Aslanian.Web Branding.Fall.09

Branding and the Web: The Value of Your Official Website in the Social Media Era ©Robert E. Johnson, Ph.D. 2009 Competing for Adult Students Aslanian Group Seminars with Education Dynamics Chicago, IL October 21-22, 2009

The value of your official website is… Priceless

Your brand will soar or crash with… The experience people have on your website

Public university distance learning students…

8 web tips to help your brand fly high…

People are impatient

The role of social media… Your official website makes the first impression… Your website links with social media after the first impression

Immediate marketing impact… http://www.devry.edu/

Experience… more important than a marketing claim

Attention to content and usability…

Can people easily find what they want?

Academic program list

Can they easily interact with you after they find it?

Options: phone, email, text?

How fast will you respond to a question?

Frustration points kill your brand…

Search engines that don’t work

Broken links

Links that don’t take people to what they expect

Out-of-date information

Content people can’t scan in 5-seconds

The brand image you want… “ This is a better place for adults to earn a degree than at a competitor”

Real stories validate your brand…

Stories must have credibility…

Stories told by people in your programs build credibility better than anything else

For ongoing engagement, blogs and social networks are the best way to tell those stories

Build on the strength of what you are

Be relevant to your customers

Video makes the brand personal… http://realpeople.waldenu.edu/video-tim.cfm

You can cope with family challenges… http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/programs/emba/advance/balance.cfm

Social networks extend the brand experience… http://www.edcc.edu/prtools/_social_networking.php

Create your own social network… http://edmondscc.ning.com/

A flagship public university… http://www.osu.edu/features/2008/socialmedia/

The largest university… http://www.phoenix.edu/students/online_communities.html

Creating your branding tools… Website examples that create brand impact

Blogs aren’t just for teens…

Blogs… especially for adults http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/

Easy to find academic programs…

10 high visibility program choices… http://admission.emerson.edu/graduate/

Easy to find online classes…

Don’t make people search all classes… http://www.umassulearn.net/classes/winter-2010/online

Clear academic program presentation…

Easy to scan for key points… http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/iMBA.shtml

Easy task completion…

Easy cost calculator… http://adultlearner.njit.edu/admissions/financialaid/index.php

Easy to inquire or apply… http://www.mbaregis.com/

Simple, quick to ask for info… https://www.scps.nyu.edu/contactUs.htm

Another strong example… https://www.devry2.com/landing6/default.aspx?vc=140432

Special attention for special groups…

Especially for the military… http://www.discoverstedwards.com/x440.xml

A point for the (near) future… Get ready now for the mobile web…

From smartphones to your website… http://www.apu.edu/m/

Communication conversion… http://www.stmarytx.edu/admission/

The proverbial summary…

Summing up points to boost the brand…

Find and eliminate things that don’t work on your website

Make tasks easy to do…

Read your web pages

Find academic programs and courses

Contact people on your campus

Use students to validate your brand

Blogs

Videos

Social networks

Thank You! Bob Johnson, Ph.D. President Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC Marshall, MI 49068 248.766.6425 [email_address] Customer Carewords Research for Online Marketing Success: http://www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com