Monthly Archives: August 2011

Higher Education Marketing Links of the Day

Posted by on

Each day, TWG Plus gives you a short synopsis of current events and best practices from the world of higher education and higher education marketing. Dr. Taylor Trussell is your curator.  To receive daily updates to the blog, subscribe to TWG Plus by email.

The Class of 2015 Likes Nike and Blackberry, Not MTV and Abercrombie (Forbes). “Youth marketing and social media agency Mr. Youth just released their in-depth look at this year’s incoming college freshman class, with some surprising results.”

Higher Learning and Old Media: More Similar Than You Think (ClickZ). “Out of all the industries based on the production and distribution of information (and make no mistake about it…music, books, TV shows, films, etc. are just information), there’s one industry that (for the most part) is still partying like it’s 1955…higher education.”

The Purpose-Driven Website (ClickZ). “What is the purpose of your landing page? This seems like a simple question. But the vast majority of us cannot answer it in a simple and cogent sentence.”

Higher Education Marketing Links of the Day

Posted by on

Each day, TWG Plus gives you a short synopsis of current events and best practices from the world of higher education and higher education marketing. Dr. Taylor Trussell is your curator.  To receive daily updates to the blog, subscribe to TWG Plus by email.

SmartMoney college rankings gauge ‘value’ of public, private schools (College Inc.). “In a new analysis, [SmartMoney] scores and ranks colleges by the average salaries of their graduates in proportion to the tuition they paid as students.”

College & University TV Commercials (Higher Education Marketing). “One thing you may notice when you view these commercials is that several of them use the same creative formula.”

Jitters Hit Colleges as Global Stock Markets Reel (Chronicle). “While it’s anybody’s guess whether stocks will continue their swoon, the up-and-down cycle has led many finance experts to question how prepared colleges are for more potential fallout.”

What Time Should I Post This? (Social Media Today). “[I]s there truly a time that’s better than all others to post things? Is timing something we should all consider when promoting something? The answer is yes, but like most things, it’s not quite that simple.”

Higher Education Marketing Links of the Day

Posted by on

Each day, TWG Plus gives you a short synopsis of current events and best practices from the world of higher education and higher education marketing. Dr. Taylor Trussell is your curator.  To receive daily updates to the blog, subscribe to TWG Plus by email.

Perspective: Top Five Ways Universities Can Innovate To Thrive (Diverse Education). “Finding a new model [of higher education] will entail doing a lot more than creating a to-do list, no matter how long. Nor will the model be the same for all institutions. But here are five suggestions that may help.”

Facebook Enables Zip Code Targeting for Ads (ClickZ). “Advertisers can now target ads … down to the zip code level throughout the U.S… .”

Infographic: How College Students Use Technology (Barking Robot).

Do the Social Media Tools Make the Person?

Posted by on

Recently, Mallory Wood posted a beautiful explanation that social media in higher education was about people.

I agree.

I’d also agree that social media are just that…media. They’re tools that mediate the one-to-one connection that we want to establish with our prospective students. For that matter, ALL communication is mediated. And ALL communication is about people. If you’re using a crayon or a direct mail piece we still have to work with the medium to make a connection.

Granted, a warm real-time chat is more intimate than a inquiry letter, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t write to make a connection and then move to something more personal as soon as possible.

Bottom line is that we’re all trying to connect with one another. And we all have mediums to work through in order to do it. The trick is knowing which ones to use at the right time.

We’d love to here from you. To join this conversation, subscribe to TWG Plus by email.

How do you motivate your team?

Posted by on

After picking up a Kindle, I’ve been plowing through books. Most recently, I downloaded Drive by Daniel H. Pink.  His premise: that externally motivating factors can actually reduce productivity and desire in your teams.  He argues that there are three components to ensure successful motivation.

1) Autonomy

Allowing your team to be self directed when they take over a task. This means that they determine what they do, when they do it and how they do it.

2) Mastery

This is helping your team get better. That is, giving them small tasks that stretch them enough to be challenging but not so much that they get frustrated. The caveat to this is that they have to *want* to get better.

3) Purpose

Humans look for a cause greater than themselves. Having a larger “why” for your organization brings on a guiding principle that your team can work towards.

Marketing teams are usually driven by numbers, so rewards often reflect the goals – bonuses, profit sharing, days off. Given what Pink says about motivation, what other ways can you find to keep your team challenged and focused? What do you do now?

We’d love to here from you, to join this conversation, subscribe to TWG Plus by email.