The hottest digital platform today arguably isn’t Periscope, Snapchat, or Yik Yak. In fact, it was invented in 1972. Yes, friends, I am talking about email. Email is experiencing a renaissance thanks in large part to a surge of popular newsletter products, whether it is the personal newsletter of a respected writer or a clever newsletter product written in a distinctively personal voice. The revival of email comes down to two things: 1) a … [Read more...]
Defining Target Audiences: Who Are We Talking To, Really?
July 28, 2015 by
When I ask higher ed web teams who their primary audience is, inevitably the answer is "prospective students." Makes sense, right? Since higher ed websites are such an important marketing tool, most people will agree prospective student is an appropriate primary audience. Yet, when you navigate college websites, how well does content speak to this audience? And what about other audiences? How do they fit in? The reality is we cater to … [Read more...]
Meghan Casey’s Tips For Time-Stretched Content Managers
June 29, 2015 by
Don’t look now, but there’s a great new content strategy guide for content professionals in higher ed. Meghan Casey, lead content strategist at Brain Traffic, authored a practical guide for getting on track with content strategy: “The Content Strategy Toolkit: Methods, Guidelines, and Templates for Getting Content Right.” As her book just hit bookstores, we asked Meghan if she’d share some of her content strategy tips for our higher ed friends … [Read more...]
A Closer Look at Shorthand Visual Communications
January 12, 2015 by
Let's put ourselves in the shoes of one of our students. A graduating student, let's say. Perhaps their feelings are best represented like this: Or like this: (•_•) <) )╯College / \ \(•_•) ( (> is finally / \ (•_•) <) )> over. / \ Or perhaps they would feel more like this: Why are we talking about GIFs, emoji, and ASCII art in a space where we typically discuss CMS workflows and … [Read more...]
Storytelling with On-Brand News Content
November 24, 2014 by
News content plays a big role in higher ed marketing and communications. It takes center stage on our website homepages and many top landing pages — not to mention our email newsletters, alumni magazines, Twitter, Facebook and other social channels. We rely on it to maintain a timely, engaging web presence. Above all, we rely on news content to help tell our story. Yet how often do we consider what messages our news content is communicating and … [Read more...]