Market Insights
Social Media Expert Answers Education Marketers' Questions
— Friday, July 22, 2011
In a recent MDR Webinar, Using Social Media Marketing to Drive Results, Sandy Fivecoat, founder of WeAreTeachers, provided an update on social media trends and what the future holds for marketers in education with the growth of mobile and other new platforms and tools. The audience had a lot of questions about integrating social media to their marketing mix. Read on to see what’s on the minds of marketers and what advice Sandy has for using social media to build brand and increase revenue in the education industry.
Q: Do you have any insight into how educators are using social media? Twitter, Facebook, other social networks?
A: We believe teachers are quite active online, and there are several indicators to support this notion. “Teacher Tuesday” is a very active conversation on Twitter (#edchat), and there is a significant directory/wiki of teachers on Twitter at http://twitter4teachers.pbworks.com/w/page/22554534/FrontPage. Facebook has, of course, become a de-facto standard for social engagement, and teachers (especially the younger demographic) are no exception. Finally, we see very engaged activity on WeAreTeachers—particularly as teachers seek grants, product information, and discussions on key education issues among peers.
Q: Our primary market is college faculty and librarians. What insights can you provide about how they use social media and how best to reach them and encourage they join our FB or Twitter pages or email list?
A: We find college faculty and librarians, in particular, to be among the most engaged online educators. Librarians are especially active online, and we find they respond well when asked to let colleagues know about particular programs. I just authored a chapter (“When Cause Marketing Meets Viral Marketing”) for a new SIIA publication, The Experts’ Guide to the Postsecondary Market. You can order from SIIA at http://siia.net/estore/10browse.asp. You might find this guide helpful.
Q: Do you see barriers to reaching the teaching community because many of these sites are blocked on school computers?
A: Some traditional social media sites (Facebook, YouTube, etc.) are sometimes blocked by school firewalls. That is one reason we created WeAreTeachers and have, so far, not seen any issues with access to this site. Likewise, SchoolTube and TeacherTube are vehicles for sharing video that represent an alternative to YouTube, which is often blocked by schools. That said, we still see Facebook and Twitter as important channels to reach teachers and other potential customers, and we find that teachers still access these sites after hours or via their mobile devices.
Q: When attempting to engage teachers on FB, what are they most likely to be drawn to? New research? New product info? Make them laugh? Because it is a “social” space, are they looking for more casual content versus professional content?
A: While I know of no actual research to address this question, our experience indicates that most teachers want easily available information in a format that is easy to consume and helps them as effective teachers. Further, teachers really value content created by other teachers, so we have had really good traction with teacher-created learning ideas, product reviews, best practice sharing, sharing of “teaching tips,” etc. If you can find a way to obtain “user-generated content” (in this case, content created by teachers), you generally have something teachers will value.
Q: Do the principles being discussed also apply to online courses offered to a targeted student base of professionals required to take continuing education courses?
A: Yes, I think so. Much of the material presented (and the principles we referenced) apply to social media marketing in general, both inside and outside education. Key is to find a way to align your brand with things your audience really values and create programs that result in content that is truly useful to them and can be distributed via multiple online channels. Once that valuable content is placed in “social” channels, viral exposure drives your brand awareness. These programs can also result in “social leads” if your call to action aligns with a thought leadership position your company/offering represents, as participants self-select into these programs.
Q: From Twitter: Is Facebook really where teachers are engaging?
A: Facebook has certainly become the de-facto social media network for almost all sectors. That said, many teachers use Facebook for their personal interactions and may limit their engagements there professionally. One reason we created WeAreTeachers is to give teachers a place to find relevant education information outside just FB. But we still see FB as an important channel to promote relevant content and information. Keep in mind, there are many “social” channels. Key is to create content and promote teacher-created content that can be repurposed and promoted via multiple channels and online vehicles.
Q: From Twitter: How do you see apps fitting into social media in education?
A: Mobile apps are growing at an amazing rate, and I believe we are just beginning to see the impact on education. Clearly, we have many indicators that show teachers are increasingly accessing email and the Internet via mobile devices, and most marketers understand they need mobile “theme” implementations of their site or mobile applications as appropriate. I believe student use of mobile apps for learning will continue to rise, and there will be a need to look closely at issues around access, quality, and scope—much as we have had to do with technology shifts in general. Remember the change from just textbooks to textbooks + computers? I think the addition of mobile apps is no less significant.
Q: From Twitter: What are good hashtags for higher ed?
A: #ebshare (edubloggers); #highered;#pseweb (Canada’s postsecondary ed); #edcamp;#heweb (HE professionals); #educomm;#stemtech;#sachat (student affairs)
Q: Is WeAreTeachers K-12 educators? What is the primary demographic?
A: WeAreTeachers is primarily K-12 educators, though we have many HE members as well.
Q: If you are not using social media yet, how would you go about presenting a grant? Who do you present it to?
A: We design grants to align with our clients’ thought leadership area; then we work with MDR to target the precise teacher audience that will be most receptive to the grant offering.
Q: How many staff people do you devote to SM, and do you use any outside resources?
Q: Is it best to have a dedicated staff person dedicated to social media marketing, or is it best to distribute the social media marketing role?
A: We generally recommend one key person be the SM “expert” on the team, so that one person can keep up with innovations, new tools, etc. However, there should be a social media component across many functions of the business—marketing, trade shows, new product plans, customer support, etc. This means that multiple people in your organization will benefit from understanding the basic tools and tenets of social media.
Q: Do you pull in your customer service team at all to respond to product questions or complaints? If so, how?
A: Social media can be a very effective tool in dealing with customer support issues. Paying attention to the online conversations around your brand is critical to your long-term success. And you can often get your own customers engaged with one another —sharing best practices and giving one another tips about how to best use your products . These can be valuable online conversations for any brand.
Q: Is social media all about triangulation (multiple platforms)? Do you create a running narrative through all different forms (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)?
A: Excellent question. Your conversations, content, and programs should be coordinated among various channels for maximum impact. For example, if you run a program or contest, provide FB-“like” APIs and Twitter opportunities on these landing pages. Once content is created, generate conversation around that content, provide bit.ly URLs and other ways to link to that content. Showcase the “best of” responses to any campaign, and use that in your blogs or Twitter feeds. Think of social media as a multiple channel strategy/vehicle. First create user-friendly programs that your audience will value (NOT a marketing campaign or slogan). Then think of how each channel allows you to leverage that content in multiple ways.
Q: From Twitter: Is there a particular EMERGING social network that could be valuable to leverage?
A: There are new tools and networks and business models emerging daily. No one stands out, but look at the slide deck from our presentation for some tools we like.
Q: From Twitter: Any thoughts on using Google’s +1?
A: Very interesting, and of course, anything from Google is worth watching. We are just beginning to consider this tool and how to recommend its use.
Q: How do you manage sweepstakes, giveaways, and contest rules for Facebook? I know FB takes issue with these and can shut down a site if mismanaged.
A: This is why we use the WeAreTeachers site as the landing site for all the programs we run. We do not actually run programs on FB, but we do share information and links.
Q: How do you go about walking the line between product awareness and selling?
A: It is critical to use social media channels for establishing your thought leadership credibility first and foremost. It is also important to use these channels to listen and respond to things your audience cares about. Once your brand is associated with a thought leadership position, you can provide best practice sharing or research that aligns with your brand or solution but is not blatant marketing messaging. Dial down the traditional marketing tone for this medium and dial up the conversation. That conversation can be around product, so long as it adds real value—like best practice or research results. Finally, get outside experts to talk about your area of leadership. Do podcasts or webinars, interviewing your best users or outside experts. Post white papers. Get others’ voices in the mix and avoid one-way messaging.
Q: How will budget cuts impact ed media sales?
A: I believe schools will ultimately turn to technology to gain efficiencies, try new methods, etc. Initially the budget cuts may impact our industry, but in the past, budget issues have tended to force the best products to emerge. Hopefully, that will be the case this time as well.
Q: From Twitter: Do you find social media leads cross over to your other media campaigns?
A: Absolutely. We generally recommend direct marketing (i.e., email campaigns) have a social component. This gives the program a longer shelf life, increases the viral impact, and helps ensure the leads are qualified.
