DIGITAL MARKETING 101FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS2015 NATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOLS CONFERENCE June 22, 2015 // #NCSC15

#NCSC15

HELLO.

2

Kim Brater VP Marketing

Charter School Capital

Scott Kaufmann Partner

Lucid Agency

Michael Barber Founder

barber&hewitt

#NCSC15

1. Why // Why This Matters? 2. Overview // Your Homebase & Digital Marketing Defined 3. Tactics // The Best Tools for Charter Schools 4. Exercise // Craft Your Digital Marketing Plan 5. Resources // Where You Can Learn More? 6. Slides // slideshare.net/CharterSchoolCapital

AGENDA

3

#NCSC15

No. 1 Why does this matter? It’s about the moments.

4

#NCSC15 5

#NCSC15

ONLINE DISCOVERY IS IMPORTANT FOR EDUCATION CHOICES

6

#NCSC15

ONLINE DISCOVERY IS IMPORTANT FOR EDUCATION CHOICES

7

#NCSC15

ONLINE DISCOVERY IS IMPORTANT FOR EDUCATION CHOICES

8

#NCSC15

Overview So, what is digital marketing?

9

#NCSC15

WHAT IS DIGITAL MARKETING?

• Communicating with the appropriate target audiences online in a meaningful way.

• Digital marketing can help your charter school overcome obstacles such as fundraising, enrollment, and gaining necessary support from the community.

10

#NCSC15

YOUR VISION ONLINEUse your school’s purpose to create a powerful marketing message.

• Define your brand.Why is your school unique? What is the essence of who you are? Once defined, how will you deliver on your brand promise?

• What are you trying to accomplish?What is a reasonable goal for your charter school? Increasing enrollment, awareness in the community, new facilities, etc. deliver.

• Communicate strategically.What channels will you use to connect with your audience? What is most effective and efficient for your budget and goals? How will you measure results?

11

#NCSC15

No. 2 The best tools for charter schools. The digital channels at your fingertips.

12

#NCSC15

DIGITAL MARKETING TACTICSSearch Engine Optimization (SEO)

13

Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC)

Email Marketing

Display Advertising

Retargeting Advertising

Video Marketing

Social Media

Mobile/responsive website

#NCSC15

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO)• “Organic” listings are free

and based on relevance to the search term.

• Goal: produce the best user experience.

• Best user experience: • Easy navigation • Fast load time • Relative content • Mobile/responsive

website

14

#NCSC15

Google rolled out changes to its algorithm that favor mobile sites on April 21st.

MOBILE/RESPONSIVE WEBSITE

15

#NCSC15

SEO EXAMPLE

16

1. Person searches for “Phoenix charter schools.”

2. Person clicks organic link to SySTEM Phoenix Charter Schools.

#NCSC15

SEO EXAMPLE

17

3. Person is taken to website where they are prompted to enroll.

4. Person completes the enrollment/interest form.

#NCSC15

FIVE SEO TIPS FOR YOUR SCHOOL1. Pick 10-15 relevant “keywords” with a monthly search volume of

300-3,000 searches.

2. Incorporate keywords into your content naturally, as you would in conversation.

3. Write original, quality, educational content for your site. Avoid duplicating content.

4. Submit your website’s sitemap to various search engines. Check indexed pages.

5. Reach out to reputable education directories and .orgs for linking opportunities.

18

#NCSC15

PAY PER CLICK (PPC)

• Organizations bid in on search terms (keywords) users are likely to use to find their school.

• Keyword examples: • “science charter school” • “Phoenix charter schools”

• Paid listings use a “Pay-Per-Click” (PPC) system where the advertiser pays for each click on the their ad.

19

Best for giving a website maximum visibility to those who are searching for your school on search engines.

#NCSC15

PPC EXAMPLE

20

#NCSC15

DISPLAY “BANNER” ADVERTISING

• Display ads appear next to content on various websites in text, image, or video format.

• Best for increasing brand awareness.

• Display campaigns can be set up to target audiences in a variety of ways: specific websites, time of day, geography, etc.

21

Use visually engaging display ads to increase brand awareness and target potential customers.

Learn&More&

#NCSC15

RETARGETED ADVERTISING

• Retargeting leverages the user’s familiarity with your brand to encourage them to complete a conversion.

• Most users do not convert on the first interaction with your brand.

• Keep your brand top of mind when they are ready to enroll, donate, etc.

22

Use image advertisements to target users who have previously visited your website.

#NCSC15

RETARGETING EXAMPLE

23

1. Person visits website and begins contact form.

2. Person leaves the website before completing the contact form.

#NCSC15

RETARGETING EXAMPLE

24

3. Person continues to see brand’s ads as they surf the web.

#NCSC15

RETARGETING EXAMPLE

25

4. Person returns to website and completes contact form.

#NCSC15

VIDEO MARKETING

• Help your school stand by connecting with your audience and creating videos worth sharing.

• Create a YouTube channel where all of your videos will reside for your audience to view.

• Share your videos through social media or blog posts.

26

Bring your brand to life by creating captivating videos your audience can share.

#NCSC15

HIGH PRODUCTION VALUE

27

#NCSC15

ANIMATED/SKETCHED

28

#NCSC15

SHORT VIDEO :15 / :06

29

#NCSC15

SHORT VIDEO :15 / :06

30

#NCSC15

SOCIAL MEDIA

• Connect with your audience instantly, visually and on an individual basis.

• Display and retargeting advertising available through these platforms.

• Target your audience based on location, industry, job title, etc.

31

Best for interacting with people (in real-time).

#NCSC15

EMAIL MARKETING

• Create personalized messages and newsletters for your leads, customers, and target audience.

• Email marketing is cost effective and easy to implement.

• Email is easy for users to share and advertisers to track.

32

Best for keeping your brand top of mind of an interested audience who opt-in for your updates.

#NCSC15

MAILCHIMP IS FREE*

33

#NCSC15

No. 3 Exercise Let’s craft our digital marketing plan.

34

#NCSC15

PROCESS

35

1. OBJECTIVE

2. PLAN

3. CREATE

4. IMPLEMENT

5. MEASURE

6. EVOLVE

#NCSC15

PROCESS > OBJECTIVEWhat are we trying to solve?

• Build brand awareness

• Enrollment

• Retention

• Fundraising

• Community/advocacy

36

#NCSC15

PROCESS > PLANFour key components:

1. Budget - How much are you willing to spend to achieve your goal?

2. Strategy - How are we going to succeed?

3. Tactics - What are we going to use to succeed?

4. Metrics - What are the measurements of success?

37

Example Digital Marketing Budget

20%

14%

14% 14%

38%

PPC RetargetingSocial Media Display AdsVideo

#NCSC15

PROCESS > CREATEWhat content do we need for all our tactics?

• Copy

• Images

• Videos

• Templates

38

#NCSC15

PROCESS > IMPLEMENTWho is going to manage the efforts?

• In-house (internal groups/advocates/volunteers)

• Agency / partner / etc.

• Blended model

39

#NCSC15

PROCESS > MEASURE

• Determine which metrics are valuable to your school.

• Total Traffic • Click Through Rate • Likes on Facebook

• Make changes only when results are conclusive and statistically significant.

• Utilize tools that help you track your chosen metrics and measure progress.

40

How did we do? What are the quantifiable measures of success?

#NCSC15

PROCESS > EVOLVE

41

1. OBJECTIVE

2. PLAN

3. CREATE

4. IMPLEMENT

5. MEASURE

6. EVOLVE

#NCSC15

PLAN EXAMPLE

42

OBJECTIVE • Introduce the school to a new

community/state

• Drive conversion on online interest forms

• Outrank competitive schools

• Engage parents and community

PLAN• Budget: $500 per month

paid media, 0.5-1 hour of management per day

• Strategy: Leverage online tactics to drive word of mouth, content distribution, and interest.

TACTICS• PPC

• Mobile website

• Retargeting

• Display

• SEO

• Social

• Email marketing

• Video marketing

MEASURE• Conversion Rate

• Click-Thru-Rate

• Cost/Lead

• Cost/Click

• # of Subscribers

• Click-to-Open Rate

• Organic Traffic

• # of Likes/Shares

• Referral Traffic

#NCSC15

No. 4 Resources Get busy learning or get busy dying.

43

#NCSC15

RESOURCESOrganic Search & Search Engine Optimization

**Google Analytics IQ Certification Moz (SEO Software) The Beginners Guide to SEO

Paid Search (PPC), Display, & Retargeting **Google Adwords Certification The Beginner’s Guide to Setting Up An Adwords Account The Beginner’s Guide to Adwords Display Advertising Tips for Creating Effective Display Ads Create Your First Remarketing Campaign 5 Tips to Maximize Your Retargeting Campaign

Email and Social Media MailChimp Hootsuite Hootsuite Resource Library How To Set Up Facebook, Twitter, and Every Other Social Media Profile

General http://www.lucidagency.com/blog/ http://openstrate.gy/

44

#NCSC15

THANK YOU.

45

Kim Brater VP Marketing

Charter School Capital kbrater@charterschoolcapital.org

Scott Kaufmann Partner

Lucid Agency scott@lucidagency.com

Michael Barber Founder

barber&hewitt michael@barberandhewitt.com