IDEAS, TIPS AND TECHNIQUES FOR
FURTHER DEVELOPING ALUMNI RELATIONS
ENGAGEMENT & FUNDRAISING WITH WEB & SOCIAL MEDIA

ADVANCED SEMINAR – LONDON – FRIDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2016

Shaun Northover – Alumni Relations Office – The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

Manca Debeljak – Head of Alumni Relations & Executive PhD Program Manager – IEDC Bled School of Management

INSIGHT… IDEA… IMPLEMENTATION… IMPACT!

> INSIGHT

START WITH PEOPLE NOT TECHNOLOGY!

WHO ARE THEY?

• Age, demographics?
• Relationship with the Institution?
• Where are they?
• What do they like?
• How do they behave?
• What motivates them?

What channels of communications do they prefer? Are they mobile? Social?

Develop a structured listening strategy – what are people saying?

FACTS ARE SACRED…

• Give data some love…




• Google Analytics, email results, offline successes and failures.




• External data – keep abreast (NFP Strategy, eConsultancy, Neilsen, Mobileplanet.com)

> IDEA

WHAT’S THE STORY?

• Digital is face-to-face, personal, experiential, integrated, sociable, portable.




• Emotional and tangible story?




• Sense of urgency and jeopardy?




• Give reason to believe?




• Long – long-term?

> IMPLEMENTATION (& INTEGRATION)

WHICH CHANNELS? IT’S ALL IN THE MIX…

Paid (Prospects) > Owned (Supporters) < > Earned (Advocates)

• Paid – use to kick-start.




• Owned – own channels/platforms.




• Earned – PR, word-of-mouth, recommendation etc.

People are happy to listen to all channels (online and offline), they may not distinguish between them.

Don’t Let Me Leave – Make Me Hit The Donate Button!

MAKE IT ENGAGING AND INSPIRATIONAL:

• Tell stories – why do you need funds?




• Convey urgency.




• How will money really make the difference?

KEEP IT SIMPLE:

• Let me donate online.




• Focus on regular giving and cash.




• Reassure safe and easy.




• How may steps to give?




• Focus on me!

Community fundraising is effective – Peer to Peer.

The rise of the super donor… taking it beyond liking the Facebook page.

> IMPACT

• ACCESSIBLE – Google Analytics, data from online media, from social media (Facebook Insights)
• ACTIONABLE – useful analysis that can be turned into clear insight and actions.
• AUDITABLE – broader organizational objectives?

MAKE, MEASURE, LEARN FAST AND REGULARLY.

DON’T DO DIGITAL… BE DIGITAL!

FIND A WAY TO STAND OUT… TO BE MEMORABLE…!

GET ATTENTION… HAVE IMPACT… EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO USE A CUTE KITTEN TO DO IT!

DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT & FUNDRAISING – SOME TRENDS & IDEAS

* PERSONALISED VIDEO THANKING

Get personal… “talk” to your alumni one to one (or one to many)… others are, all the time, can you do so more effectively?

www.youtube.com

* THE POWER OF STRATEGIC BLOGGER OUTREACH

Blogger Outreach Strategy – fundraisers can effectively engage with some of the most powerful influencers in the online social media world – bloggers!

* AUGMENTED REALITY

Live viewing of something in the real world… augmented by some form of computer generated overlay when viewed through a digital device.

The overlay might be an image, a video, data, or even an audio track.

www.creativereview.co.uk

About AR on www.youtube.com

Guinness AR on www.youtube.com

* MICRO-DONATIONS

A low value donation ‘embedded’ into activities or transactions that consumers are already undertaking.

Based on a small proportion of the countless millions of transactions that happen every day having a small donation attached.

ROUND-UP SCHEMES – which allow you to round-up your transaction to make a donation to your chosen charity;

AFFILIATE BUYING SCHEMES – where rather than you making a donation, a proportion of the affiliate premium earned by the shopping portal site you have chosen to shop through is given to the charity of your choice;

PERSONAL NUDGE SCHEMES – you choose what event triggers your microdonations. It might be every time you go to your local coffee shop (triggered by a Foursquare check-in) or every time your sports team wins a match (using live links to sports stats), or whatever else you like.

* eBOOKS

Only 4.5 years for Amazon to reach the point where it was selling more eBooks than print editions…

In the UK, YouGov Research reported that 5% of UK adults received a eBook reader last Christmas – with those aged over 55 twice as likely to receive one as those aged 18-24.

Add-in the massive growth in Smartphones, iPads and other Tablet PCs, which can also function as eBook readers, and the potential market of eBook reading…

www.amazon.co.uk

www.museumoflondon.org.uk

* GETTING SMARTER WITH EMAIL

• Getting smarter with data and segmentation – avoid the ‘one size fits all’ broadcast campaign.
• Getting smarter with evaluation – sea-change from direct mail etc… feedback!
• Getting smarter with programme, content and creative – smarter segmentation…
• Getting smarter with mobile – with ever more alumni reading and responding to your emails through mobile devices – Smartphones or Tablets – vital they are designed to be read on these devices and that any sites linked to for response are also optimised for mobile browsing.

Consider a well-written simple email with a clear call to action driving better results than an eNewsletter – and costing a fraction of the time…

Thomas Gensemer of Blue State Digital (Obama campaign) says newsletters don’t get read, yet they take more effort to prepare than a 250-word email.

Email is still a killer application, but only when used properly… Gensemer prefers instead…

“…short, personalised emails to supporters giving clear instructions for participation.”

* WEBSITE DONATION BASICS

Focus on getting the fundraising basics right – basic website journeys, fundraising messaging, and simple transaction pages.

A report released by User Experience Agency Nomensa highlighted that as many as 47% of donors give-up before they have made the donation – because the online journey is not intuitive and engaging.

Create the perfect donation experience! (What is the “perfect donation experience”?!)

* SOCIAL MEDIA FUNDRAISING GROWN-UP

Don’t obsess with trying to “make Facebook fundraising work” (or Twitter, or Google+, or Pinterest, or whatever).

Instead… consider where to focus on improving email and effective website design…

Explore how Social Media can be best applied to Alumni donor recruitment, engagement, and retention…

Integrated campaigns draw together:

• Strong fundraising propositions and storytelling through blogs (and promotion through bloggers),
• With Facebook and Twitter enabling sharing and conversation,
• Well designed transactional pages capturing donations and donor data,
• Email being used to keep donors informed when there’s a new chapter to the story they’re interested in – rather than ‘single strand’ Twitter or Facebook campaigns.

* JOINED-UP DIGITAL PLANNING

Approach digital planning in a joined-up way…

• What are the requirements of all stakeholders?
• What is the common structure to confirm objectives?
• How may digital best be used to help achieve these objectives?
• What is the gap between requirements and current capabilities?

Develop an objectives-led integrated strategy – with a common results reporting and evaluation programme, so you can assess progress against objectives and adapt things accordingly.

QUICK-FIRE DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT & FUNDRAISING TIPS & IDEAS…

* MULTIPLE CHANNELS

Multiple channels for communication, multiple messages, multiple variations, multiple “touchpoints”… alternative ways people will follow, engage etc.

No more single-channel communication.

Alumni & Development teams must be proficient with different medium their donors use.

* OLD AND NEW, TRIED AND TESTED, NOVEL AND UNPROVEN

Traditional media – direct mail, telecommunications

Online – web, social, mobile

* MOBILISE

As much or more e-mail now read on mobile devices as desktops.

Not just reading email, donating as well.

Need a mobile-friendly site, forms and e-mails.

* GOOD FUNDRAISING EMAIL SERIES, TARGETED = PAYOFF

1st EMAIL – educate the donor, provide a call to action.

2nd EMAIL – some education and a more urgent call to action.

3rd EMAIL – direct request for funding to address the need.

Repeat!

* ESTABLISH FUNDAMENTALS THEN INNOVATE AND EXPERIMENT

Set up strategy and basic efficiencies – processes, technical infrastructure, resourcing etc.

Try everything at least once for fundraising.

Learn lessons, review, evolve.

Track competitors.

* TEST – LANDING PAGES

Choose aspects of your presentation/pitch to test and put resources in place to do so…

• Positioning.
• Call to action – wording, size, color and placement.
• Headlines.
• Form’s length and types of fields.
• Layout and style of website.
• Images, audio and video.
• Words – theme, vocabulary, style, tone.
• Amount of text on the page (short vs. long).
• Colours.

Test reducing page elements to a single focus – so the donor’s path is better defined.

Just enough copy to overcome obstacles to the call to action.

Test “you/benefits” copy against “what it is”.

Consider a nonstandard CMS template for landing page tests… limited navigation and promotion asks.

A / B SPLIT-TESTING – two versions of an element plus a metric that defines success. Simultaneous experimentation.

Randomly distributed to visitors.

A is the existing design – called the control. B is the new design.

Measure according to metrics care about – conversion rate… sign-up, donation etc.

GOAL: To increase the number of alumni contributing news and first donors…

• What prevents alumni visitors from contributing news or donating?
• Is the form’s length intimidating?
• Are visitors concerned about privacy?
• Or does the website do a bad job of convincing visitors to connect?

All of these questions can be answered one by one by testing the appropriate website elements.

TEST: Type, style, content of request/pitch/appeal, use of images, personalisation (both sides), the length of the contact and donation forms, types of fields in the form, display of privacy policy, “social proof,” etc.

Also test reducing your page elements to a single focus so the donor’s path is better defined.

DONT’S WITH TESTING

• Don’t test separately, test alongside each other – same conditions/climate etc.
• Don’t conclude early – statistical confidence.
• Don’t surprise regular visitors – just new visitors.
• Don’t let gut feeling overrule test results.

DO’S WITH TESTING…

• Test for long enough, but not too long: visualwebsiteoptimizer.com/ab-split-test-duration.
• Show repeat visitors the same variations.
• Bold changes – obvious, high profile changes.
• Make A/B test consistent across the website.
• Do many A/B tests – three results: no result, a negative result or a positive result.

EXAMPLES OF TESTS:

“Start a Highrise Account” vs “30-Day Free Trial on All Accounts”

“Sign up now!” vs “Sign up now!” (It’s free).

“Follow me on Twitter” vs “You should follow me on Twitter here”

Icon or graphic of telephone for “Contact Jason” vs photograph of Jason.

Checkout – Multi-page Form vs Single-page Form.

Distractions & multiple information vs no distractions, email address only, incentive.

* RENEW PROSPECTS

Those who respond/take action consider themselves members – treat them as such… ask them to renew no to join…

* PERSONALITY

FUNdraising? Social Media allows you to add personality…

* REFRESH YOUR CREATIVITY (AGAIN AND AGAIN)

Advertising on Facebook etc demonstrates that impact can fall dramatically after 72 hours… have to refresh, represent… again and again.

* USE PEOPLE IMAGES

Use images for donate buttons.

* AUTOMATED DONATION SYSTEM THAT WORKS

How easily can people donate their time, expertise, contacts and money?

Establish a system and use it widely.

* THANK YOU

Mum was right… thank you notes and recognition have impact – promote donor recognition… encourage giving. More “shares”, more page engagement.

* RELEVANCE

Campaign hooks that help donors relate a campaign to their lives.

Current events or news? Memories? Emotional engagement?

* CO-ORDINATE OFFLINE AND ONLINE – INTEGRATION

Co-ordinate campaigns across all channels and platforms… timing, theme, copy… message consistency.

Cross-over can be massive… postal donors have email addresses, social media users are on the phone.

Launch a full-scale campaign – social media, text message, website, internal ads, blog posts, press releases, direct mail and telemarketing.

* WHO’S ASKING? WHO’S THANKING?

• Establish a hook, build a relationship.
• Vary who the ask is coming from… give the ask character… make it personal… choose according to type, theme, purpose, amount, timing…

This gives variety, helps prevent people thinking they’ve done their bit…

• Current pupil or student, staff member, parent.
• Former pupil or student, staff member, parent.
• Specialist, associated with theme/purpose… Head of Sports, Chaplain, Head Boy/Girl, Careers Tutor etc.
• Principal, Head of Year or other member of the Senior Management Team.
• Leader of external organization, association, campaign…
• Alumni Co-ordinator, Development Director etc.

* TIMING

End of the year is a key time… increase digital communications from weekly to twice a week to daily…

* SURVEY / POLLING

Ask alumni what they want… poll, survey… use www.surveymonkey.com.

Use findings to guide campaign development and identify key target audiences most likely to respond.

* MONTHLY DONORS ARE GOLD

• Monthly checkboxes on donation pages,
• Rolling sustainer invite series,
• Themed monthly giving options.

Turn one-time donors into sustainers…

Use Lightbox to upsell… overlay images on the current page… turn one-off donations into monthly donations.

Who are the king of monthly donations? Health clubs!

Back it up with a monthly email as to how the gift is being used…

lokeshdhakar.com/projects/lightbox

http://www.e-benchmarksstudy.com

• Lightboxes can be a big boost for online donations or capturing valuable donor information.
• Experiment and see what works, and customize lightboxes to achieve gift upgrades.

* WEBSITE “HEALTH CHECK” EVERY 3 MONTHS

Can your anyone over 8 years old tell you the purpose of your site in four seconds?

Give your family members from different generations 5 minutes with your website… then ask them the same questions about purpose, impact, engagement… what do they remember, what excited them?

Avoid:

• Having only one link on a page to important content.
• Putting headlines and links in your site graphics.
• Using a lot of Javascript and Flash.

EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS

Very effective, inexpensive method of communication – a key tool in the dissemination of information and in relationship management.

Email is especially effective in driving traffic to web pages…

Some of the key principles for effective email communications include:

• Email addresses (with permissions) and other relevant information for alumni (and former parents and staff) should be collected and stored securely.
• The email “From” field should contain the School name or a name associated with the School.
• The subject line and content for each email should be targeted as much as possible.
• ‘Content Is King’ – consideration should be given to the appropriateness of all content.
• Bullet points and visual markers should be used where possible as people tend to scan email rather than read it.
• A valid website and physical mailing address should be included, along with as much contact information as possible.
• An ‘unsubscribe’ link should be included in all mass emails (emailshots/newsletters etc) but consider an “email less often” option to cut down on the number of people opting out.
• Invite people to subscribe separately to email about specific subjects of interest.
• Templates can improve presentation and have impact when done well… but multimedia should be used sparingly.
• The entire URL should be given for any links.
• Any HTML templates should include a link at the top (or in the header) for recipients to “view this email in your browser”, pointing to an archived version on the brand website.
• Analytics should be used to measure the effectiveness of emailshots/newsletters (bounce-backs, click-through rates, time on-site, conversions etc) – an Email Service Provider will provide this as part of their service (Mailchimp, Constant Contact, iContact etc).
• Care should be taken to follow good practice in creating emails, emailshots/email newsletters to avoid being classified as ‘junk’.

MULTIPLE APPROACHES… TELL DONORS WHAT YOU TOLD THEM

Try e-mailing a word-for-word copy of the direct-mail letter your donors recently received… without any rewriting to give it “e-mail speak.”

“I recently sent you a letter in the mail but haven’t heard back yet. Please take the time to respond today.” It may get an online response or prompt the donor to look for the mailer again.

THE RISE OF MOBILE

Web devices are reshaping every aspect of our society.

6 billion mobile subscribers = 87% of the world population.

• Nokia remains the No. 1 handset manufacturer.
• Samsung is the leading smartphone hardware vendor.
• Android is the top smartphone operating system – powering more than 240 million devices, the Android OS runs on half of all smartphones shipped.

1.2 billion mobile web users worldwide.

8.5% of global website hits from mobile devices – in the US, 25% of Internet users are mobile only.

8 trillion text message sent in 2011.

PayPal expects to see $7 billion in mobile payment volume in 2012.

70% of smartphone users that see a captivating TV, press or mobile advertisement will immediately do a web search.

Hence fundraisers must optimize all e-mails and webpages for mobile access. Find new ways to integrate mobile usage — for examples, offer a text notification network or use mobile in action/advocacy campaigns…

MOBILE ENGAGEMENT

• All ‘owned presence’ for School Alumni & Development should be ‘mobile web’ enabled (wherever possible) for mobile web access using Google Android and the iPhone, ideally also for the RIM Blackberry.
• Full advantage should be taken (at little or no cost) of Social Networking platforms like Facebook that offer powerful mobile applications and are regularly accessed by users using their mobile devices.
• Use should be made of ‘Quick Response’ (QR) codes in all offline communications (linking to online),
• ‘Check-in’ phenomena (Facebook Places, Foursquare etc) should be exploited where relevant for viral impact,
• Existing customers who use mobile smartphone should be encouraged to interact and contribute with messaging, images and video where appropriate (such as contributing photographs and video of their lives, reunions etc).

Research should be undertaken into how best to exploit the ‘mobile revolution’ to add value for alumni.

GOING MOBILE

TEN WAYS TO REACH ALUMNI ON THEIR MOBILE DEVICES

TEXT MESSAGING (SMS)

Almost every phone has the ability to send and receive text messages – Short Message Service (SMS) in 140 characters.

MULTIMEDIA MESSAGING SERVICE (MMS)

Text messages with the ability to include more text as well as multimedia enhancements such as pictures, video and sound.

MOBILE E-MAIL

Many people access their email via mobiles, so make it mobile friendly.

INTERACTIVE VOICE RESPONSE (IVR)

Can send or receive voice calls from people and interact with them without involving a live person on your end of the call.

MOBILE SOCIAL MEDIA

Real-time conversations with a more mobile-friendly social media strategy.

Interacting through Facebook and Twitter by downloading applications etc.

Following comments, gathering insights, surveying, sharing multi-media records of reunions etc.

MOBILE FUNDRAISING

Short, quick appeals… possibly using short codes!

MOBILE LOCATION-BASED ENGAGEMENT

Checking-in at reunions and other events.

MOBILE INTERNET SITES

Browsing and interacting with web sites from almost anywhere – often requiring information to make quick decisions while away from their computer. Formatting is key.

MOBILE APPLICATIONS

Rich software-like experiences for smartphone owners and people who use mobile devices such as the iPad.

MOBILE-ENABLED TRADITIONAL MEDIA

Need to mobile-enable traditional and digital media by putting mobile call-to-actions in your communications… inviting alumni to pull out their mobile devices and contact you.

THE MOBILE WEB

An intimate one-to-one experience – often on the move (multi-tasking), for a specific purpose.

User’s mindset – busy, no time for digging or waiting.

Not about quick access to broadband web experience.

Not browsing – that’s for a computer…

• Won’t be planning their vacation…
• Won’t be looking for mortgage or savings advice and information…
• Won’t be reading in-depth news reports…
• Won’t be checking full product range…

You need a simple, clean home page that loads quickly on a mobile device over wide range of mobile networks and puts key information a click or two away.

Simplifying makes sense!

Short page title, ordered content.

Alumni using a mobile phone demand:

• Speed,
• Easy navigation – no mouse, small screen,
• Relevant content – task-oriented nature of content.

PURPOSE OF THE MOBILE SITE?

What are the needs of your mobile audience?

Needs of prospective visitors not of the company…

1) What are your alumni most likely to be trying to accomplish with your site? List all tasks.

2) What functionality do you need to give alumni on your site? Serve up content like…

3) Will your alumni be donating through your mobile site? If so need to accommodate payment gateways and security. Alternatively information on how to donate. (And can always use the phone as a phone!)

4) Will Social Media be a consideration?

TWEETING GOOD PRACTICE

Tweets are supposed to be casual and off-the-cuff rather than perfectly formed ideas, so have fun and don’t overthink it!

PERSONALISE (BRAND)

Profile, background etc. (Click the “Change background image” link under the Design tab of your profile). Adjust background and text colors.

PROMOTE

Optimise Twitter profile – key words, URL etc.

Regularly promote your Twitter account.

HASHTAGS

Create your own.

Use existing ones.

KEEP IT SIMPLE

Keep it simple, real, human… don’t overthink it, don’t overcomplicate it.

Use your own voice… but consider tone of voice.

WILL THEY CARE?

Newsworthy… informative… insightful… amusing… intriguing… tempting… engaging… relevant…

Related – what’s the cause?

BE CURRENT

In the moment… what’s happening, now.

10-30-60

• 10% – About you – announcements, events etc.
• 30% – Conversation, replies etc.
• 60% – Retweets promoting others, pointers to information of interest etc.

FOLLOW, SCHMOOZE, SUPPORT

Find and follow Alumni or people of interest…

• search.twitter.com – Advanced search
• Klout
• SocialMention
• PeopleBrowsr (inc Kred)
• Twitter Lists

BE REGULAR!

The most popular accounts tweet 5-10 times a day.

Schedule using Hootsuite or Tweetdeck.

DAILY TWEETS

Have a regular daily tweet? Life in the School… “photo of the day”, “tip of the day” etc – a chance to drive traffic to the alumni web pages.

YOUR RETWEET STYLE?

Retweet button or RT and @mention with your own comment before.

RETWEET MENTIONS

Retweet related tweets or tweets that mention you etc.

REPHRASE & RETWEET

Okay to rephrase something and retweet, but leave a gap!

GET INTO A GROOVE

One topic for a day or week?

SYNC TWITTER AND FACEBOOK

Allow easy sharing of your content.

Tweet when you post but rewrite the headline – ask a question or create an angle.

QUESTION

Conduct research, solicit ideas, identify experts, thank people, ask questions…

CALL TO ACTION

“Please check out”… “Please retweet”…

LINK

Tweets containing a URL attract attention and are three times more likely to be retweeted…

ENGAGE

Respond to people when they mention you, reply when asked questions.

Acknowledge new followers with a general tweet every so often – rather than tweet people individually.

FOLLOW

If following you… chance they’re alumni… follow back.

BE SUCCINCT

Keep it short and sweet, leave room for others to manually retweet etc.

“Any Brighton alumni out there? RT: Don’t miss the Brighton reunion 15/12/12, http://www.brighton.com/alumni”

DIRECT MESSAGE

DM people to ask for a retweet but don’t auto-DM (ie. to greet new followers).

FOLLOW FRIDAY

Take part in Follow Friday, promote your favourite Twitter accounts… #ff

GETTING RETWEETED

IMPACT AND REACH

Increasing numbers of followers (and Likes on Facebook) spreads the message… plants seeds… spreads the word…

Remember attrition – some people will fall off Twitter, even having been very active.

TAKE YOUR TIME AND STAND OUT

It takes application and time… that alone will help you stand out from others. Don’t rush. Be realistic in setting goals, but use numbers to measure growth, take satisfaction.

BE USEFUL

Connect others – help make connections. When following others look at their bio… check them in the database etc.

Help people with calls for information, support etc.

Promote them, their efforts etc.

Does follow helps identify if one person is following another: doesfollow.com

Say please and thank you.

BE CONSISTENT

Trust and interest through consistency and sticking around… “show up” regularly… if have to take a break… what then?

BE CAREFUL NOT TO HAVE FAVOURITES

Nice when people reply and you get engagement… but be careful not to just tweet with a few, others may be put off.

BRING TWEETERS TOGETHER

Rather than depending too much on a few users engage with those you haven’t talked to before… do so in a lively manner and you may attract other alumni they are connected to.

Build genuine relationships.

Have a get-together.

Do stuff through Twitter wouldn’t do elsewhere – free drinks get together etc.

Try, test, experiment, be creative.

MEASURE HEALTH/PROGRESS EVERY THREE MONTHS OR SO

It’s about the value people gain from following you.

Also about your reach… the 2nd and even 3rd degree network.

Social Capital: the degree to which your followers have a high number of followers themselves determines your social capital.

An understanding of your Twitter network’s strengths and weaknesses will give you a good starting point in the direction that you want to go with Twitter.

Measure popularity with URL shorteners, Google Analytics etc… track click-throughs… have alternative pages for event registration forms etc.: stats.brandtweet.com

IMPROVING INTERACTION & SHARING ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER

* FACEBOOK ADVERTISING

Target Facebook Ads to your own “likes” to promote a matching gift offer… increase overall donor engagement.

SPREAD YOUR IDEA

• Exposure,
• Awareness,
• Motivation.

1) Exposure (Reach)

• Audience size matters.
• Find and target your influencers.

2) Awareness (Attention)

• Breaking through the noise – bigger and louder works (to a point).
• Hearing your name across a crowded room – personalise, talk to audience.
• Avoid link fatigue.

3) Motivation (Sharing) – Why do people share?

• Performance – Social Media users are always performing in front of a crowd of their friends…
• Reputation – People share content to increase their reputations.
• Help your audience look cool.

INDIVIDUAL SHARING MOTIVATIONS

• Reciprocity (2.5%)
• Conversations (6%)
• Might Miss It (6%)
• Common Interests (7%)
• Relationship Building (9%)
• Utility (12%)
• Humour (16%)
• Personal Relevance (40%)

ONE-TO-MANY SHARING MOTIVATIONS

• Networking (5%)
• Feedback seeking (5%)
• Utility (7%)
• Cause-based (8.5%)
• Reputation (8.5%)
• Increased Reach (10%)
• Audience Relevance (19%)

ONE-TO-MANY SHARING CONTENT TYPES

• Fiction (5%)
• Warnings & Alerts (15%)
• How-To & Instructional (35%)
• Humour (50%)
• Opinion (65%)
• News (80%)

(Original but familiar attracts the most attention…)

MOST RETWEETABLE WORDS & PHRASES

• you
• twitter
• please
• retweet
• post
• blog
• social
• free
• media
• help
• please reweet
• great
• social media
• 10
• follow
• how to
• top
• blog post
• check out

new blog post

(Don’t forget calls to action!)

MOST FACEBOOK-SHAREABLE WORDS

• Facebook
• why
• most
• world
• how
• health
• bill
• big
• says
• best
• video
• you
• apple
• media
• top
• first
• obama

LEAST RETWEETABLE WORDS & PHRASES

• game
• going
• haha
• lol
• but
• watching
• work
• home
• night
• bed
• well
• sleep
• gonna
• hey
• tomorrow
• tired
• some
• back
• bored
• listening

WHAT GETS LIKED, SHARED, COMMENTED AND RETWEETED?

About sharing remarkable content…and good headlines.

Share best links, take risks, break the rules…

People share content because they thought it was relevant for someone they know. In other words, try and stay relevant to topics your followers want to hear about.

• Quotes…
• Humourous/Interesting (www.oddee.com)…
• Gossip…
• Trending Topics (riding-the-wave)…
• Breaking News… Good News…
• Events, Blog Posts, Launches…
• Tips – Especially “How-to-Tips”…
• Links…
• Questions (get passed on – crowdsourcing)…
• Things people care about…
• Creative Tweets, ie… “Finish this: Twitter is…? Your response will be RT”…

Leave space for “RT @me” – maximum length will be under 140.

ALUMNI NETWORKING WITH LINKEDIN

LINKEDIN COLLEGE ALUMNI

www.linkedin.com/college

LINKEDIN GROUPS

TIPS FOR BETTER GROUP MANAGEMENT:

1) Open or Closed Group?

* Open Groups tend to grow faster:

• More discussions,
• More members,
• More opportunity for participation.

* But more moderation is needed – Closed Groups tend to be smaller, naturally more focused and discussions are private.

2) Consider Restricting Group Membership

* Consider whether to restrict membership to Alumni-only or to include current and past Parents too, and current and former Staff etc.

3) Promote!

* Send Invitations…

* Consider ‘Sharing’ the Group…

* Create an Alumni web page for LinkedIn…

…create page(s) on your website dedicated to explaining your presence on LinkedIn, help, FAQs etc – give a helpful guide to why membership of LinkedIn is free, easy, useful…

* Include your LinkedIn Group link…

…in all of your email auto signatures, regularly promote Groups in material to all Alumni, on other Social Networks etc.

4) Search For Alumni

* Use the http://www.linkedin.com/college feature and invite them to join the Group…

* Also encourage them to invite others.

5) Personalise

…invitations and welcome messages from the Group Manager, encouraging participation etc (contests, polls, guest blogging) and setting out Community Guidelines (‘House Rules’) on behaviour etc.

* Community guidelines are an important part of any forum:

• Give Group Rules (under the ‘Manage tab’) to set clear expectations for what you hope members will get from their participation.
• Discourage spam and too much self-promotion… (the Group should be about learning and connecting).
• Give tips on what members can do to make the most of the Group, and in a direct but friendly way, make note of what won’t be tolerated.

6) Pull In Relevant RSS Feeds

* Not too many, try to limit it to 3 – don’t share all of your unique content from your Alumni web pages.

* The LinkedIn Group should be an appetizer to your main Alumni Relations activity on your web pages.

7) Report Relevant Activity Within The School/College

* Report activity that is relevant and interesting.

* Invite students to participate in a guest capacity with submissions etc where appropriate (business studies, Young Enterprise etc).

* Invite members to participate in a guest capacity with submissions etc.

8) Communicate With ‘Announcements’

* Send out a Group newsletter/email once a week or every 2 weeks… varied content and themes:

• Write exciting headlines – linking to relevant articles on the Alumni web pages.
• Keep the majority work/business related… short, newsy, helpful articles and commentary with guest writing – top tips, 3 lessons learned etc. Create series, guest contributors etc.
• Report participation, contributions, positive news… request advice, comments and ideas.
• Track which links are being clicked on… which news stories are popular.
• Include “if you read this… you might like this”…
• Encourage members to invite other Alumni.

9) Monitor Participation & React Positively

* Ensure people are responded to (by yourself or others) – encourage and empower members who comment and post to do more of it.

10) Ask Questions Fortnightly

* Questions are exclusive to the Group and can be coupled with the helpful tips articles.

11) Poll & Report Findings

12) When LinkedIn Launches New Features…

* Message members with explaining the new features – another reason to reach out.

13) Encourage & Empower Members

* To promote their businesses, services etc within the group. (And on your Alumni web pages etc.)

14) Watch For Spamming – And Deal With It!

* Also deal with any tensions that might be evident between members.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER – ORGANISING AN EVENT

EVENT STAGES

> BEFORE?

> DURING?

> AFTER?

> BEFORE THE NEXT ONE?

EVENT STAGES

> BEFORE?

DESIGNING THE EVENT – THINK DIGITAL – HAVING A DIGITAL MINDSET FROM THE START…

• EVENT FORMAT? USPs?

MAD MEN CAROUSEL

JOHN LEWIS NEVER KNOWINGLY UNDERSOLD

JOHN LEWIS NEVER KNOWINGLY UNDERSOLD (MAKING 2-4.30)

GOLF CABRIOLET CONVERTIBLE ADVERT

THAT WAS THE YEAR… THAT WAS… EARLIER…

THAT WAS THE YEAR… THAT WAS…

• PROMOTION:

  – TELLING THE STORY – CREATING THE BUZZ

  – SUPPORT MATERIALS

  VIDEO:

  REUNION INVITATION – Brown University’s Black Alumni Reunion Save-the-Date for 2010

  AUDIO PODCASTS:

  http://openair.fm/soasalumni/392-soas-alumni-podcast-zeinab-badawi-podcast

  ECARDS: Cardiff University – ecards.cardiff.ac.uk

  * WEBSITE

  – CHANNELS & PLATFORMS

  * EMAIL (www.MAILCHIMP.com)

  
  * POST (QR CODES)

  * WEBSITE(S)

  * SOCIAL MEDIA (FACEBOOK, TWITTER (Hashtag))

  * SHARING

• MANAGING THE EVENT

  www.EVENTBRITE.com

> DURING?

• INFORMATION & ENTERTAINMENT

  – CHECKING IN (FOURSQUARE)

  – IMAGES (Notice Up, Slide Show)

  LA VERENE

  – AUDIO

  LIVERPOOL SELF-GUIDED CAMPUS TOUR

  EXETER SELF-GUIDED CAMPUS TOUR

  COLUMBIA CAMPUS TOUR

  – VIDEO

  CLOWNE SCHOOL REUNION – 2008 Mix

  REUNION REMEMBRANCE – Remembering our Class of 1972 Alumni – Encina High School

  MISSING THE REUNION – Gary Conner Regrets Missing Class Reunion

  AMARILLO – CROHAM HURST SCHOOL

• GATHERING STORIES, NEWS ETC – WORDS, AUDIO, IMAGES, VIDEO
• LIVE REPORTING

  TWITTER (Hashtag)

FACEBOOK

LIVE TWEETING AN EVENT

CHOOSE A SHORT HASHTAG

Choose a short hashtag for the event – put it at the end of all related tweets, promote across all channels etc.

People can then follow the livestream, and you can follow what others are saying.

Those not attending can follow and participate too.

Use TagDef: tagdef.com

PAY ATTENTION

Listen… report what is interesting… worth relaying…

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

Be really clear about the audience – who are you talking to? What do they want to know? What will engage them?

IN THE EVENT – SHARE WHAT IS BEING TWEETED

Share tweets in the event with those attending.

ATTRIBUTE

Event curation… attribute comments/statements etc, mention the person’s Twitter account if possible (so that followers can see their bio etc).

RICH MEDIA

Add context with multimedia in the tweets:

• Images
• Video
• Links

LINK BACK

Link back to earlier tweets… using a shortened URL for those tweets.

CONNECT

Live tweeting can engage people and encourage conversation… enabling you to identify the twitter accounts of alumni themselves tweeting at the event… follow them… retweet them etc.

KEEP TALKING

Identify popular topics, comments etc… see what has been retweeted… reply to those who have tweeted similar statements… ask questions etc…

DIVERSITY

If others are tweeting or “live blogging” then share links to their blogs… allow your followers access to different perspectives.

FOLLOW BACK

Keep monitoring those following you… follow them back… especially those tweeting at an event… need to follow-back to allow DM.

POLL

Get feedback, comments, criticisms about the event.

RE-CONNECT AFTERWARDS

Tweet new followers from an event… explore opportunities etc.

POST-EVENT REPORTING – USE THE MATERIAL

In post-event reports use the tweets for blog posts, articles etc… use for a different perspective… or to highlight popular issues… to get images and video etc. (Favourite tweets that appeal.)

Create an archive of hashtag-laden content for interesting tweets etc – Hootsuite etc.

> AFTER? / BEFORE THE NEXT ONE?

• TELLING THE STORY – SHARING, VIRAL? – WORDS, AUDIO, IMAGES, VIDEO

  – WEB

  – EMAIL

  – SOCIAL MEDIA

  FACEBOOK

  TWITTER (Hashtag)

  – IMAGES

  LA VERENE

  FACEBOOK

  TWITTER (Hashtag)

  – AUDIO

  OXFORD UNIVERSITY

  – VIDEO

  TWITTER FOUNDER AT UC BERKELEY – Biz Stone Speaks at Alumni Reunion (Jul 2009)

  DON’T FLIP FLOP JOIN THE PARTY – Siena College Alumni Reunion 2009

  REUNION HIGHLIGHTS – Brown University’s Black Alumni Reunion Save-the-Date for 2010

  REUNION HIGHLIGHTS – Brown University 2010 Reunion Highlights

DIGITAL ALUMNI RELATIONS STRATEGY

• Focus on building a plan around the Alumni’s interests and needs;




• Situations and plans change, especially online – ensure plans are usable by having a clear vision for the year and keeping real detail to a shorter term 90-Day focus;




• Make plans fact-based and state assumptions – they’re easy for others to buy into;




• Keep plans up to date – monthly is enough;




• There isn’t a perfect plan – depends on the Institution/Alumni Association;




• Keep it Simple!

1) SITUATION ANALYSIS

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

• Ability to act – capabilities, resources, knowhow/skills.
• Perception – internal and external.
• Alumni insight.

2) GOAL SETTING – OBJECTIVES

WHERE DO WE WANT TO BE?

• Alumni engagement and retention.
• Satisfaction – and how to measure?
• Digital stickiness.
• Number of engaged alumni.

3) STRATEGY

HOW DO WE GET THERE?

• Segmentation and Targeting.
• Positioning
• Credibility before Visibility.
• Integration – offline and online.
• Tools.

4) TACTICS

HOW DO WE GET THERE?

• Communications mix, social networking, what happens when.
• Contact strategy.
• Campaigns.

5) ACTIONS

TACTICS – WHO DOES WHAT AND WHEN?

• Responsibilities and structures.
• Internal resources.
• External parties.

6) CONTROL

HOW DO WE MONITOR PERFORMANCE?

• Key performance indicators.
• Usability testing.
• Alumni satisfaction surveys.
• Site visitor profiling.
• Reporting and actions.

1) SITUATION ANALYSIS

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

A) ABILITY TO ACT – Capabilities, Resources, Knowhow / Skills?

GENERAL SWOT:

• Strengths?
• Weaknesses?
• Opportunities?
• Threats?

DIGITAL-SPECIFIC SWOT:

• Strengths?
• Weaknesses?
• Opportunities?
• Threats?

B) PERCEPTION

• How is Alumni Relations perceived internally?
• How is Alumni Relations perceived externally?

C) ALUMNI INSIGHT

Create Pen Portraits – Alumni characteristics, behaviours, needs and wants… who to target, why and with what?

• Nickname? Description (Age, Lifestyle)
• Needs & Wants
• Competition for attention, commitment, contribution?
• Benefits for the Institution?
• What resources?
• Competition?

Influencers, Ambassadors?

2) GOAL SETTING – OBJECTIVES

WHERE DO WE WANT TO BE?

• Alumni engagement and retention.
• Number of engaged alumni?
• Satisfaction – and how to measure?
• Digital stickiness.

Top-level Goals – What are the Institution’s long-term goals, how can the Institution benefit from digital Alumni Relations and what are the ‘Key Performance Indicators’ (KPIs)?

Vision – What is the long-term vision for your efforts, and how does it fit with the Institution’s general goals/vision?

Specific objectives for Alumni Relations online and key performance indicators?

What is the ‘Return’, in ‘Digital Return on Investment’?

Define: Alumni ‘acquisition’, ‘conversion’, ‘development’ and ‘growth’ (short, medium, long-term)?

3) STRATEGY

HOW DO WE GET THERE?

• Segmentation and Targeting.
• Positioning.
• Credibility before Visibility.
• Integration – offline and online.
• Tools.

What is the ideal ‘Positioning’ in the mind of Alumni? How to demonstrate credibility before visibility? Value? The interactive experience online?

What are the challenges and opportunities integrating offline and online?

Where online? Contact/touch points? Online communications mix? Special attention/investment in different digital channels – priorities?

‘Acquiring traffic’ – what approaches? How drive engagement from offline? How? Action?

Data Strategy – Data capture? What/where/how/when/why, what tools and value adds? Personalisation?

Which content, information architecture:

• To gain initial interest?
• To support engagement?
• To promote stickiness? (Online and offline tactics – repeat visits etc)
• To encourage long-term engagement… commitment?

Simplification & Self-service – FAQs?

Multichannel Integration Strategy – integrating traditional and digital channels, mapping Alumni journeys across channels to reach…

• Student in School?
• Recent Alumni at University?
• Alumni in 30s?
• Alumni family with kids aged 1-13 years?
• Alumni living abroad, in New York USA?
• Retired Alumni?

4) TACTICS

HOW DO WE GET THERE?

• Communications mix, social networking, what happens when?
• Contact Strategy?
• Campaigns?

Action… results… control… Implementation details? Persuasive approach… resources?

5) ACTIONS

TACTICS – WHO DOES WHAT AND WHEN?

• Responsibilities and structures.
• Internal resources.
• External parties.

6) CONTROL

HOW DO WE MONITOR PERFORMANCE?

• Key Performance Indicators.
• Usability Testing.
• Alumni Satisfaction Surveys.
• Site Visitor Profiling.
• Reporting & Actions.

1-PAGE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1) SITUATION

* Key Issues – requiring action.

2) OBJECTIVES

* Our vision.
* Key goals.

3) STRATEGY

* Segmentation, targeting and positioning.
* Brand development and customer engagement.
* Customer acquisition.
* Customer retention and growth.

4) TACTICS, ACTIONS & CONTROLS

* Investment and budget.
* Resourcing.
* Timescales.
* Success factors for managing change.
* Measurement and testing.

PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING FOR DIGITAL JEDI

• givinginadigitalworld.org
• twitter.com/digitalFRforum
  http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=2448787
• www.nfptweetup.org
• http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/charitywebforum/

Return To Top

QR CODES

Quick Response codes are specific matrix barcodes (or two-dimensional code) readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and camera telephones.

Code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded may be text, URL, or other data.

QR codes storing addresses and Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) may appear in magazines, on signs, buses, business cards, or almost any object about which users might need information.

Scan the image of the QR code to display text, contact information, connect to a wireless network, or open a web page in the telephone’s browser. This act of linking from physical world objects is termed hardlinking or object hyperlinking.

CHECK-IN – FOURSQUARE, FACEBOOK PLACES, GOWALLA

Location-based social networking websites based on software for mobile devices

The service is available to users with GPS-enabled mobile devices such as smartphones.

Users “check-in” at venues using a mobile website, text messaging or a device-specific application by running the application and selecting from a list of venues that the application locates nearby.

Each check-in awards the user points and sometimes “badges”.

FOURSQUARE – Apple

FOURSQUARE – Metrodeco

FOURSQUARE – Lancing

FOURSQUARE – King’s High School Warwick

HAVING A WEB PRESENCE

• HOW DO YOU USE THE WEB?
• REGULARLY REVIEW AND COMPARE.
• IS YOUR WEBSITE SERVING YOU – FIT FOR PURPOSE?
• WHAT DOESN’T IT DO?

WEBSITE FUNCTIONALITY

FLIPPING PAGES!

www.zmags.co.uk

www.emagcreator.com

pictoview.shimanoweb.com

www.haileybury.com/publications/haileyburian

www.cadcol.ac.uk/interactive_docs/newsletters/02_may_2011/index.html

BLOGGING

BLOGGING

BLOGGING FACTS:

• much of what we now know as ‘Social Media’ begin with blogging,
• like many social media tools, blogs have seen a steady increase in numbers and influence over the last several years,
• one estimate has the number of blogs at over 164 million in July 2011,
• a recent poll on LinkedIn found that 62% of professional polled get their news from the Internet and blogs.

www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson

www.blogger.com

NEWS FEEDS – REALLY SIMPLE SYNDICATION – RSS

BBC News RSS

SHARING AND BOOKMARKING

BBC Social Bookmarking

Queen Margaret University

del.icio.us

digg

reddit

Facebook

StumbleUpon

SHARING TOOL APPLICATION SERVICE PROVIDERS (ASP):

www.addthis.com

www.sharethis.com

www.sharelockerz.com

CONTACT & REGISTRATION FORMS, OPINIONS & FEEDBACK

HOW CAN ALUMNI CONTACT US?

• EMAIL
• WEB FORM
• TELEPHONE
• MSN
• SKYPE – Skype
• SOCIAL MEDIA
• POST

Registration Form

Survey Monkey

Opinions – Feedback

LIVE SUPPORT

www.webgreeter.com

www.uowdubai.ac.ae

VIRTUAL WEB?

www.secondlife.com

WEB 2.0 – USER GENERATED CONTENT

PAXMAN ‘PROMOTES’ USER GENERATED CONTENT

WIKIPEDIA

www.wikipedia.org

PHOTOSHARING

www.flickr.com

FLICKR FACTS:

• purchased by Yahoo in 2005, Flickr is a popular website for the sharing and embedding of photographs,
• the service is widely used by bloggers to host images that they embed in blogs and Social Media,
• at the start of 2010, Flickr was hosting around 4 billion images, since then it has grown to over 6 billion,
• Yahoo reported in June 2011 that Flickr had a total of 51 million registered members and 80 million unique visitors.

TAGGING PHOTOS

LA VERENE

www.omtac.com

PODCASTING

www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts

http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/

OXFORD ALUMNI WEEKEND

SOAS – The first of in this new series of podcasts features BBC news presenter Zeinab Badawi: http://openair.fm/soasalumni/392-soas-alumni-podcast-zeinab-badawi-podcast

YOUTUBE

www.youtube.com

YOUTUBE FACTS:

• the YouTube demographic is broad with the majority of users aged 18-54 years,
• there are 800 million unique visits each month, over 48 hours of video is uploaded every minute (8 years of content uploaded every day),
• over 3 billion videos are viewed a day,
• 100 million people take a social action on YouTube (likes, shares, comments etc),
• 70% of YouTube traffic comes from outside the United States,
• YouTube is localised in 25 countries across 43 languages,
• YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world.

OUCH!

ROYAL WEDDING

CHARLIEISSOCOOLLIKE

GERIATRIC 1927

AMARILLO CHS STYLE

CHRISTMAS CARD

USING IMAGES, AUDIO AND VIDEO FOR ALUMNI EVENTS

EVENT STAGES

> BEFORE?

> DURING?

> AFTER?

> BEFORE THE NEXT ONE?

EVENT STAGES

> BEFORE?

DESIGNING THE EVENT – THINK DIGITAL – HAVING A DIGITAL MINDSET FROM THE START…

• EVENT FORMAT? USPs?

MAD MEN CAROUSEL

JOHN LEWIS NEVER KNOWINGLY UNDERSOLD

JOHN LEWIS NEVER KNOWINGLY UNDERSOLD (MAKING 2-4.30)

GOLF CABRIOLET CONVERTIBLE ADVERT

THAT WAS THE YEAR… THAT WAS… EARLIER…

THAT WAS THE YEAR… THAT WAS…

• PROMOTION:

  – TELLING THE STORY – CREATING THE BUZZ

  – SUPPORT MATERIALS

  VIDEO:

  REUNION INVITATION – Brown University’s Black Alumni Reunion Save-the-Date for 2010

  AUDIO PODCASTS:

  http://openair.fm/soasalumni/392-soas-alumni-podcast-zeinab-badawi-podcast

  ECARDS: Cardiff University – ecards.cardiff.ac.uk

  * WEBSITE

  – CHANNELS & PLATFORMS

  * EMAIL (www.MAILCHIMP.com)

  
  * POST (QR CODES)

  * WEBSITE(S)

  * SOCIAL MEDIA (FACEBOOK, TWITTER (Hashtag))

  * SHARING

• MANAGING THE EVENT

  www.EVENTBRITE.com

> DURING?

• INFORMATION & ENTERTAINMENT

  – CHECKING IN (FOURSQUARE)

  – IMAGES (Notice Up, Slide Show)

  LA VERENE

  – AUDIO

  LIVERPOOL SELF-GUIDED CAMPUS TOUR

  EXETER SELF-GUIDED CAMPUS TOUR

  COLUMBIA CAMPUS TOUR

  – VIDEO

  CLOWNE SCHOOL REUNION – 2008 Mix

  REUNION REMEMBRANCE – Remembering our Class of 1972 Alumni – Encina High School

  MISSING THE REUNION – Gary Conner Regrets Missing Class Reunion

  AMARILLO – CROHAM HURST SCHOOL

• GATHERING STORIES, NEWS ETC – WORDS, AUDIO, IMAGES, VIDEO
• LIVE REPORTING

  TWITTER (Hashtag)

FACEBOOK

LIVE TWEETING AN EVENT

CHOOSE A SHORT HASHTAG

Choose a short hashtag for the event, put it at the end of all related tweets, promote across all channels etc. People can then follow the livestream, and you can follow what others are saying.

Those not attending can follow and participate too.

Use TagDef: http://tagdef.com

PAY ATTENTION

Listen… report what is interesting… worth relaying…

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

Be really clear about the audience – who are you talking to? What do they want to know? What will engage them?

IN THE EVENT – SHARE WHAT IS BEING TWEETED

Share tweets in the event with those attending.

ATTRIBUTE

Event curation… attribute comments/statements etc, mention the person’s Twitter account if possible (so that followers can see their bio etc).

RICH MEDIA

Add context with multimedia in the tweets:

* Images
* Video
* Links

LINK BACK

Link back to earlier tweets… using a shortened URL for those tweets.

CONNECT

Live tweeting can engage people and encourage conversation… enabling you to identify the twitter accounts of alumni themselves tweeting at the event… follow them… retweet them etc.

KEEP TALKING

Identify popular topics, comments etc… see what has been retweeted… reply to those who have tweeted similar statements… ask questions etc…

DIVERSITY

If others are tweeting or “live blogging” then share links to their blogs… allow your followers access to different perspectives.

FOLLOW BACK

Keep monitoring those following you… follow them back… especially those tweeting at an event… need to follow-back to allow DM.

POLL

Get feedback, comments, criticisms about the event.

RE-CONNECT AFTERWARDS

Tweet new followers from an event… explore opportunities etc.

POST-EVENT REPORTING – USE THE MATERIAL

In post-event reports use the tweets for blog posts, articles etc… use for a different perspective… or to highlight popular issues… to get images and video etc. (Favourite tweets that appeal.)

Create an archive of hashtag-laden content for interesting tweets etc – Hootsuite etc.