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Under Burress: Three Ways to Not Pull a Plaxico.

By now, unless you were under a rock this weekend, you’ve heard about Plaxico Burress of the New York Giants accidenta lly shooting himself. As an avid NYG fan, this is not shocking news, but got me thinking about all of the incidents and absurdities we’ve had to deal with involving Burress. For all his work and salary, he’s becoming more of a problem and less of a priority. Sound like your marketing efforts? Read on to find out how not to pull a Plaxico.

1. Holster (and put a safety on) your weapon: What is your organization using to keep you safe? Is it the same old, same old mentality and way of doing things? Is it safe guarding your web presences by stopping open conversations before they happen? Limiting transparency by not allowing comments on a blog/media/web site? Maybe what you think is keeping you safe, is really detrimental to your success and safety as a presence in your sphere. In the end, doing these things will make you look foolish, not cool.

2. Can the ego: Think that your offerings and brand dont need consumer input? Think again. By consistently shutting out external feedback you are basically telling current and future customers that what they think and want do not matter. You know them better than they know themselves and you’ll tell them what they want and when. Without two way communication, via social media or other give and take, you lose potential ideas and creativity that may offer insights to an audience that you’ve neglected. Make sure you have a vehichle for comments and interaction with your key consumer base.

3. Understand – you ARE replaceable, and possibly, unnecessary: You may think that what you have to offer is better than anyone else, but you are wrong. There is always someone else offering something – if not identical – very similar to yours. Without consumer connection with your brand, and community, you risk them feeling no connection to you and seeking solace elsewhere. In this tight economy, consumers may also find reasons that they can cut their costs by not consuming your product or service making you expendable. It is crucial to build rapport with consumers, not only to keep them as customers, but to continue to update your offerings through customer feedback and need analysis.

Image courtesey of Ted Kerwin.

Integrated Social Media: Good Enough for President Elect, Good Enough for Your University

You’ve been trying to convince the powers that be that, at bare minimum, your college site needs RSS feeds. Perhaps you’re institution is considering using YouTube but is still on the fence. Asking for comments seems like a good idea, but what if those comments are bad? What do you do then?

Well, if these all seem like scary new tactics, take that fear to the highest level: to the incoming president of the United States. Wonder where he really stands on issues like rural America or disabilities? Need RSS feeds of news or the blog? Want to share your ideas about what change in American society means to you? A stop over to President Barack Obama’s website can do all this and then some. You can even apply for a job in the Obama-Biden administration.

Obama’s new site is a case study in integrated social media at a highly visible level. Users not only can view, send, and comment on YouTube videos (a weekly address, no less) but can keep up to date on the white house transition. See new cabinet members as they get added. Endless possibilities. Once this content is created, its easy to share and post over other networks, such as Twitter, adding infinite extensions of what could have been a static web site.

What your university should learn from this is that technology is finally highly embraceable. The Obama weekly video address on YouTube already has over 736,000 views. Its been emailed, bookmarked, Facebooked and MySpaced. You cant buy that kind of bottom up publicity. Its something thats taken on life from the people, not the press. In the end, thats the entire purpose of social media.

The comments, not to mention videos and photos, that he’s receiving in the American Moment: Share Your Story/Vision area of the site are groundbreaking pulse takers on American society. Imagine if these tools were implemented – comparatively on a much smaller scale – at your university. What would you learn and then change? How would your audience create a living virtual space and identity for your college? Think of how that powerful catalyst for change could make your product even better.

Whats irrelevant now?

Guest Post On .eduguru

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What I Told My VP About Stamats 08

In an effort to be transparent, below is what I typed up for my Vice President of Enrollment and Retention (AKA – my boss) regarding my key take-aways from Statmats 08. I may be wrong or right, but these points represent what I learned and need to leverage for my individual political situation. They in no way encompass everything I learned – that would be way too much information for my VP! Thanks again to everyone who presented. I look forward to keeping in touch and learning from each other as we move forward in our efforts.

No one knows exactly how to use social media for higher education marketing – but they are trying. Many universities are trying it, but no one has a strategy that is perfected. Everyone is testing different things for their individual audiences. It is a usual strategy to have a student take on the content management – community management – for social networks since they know them best.

ROI/analytics and building a community – make sure you are doing both. Information was presented on creating a return on investment calculation and Google/email analytics to suggest that efforts result in revenue for the university. It was cautioned that these should not be the only results you are looking for: that traffic and applications do not tell the entire picture. Building a community virtually and continuing the conversation openly with prospects and current students and alumni should be the focus – not just hard and fast numbers.

There are many things out there, but we should not do all of them. Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Orkut, Twitter, Ning: the list goes on and on and will only continue to grow. Create a social media strategy and stick with it making changes as lessons are learned along the way. Outline concrete goals and stick to them to see if what you are doing is moving the needle. By using everything randomly we don’t know what sticks or not and risk confusing our audience. All branded social media offerings for the university as a whole should be integrated and have a strategy.

Everyone is still learning. As mentioned previously, no one has all the answers. Those that presented said that they are trying different things and finding what works for their particular audience, campuses, and goals. There will be mistakes. We are all learning from each other and sharing our knowledge via Twitter and blogs. By integrating all of our successes and failures we anticipate finding ways to further our individual goals.

What’s Next?

· Over the next month, I will be creating a social media strategic plan that will integrate current and future offerings.

· Suggested Reads: Groundswell, Made to Stick, Here Comes Everybody, Wisdom of Crowds.

· I will be tweaking the monthly Google Analytics reports to be more inclusive of community building – not just number crunching.

· I will be monitoring news, blogs and twitter for mentions of our university

· I’ll be taking a closer look at our email campaigns to see if we are targeting them well with specific content

Learning From Change: Top Five Branding Ideals from The Obama Campaign

By now we’ve all been wowed by the well greased machine that was Obama’s campaign. But what can we learn to do, or do better, in our own endeavours? These five philosophical items can help you build your brand, be it personal or work related:

1. Embrace Your Truths –know what matters to you and wear it on your sleeve. Promote these things beyond anything else. By doing so, you’ll solidify if not elevate what you mean to others. Above all else, dont succumb to pressure to morph into what you think people want you to be: you’ll only fail.

2. Understand Conversations, Even if You are Not a Part of Them –No one can be everywhere all the time, or want to hear everything that is said, but, you can listen and learn from it. Dont try to interrupt what people are saying or change their minds. You risk appearing guilty or one sided. Hear what they say and find ways to apply it to the way you do business and communicate better. People’s unabridged ideas about you are your strongest measurement of their overall opinions. Use this to make better decisions, not arguments.

3. Harness Newness – whether social media or community organization, find ways to communicate well with people. Find where they are, and be there. Know how they best consume information, and provide it in this way. Translate it in other languages or new and different patterns of discussion. Seek out ways to do things better, even – especially – if no one else is doing it this way.

4. Ride The Wave –dont assume that things will be seamless or smooth. Expect and anticipate bumps in the road. Dont waiver, even when things seem to be going against you. By standing by decisions and embodying ideals you’ll solidify not only your concept, but maintain it in the minds of the public. Dont fear change. Without risking failure, you learn nothing.

5. Be What You Are – nothing tarnishes a brand like pretending to be something its not. Everyone has their own thing that they do well, stay with that thing and get better at it. Provide something that others do not.

What Higher Ed Web Marketing Can Learn from the NFL

I know. I know. It’s a seemingly uncharacteristic collision of my worlds: my New York Giants and overall NFL fanaticism, and my work life. Stay with me here…

Every Sunday momentum is what ultimately swings the game. Sure, offensive and defensive linemen, QB and running back stats do have a huge determining factor in the outcome, but there’s a reason ‘any given Sunday’ is true.

Its about the heart and the belief put into the effort. The ability to not give up and to stand the line on 3rd down and inches. Its about taking chances and making plays. Its the underdog doing the impossible. Its about the team mentality to take on a challenge. If the momentum is not there, or it gets put into the hands of the opposing team, you need to get it back or else you’re toast. Its about staying clear mentally and acting as if every down is another chance.

Shouldn’t we be putting that kind of effort into the most effective marketing tool we have? If we let the momentum swing to our competition, we run the risk of getting down on ourselves and giving up on new ideas. Of not making progress by way of bureaucracy and negativity. Why don’t we listen to the voices of our teammates who can see the impossible becoming possible? Instead of running the same old plays over and over again and wondering why we cant get anywhere, why don’t we work together on something new? Why don’t we change our lineups or coaches?

I don’t know about you but, if I’m putting in the effort to do the workouts, I want to put a ring on my finger, not just show up for practice.

Seriously? Interoffice Envelopes? Seriously?

So…I’m still new at my job, and recently I’ve accumulated 10-15 interoffice envelopes. You know. The kind used to transfer classified documents about you when you were in elementary school in the 90’s? I just left them there because I don’t know what to do with them – I’ve NEVER known what to do with them. They are like an anachronistic carrier pigeonesque form of communication. Why are we still using them to send meeting agenda’s, memo’s and such?

Another way that the Internet – or *gasp*, intranet – would alleviate not only paper use, time wasted, and bureaucracy, but also speed up response and importance of information you want me to see.

Hmmmm. Why haven’t we done this? Why don’t we have an intranet? Or a Wiki? Or interoffice IM?

I guess thats why I’m here.

Wake Up, People.

Your website is not for you. There. I said it.

Just because you and your company understand what you are saying and are proud of your divisional brands doesn’t mean that it means squat to a consumer. They came to get information, not your selfish badge of honor.

I know that this isn’t new news but websites should be designed with the audience in mind, not your co-workers or your boss or your tech team or possibly even you. What you understand and like is most likely not what the audience likes. Get over yourself.

Don’tjust organize your website as your business is organized. Think from the consumer’s perspective. Make this an opportunity to tell the story of your brand instead of make public your internal coding. Use this chance to organize your brand in a way that makes sense. Allow consumers to react and engage with each other, not just you. Provide customization and areas for feedback. See what others are doing and out do them. Make it happen, don’t just talk about it. Don’t get caught up in red tape – keep pushing.

These are not ‘what ifs’ but quickly becoming standard. If you aren’t doing it, someone else is. Don’t wait to do it until its already been done. Don’t be that guy.

Because, lets face it, who wants to be associated with ‘That Guy’?