Getting Ink... and Pixels! Hometown news for higher ed marketing
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Transcript of Getting Ink... and Pixels! Hometown news for higher ed marketing
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
Getting Ink... and Pixels!Media relations tactics to make news
about your students in print and on the web
Amy MengelreadMedia
July 27, 2010 | eduWebconference
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
Where do you get your news?
News consumers have lots of options for where they get global or national news:
•92% of Americans use multiple platforms each day to get news.
•46% percent get news from 4-6 media platforms on a typical day.
•28% percent of internet users have customized a home page to include news from sources and on content that particularly interests them.
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
What about local news?
News consumers have far fewer options for sources of local and especially hyperlocal news content.
What’s happening where I live, to people I know?
Local: What’s on the 6 p.m. newscast Hyperlocal: What’s on the community bulletin board
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
Hyperlocal news movement
“As newspapers keep cutting back on staff and printing skimpier editions, journalists, entrepreneurs and ordinary citizens have responded by creating websites to cover the local news they feel is going underreported.”
-- Time magazine, July 22, 2010
“The community weekly has ONE huge advantage over daily papers – localized, hometown feature coverage. It is why community weeklies are surviving and in many cases thriving in an economic atmosphere that is threatening dailies. We publish news of family and neighbors that won’t be found anywhere else.”
--Weekly newspaper editor, March 2010
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
Where is hyperlocal news?
Many organizations are trying to crack the hyperlocal nut:
•Aol & Patch•MSNBC.com & EveryBlock•CNN & Outside.In•Independent local blogs
A lot of hyperlocal news doesn’t live on the web!
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
Where is hyperlocal news?
Metro daily newspapers doubling down on hyperlocal content•Neighborhood pages and portals
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
Hometown news is hyperlocal
Colleges have been making hyperlocal news for years!•80% of schools generate and distribute hometown news
Schools are a reliable source of positive, quality news content about individuals:•Dean’s list and graduation news most common
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
Newspapers love hometowners
Survey of 1,000 weekly/daily newspaper editors & publishers:
“The focus of our paper is people, and students are of interest to parents, neighbors and former classmates.”
-Thomas Beeler, Granite State News
“Parents call wondering why their kids’ achievements aren’t in the paper. We publish EVERY notice colleges send us!”
-Stu Nielson, Town Crier
“News items about hometown students doing great things at college are popular with our readers.”
-Jeremy Boyer, The Citizen
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
Newspapers love hometowners
But you’ve got to do it right!
•Get it to editors in an easy-to-use format so they can repackage:• 88% of editors do not prefer to
receive hometown news via snail mail or fax
•Many will not accept hometown news if it doesn’t come from directly from the school
•A lot of hometown news appears in print editions only – some papers have no web presence!
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
Hometowners for web 2.0
Combine hometown news outreach to local print media
with optimization for new media:
Get hometown news published to the web where it can be shared with social networks, linked to,
and emailed!
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
Developing hyperlocal stories
Generic stories don’t work: they’re not relevant!
WHO CARES?
•No personal connection•No geographic connection•Anonymous and generic•Not relevant to local media•Not compelling to local audiences
News Release
54 Connecticut College students to complete summer
internships
NEW LONDON, CT. 7/22/10: Fifty-four rising seniors from Connecticut College will be interning at various companies around the country this summer. They are being funded by the college’s four-year internship program that combines academic classes with real-world experience and career advice from counselors.
#
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
Personalization of news
Turn one bland story into 100+ relevant, hyperlocal stories:
Single overall story, but personalized with details about each student’s internship and delivered to the hometown media outlet that cares!
“Hey, I know that kid!”
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
Hometowners for web 2.0
Next-generation hometown news stories are personalized, published online, optimized for SEO, and easily shared:
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
Hometowners for web 2.0
Content pilot program with Hearst:
Direct syndication of ZIP-code specific hometown news stories to neighborhood news pages -- with no editorial intervention
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
Engaging hyperlocal content
Hearst content pilot program: 250% growth in clickthroughs
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
Engaging hyperlocal content
Hearst content pilot program: 180% growth in unique visits
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
Sharing hometown news
Don’t just send hometown news announcements to newspapers – send them to students and parents, too!
People love to share this kind of positive news with their social networks.
Make sure your school’s name, branding, and links are what’s being shared!
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
Sharing hometown news
Facebook drives more traffic to readMedia news stories than Google news.
Hometown news stories shared to Facebook see an average of 6.2 additional page views.
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
But why do all of this?
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
It’s key to enrollment marketing
Hometown news plays a part in recruitment:
“My old babysitter is at XYZ College? Wow, I didn’t know they had a marine biology program there. I should check it out.”
“Cool! Our neighbor’s son is spending the summer in DC interning on Capitol Hill. He must be doing well at XYZ College.”
“XYZ College just sent a press release announcing that I am enrolling this fall! I’ll have to share this on Facebook.
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
It’s marketing people trust
Hometown news is basic, grassroots, word-of-mouth marketing.
Each story is an endorsement of your school from trusted community members.
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
It’s where people find local news
Hometown news in print connects with local communities:
Suburban newspapers
Metro Newspapers
TV Internet Radio
Community/neighborhood news 66% 20% 18% 22% 9%
Local youth/high school sports 64% 18% 7% 14% 3%
Local business news 55% 39% 11% 26% 7%
Local shopping/advertising 53% 40% 7% 22% 4%
Local entertainment 53% 35% 9% 34% 7%
State/regional news 35% 47% 41% 36% 18%
National/international news 15% 34% 51% 50% 22%
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
It’s the power of the network
Hometown news not only showcases the success of your students, but also the variety of programs you offer.
Several hundred personalized stories in local media outlets in the towns where you recruit students can be more effective than one mention in a big national outlet.
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
Go beyond the dean’s list
Possibilities for hometown news stories are endless.Develop hometown news about students who:
•Publish research•Win a scholarship•Participate in study abroad•Break an athletic record•Star in a play•Land an internship•Perform volunteer work•Submit a senior honors thesis•Are inducted into honor societies
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
Student’s activities become news in their
hometowns.Stories are auto-
published on their local newspaper.
Readers view the full-story.
Stories bounce around social
networks.
Drives traffic to college websites.
Which leads to more students....and
more....
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
Local news is big news
For newspapers: because it’s their bread and butter content
For online media: because it helps them get ad dollars
For students & parents: because it’s the kind of news they celebrate
and share
For schools: because it provides a one-on-one marketing
opportunity
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
Making it work for you
1. Create a lot of hometown news
2. Get it to the right newspapers in the formats they prefer
3. Get individual, personal stories published on the web
4. Give people the tools to share news in social networks
5. Get hometowners to the next generation of local media
Copyright ©2010 readMedia, Inc. ■ 418 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12207 ■ 1-800-552-2194 ■ [email protected] ■ www.readmedia.com/schools
Questions?
Amy Mengel [email protected] 518-429-2780
@amymengel amymengel.com @readmedia readmedia.com/schools
Contact info:
More information:
Newspaper Attitudes Toward Hometown News: http://bit.ly/9P8BF6The SNA Suburban Market Study: http://bit.ly/cMwyhhPew Research Center: http://journalism.org