Online Community Building | For Private Schools & Summer Camps

Online Marketing for Private Schools, Camps and Programs

Digital Communications Strategist

April 29, 2014

Copyright © Eden Spodek, Eden Spodek Inc. 2014.


•  Digital Communications Strategist

•  Instructor at U of T SCS Digital Strategy Certificate

•  25 years in communications and marketing, including •  19 years in digital

•  Launched first online community in 2001

•  Ran PodCamp Toronto (5 years) •  Blogger since 2006

•  Variety industries, agency and client-side

Introducing Eden



•  99% have access to the Internet, mostly on cellphones and smartphones

•  39% sleep with their cellphones

•  Favourite websites allow users to post and share content: •  75% YouTube, 57% on Facebook

•  38% have posted a story or artwork they created online

•  32% of grades 4-6 students have a Facebook account; 16% have a Twitter account

MediaSmarts Global News, Jan. 2014


Canadians kids grades 4-11


Community Building



•  Focus on the hub (e.g. blog) and have a regular publishing schedule •  link to your channels from

your website and ALL of them – don’t make me work too hard

•  add social sharing buttons so people can share your content

Observations about Engagement



•  You don’t need to be everywhere – fish where the fish are

•  Images are a great way to provide a quick snapshot of the school or camp culture

•  Tag/describe your content assets and include your URLs to drive traffic

•  Use calls to action (CTAs) •  Respond to comments •  Don’t just post, participate!

Observations about Engagement /2



Purpose of Online Communities

•  Marketing, brand awareness, relationship-building

•  Virtual “meeting” place •  Collaborate with audience

and influencers directly •  Parents •  Staff/Partners •  Students/Campers

•  Discover, cultivate and reward brand ambassadors



Developing a Strategy

Ask questions •  What are the goals? •  How does community building

fit into your organization’s objectives?

•  How will it be managed? •  Internally or externally?

•  Who is your community? •  Membership criteria

•  How can you help community members?

•  How will you recognize and reward members?



Developing a Strategy /2

Make Decisions •  Understand the objective(s)

of community members and listen to them

•  Set S.M.A.R.T. goals •  Choose an appropriate

platform(s) •  Decide how your community

will be managed •  Develop guidelines •  What will success look like?



Case Studies



•  Starbucks tracks interactions and progress on the site and shares them with members

•  Transparency helps build: •  A community of collaboration •  A feeling that members are

partners •  Customer/brand loyalty

•  Building community around the brand creates an environment of trust between Starbucks and its most passionate customers

Case Study: My Starbucks Idea



St. Michaels University School


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgVMuAN2-wk


•  4,366 views –YouTube video announcement

•  >250 video entries •  30 semi-finalists •  3 finalists selected by 14-person

panel, meet on campus May 2 •  semi-finalists evaluated on three

major criteria: •  quality of their entry video •  potential to get involved in all

aspects of school/boarding life •  potential as a spokesperson for

the boarding experience during their year as the BSYE winner

•  Winner announced May 6 •  A success! They’re already

building a mailing list to announce next year’s contest!

Best School Year Ever campaign




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys0WVOPmA6g&list=UU8-Th83bH_thdKZDJCrn88g

Driving Earned Media


Engagement, Reputation & Trust



“The only way to build trust … is to develop relationships and provide valuable educational information… Whatever it happens to be, harvest stories that humanize the company...”

– Gini Dietrich, Spin Sucks: Communications and Reputation Management in the Digital Age

Building a Culture of Trust



•  Community manager – a trusted and transparent part of the community

•  This helps demonstrate the community manager cares about the community because he/she is invested in it as well

Reputation and Community



•  Essential consideration in strategy development

•  Define role of community manager

•  Cultivate community ambassadors •  Engage, feature and highlight

your biggest fans •  Role of other community

members (active participants, lurkers, etc.) •  All members need to feel like

they belong •  Be transparent

Building a Community of Trust



Don’t Just Post…



Participate!



Show Don’t Tell



Show Me



Storytelling



Blog, blog, blog…



Paid, Earned, Social and Owned

• Social Media • Word of Mouth • Referrals/Reviews

• Your Website • Your Blog • Your Content

• Media Relations • Blogger Relations • Influencer Relations

• Social Advertising • Traditional Advertising • Sponsored Content • Google AdWords

Paid Earned

Shared Owned



Paid Content



Earned Content



Shared Content



Owned Content



•  PAID: Our Kids continuously speaks to a highly targeted audience, Typically that parent who is researching school and/or summer camp or recreation options for her/his children

•  EARNED: Some partners, such as Our Kids, will allow you to post articles directly to the website (earned media) and will highlight you in photo, article or video features.

•  EARNED: You can also build relationships with influencers who may help co-create and share your content.

•  SHARED: You can pull feeds from your Facebook and Twitter conversations onto your Our Kids online community profile to amplify your message

•  SHARED: If you're looking for great content to share, such as eBooks, reports, stats, checklists or calculators, Our Kids produces new sharable content every month.

Amplify your message



•  Canada leads in Internet usage; 99% of kids are online

•  Build community around a common goal, be conversational

•  Collaboration, listening, problem-solving and sharing of meaningful content builds community

•  Community managers are the eyes, ears and voice of an organization

•  Integrated approach to content distribution – “PESO” opportunities help build relationships and amplify your message

•  Don’t just post, PARTICIPATE!

Summary


Questions?


Thank you!


Continue the Conversation Online

Connect Eden Spodek Digital Communications Strategist Eden Spodek Inc. [email protected] EdenSpodek.com

@EdenSpodek LinkedIn.com/en/EdenSpodek



3 Ways Social Media Creates a Social Local Community http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/3-ways-social-media-creates-a-social-local-community/ Canada’s youth are highly connected, girls face different rules online: study, Global News, January 2014 http://globalnews.ca/news/1098160/canadas-youth-are-highly-connected-girls-face-different-rules-online-study/ Capulet Goes Back to School, Darren Barefoot, February 24, 2014 http://capulet.com/2014/02/capulet-goes-back-to-school/ Delvinia’s AskingCanadians – How are Canadians Using Social Media? Stryve Group, July 12, 2012, http://stryvegroup.com/how-are-canadians-using-social-media Guide To Online Community Management, ReadWriteWeb, eBook, http://www.slideshare.net/readwriteweb/rww-community-report-12107798 How are Canadians Using Social Media?, Stryve Group, July 12, 2012, http://stryvegroup.com/how-are-canadians-using-social-media/ The Common Craft Blog, Lefever, L., July 2003, http://www.commoncraft.com/archives/000208.html My Starbucks Idea, http://mystarbucksidea.force.com/

References



No Bullshit Social Media, Deckers, E., Falls, J., 2012 Reputation Management, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reputation_management Seven Trends in Community and Social Business for 2013, Community Roundtable, Leanne Chase, January 3, 2013, http://community-roundtable.com/2013/01/seven-trends-in-community-and-social-business-for-2013/ Six Revisions blog http://sixrevisions.com/mobile/design-mistakes-iphone-app/ Social, Digital & Mobile Around The World, We Are Social, January 2014 http://www.slideshare.net/wearesocialsg/social-digital-mobile-around-the-world-january-2014 Spin Sucks: Communications and Reputation Management in the Digital Age, Dietrich G., 2014 "Structuring a Social Media Team”, Ragan/NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions white paper, http://www.ragan.com/Main/StructuringaSocialMediaTeam.aspx The Can't-Miss Social Media Trends For 2013, Ryan Holmes, Fast Company, November 29, 2012, http://www.fastcompany.com/3003473/cant-miss-social-media-trends-2013 What is an Online Community, Lee Lefever, July 2009, http://www.commoncraft.com/archives/000208.html

References


Online Community Building | For Private Schools & Summer Camps

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