DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY IN

HIGHER EDUCATION: SURVIVING

THE MOBILE REVOLUTION

Bob Johnson, Ph.D.

GATE Marketing Conference

Bonn, Germany

July 4-5, 2013

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CREATING A REALISTIC

STRATEGY…

6 Important Strategy Points…

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Think social media and mobile…

#1

• Social media…

• Marketing and PR

can’t control the

message anymore

• Increasing use from

mobile devices

#2

• Mobile…

• People are

connected

everywhere, all the

time

• And they are very

impatient

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Two more really big things…

#3

• Privacy…

• “Big data” gives the

capacity to know

more about people

than ever before

• How comfortable are

you with this?

#4

• Engagement

• More people will

“like” and “follow”

than will actively

“engage”

• Many will just

“spectate”

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And two more…

#5

• New technology

• No need to be first in

everything,

especially if you

don’t know where

the “shiny object” fits

in your marketing

campaign

#6

• ROI

• Difficult to measure

the individual impact

of every step in a

marketing campaign

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THE NEED FOR SPEED…

Especially as mobile internet access

grows…

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COMPLETE A TOP TASK…

Major reason people visit your

website

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<5 SECONDS TO

CONNECT…

The Golden Rule

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PERFORMANCE IS A

PRIORITY FOR MOBILE…

“It’s possible to address performance concerns... most people don’t.” Tim Kadlec, Implementing Responsive Design

http://www.implementingresponsivedesign.com/

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Home page load times increasing… Web Performance Today http://bit.ly/1525Y7P

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10 fastest business sites… <4seconds Web Performance Today http://bit.ly/1525Y7P

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Testing sites for mobile… http://mobitest.akamai.com/m/index.cgi

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DAAD home page… 6.4 seconds

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Slower for Africa, India offices…

11.30 seconds in Africa 7.48 seconds in India

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THE REVOLUTION IS

YOUNG & CONTINUING…

How we got started in 2007 and

where we are today

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Smartphones enabled the revolution… http://bit.ly/TlMtvN

People love their phones… Price = €70 & less in India

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Smartphone penetration today… http://www.go-gulf.com/blog/smartphone/

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Smart phones, all over the world… http://www.slideshare.net/kleinerperkins/kpcb-internet-trends-2013

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Highest smart phone growth… Africa

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Tablet users have high expectations… http://bit.ly/HUPxPj (March 2012 research)

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That are not being met now…

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Email still has a place… http://bit.ly/Q2Lm3B

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Feature phones remain important… http://bit.ly/12pAMsk

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SOCIAL MEDIA…

FACEBOOK & YOUTUBE

ARE MOST IMPORTANT

Facebook is the digital giant we can’t

ignore…

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Facebook dominates social media… http://tnw.co/11WGkdR

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For details by country… http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-overview-statistics/

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Facebook sites by region… https://www.facebook.com/DAADNorthAmerica

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2

important

points for

Facebook

posts…

•Lifespan of a new item on

Facebook (and Twitter) is

very short… just a few

minutes.

• If something is important,

post it more than once.

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An important Twitter benefit…

• Twitter can make us write better…

• “Twitter forces you to be concise.”

• “Twitter forces you to exercise your vocabulary.”

• “Twitter forces you to improve your editing

skills.”

• Jennifer Blanchard, http://bit.ly/eNOIXZ

• Use the same skills for Facebook entries

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Social media in “Metro China”… http://empowered.forrester.com/tool_consumer.html

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And in Spain…

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International social media statistics… http://www.socialbakers.com/

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WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE

FUTURE?

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Mary Meeker annual trend report… http://www.slideshare.net/kleinerperkins/kpcb-internet-trends-2013

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A verbal future? No nav, no search? http://www.nuance.com/

• In the mobile world, no

need to touch anything

• What words will your

visitors use?

• Must work better than

your “search” works

now

• Must know what words

visitors will use

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International advertising for prospects? http://www.24mas.com/

• Age

• Gender

• Location

• Behavior

• Time

• Handset

• And more…

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A QUICK SUMMARY…

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7 major strategy planning points…

• Learn what is most important to your visitors

• Continuing growth of mobile

• Speed of access

• Web site more important than social media for

first encounter

• Social media important for ongoing cultivation

• Video will continue to grow in importance

• Monitor what people do at your website and

practice continuous improvement

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THANKS FOR INVITING ME

TO JOIN YOU IN BONN! Bob Johnson, Ph.D.

bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com

www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com

@highedmarketing

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