On the night of April 18th, 1775, the most important message of the United States was delivered on horseback under the cover of night by Paul Revere. His simple "1 if by land, 2 if by sea" system gave the American forces time to rally and eventually defeat the British Army.
Fast-forward to 103 years later...
In 1878 David Hughes noticed that sparks could be heard in a telephone receiver with a carbon microphone. Hughes developed his carbon-based detector further and eventually could detect signals over a few hundred yards. Radio later became the media outlet on which Adolf Hitler made his famous declaration of war.
Fast-forward again, this time 131 years...
On Tuesday, January 20th
2009, the world witnessed the inauguration of the first African-American President of the United States of America. Over 23 million people watched the inauguration... ON THE INTERNET!
Let's review. What have we learned from our brief history lesson that pertains to school district communication?
At first glance is doesn't look like much, but hear me out!
Imagine trying to explain to Paul Revere the concept of a computer. Or maybe you would like the task of telling Hitler that there would someday be an African-American President of the United States. In either case, both messages would have been met with tremendous uncertainty.
The message I am trying to convey is simple. If school districts are going to survive in the ever changing world of communication, THEY MUST LEARN TO ADAPT!!!
This is not a knock on any specific school district, or even any particular demographic of citizens. Instead, think of this as a request to all people in charge of school district communication. Our schools are too important to let their communication slip by the wayside. Students across the country are excelling in ways like never before, yet negative stories dominate the headlines concerning today's education system.
Today's traditional and social media outlets have spoiled audiences. People no longer rely on the Sunday paper to fill them in on what is happening in their community and around the world. Today's media audiences want their information on their terms, and they want it now.
One way cutting-edge districts are combating this problem is by infusing user generated content (UGC) into their communication efforts. (Look here for a great example www.hipointjourneys.com) With the demands of today's media audiences, user generated content allows students, staff and even alumni the chance to provide positive messages about their respective districts.
However, user generated content is not the "end all be all" for school communication, and that is exactly my point. Confused yet?
User generated content is not new to the communication world. Unfortunately, it is still relatively new to school districts across the country. This only further reinforces the significance of my previous request. Lagging behind most other organizations can't become a trend with school districts. Schools, especially public schools have an image problem. The only way to combat this problem is by becoming as transparent in communication efforts as possible.
To bring this post full-circle, nobody knows exactly what the future holds for school district communication. But then again, nobody knows what the future holds either. What we do know is that the most successful industries and companies are the ones who best communicate with their target audiences. Just imagine the fate of the United States if Paul Revere would have tried delivering his message on his own two feet. The results would have been catastrophic. A similar fate can't be shared by our schools, they are simply too important!
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As the school year draws to a close, so does our first year as the outsourced communications department for The Bucyrus City School District. As far as we have been able to research, the partnership between Rock Solid Media LLC and The Bucyrus City Schools marks the first time a school district in Ohio has outsourced typical "in house" communication efforts.
We started with the basics, a few releases regarding new building dedications and some slideshows to run during the open houses for the buildings. What ensued over the next year was anything but routine for rural school districts in Ohio.
Let's start with Facebook. Launched in September, the district's Facebook fan page currently has over 565 fans, has received over 7,938 page views, 287 video views and 1171 picture views! But better than all those stats is that 78% of all our fans are age 25 and up! What does that mean? It means we are reaching our target audience, it means that we don't have a bunch of students who are "fans" of the district, but that we are actually reaching important district stakeholders. For districts that don't have the financial assets to build out a specific communication website, Facebook provides a free place to publicize information, pictures and videos.
After Facebook was up and running we turned our attention to creating a monthly Superintendent's video series. Using the video hosting site Vimeo, instead of Youtube, we were able to create professional looking videos specifically branded to the Bucyrus City School District. The stats weren't anything to write home about, but we did manage to get over 225 different people to watch at least one of Dr. Nichols' videos. Here is an example of one of the videos we produced.
While these videos won't win an Oscar, they allow district stakeholders to feel like their Superintendent is actually a person. It allows the audience to hear directly from the administration what important things are going on within the district.
Last but certainly not least, I want to touch on the district's deployment of email marketing. Today over 2,150 emails have been sent to over 340 different people in the district's database. Members of the database can choose 8 different categories of information they wish to receive, ranging from athletics to strategic plan updates. Across the industry email marketing typically sees a 15%-20% open rate, the average open rate for the district's email marketing campaign is 51%. Email marketing can serve as a typically low cost communication tool for school districts looking for new ways to reach a very specific target audience.
There you have it! Are our results earth shattering? Probably not. The only thing we can say for sure is that the district is taking their communication efforts places they have never been. Only time will tell whether or not the partnership between Rock Solid and Bucyrus will be mutually beneficial, but after a review of year #1, I think it is headed in the right direction!
Few movie scenes tickle my fancy quite like the legendary scene from Good Will Hunting that spawned the phrase "how you like them apples." For those of you not familiar with the scene, give it a quick watch! It's only 40 seconds.
Good Will Hunting first hit the big screen in 1997, and even after 13 years of technological evolution, businesses across the country are still struggling to ask the "pretty girl" for her number.
Ok, so times have changed and in 2010 no one would write a girl's number on a bar napkin unless their smart phone was on the fritz. Today it isn't a phone number that businesses want from the "pretty girl," it's their email address. According to a 2009 study, "View from the Inbox", conducted by Merkle, Inc., email is the #1 preferred method of communication from companies among people ages 18-65. And to be honest, it's not even close! Here are the numbers to prove it!
Unfortunately for business owners, customers have been bombarded by countless organizations trying to push their message through to their inbox involuntarily. This has made people extremely hesitant to hand their email address over to just anyone.
Much like when you were dating, it is easy to strike-up a conversation with a potential companion, the problem lies in knowing how to ask for the crucial contact information. You want to be sure he/she knows you're interested, but you don't want to be the "Stage 4 Clinger" who thought dinner and drinks would lead to a trip down the aisle.
If getting email addresses is as complicated as post-pubescent dating, how can businesses effectively obtain customer email addresses? The answer is simple; ask politely, but don't be pushy. Don't be the guy or girl who calls with nothing to say, be the company who uses customer emails to provide an engaged audience with valuable information. Don't use shady antics to trick your customers into opening an email for a false promotion.
Over 83% of North American email users view false promotional items just as invasive as spam. (Source: Epsilon Global Consumer Email Study) Once you have lost the trust of your audience, whether it is a pretty girl or a list of current customers, regaining that trust is an almost impossible task; and with a single email address being estimated at a $47 value, you can't afford to break customer trust.
When trying to grow your email marketing list, stick to the basics. The more customers feel a personal connection to your brand the more likely they are to give you their email address. You wouldn't walk up to the most beautiful person at the bar and ask for their number right out of the gate, don't do the same thing with email addresses. If you want the pretty girl to give you her number, you have to prove your worth. The same thing can be said for customer email addresses.
The next time you or your organization think about asking for a customer's email address for your small business email marketing, think about Good Will Hunting. Think about how Damon did it. Prove your worth, be polite instead of pushy, and the emails will come to you. Then you can ask the competition; "how you like them apples?"
We get it, the world is changing and nobody likes change. However, when you or your business stand in defiance of all the technological advances used in 2010, take this into consideration.
The first text message was sent in December of 1992, when a 22 year-old engineer named Neil Papworth used his personal computer to send the words "Merry Christmas" to the phone of Richard Jarvis. The message was sent via a single network provided by Vodafone. Fast forward 16 years later. With the most pioneering move in political history, presidential candidate Barack Obama first announced his vice-presidential candidate via text message to over 2.9 million people.
Similar stories of progress have been seen with the integration of new technology into almost every aspect of everyday life. Nowhere has this been more prevalent than with the explosion of the internet. In the United States alone, there are over 3,500 different internet service providers providing internet service to over 227 MILLION people across the country. That's over 74% of the US population!
According to a study published by The Nielsen Company (http://bit.ly/diUcmy) 1 in 2 Americans will have a smartphone by Christmas 2011.
What do all these numbers mean? They mean that as technology and trends change, so should your marketing efforts, regardless of your geographic location and marketing budget. We are not suggesting that you do a complete overhaul of your marketing efforts. However, we are suggesting that you stay abreast of the latest trends in small business internet marketing.
A recent survey (http://bit.ly/dzjUHv) conducted by Constant Contact has uncovered some staggering numbers that no business, big or small, can afford to ignore. The survey was conducted with the cooperation of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives, the Service Corps of Retired Executives and the Association of Small Business Development Centers.
Here is the "down n' dirty" if you will.
When asked the question "How important to your business is each of the following methods in finding new customers," here are their responses. (Pay particular attention to the email marketing and website rows)
In case you missed the most important stats on the chart, here they are.
-The most important marketing tool to small businesses is word of mouth with a 98% positive report.
-The most utilized channels to stimulate word of mouth are email marketing at 89%, and a company website at 93%
In another recent study conducted by The Nielsen Company, (http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/us-smartphone-growth.png) research showed that smartphones are poised to out-number feature phones by Christmas 2011.
So what does this mean to you and your business?
It's quite simple. While we understand you might have personal connections to the director of sales at your local radio station, but the time is now to start looking to bring your marketing efforts into 2010. With 90% of businesses across the country taking their marketing efforts viral, small businesses have two choices to make.
Change your ways and move forward with the 90% of other businesses that are doing the same. Or, become those 10% of businesses watching their businesses fall apart at the seams.
Take emotion out of the decision, the numbers don't lie.
Bryan Mulvany is the Chief Communications Specialist at Rock Solid Media LLC. Follow him @bryanmulvany
No, Disney's newest feature film doesn't highlight the inner workings of
school district communications in the twenty-first century. Quite frankly, I doubt even Disney could turn that subject into a hit movie. However, one of Disney's most famous flicks helps put into perspective the kind of relationship school superintendents should have with their communication team.
At this point you are probably struggling over just which Disney story I am referring to. If you guessed Lion King, Cinderella, Snow White, Little Mermaid, Aladdin or Peter Pan, you would be incorrect. When trying to think about the film that provides guidance for school district superintendents, "Let your conscience be your guide."
Still guessing? When discussing the best practices for communication between a school superintendent and his communication team, Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket laid the foundation long ago.
Throughout Pinocchio's journey, Jiminy Cricket gives Pinocchio the advice he needs to help become a real boy. Sometimes Pinocchio listens, and sometimes he doesn't. It isn't that Pinocchio doesn't care what Jiminy has to say, it's just that he has a lot going on in his life, and Jiminy's message is often lost amongst all the other hustle and bustle going on around him.
This is very similar to the relationship between a school superintendent and his communication team. Superintendents are busy people. With student achievement, building projects and professional development taking up most of their time, communication often gets placed on the proverbial "back burner." Much like Pinocchio, superintendents don't mean to brush off Jiminy's advice, in this case, the suggestions and requests for permission from their communication team. They simply don't hear the message amongst the hustle and bustle of their chaotic schedules.
Much like Jiminy, it is easy for communication teams to become discouraged and feel like their ideas and requests fall on deaf ears. When these feelings arise, simply take a step back, and remember Pinocchio's journey. No matter what was going on in Pinocchio's life, Jiminy was always able to see the big picture. In much the same scenario, superintendents are often so focused on student achievement and improving test scores that they can't see the district's communication needs. This isn't to say that superintendents are inept, it simply shows just how much goes into running a successful school district. The reason superintendents have a communication team is because they are smart, and they know they don't have the time to devote to develop effective communication strategies.
To bring our Disney tale full circle, the model for communication between a superintendent and his communication team has been right in front of us all along. As superintendents go through their daily grind, trying to help their district reach its potential and become "a real boy," it is important for communication teams across the country to be their conscience. Remember that all of your ideas will not be seen through to completion, but eventually your message will be heard. Remember that although superintendents are great at what they do, there is a reason they hired a communication team. Every now and then, they need a "conscience" to be their guide. That's where you come in!
Photo courtesy of mydogbarchs.blogspot.com
Change is difficult, especially when dealing with creatures of habit. And those of us with experience in education know there are no greater creatures of habit than school administration and personnel. That being said, not all change is for the worse. Making the decision to bring new technology into your district or not, should be just like making any other decision, well researched and thought out. The big problem many school districts face is they are not sure how or why they should use social media and other interactive marketing outlets.
1) Identify Your Needs - School districts are as unique as the communities and students they serve. What works for similar sized districts might not be the best approach for yours. The first question you need to ask yourself is simple; how can we better communicate with all of our stakeholders? From parents, to businesses, to senior citizens, all of a district's audiences need to be taken into consideration when identifying communication needs within a district. Other questions to ask yourself during this step include: Are our current communication efforts effective? How do we know if those efforts are effective? What do our stakeholders expect from our district in regards to communication?
2) Do Some Research -This may sound like a simple step, but it is the step that will make or break the whole process. Over the past 4 years, countless social media outlets have emerged, everything from basic outlets such as Facebook and Twitter, to more niche outlets like Yelp and Foursquare. The important thing about this step is to try to and keep it simple. There is no reason for schools to use unique outlets just because they are the "flavor of the month." Stick to what you think would work best for your district. Our suggestion; a multi-faceted approach. Facebook allows districts to set up their page as an extension of their district website. If it is important enough to have on the district site, it is probably worthy of being mentioned on the district's Facebook page. However, that is simply our suggestion. Remember, your district is unique!
3) Make A Decision - Your needs are identified, and you know what you want. Maybe your district has decided to keep it simple and just launch a Facebook page, or maybe your district wants to try and bring in everything but the kitchen sink. Either way, you need to make a decision! In dealing with school administration, decisions often take long periods of time to turn into results. The earlier your district can make a decision to use new marketing outlets, the sooner that decision can result in action.
4) Hire The Right Help - If you have made it this far don't negate all your hard work with the wrong help. When trying to decide what kind of help to hire, look to the amount of technology and marketing outlets you have decided to utilize. If your district is keeping it simple, paying a district staff member to take on the extra work may be the right direction to go. However, if your district plans on undertaking a communication overhaul, you should probably look at hiring a person or persons from outside the district. There are many firms beginning to break into the education industry with specific concentration on communications and marketing. Like everything else in this process, your help is specific to your district and your fiscal situation.
5) Stick It Out - This change is not going to yield earth-shattering results over night, it will not save your district from a financial disaster and it will not improve test scores. It will, however, ensure improved communication within the district, open two-way communication between the district and its' shareholders and do it all in a very cost-effective manner.