC student, you'll enter a customer-focused curriculum that teaches you how to extract actionable consumer insights from consumer data analytics to create compelling messages and strategies that grow business. You'll gain a global marketing perspective, grapple with real-world marketing challenges and solve problems using up-to-the-minute, measurable tactics. Leveraging data-driven insight with digital, social and mobile formats along with more traditional ones, you'll experience the deeper understanding of consumer behavior that distinguishes our program. And you'll benefit from Northwestern's world-renowned tradition of excellence in the program that pioneered IMC education, studying with Medill professors who are some of the greatest minds in the industry.


To this, or (best) just drop it…

• Consumers and audiences today face — and help shape — a constant stream of marketing messages over a wide range of media, and the most successful organizations are those that make their marketing campaigns stand out through a deeper understanding of consumer behavior. That's why there is such high demand for graduates of Northwestern University's online Master's in Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) program. • As an IMC student, you'll enter a customer-focused curriculum that teaches

you how to extract actionable consumer insights from consumer data analytics to create compelling messages and strategies that grow business.

• You'll gain a global marketing perspective, grapple with real-world marketing challenges and solve problems using up-to-the-minute, measurable tactics.

• Leveraging data-driven insight with digital, social and mobile formats along with more traditional ones, you'll experience the deeper understanding of consumer behavior that distinguishes our program.

• And you'll benefit from Northwestern's world-renowned tradition of excellence in the program that pioneered IMC education, studying with Medill professors who are some of the greatest minds in the industry.


After the inquiry form…


The brochure in 8-page PDF format…

First page is OK… Text like this is not OK…


Two serious mistakes…

Video did not work… Frou-frou marketing copy…


RETARGETED

ADVERTISING

Creepy to some, successful to others


The retargeting trail…


An agency asks these 5 questions…http://bit.ly/TjUlOz

• Do you have an online marketing budget of at least a

$1,000 dollars per month?

• Do you have at least a few thousand visitors to your

Website each month?

• Do you sell a product or service with a long

consideration cycle or customer research process?

• Are you concerned with continued branding for your

business online?

• Do you have significant online competitors?


RETARGETING MESSAGE

STRATEGY…

Focus on academic program visited

in response to program-focused

advertising or organic search that

brought people to your website.


Retarget for individual programs…http://onlinemba.neu.edu/


Starting with a search in May 2012…


REJ on a automobile forum…


REJ on Flyertalk…


REJ on the Washington Post…http://wapo.st/HfuLaY


Explore retargeting specialists…http://www.adroll.com/


Watch the videos…


Targeting options…

• Worldwide

• U.S.

• Custom locations

• U.S. zip codes only

• Country

• Region

• Metro or city


And check Google Remarketing…https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2454000?hl=en


GROUP ADVERTISING

“Lead gen” for more leads at less

cost w/ 3rd party screening


“Online masters degree finance”...


89 schools advertising here…http://www.elearners.com/online-degrees/finance/


Schools using the program in fall…

• University of Maryland - College Park

• Northeastern University

• Boston University

• Georgetown University

• Colorado State University – Global Campus

• University of Liverpool


Program info to decide re inquiry…


The inquiry form…


LINKEDIN ADVERTISING…

Best for young professionals in

search of new credentials?


Start here…http://www.linkedin.com/advertising


http://www.linkedin.com/advertising

Do you want response or reach?


Response campaign starting page…


Sort the details here…


Select cost and campaign length…


LinkedIn ad example…9:55 A.M. 4/19/2013


After the LinkedIn ad…

The landing page…Immediate inquiry

response…


Continue with email follow-up…

January 13, 2013 February 15, 2014


IN THE (NEAR) FUTURE…


Future opportunities & challenges…http://bit.ly/1p6wzqm


Extraordinary speed…

• “In 2000, “the first ads we wrote for Oracle were

about 7 seconds. If the consumer was online and

didn’t get the content that they wanted within 7

seconds, they’d be gone.

• “Now 7 seconds is a lifetime.”

• In 2017?

• “If Spotify is fixated with delivering content in under 200

milliseconds now, can you imagine what the competition

will be in 5 years?”

• Lawrence A. Kimmel, CEO, Direct Marketing Association


A verbal search future… https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/1331723?hl=en

• In the mobile world, no

need to touch anything

• What words will your

visitors use?

• Must work better than

your “search” works

now

• “Top task” even more

important… know

“Taskwords”


https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/1331723?hl=en

More video content…http://www.startstorytelling.com/


http://www.startstorytelling.com/

Google glass… still a marketing puzzlehttp://bit.ly/1hRHbVP

For 2012 in New Orleans… For 2013 in Boston…


For 2014 in Austin, still a question…http://bit.ly/1sbRbSa


And what might you do with this?


WRAPPING UP…

STRATEGY POINTS FOR

SUCCESS


Digital strategy steps…

• First impression online is critical…

• Top tasks from customer viewpoint

• Abandon “marketing speak” content

• Big Data to craft targeted advertising

• Simple online inquiry forms boost ROI…

• Immediate inquiry response…

• Telephone, email, or texting

• Continuing response unless told to stop…

• New role for video story telling


An underused strategy element…

• Academic program interest of potential

students as the starting place…

• Online advertising for individual programs

• Use academic program interest from first response

• Inquiry, application & finance options from every

academic program page

• Academic content written for students, not faculty and

their friends

• Social media plan for selected programs

• Video stories from students and faculty in academic

programs


THANKS FOR BEING

HERE IN AUSTIN!Bob Johnson, Ph.D.

[email protected]

www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com

@highedmarketing


DIGITAL MARKETING

RESOURCES

12 sites and subscriptions to add to

your kit bag.


Keep up with current news…http://mashable.com/category/digital-advertising/


Internet advertising resource center…http://bit.ly/1tGQMJr


Industry self-regulation…http://www.aboutads.info/


To watch the legalities…http://1.usa.gov/1oiQJLP


Subscribe to ClickZ Newsletter…http://bit.ly/1uTB27j


Subscribe to Search Engine Watch… http://bit.ly/1m3b33Z


Academic research sources…

University of Marylandhttp://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/digits/

Dartmouth Collegehttp://www.tuck.dartmouth.edu/digital/


Ehrenberg-Bass Institute…http://www.marketingscience.info/


http://www.marketingscience.info/

Data-Driven Marketing Institutehttp://thedma.org/ddmi/


http://thedma.org/ddmi/

Pew Internet research projects…http://www.pewinternet.org/


Social media strategy cheat sheet…http://bit.ly/UVq4XC


Social Media Examiner…http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/


“Secret guide” to CRM selection…http://bit.ly/1xGPtfw


EXTRA NOTES ON

ADVERTISING…

Twitter…

“Native” advertising


TWITTER ADVERTISING

Open to anyone in the U.S. since

April 2013


TWITTER SAYS…“Our system rewards marketers for being good, not for being loud.”• https://blog.twitter.com/2013/announcing-

twitter-ads-api


https://blog.twitter.com/2013/announcing-twitter-ads-api

Twitter on mobile…http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Will-Desktop-Ad-Spending-Peak/1009959


http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Will-Desktop-Ad-Spending-Peak/1009959

Start here… pay only for followers

https://business.twitter.com/

start-advertisingSelection criteria include…

• Similar user names

• Interests

• Location

• Gender


https://business.twitter.com/start-advertising

Selections for “Education” & Metro…


“Tailored audience” on Twitter…https://blog.twitter.com/2014/new-ways-to-create-and-use-tailored-audiences

• More conversion

opportunities

• Minimum of 5,000

people

• From your CRM

database using email

addresses

• Similar in use to FB

opportunity

• Only pay if people click

on your ad


New in 2014… the Website Cardhttp://bit.ly/1v4iQ9h (April 2014)

• Move people to a

specific website

address.

• Appears in newsfeed.

• Combines a tweet, an

image, & a call to

action.

• Again, academic

program content.


New in 2014… Lead Generation Cardshttp://bit.ly/1qV4odG (May 2014)

• Tweets expand to

display an ad if a

person hovers over it.

• Captures name, twitter

handle, email.

• Offer is critical to

response.

• Newsletter on

innovations in

architecture.


NATIVE ADVERTISING“Paid ads that are so cohesive with the page

content, assimilated into the design, and consistent

with the platform behavior that the viewer simply

feels that they belong.”


“The Native Advertising Playbook”…http://www.iab.net/media/file/IABNativeAdvertisingPlaybookFINAL.pdf

• A challenge…• How to integrate ads into

regular content that have

easy-to-see full disclosure

that the content is an ad.

• “Simply put: Regardless of

context, a reasonable

consumer should be able

to distinguish between

what is paid advertising vs.

what is publisher editorial

content.”


In-Feed Units…

• Also used by:

• Yahoo

• Facebook

• Twitter


Paid search units…

• Also used by

• Google

• Bing

• Ask


“Recommended for you” widgets…

• Also used by:

• Taboola

• Disqus

• Gravity


Promoted listings…

• Also used by:

• Amazon

• Foursquare

• Google


Evaluating what type to use…




Business

Digital Marketing Strategy: Skills for Thriving as the New World Continued to Emerge